Environmental Scan

 

Hi blog readers! Below are my thoughts after completing an environmental scan of the town I live and work in. Google defines an environmental scan as, "An environmental scan is a process that involves gathering information about an organization's internal and external environment to help inform decision-making. The goal of an environmental scan is to understand the context in which an organization operates and to identify potential risks or opportunities." As humans, we can live just about anywhere, but truly getting to know a place is what makes it a home. I have lived in the town I describe below for the past four year, and can confidently say that I have come to know it very well. While I may not live here forever, especially as my family grows, for now I appreciative of my small town and all I have gained from it. 

    Working in a school community the past four years that is vastly different from the area that I grew up in has been both challenging and eye opening. In my small town of about 800 people, there is one school district, a gas station, two eateries, and one stop light. Being that Lometa is almost right smack dab in the middle of Texas, the physical environment can be very temperamental, as is Texas custom. For example, this morning when I walked outside it was 48 degrees, with a predicted high of 81. This area can experience extremes like snow and ice, and then turn around and be able to fry an egg on concrete. While I did live and grow up very close to this town, my parents were raised here and attended the school that I now work at. Driving through Lometa, Texas however, and living here have been very different experiences. I have gotten to know this town on a very separate level being a member of the community as an adult than I did as a child. Most people who live here have done so their entire lives. Their parents lived here, and their grandparents and great-grandparents before them. Many homes are blended, living with grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc. Most children who attend school here share their classes with cousins or siblings. I myself have two cousins here at school. A fair number of kids here are being raised by their grandparents instead of parents, and call them mom and dad instead of grandma and grandpa. About ¼ of the students who attend Lometa speak Spanish, or speak Spanish only at home. We have a few students attending currently who do not speak any English at all.

    Many of my female coworkers have husbands who work for pipeline or oil companies who support their families from afar. This is not really a town for the commuters of the world; most who live here also work here because aside from jobs, there is not much else to draw people to this area. The closest town with a grocery store is a 30 minute drive, so you will see many people who garden or raise chickens and livestock to support their families and save money. Lometa is a small town surrounded by farmland, and the community was built around the school which houses 300 students PreK through 12th grade in two buildings. Most people here work for the school district, at one of the several places to eat, or work for local ranches. There is not a plethora of options. I have noticed that most people have either grown up here, don’t have the opportunities or resources to leave, or they are “stuck here” by circumstances. Unfortunately, Lometa has struggled with drug issues and the local government has seen lots of turnover while dealing with it. The town recently hired its third police chief in the past year, and the town is hopeful this one will persevere.

    While the school district may be small, we have been blessed with administration who understand the importance and value of technology in today's day and age. Our admin has done everything they can to keep up with today's technology standards, such as purchase of smartboards and chromebooks. Teachers do use the technology available to them, but some still struggle with ways to implement it outside of Google Classroom. Being a small district with a small budget, we try very hard to take care of the things that we do have or refurbish when we can. In the library, I see lots of students who just need a wipe or a hard reset. Our school pays for the fastest internet available to us, and we rarely have issues with outages. Students know that when they come to school, they will have a reliable internet that they may not have access to at home. Being that our town is mostly rural, finding reliable wifi can be difficult if you are out of city limits. I know of several homes who still have dial up because they cannot get access to anything else. The majority of people who do have internet access rely on satellite internet, such as Starlink which is relatively new to the area. One issue that holds many families back is the cost. Living here can be expensive in relation to other towns and cities. A vast majority of our older students do have cell phones, although they may not be able to afford the newest on the market.

    As a librarian, I believe that knowing all of this information is invaluable to me. Most of the information above was gained from either living here, listening, or people talking to me. As librarian, I am the central hub of the school. Both children and adults come here for learning, studying, finding information, or just a reprieve from their busy school schedules and lives. I appreciate the position I have as one of information, not just about books, technology, or the library itself, but about the town and community I live and work in. I am able to provide assistance of all kinds. Because of the town that I live in, I find myself stretched a little too thin sometimes, taking on more jobs than the traditional librarian might. I wear many hats, but because of this, it provides me with the unique opportunity to be able to provide not only for my students, but for my coworkers as well. While Lometa may not be the land of opportunity and riches, it is a tightly knit community with people who care about one another and will go out of their way to support each other, and for that I could not be more thankful to work and live here.