The Bucks County Schools Intermediate Unit Professional Library has been in existence for twelve years, beginning service when the I.U. moved into its new building. The Library's computerized circulation and catalog system is on-line through Web Collection Plus, a technology that allows library collections to be accessed via the Internet. Bucks County teachers and administrators can do professional research from anywhere with an Internet connection--school, office, or home.
The BCIU Professional Library started out as a collection of special education and curriculum materials, but it has grown to a specialized collection that supports educational reference and research from the undergraduate to graduate, professional, and administrative levels. The Library holdings include approximately 7,500 books and over 125 periodicals and journals that reflect a wide range of subjects of interest to educators.
Through the statewide ACCESS P.O.W.E.R. project, the Professional Library has access to a variety of full-text databases on the Internet. This is an on-line research tool that contains a wealth of full text information from EBSCO, ERIC, SIRS, AP Photo Archives, and many other sources. Through another grant, the Professional Library participates in Access Pennsylvania, an interlibrary loan project for sharing needed materials across the state. The collections of over 1,900 libraries and 3,000,000+ unique titles are included in this project.
Many library users also benefit from the library's membership policy. Professionals outside Bucks County and at local colleges can become subscribing members to the Professional Library for an annual fee of $25.00. The various groups of professionals working toward graduate degrees and certification in various I.U. programs also use the library resources during their class time.These policies have opened the door to this unique facility to more educational professionals.
The technological innovations and services of the Professional Library play an important role in much of the research being done by teachers and administrators of Bucks County schools.It is through these technological resources that today's educators are preparing themselves and their students for tomorrow's needs.
(The B.C.I.U. Professional Library is staffed by Beverly Carey, IMRS Specialist, and Marilyn Schulz, Assistant Librarian. It is open M,T,Th from 8:30am - 6:00pm, Wednesdays from 8:30am - 8:00pm, and Fridays from 8:30 am - 4:30 pm. Phone Number 215-348-2940, x 1623. Fax Number 215-348-8315. Email: proflib@bucksiu.org)
