Laura Bishop

Creating a Library and Media Center For the 21st Century

by Melissa Dorfman

Laura Bishop has dived right in to her new position as Director of the Library and Media Center at Hun. She started her first year by introducing students and teachers to new and creative ways to approach their projects and research assignments.

Ms. Bishop credits attending inspiring conferences such as the Education Information Technology Conference earlier in her career, and the innovative people she met there, for introducing her to some of the “must haves” for a 21st Century Library and Media Center.

Lib Guides is one of the most important tools our Media Center Director feels she has implemented so far at Hun. This organizational tool for digital data keeps information for projects, learning about a particular theme or topic, and guides to research in one place. Ms. Bishop introduced my students to Lib guides as what she calls a “one stop shop” to find all instructions, printed materials, and data bases that our library has to offer, relating to our topic of an imaginary trip through Central America. After research is completed using the help of the individualized guide for the project, students can post their project right on the guide itself. From start to finish, Lib Guide allows students to create their projects with ease. 

Thanks to Ms. Bishop, some Hun students have also already been using the “Questia” app for advanced work and research. It contains thousands of ebooks that unlimited users around the country and the world can use at the same time. Students have their own folders and can highlight and take notes while they are reading. Here is a Youtube video Ms. Bishop created to make using Questia as user friendly as possible for our students and faculty.

Finally, our art courses have been enhanced with the the Artstor app. It is a repository of images and works from around the world. Ms. Bishop says excitedly, “You can see the brushstrokes in the pieces.” This allows students to easily compare and contrast some of the world’s greatest artists. Check out Mona Lisa from Artstor!

From my perspective as a very grateful teacher whose students have benefited from the new resources Laura Bishop has brought to our Library, I am very excited about the new opportunities for learning she has brought to Hun. I know we all look forward to continued collaboration with her to help enhance our students’ learning experience at our School. She is excited about what students can do in her library, and the enthusiasm is contagious for all who work with her.