https://www.act.org/
Even thought the ACT is only around $50, not everyone can afford to take the ACT test, which is required to gain entrance to a college or university. I have seen a steady increase in the amount of attention college entrance and taking the ACT has gotten from schools. At the public library I work at I host an ACT basics class that introduces students to the test, gives them some strategies, and helps encourage them to study. When completing the first half of student teaching in an elementary school last semester I noticed banners advertising different Kentucky colleges and universities hanging around the hallways. We now have middle school students registering for our ACT basics class. I just don't remember this being an issue when I was in middle school. I honestly don't remember it being an issue when I was in high school. My parents pushed me to study and enrolled me into an SAT prep class with a company called Kaplan, but we didn't have this enormous push like I see in schools now.
To prepare for ACT testing, students are asked to come to the library over the course of several days to complete 'pre-bubbling.' Pre-bubbling is when students fill in the bubbles corresponding to their name, address, birth year, and other basic information to save time on test day,
Besides ACT testing, the library is also used for Kossa testing. Kentucky Occupational Skills Standards is a test schools can use to help students obtain college admissions benchmarks even if their ACT test scores are low in some subject areas. So for example, if a student scored below benchmark range for math but got an acceptable score with the Kossa test, they would still be eligible for college admissions.
I had no idea the library was used for so many different purposes. I'm learning that even in elementary schools libraries are used often for purposes that would not normally fall within a libraries scope of use. I think this is both beneficial and complicated. During lunch period I see students pour in to finish homework, papers, projects, etc. but must depend on other teacher's not having booked the library's banks of computers. I see collaboration with classroom teachers as a primary role for any library in any setting but at times meeting needs for all users is difficult when space is limited and goals must be split. As a librarian I want to be able to tell the students coming in during lunch that they can have access just as much as I want to tell teachers who desire to collaborate that they can have access. Sadly, what I'm seeing with the school libraries I have visited is that due to space constraints and no type of budget for a renovation services must be at time limited based on who has laid previous claim. I wonder if schools are looking into alternatives to address these matters? Maybe provide an open computer lab like colleges and universities do? Perhaps that has not occurred due to the same space issues placed on libraries? With so many schools moving towards paperless campuses it would be interesting to see how varying schools are working with these 21st century technology dilemmas.
