Oreta Taylor

The mission of the media center is to provide students with the resources, desire and skills to become enthusiastic, life-long, proficient learners

My vision for the media center is that it actually is what it is so often called, "the hub of the school." When teachers think about lessons and curriculum, they go to the media center because they will find resources and ideas to help the students learn as much as they can. Collaborative planning and teaching is the rule, rather than the exception. When administrators are planning they come to the media center because they know that it will support their plans and because they want the media center to be an important part of those plans and goals. Students come to the media center to learn about things that interest them, to find books to read and to get help with assignments. They find the media center an inviting place and eagerly look forward to their visits. The media center has sufficient finances, personnel and equipment to support all these activities.

The library media center does not exist in a vacuum. The library media center program serves not only the students and teachers but the community as well. We work in partnership with the local public library, libraries located at Georgia institutions of higher education, and with other neighborhood associations to improve the quality of life and access to information in the community.

We are citizens of a democratic republic, the United States of America, and believe that informed and responsible citizens are essential to the continuation of our form of government. It is imperative that informed citizens have access to a wide variety of viewpoints and that they should not be denied this access through censorship. Schools and especially the school library media center are essential components of the societal process of training new and effective citizens. In order for our future leaders and voters to be effective, they must be able to access, evaluate, use, and ethically produce information.