Library News

CVHS Library and English teachers invite rising Juniors and Seniors taking APEL or HAmLit next year to participate in in the CVUSD Reads! Summer Reading Challenges.  CVHS Library is piloting Beanstack to incentivize reading. Students log their reading, earn badges and incentives. Encourage students to join. Get started on the library website.

All students and staff, return your library books to the library! 

• Return library books inside the library.  
• Return textbooks outside the library building on wood carts.
• Check out summer books! Students may check out an unlimitted number of books.

As reported in April, CVUSD is preparing a Collection Development and Reconsideration Policy for its libraries. A top priority for our school libraries, the policy is being developed by CVUSD library staff and Education Services.  

Using research conducted this year on best practices for school libraries at the local, state and national levels, library staff and Education Services officers will work together to draft a policy for CVUSD Libraries. The policy will guide the ongoing development of the libraries' print and digital collections across the district. A collection development policy is a foundational policy that all libraries have and which guides the healthy development of library collections over time. CVUSD Libraries have been operating without one for some time.

The draft policy will be submitted to the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent for Education Services for review. It will be submitted to the Board for approval. 

In August, all library staff will be trained on the draft policy in anticipation of its approval, in some form.  Further training will be provided to all appropriate school personnel in 2025-2026.

Questions can be directed to Emily Stambaugh, District Librarian of Record.

CVUSD is adding new e-resources to support teachers and students. CVHS will gain access to several of them. 

CVHS teachers will find access to the following e-resources on the Library's Database A-Z list in the upcoming weeks:

• JSTOR Secondary Schools Collection (CVHS sitewide)
• Gale in Context: Biography (CVHS sitewide)
• Oxford English Dictionary (CVHS sitewide)
• BookCreator (CVHS, 1 license)

The following resources will become available for other sites:

• BeanStack (4 pilot sites, TBD)
• Pebble & Go

Ms. Stambaugh is currently working with each publisher/vendor to finalize licenses and establish 24/7 access. Whenever possible, Google Single Sign-on will be enabled. 

Once access is enabled with Google SSO, each resource will gradually be included in library subject guides and instructional offerings for all teachers and classes.

The CVHS Bring Change to Mind (BC2M) celebrates Seasons of Service at the library January 20-24 with a book display of YA novels that reflect, explore or celebrate some aspect of mental health. 

Visit the library to browse. Check out a book that might move you! Explore an aspect of the mind you didn't know about before.

Stop by the Library on Monday for free books! Bring your book bags! The library is making space for new books. Come take a look at our withdrawn books. Take as many as you'd like. 

CVHS students, teachers and staff now have access to current editions of the New York Times while on the high school campus, compliments of CVHS Library. 

Visit the library website for access to the New York Times (Current Edition) via the Databases A-Z or News Resources.

Knowledge for class. Knowledge for life.

Whether you are prepping course materials or planning for the weekend ahead, discover original, quality journalism that helps you
understand the world — and make the most of every part of life. 

• Connect to school Wifi and begin reading today.
• No user names. No passwords.

About our institutional subscription

All CVHS users have access to 

• New York Times U.S., Spanish, Canadian, Chinese and International editions.
• Current issues via direct institutional subscription with New York Times
• World, Business, Arts, LifeStyle and Opinion sections, NY Times Magazine and Interactive articles
• Does not include Games or Cooking

For older issues, citation management tools, and to download articles, use Proquest. Links to the New York Times via Proquest are on the library website.

Seek the truth. Find new perspectives. Inform your conversations on current topics!
 

This year has been a year of putting infrastructure in place for a modern library media center, with significant improvements to the library's teaching and learning environment. 

CVHS Library programs engaged students in civil society and heritage celebrations:

• Get out the Vote. The Alameda County Registrar of Voters and Library partnered to provide first-time voters trusted, non-partisan information.
• Hispanic American Heritage Month. A cross-disciplinary collaboration between the library, Advanced Spanish classes and Ceramics classes resulted in a lovely Day of the Dead Altar at the library. Inspired by student research , created by student artists.
• Native American, Indigenous, First Nations Heritage Month. An informative display of the Klamath River Dam demolition in Northern California and Southern Oregon inspired students to learn about the power of youth activism and benefits of devolution of land administration to native american communities.

The new Friends of the Library program invites volunteers and donors to support the library.

Districtwide professional development for all library staff included training in Collection Development Policies, Freedom to Read, and the American Library Association's Bill of Rights. Staff became familiar with National and State Standards for school libraries and identified priorities for districtwide action. A top priority for library staff is exploring a Collection Development Policy for all libraries to guide selection and deselection. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the California Freedom to Read Act into law, providing greater impetus for our libraries to develop a Collection Development Policy.

New Books and Grants for non-Fiction Books made important improvements to the library's fiction and non-fiction collections. The library will continue to improve its STEAM collections in 2025 and refresh our contemporary fiction including authentic literature in English, Spanish, Mandarin and other languages.

The High School Library Assistant Course has been aligned with CTE and NACE standards. Curriculum Development for Student Lead Library Services places greater ownership of the library, its operations and success in the hands of students. Students learn real-world transferable skills to secure future college and career jobs in information management, businesses and cultural heritage institutions.

Digital subject guides are under development for all high school subjects. Library guides provide teachers and students access to excellent information resources to expand their knowledge.

Digital library infrastructure improvements have stabilized and improved student and teacher access to content. Library databases, the NoodleTools Citation manager and the Destiny Library Management System (LMS) have transitioned to Google Single-Sign On. A self-checkout station was enabled for high school students. CVHS Library acquired industry-standard Springshare software over the summer to support the integration of publisher content, the Library Management System, scheduling and blog software to provide the foundation for a public-facing 24/7 digital library. An A-Z list of databases provides clear, predictable access to databases. In the new year, continued work with IT and library staff district wide will improve student and teacher access to the library catalogs and communication infrastructure.

CVHS Library student assistants and staff completed the inventory of Non-Fiction collections the week before finals. 

CVHS Library holds more than 5,700 non-fiction titles valued at $190K and has kept its loss rate down to well below 1% (36 titles.) 

Students in the Library Assistant Course learned real-world work skills as they scanned the library collections, reviewed inventory reports and prepare post-inventory valuation reports. They learned about the theory and practice of “taking inventory” in a business or cultural heritage institution and put that into action at the library. The Library Assistant Course is an elective course where students learn transferable work skills beyond the library.

Also this year, in terms of inventory management, the library is experimenting with conducting two, partial inventories, rather than one week-long inventory, to minimize disruption during finals and reduce closure time during the school year from five days to four.  The library also continues to pilot a no-fines policy consistent with others in the state and is monitoring loss/returns, management overhead, and improved student readership.

CVHS Library will close Thursday, December 12 and Friday, December 13 for partial inventory. Check the library website for updated hours. 

All library staff and TAs will inventory the Non-Fiction collections in December. 

Taking inventory annually is essential to maintaining a healthy, vibrant library.

The library strives to minimize disruption during the academic year, and is grateful for your patience as we complete this essential task. 

This year, to reduce the amount of time we must close for inventory in May, the library will survey the entire collection in two parts: Non-Fiction in December and Fiction in May. We aim to complete the inventory in a total of 4 days in 2024-2025. By contrast, inventory required 5 days in 2023-2024. 

The new approach requires training and preparation for all staff on new methods. Training commences next week. The library will remain open during staff training.