Media Center

Welcome to the Media Center! 

I have wonderful Media Center news to share!  The district has given our school $4,572.66 to spend on new print and digital books for our media center!  I used three different OCPS approved vendors.  I bought books to replace some very popular series of books, such as our Dr. Seuss collection, Diary of the Wimpy Kid, and the famous Pigeon books.  If you would like to browse these books to see what books will be going into our library collection, feel free to search these links.  If you have any questions or concerns please email me, Ms. Schmitt, Southwood Elementary Media Specialist at [email protected] before March 27, 2024.  On this date, I will be ordering these wonderful books for our children to enjoy. 

Cart Quote Media Center 3.11.24.pdf

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zsishZaZOu4mkAmR_ILRC0w1lK8PgIRC4jJZgPILXy0/edit?usp=sharing

Media Center Staff

Ms. Dana Schmitt, Southwood Elementary Media Specialist
[email protected] 
(407) 858-2230 ext: 3922243

Ms. Schmitt would love some volunteers to help out in the library and/or for the fall and spring book fairs!  Please contact her via email if you would like to volunteer!  You must be ADDitions approved to volunteer at any OCPS school. 

Collection Development Procedures

Orange County Public Schools' collection development procedures are documented on School Board Policy IJL - Library Materials Selection and Adoption. Library media materials, whether purchased or donated, are selected by a school district employee who holds a valid educational media specialist certificate. Our school’s collection development plan can be accessed using the link below:

It is very important to me, as your Media Specialist, to fill our library with books our students are passionate about, that fly off the shelves and make them want to READ!  Therefore, I conduct surveys from our Southwood students and staff to find out the interests and learning needs of our students when ordering books for our school Media Center.  I also carefully review our Library Collection Plan, created annually, to order books that reflect our students’ cultures and that give us up-to-date nonfiction texts for the 21st century. 

Before I submit my order of books, I will share the books with reviews to our Student Advisory Council, SAC and our Parent Teacher Association, PTA via email and/or at a SAC or PTA meeting.  A period of time will be given for caregivers and members of our community to voice any concerns for any of the purchases. 

I value all of your input and want the best books for our Southwood Cubs! 

Library Catalog

Orange County Public Schools uses Follett Destiny’s Library Management System to catalog all materials maintained in the school library media center. The Destiny Library Catalog can be accessed by hovering over the Media Center tab on this website and selecting the “Destiny Library Catalog” option from the dropdown menu.

The public has access to search any school’s library catalog for available titles. The brief video below demonstrates how to search a school’s library catalog.


Spanish Video

Additional library media materials can be accessed through the following links or on LaunchPad.

Classroom Libraries

Our school's classroom libraries are available to the public at the link below and may be searched by title or author.

Instructional Materials

A list of all instructional materials, including those materials used to provide instruction required by Section 1003.42, Florida Statutes, are linked below. All supplemental instructional materials, purchased by the school or district, are linked below:

School and Grade Level Reading Lists