The East Hall Middle School Media Center       The mission of the East Hall Middle School Media Center is to enable students and staff to effectively locate and use information and to encourage lifelong learning. Facilities and Materials • Thousands of fiction and nonfiction books • An extensive reference collection • Student computers for instruction and access to the computerized card catalog • Audiovisual materials including videos, DVDs and books on tape • Magazines and newspapers for staff and student use Hours The Media Center opens for students at 8:30 a.m.  Students should not be in the media center without a media specialist or media clerk present.  Students are allowed to stop by any time during the day with a signed agenda book. The student’s name, purpose of visit, time and the teacher’s signature should be in the agenda. Teachers may send small groups of students (five or less) and larger groups should be accompanied by a teacher. Students who do not have a clear assignment or are not on task will be sent back to the classroom. Check Outs Students may check out two items at any one time. This can be two books or a combination of a library book, a magazine or reference book. Regular library books are checked out for two weeks. Check out of reference books and magazines is limited to one per night. These can be checked out after 3:00 p.m. and must be returned the following morning. Students with overdue materials will not be allowed to check out additional items.   In support of the school's Accelerated Reader Program, students who have earned 25 AR points may check out three items while students who have earned 50 AR points will be permitted to check out four items. Barcodes Students are issued one free library barcode per year. This barcode should be placed in the student agenda book by the teacher. It is necessary to have an agenda book with a library barcode to check out materials. Replacement barcodes are 50 cents. Replacement agenda books are purchased in the counselor’s office. Library Card Catalog Info Centre is the computerized card catalog. Students may search for materials by title, author, subject and key words. Accelerated Reader books are marked with dots of different colors indicating grade level. Student Responsibility Materials checked out are the responsibility of the person who checks them out. Do not check out materials for other students. If a book is lost or damaged, it is the responsibility of the student who checked it out to pay for it. No other books may be checked out until the lost book is paid for. Internet Use Students will not be allowed to use the Internet without direct classroom teacher supervision. No games may be played on the computers in the Media Center. Educational Websites The following websites are very helpful to students and require a user name and password. These are posted in the Media Center. • www.galileo.usg.edu contains databases that index a host of periodicals, scholarly journals, business directories, etc. There are several that would be of use to middle school students. • www.gcic.edu The Georgia Career Information Center has a great deal of information on occupations and universities in Georgia. • www.worldbookonline.com Now paid for by our school system. It requires a user name and password for home use. This information is made available to students and parents. It contains not only the great articles you expect from World Book but many additional features students are sure to enjoy.