Library Media Center

Mission

Our mission is to provide a safe and supportive environment for our 21st century learners that fosters curiosity, responsibility, and a love for literacy. We do this in an effort to educate today's children to become tomorrow's leaders.

Vision

Our vision at the Big Sandy Elementary Library Media Center is to promote collaboration, engage students in critical thinking/questioning, produce ethical digital citizens, and nurture the reader in all students.

About the Big Sandy Library

Our balanced collection has over 6,500 books available for checkout. We operate on a flexible and fixed schedule. We code, research and work on digital citizenship each year. Our maker space collection includes Keva Planks, Legos, puzzles, Snap Circuits, and more. These materials help us develop our Big Sandy kiddos into innovative thinkers and creative problem-solvers.

TCSS Libraries Mission Statement

The mission of the TCSS libraries as an agency of both instruction and service is to encourage reading for pleasure and information, to support the curricular goals of our campuses, to teach appropriate research skills in an integrated context, and to aid each other. It is the goal of all TCSS Library Media Centers to provide the best quality resources, instructional learning opportunities, collaboration and instructional support for our learning communities, enabling and equipping all students as they learn, grow, and achieve.

All TCSS Library Media Centers support the Alabama State Course of Study, the basis of our school curriculum program and its publication "Alabama Library Media Handbook for the 21st Century Learner" as well as "Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs," published by the American Association of School Librarians and the American Library Association. In addition, the Library Media Center endorses the literacy principles of the AASL’s National School Library Standards.

TCSS Library Media Centers provide open access for all students. Our system’s Library Media Centers use Destiny, a Follett software product as its automated management system.

Destiny provides TitlePeek®, which gives students a chance to preview books online; One Search®, which lets students get information from the school library and the Internet as a whole with a single search; and WebPath Express®, which limits student searches to approved, grade-appropriate web sites. Destiny access is available to teachers and students at school and at home via internet access.

The Alabama Virtual Library provides all students, teachers, and citizens of the State of Alabama with online access to essential library and information resources. It is primarily a group of online databases that have magazine, journal, and newspaper articles for research. Through the AVL, an equitable core of information sources is available to every student and citizen in Alabama, raising the level of excellence in schools and communities across the state.

If you enjoy the benefits that AVL brings to your school, college, library or home, please take a few minutes to thank your local legislators for providing this resource for the State of Alabama.