Crestview, Marquette, Rockwood Summit Earn DESE Exemplary School Library Program Recognition

The Crestview Middle, Marquette High and Rockwood Summit High libraries earned the distinction of Exemplary School Library Program (ESLP) from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) for the 2025-2026 school year.

The three Rockwood libraries are among only 14 from across the state to earn this annual distinction. This is the first time since 2022 that three Rockwood libraries have earned ESLP honors.

“The Exemplary School Library Program recognizes the entire library community -- students, teachers, administrators, support staff, parents and librarians,” said Margaret Sullivan, Rockwood Summit librarian and lead Rockwood School District librarian. “Kudos to the RSHS community and to the Rockwood School District for valuing libraries and providing the support necessary to build an exemplary program.”

Rockwood Summit has earned ESLP for six straight years, the most of any school in the state. Marquette last earned the honor in 2022, and this is the first time Crestview has earned ESLP honors.

Crestview is also the first Rockwood middle school to be named an ESLP.

“Crestview has been an exemplary library for a long time, but this is a rigorous process to prove you’re an exemplary library and that you’re exceeding the standards set by the state,” said Crestview librarian Kristin Hancock. “Rockwood is continuously a district that has a strong library program, and that makes me really proud to be in Rockwood as a librarian. So much credit needs to go to Margaret Sullivan. As our library coordinator, she is a phenomenal advocate for librarians and library programs. It also shows that Rockwood understands how valuable school libraries are. We are staffed by educators who are making a difference in student learning and outcomes.”

The ESLP application consists of providing evidence for 21 different indicators across five main categories -- instruction, leadership, library environment, library management and staffing. The applications are evaluated and assessed by a team of school librarians from across the state and earn 2 points (Exemplary) or 1 point (Approaching) for each indicator. In order to receive the DESE recognition, a school library program must score 38 out of 42 possible points without receiving a score of 0 on any indicator.

Librarians who undertake the ESLP application comprehensively document their library program and its many services throughout the course of a school year.

At Marquette, librarians Ray Holmes and Brittany Sharitz say they’re proud of the many different venues through which their program serves students, staff and community members. Sharitz said a student recently referred to the library as a “Temple of Knowledge.”

“That has maybe some reverence, where we try to keep it a little more causal in here than being a temple of knowledge,” she said, with a laugh. “We call it the heart of the school. Not only are we centrally located, but we also think that heart piece ties to that emotional belonging. We are trying to be a space where everyone feels like they belong.”

One of the more recent emphases in their roles has been serving as literacy leads in the building, planning training, raising awareness and connecting patrons to resources for forms of literacy such as digital, media, technology, information and traditional literacy.

"I hope that all of our patrons see the Marquette library as a place for reading for pleasure and learning about the world around them and how things are changing constantly,” Holmes said. “I’m also really proud of our lessons and instruction that we do with teachers. We’re lucky that we have so many teachers around Marquette who want to work with us to share our expertise and content and trust us when we draw those connections between what we teach in the library and their curricular content.”

The purpose of the Rockwood library media program is to prepare graduates who have gained the ability to access, evaluate, select and utilize the most useful information from a vast collection of sources and formats, as well as providing the means for supporting students in their development and growth as lifelong readers and thinkers.

Rockwood librarians and library assistants inhabit many roles beyond the traditional sense of a library as a place to check out books. At Rockwood Summit, for instance, Sullivan and co-librarian Dr. Gregory Baum recently led history students in a lesson on classifying primary documents. At Crestview, Hancock has equipped a section of the library with a sensory space for students and staff to utilize throughout the day.

And yes, if you’re a member of a Rockwood school community looking for your next great read, our librarians are still your go-to people for that as well.

“We have students who don’t read much who come in here, and we’re able to make a connection with them and help them find books that they enjoy,” Hancock said. “School libraries are so important for the reading culture of a school.”