Media Center
About the Media Center
Resources|Ongoing Programs
Welcome to the Oak View Elementary School Media Center. The media center serves about 330 students in grades 3 through 5, as well as all staff members. The media center is home to over 9,000 books, as well as audio books, educational DVDs, magazines and reference materials. The instructional media center (IMC) is a classroom where all students are encouraged and prepared to become life-long learners by practicing the skills necessary to help them explore ideas, frame questions, solve problems, and satisfy their own curiosity. The media center is open on Monday afternoons (12:30 to 3:30), Tuesdays and Wednesdays, from 9:00 to 3:30. The media center does not have regular open hours on Thursdays and Fridays.
Media Specialist-Ms. Gleeson
Ms. Gleeson began working in MCPS this year and previously worked as a media specialist in Prince George’s County. Ms. Gleeson enjoys being a media specialist because it gives her the opportunity to share her love of reading with students. Her favorite genres are historical fiction and realistic fiction, but she is reading a lot of fantasy and mystery these days to keep up with student interest. This past summer she participated as a guest moderator on Connecting Children to Nature Through Literature, where she discussed two of her favorite books, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, by Jacqueline Kelley, and Miss Rumphius, by Barbara Cooney. Click on the link above to check it out!
Media Assistant-Ms. Portillo
So many books, so little time!
Vision
To encourage students to become avid readers, to teach students how to be effective and ethical users of information, and to help students develop a positive attitude toward learning.
Mission
Students, staff and parents will have full access to resources that enable them to increase their information literacy skills necessary for full participation in 21st century society. These resources include fiction books of all literary genres, reference materials, nonfiction books, subscription databases and other computer based materials. Students will produce work that they can be proud of and will seek out increasingly challenging academic projects.
Policies and Procedures
Students visit the media center once a week with their homeroom class. They may check out 2 books at a time or one magazine and book. Books are due 2 weeks after they are checked out. Students may not check out if they have an overdue or lost book. Payment for lost books should be immediate so that students’ checkout privileges may be reinstated.
MCPS Online Resources
The online resources may be accessed from home. Ask in the media center for passwords.
Oak View Elementary School is proud to be part of the Black-Eyed Susan Book Award Program. Students participate in this program as part of their library media class instruction. Since 1992, the Black-Eyed Susan Book Award has honored outstanding books chosen annually by Maryland students. The purpose of the program is to “promote literacy and life-long reading” by encouraging students at all grade levels to read and enjoy quality, contemporary literature.
The award program is divided into three categories: Picture Book Award, and separate awards for chapter books in Grades 4-6, 6-9, and 9-12. Students who participate are required to read a certain number of books in a category before they may vote for their choice of the most outstanding. Votes are cast in March or April and winners are announced in early May. The Maryland Association of School Librarians list of nominees may be accessed online.
Fifth grade HGC students were given the opportunity to submit a letter to the “Letters About Literature” contest, in which students write to an author of a book that had significant impact on the student’s thinking or behavior. The winners are awarded a grant of $10,000 to be given to the library of their choosing. Oak View's very own Julian S. was the first runner-up for the state of Maryland!! For more information about this program check out Letters About Literature.
Information Literacy Skills
Students learn how to use the Patron’s Catalog, so that they may search for and locate materials for pleasure or research. As part of their regular media instruction, students learn how to take notes, create a bibliography, search databases, evaluate the quality of a website, and many other skills necessary for accessing and using information in an ethical manner in today’s complex, information-rich world.