The Shawano School District is looking at implementing a new library curriculum for its four libraries as part of a three-year plan that is expected to be approved by the Shawano School Board on June 22.
The plan is a requirement of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, according to Aleksandra Hernandez, the district’s new library media specialist. It is slated to be on the board’s consent agenda and will not add any cost to the district, as the library funding is provided through Common School Funds — a permanent, state-funded trust established by the state constitution in 1848.
Currently, elementary schools have classrooms visit the library for 30 minutes. At Hillcrest Primary School, interactive read-aloud times are held. This is also the case at Olga Brener Intermediate School, but class activities also include hands-on activities and digital citizenship lessons.
At the middle and high schools, the libraries provide research support for students.
While the existing programs do help with literacy in the schools, more needs to be done, which is why the district is creating a library curriculum to supplement students’ reading time, according to Hernandez.
“It is our goal that every student will become an accomplished reader, critical thinker and informed citizen through the resources and services provided by the school library program and staff,” Hernandez said.
The creation of the library curriculum is expected to take up much of the three years. In the 2026-27 school year, Hernandez plans to meet with school officials and begin creating course guidebooks for each range. There will also be discussions at Shawano Community Middle School and Olga Brener to discuss the implementation of test pilot lessons.
“Brener and the middle school, that’s where I’ve identified that many of these skills need to be dug in and taught the most,” Hernandez said. “By high school, they have a lot of these skills, and a lot of these skills aren’t as relevant for K-2.”
The following school year will look at those test pilot lessons for all schools — Olga Brener and the middle school during the first semester, and Shawano Community High School and Hillcrest in the second semester. After the test lessons, library officials will review the course guidebooks and make changes.
The library curriculum will be fully implemented in the 2028-29 school year, and Hernandez plans to survey all staff to determine if the lessons properly teach library and research skills, digital citizenship and computer literacies.
Hernandez noted that a lot of the library curriculum will be pre-integrated into classes, but she’ll need to supplement what teachers are doing at times. She noted that library aides cannot teach the lessons, because they are not certified teachers.
“There are times when they come into (a) library class, and I use those 30 minutes to deliver a digital citizenship lesson to those students,” Hernandez said.
Reorganizing library space is also on the plan. The recent remodel of the SCHS library through the referendum has helped, but there are concerns about the middle school and Olga Brener — including mismatched, old and worn out furniture.
According to Hernandez, the shelves at SCMS are not compatible with some large book sizes, and the library space is suited more for staff than for students. She noted that the collection at Olga Brener is being reorganized to provide more space for independent reading.
The library plan also includes beginning professional development sessions for library staff at least once a month on Wednesdays, when the schools release students early. Hernandez plans to also create media center newsletters for staff to stay current on library programming and resources.
Hernandez said the plan also includes working with Follett Services to weed most older books, especially outdated nonfiction books. She expects that the average age of most of the books will be 2016 or newer, although there are still plans to keep classic and timeless fiction books in the libraries.
“We get the final say on those books,” Hernandez said, noting that Follett Services only provides recommendations. “Ours is more of a 10-year gap, whereas Follett recommends a five-year gap. They want us to have the newest books, because they also sell us books. I did create that bigger gap, because we are taking into consideration all of those older materials that still have a lot of value or that teachers use.”
There will also be a priority of adding books that address students’ social-emotional health and diverse voices. Hernandez said the books could be promoted through displays, read-alouds and book clubs. She added that the books are expected to comprise 50% of the school’s media items.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
