Mission Statement

The mission of the Ocala Springs Elementary Media program is to ensure that the students and staff are effective users of ideas and information. This is accomplished by providing intellectual and physical access to materials in all formats; by providing instruction to foster competence and stimulate interest in reading, viewing, and using information and ideas; and by working with other educators to design learning strategies to meet the needs of individual students.

Circulation Policy

1. Each student in Kindergarten through second grade may check out one book for as long as one week.
2. Each student in 3rd through 5th grade may check out 2 books for as long as one week.
3. Students may renew a book for an additional week.
4. There are no fines for overdue materials.
5. Students may not check out any materials if they have overdue, lost or damaged books that have not be returned or paid for.
6. Reference materials and encyclopedias may not be checked out by students. They remain in the media center for everyone to use.

Activities

TV Broadcast Studio

Our studio televises live announcements daily. Student recognition is featured. Students operate the entire show with supervision from the media specialist. The crew consists of anchors, camera and sound technicians, announcers, and assistants.

Accelerated Reader - AR is a computerized reading program which allows students to take tests on books and earn certificates and rewards as they reach goals. Computers for AR testing are set up in the Media Center. Students may also take AR tests in their classrooms.

Sunshine State Young Readers Award Books

The Sunshine State Young Readers' Award program presents a list of fifteen books chosen each year by a committee of Florida librarians. They are chosen for their quality and appeal, and represent some of the best in children's literature today. Students in grades 3 through 5 are encouraged to read at least three of the books, so they can vote for their favorite. Every year, the author of the book with the most statewide votes is presented with the Sunshine State Young Readers' Award.

Sunshine State Book Bowl

Students must read some of the 15 Sunshine State books and pass the AR tests with a 85% or higher to qualify for the Book Bowl try-outs in the spring.

The five-member team will compete with other schools in the county on knowledge relating to the fifteen books. Ocala Springs has done very well in the past, and we are proud of all our Book Bowl teams!

The FRA Children's Book Award

The FRA Children's Book Award is a program sponsored by the Florida Reading Association and is for students in Pre-K through second grade. Students read or have read to them eight quality books, and then vote on their favorite book. The votes are tallied at the state level, and the author of the winning book receives recognition.

Students in PreKindergarten, Kindergarten, first grade and second grade have the opportunity to read or listen to recent literature that is considered the best in the state. Students also learn about the importance of voting.