Mission Road Elementary is located in Cartersville, Georgia and is part of the Bartow County School System.

The school was built in 1985 and currently has 520 students enrolled. The school serves students in grades K-5. Mission Road Elementary is located in a close knit rural community. There are 43 certified teachers, 2 administrators and 20 classified staff members. The media center is located near the center of the building and is accessible from the 1st grade hall and the 2nd grade hall. There is a full-time media specialist and I am the media clerk. We have a collection of 13,227 holdings with the majority of our collection being greater than 10 years old. There is a computer lab in the media center with 9 desktop computers for research and for taking Reading Counts quizzes, a Promethean Board, and closed-circuit capability to show educational videos at the request of teachers. Bartow County is located in the Northwest Georgia Regional Development Area in the scenic foothills of Georgias Appalachian Mountains. Bartow County is approximately 45 miles northwest of the city limits of Atlanta. It is home to the Etowah Indian Mounds, Red Top Mountain State Park, Booth Western Art Museum, and the Tellus Museum. Around the perimeter of Bartow County is a hub of educational institutes including Kennesaw State University, Shorter College, Berry College, Georgia Highlands College and Chattahoochee Technical Institute. The Bartow County School System is the 25th largest school district in the state of Georgia. There are 21 schools in Bartow County, each accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. There are 12 elementary schools, 4 middle, and 3 high schools, as well as Stars Pre-K, a state funded center and the Bartow Academy Alterative School. Of the total student population 80% are Caucasian, 8% are African American and 7% are Hispanic. Since the school was built in 1985, our media center really has a lot of space. That is one very positive thing about it. However, the space is not being used to its fullest potential. There are no comfortable places for the children to come in and sit to read. There is one very hard park bench and one old wicker chair that is falling apart. The circulation desk needs to be replaced as well as it is falling apart. One environmental issue in the library is that the roof still leaks in certain areas and in those areas the ceiling tiles have mold on them. These are the three areas that I would like to address in my facilities plan as I feel they are probably the most pressing. I would like to create a comfortable reading area first so that the library is more inviting. I want the children to enjoy coming to the library and to be comfortable. I have looked at several websites which offer furniture and I chosen kid friendly furnishings. Those would be at the top of my wish list and would be the first thing I would buy.

If the circulation desk cannot be replaced, I would certainly move it. It is located at one of the entrances which I would consider to be the main entrance (entrance from the 1st grade hallway). The way that the desk is turned, however, prevents a full view of the library. My back is always turned to the students who are in the library. I would move the desk over to what is now the reading center area so that I could have an eye on things better. I think it would help with traffic flow near the entrance as well because when children are standing at the desk to check out they are also standing in the doorway so when a class is coming into the library it creates a traffic jam and presents a problem for students who are trying to exit the library. The last issue is with the ceiling tiles. I just do not know what else to do other than go to Home Depot and buy the tiles myself and replace them. For the last 3 years, I have told the janitors that they need to be changed. I even spoke with the head of the maintanence department at the county office and nothing has been done. Maybe in a few years when I am dying from a respiratory illness my estate can sue the county.