Media Center

The Media Specialists at Birmingham Covington School work collaboratively with classroom teachers and administrators to provide the resources and instruction for students and staff.  Through lessons integrated with classroom curriculum, students learn to expand their reading interests and abilities, become effective researchers, use inquiry and technology meaningfully, enhance critical thinking, and gain and create new knowledge. Please visit the BPS Library Media Centers website to learn more about the district’s library media curriculum at each grade level.

Doing research? Need homework help?

Click here to access Destiny!

Destiny is BCS's virtual library/media catalog, as well as our access point for databases and recommended websites for research. Please note that some of our databases require usernames and passwords. All students were emailed this list on 10/5/12. Contact Mrs. Truesdell to have them resent.

Read all summer long with eBooks!

You can read and check out books on any computer from the Follett Shelf website, or you can download an app for your device.

Get Started: iPads & Androids
Get Started: Kindle Fire
Get Started: Smartphones
Get Started: iPhone & iPod Touch

Battle of the Books

Prepare for Battle! The 2013-2014 Battle of the Books launches in the fall of 2013. It is a reading program for all BPS 4th and 5th graders who enjoy a challenge. Battle participants read up to ten of the books, which encompass various genres and are chosen by BPS Media Specialists. Who knows the books the best? Which book was the school favorite? It all comes down to the Battle in the winter of 2014!

For BCS-specific Battle events, check out the BCS Battle Wiki!
For more information, visit the BPS Battle of the Books site.

The Birbery Awards

The Birbery is a reading program designed by Birmingham Media Specialists for all Birmingham Public School 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. It's our very own "Mock Newbery." The real Newbery is an award given each year in January for the best book written by an American author. The book is chosen from hundreds of books published in the previous year, and the winner is chosen by a panel of adults. The Birbery intends to provide a similar experience for our 6-8 grade students. The 2013-2014 program kicks off on November 1, 2013!

For more information, please visit the Birbery wiki.

Media Center Policies & Procedures

Hours of Operation

The Media Center is open for student use during school hours. If students are not visiting with their teacher, they must have teacher permission AND a Media Specialist or parent volunteer must be present.

Student Use

Students are expected to abide by the BCS rules for behavior and the posted MC guidelines for behavior.
1.  Be doing something productive.
2.  Be doing it in a way that allows others to be productive.
3.  Be respectful of other people and property.
4.  Ask for help when needed.

Checkouts

3/4 students may borrow up to two materials at a time and 5-8th grade students may borrow up to 4 materials at a time, as long as they do not have any overdue materials.  The loan period for all materials is two weeks.  Students may renew their materials.

Overdues

If a student does not return his or her library materials by the due date, then that student is not allowed to borrow another item until the overdue item is returned to the Media Center.  Overdue notices are emailed to BPS email accounts weekly.  Overdue notices will also be sent to parents in the mail at the end of the school year.

Lost/Damaged Materials

If a student loses any library material, then the student is required to pay for the replacement cost of the borrowed item.  If the lost item is found within 30 days, the money will be refunded.  If a student returns a library item in damaged condition, then the student is responsible for paying the replacement cost for the damaged item.  In the case of lost or damaged items, the student is not allowed to borrow another item from the library media center until the replacement cost of the lost or damaged item is paid in full.

Media Specialists

Barbara Clark began her career in Birmingham in 1987. She is currently the District Department Head for K-12 Library Media Services and Library Media Specialist at Birmingham Covington (part of a two-person Library Media Specialist team with Ann Truesdell since 2010). Barbara is a graduate of the University of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee and University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she received her Masters degree in Library Science. An active member of the American Library Association, Barbara  has served on the Coretta Scott King, Newbery, and Caldecott Award Committees. She is also a Library of Congress Teacher Mentor. A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Barbara met her husband Russ after moving to Michigan. They have been married twenty-one years and have a family of all boys, two sons and three grandsons.
Email Mrs. Clark.

Ann Truesdell has been teaching at BCS since 2004.  She currently works as the Library Media Specialist and teaches 3/4 Engage and 5/6 Thinkering co-curricular classes.  She is an Albion College graduate with a Masters in Library Science from Wayne State University and a Masters in Education from Walden University.  Ann is also a published author of ten books that are a part of Cherry Lake's Information Explorer and Information Expolorer Junior series, as well as a contributing author to Navigating the Information Tsunami.  She grew up in nearby Lake Orion, where she met her husband, Mike, during high school marching band.  They have three children: James, Charlotte, and Matilda.
Email Mrs. Truesdell.