Forward thinking in school librarianship...

*This post was written by Meg Brooke, Supervisor of School Librarians for Jefferson County. 

Twenty three years ago I interviewed for a library position in the system where I was moving my family. In preparing for the interview, I got my interview outfit ready (Ok…hate to say it, but this was my first thought!). I knew that I needed to get my mind and interview skills ready, and so I prepped by doing lots of reading on what was new in library theory as well as  in technology, and I talked to several practicing librarian friends. The CD-ROM was just starting to be used, and I memorized what the letters stood for and learned about information that was available on the CD-ROMS. I had a MacIntosh computer that I could use at home, and I felt prepared. But, whoa, Nellie! 

Dr. Robert Mitchell, superintendent of the system at the time, interviewed me, and I was amazed!!! This was 1990, and Dr. Mitchell was envisioning students being able to access our school library from their homes. Wow!  My finite mind could never have dreamed that big…everyone having a computer at home and being able to retrieve information from our school library…. but I’m thankful that others have minds to be able to see what possibilities lie ahead. 

Remember: computers were just appearing in schools around that time, and the library where I was hired to work had no computers….ZERO.  It took a few decades to get there, but his vision did become reality. (a side note…..Dr. Mitchell was a hero to me in several ways, but I’d love to add that he left the system a year after I was there and started the first daycare in the area that had cameras so that parents could log in and see what their children were doing whenever they had a chance to do that. A real forward thinker!)

Dreams of what our libraries will become must move from the ideas that many were taught and have practiced, too, if we are to move toward the vision of the library that our students will need.  In Harland’s The Learning Commons: Seven Simple Steps to Transform Your Library, we are given some questions to ask ourselves as we think about the future of our particular library. 

Ponder these:

• ·         Does your school need a library when most information can be accessed in the classroom using the Internet? (This is a question that we need to be able to answer!!!)
• ·         What is it that your library offers to your users in addition to accessing information?
• ·         Are you doing it well?  Could you do it better?
• ·         How can you increase and improve services?
• ·         Could you make a shift in your service?

We’ve heard the term libraries without walls, and we’re there. Dr. Mitchell got it right!  Our students can access Atriuum, Nettrekker, the AVL, and many ebooks outside of the school library. One leadership session at the upcoming AASL conference and one that was recently presented in a webinar entitled A Library in your Pocket is a reality NOW!  

High schools are without walls, providing online courses for students via ACCESS now. Our buildings are seeing changes as methods of teaching are moving toward more technology, and our library spaces will need to follow suit as well.  No longer are we just protecting what we have…our books, our AV, our equipment, but we are morphing into being the promoters of how to use what we have so that our students and teachers can easily access and use that information. 

This is just a smidgen of food for thought that you’ll find in The Learning Commons by Pamela Harland.  I hope you’ll check it out if you’re interested in moving your library forward into one that will meet your students’ needs.  

Be the “Dr. Mitchell” in the lives around you!

Interesting Thoughts about Technology and School Librarians

Doug Johnson is one of the Great Thinkers in the field of librarianship and technology. The Alabama School Library Association (then AIMA) hosted him as our keynote speaker at our 2009 summer conference. He was phenomenal!

Check out his recent post regarding school librarians, technology, and ethics HERE. 

Labels, Labels, Labels

Do you label your books with Accelerated Reader information? I do. This is common practice in many elementary libraries, and for several good reasons:

• when used with STAR reading ranges, sticker labels help guide students to the books that are "just right" for them
• they provide a clear visual to the amount of books your collection has on each grade level; a quick walk through your shelves will show if you need more books of a certain range
• they help students find books with which they will experience success, and quickly (classroom time is precious indeed, and the more efficient we can make book browsing for students, the better all around)

These are good reasons for labeling books. After all, our goal is to make library use as easy as possible for students. Right? 

Right.  

HOWEVER...

The American Association of School Librarians feels otherwise. Take a look at AASL's policy on labeling books: http://www.ala.org/aasl/aaslissues/positionstatements/labeling

Granted, some of AASL's concerns stem from the fact that lots of libraries are not only using labels but are organizing their shelving by labels (not adhering to standards of the profession), and that is most definitely a valid concern. We should be teaching students how libraries work, not just how OUR library works. If they understand that the Fiction books are in ABC order everywhere, then we have given them the key which unlocks every school, public, and eventually academic library they will ever use. This is a pretty big deal. 

Another of AASL's points about labels is that it violates the privacy of our students. Think about that. Do you have a 4th grader reading on a 1st grade level? I do. Whose business is it that he is not reading on grade level? His, his teachers', his parents', and mine. Certainly not other students, but they will be able to see that if he is carrying around books with 1st grade stickers on the spine. 

Ouch. 

Personally, I have never, not once, in 10 years of serving in this profession, ever heard of a student being bullied or made fun of because of his or her reading level. But I also know that there is a lot that goes on behind the social scenes of kids that not even the most perceptive, Eagle Eye teacher can catch. I don't want to contribute to making any child in my school a target. 

My plan is to compromise between AASL's standards and what my teachers want in keeping AR labels (and encouraging students to choose books within their range) but placing them in a more discreet location. This will take some time, but I plan to eventually remove all spine labels and begin to teach students to look inside the cover of their book for AR reading level information. This will take require more browsing time for the students, and it will take away my ability to sweep my eyes across the collection and notice deficiencies, but remember that 4th grade kid on a 1st grade level? 

He's worth it.  

School Libraries Count!

Each year the American Association of School Librarians conducts a survey measuring, among many other things, the impact of school librarians. This data is used to defend our positions and proves our effectiveness.

You do not need to be a member of AASL to complete the survey (though you really should be a member of AASL!).

Go here to take the 2012 School Libraries Count Survey. 

The last day to take the survey is March 15, 2012.

Weeding

*Microsoft Clip Art Gallery

Weeding out books that no longer positively affect our collections is something that we librarians take very seriously. Especially in our current times of such economic stress, it seems that every book- even the most raggedy- are needed on our shelves.

This post on the YALSA blog (if you are middle school or high school, YALSA is the ALA division tailored specifically for your needs) presents some of the American Library Association's recommended guidelines for weeding.

Common Core Toolkit (Repost)

*Today's post is a repeat of the original shared by Meg Brooke, the school librarian at Shades Valley High School/JCIB. 

Testing usually makes me not look forward to going to work.  Those times of staring into space and thinking about all of the work that needs to be done is frustrating.  This testing week, however, is different.  I’m incarcerated in my office, unable to leave for 3 whole mornings while testing goes on in the library with other administrators and facilitators, allowing me to get uninterrupted work time!  Whoopie!  Life is good!

One thing I’ve done today is to catch up on some PD reading, and I’d love to share an interesting 1-page article from the November/December 2011 LMC written by Julie Walker, AASL’s executive director. It’s an article that can help us be leaders with our library programs as our schools implement standards.  Julie writes about the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills, the P21, and how librarians can be leaders in this movement that is a requirement in the Race to the Top.  She explains that P21‘s CCSS (Common Core State Standards) leadership has created a downloadable toolkit to help guide educators through P21.   AASL has gone even farther by offering a “crosswalk” as well as a lesson plan database so that school librarians can become leaders in implementing these Common Core State Standards.  Using these tools from AASL can enable us to demonstrate how our particular school’s library program can be a method in accomplishing the implementation of these standards.

To see, download, and print the tools from the article, click on the following links:

P21 Toolkit:       www.p21.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1005&Itemid=236

AASL Crosswalk: 

www.ala.org/aasl/commoncorecrosswalk

AASL Lesson Plan Database: 

www.ala.org/aasl/lessonplandatabase

This database was an awesome resource!  Lessons with titles like Creating 21^st Century Superheroes; It’s Debatable; and Rock Star Road Trip will definitely create interest in our libraries while implementing the Common Core and AASL standards for the 21^st century learner.  I’d love for us to create some kind of similar database where we could share lesson plans, multimedia presentations, etc. with each other.  We have some great thinkers/doers/presenters in our group, and we could bank on others’ talents tweaking them to meet our particular needs instead of reinventing the wheel!

Walker, Julie. "Introducing the P21 Common Core Toolkit." LMC. 30.3 (2011): 21. Print.

Common Core Toolkit

*Today's post is by Meg Brooke, the school librarian at Shades Valley High School/JCIB. 

Testing usually makes me not look forward to going to work.  Those times of staring into space and thinking about all of the work that needs to be done is frustrating.  This testing week, however, is different.  I’m incarcerated in my office, unable to leave for 3 whole mornings while testing goes on in the library with other administrators and facilitators, allowing me to get uninterrupted work time!  Whoopie!  Life is good!

One thing I’ve done today is to catch up on some PD reading, and I’d love to share an interesting 1-page article from the November/December 2011 LMC written by Julie Walker, AASL’s executive director. It’s an article that can help us be leaders with our library programs as our schools implement standards.  Julie writes about the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills, the P21, and how librarians can be leaders in this movement that is a requirement in the Race to the Top.  She explains that P21‘s CCSS (Common Core State Standards) leadership has created a downloadable toolkit to help guide educators through P21.   AASL has gone even farther by offering a “crosswalk” as well as a lesson plan database so that school librarians can become leaders in implementing these Common Core State Standards.  Using these tools from AASL can enable us to demonstrate how our particular school’s library program can be a method in accomplishing the implementation of these standards.

To see, download, and print the tools from the article, click on the following links:

P21 Toolkit:       www.p21.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1005&Itemid=236

AASL Crosswalk: 

www.ala.org/aasl/commoncorecrosswalk

AASL Lesson Plan Database: 

www.ala.org/aasl/lessonplandatabase

This database was an awesome resource!  Lessons with titles like Creating 21^st Century Superheroes; It’s Debatable; and Rock Star Road Trip will definitely create interest in our libraries while implementing the Common Core and AASL standards for the 21^st century learner.  I’d love for us to create some kind of similar database where we could share lesson plans, multimedia presentations, etc. with each other.  We have some great thinkers/doers/presenters in our group, and we could bank on others’ talents tweaking them to meet our particular needs instead of reinventing the wheel!

Walker, Julie. "Introducing the P21 Common Core Toolkit." LMC. 30.3 (2011): 21. Print.

Skyping and Webcasts: Some of the Benefits of Professional Magazines and Memberships in Professional Organizations

A fellow librarian, with just enough wiggle room within her budget for one professional publication, asked about the cost versus the benefit of professional magazine subscriptions. First, whether it's School Library Journal, Library Media Connection, or Booklist, they are all beneficial (please add more in the comment section). Occasionally, there are webcasts offered that involve no subscription at all. One thing's for sure: the publications all fit the budget just right with their free Skype offerings and Webcasts!

• As a subscriber to School Library Journal there's still an opportunity to join a free live webcast event on October 13 from 1:15 to 2:00. Students can submit questions to James Patterson, author of Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life, about writing, middle school, or anything they can think of.



• Sometimes a publisher will offer a Skype event with an author. Sourcebooks recently did with author Jennifer Nielsen's Elliott and the Pixie Plot. Go ahead and download Skype to your computer to be prepared when an opportunity comes along. Sometimes free books are even thrown in.



• Scholastic and Dear America are teaming up for a webcast with Lois Lowry, Andrea Davis Pinkney, and Kirby Larsen on October 26 at 12 p.m. central time. Create a login at Scholastic and join the event (Scholastic is free, of course, but there are many professional resources here).

The big difference between Skyping and Webcasts is that Skyping can work with smaller audiences because more dialogue can take place (individuals can step up to the camera and speak; webcasts aren't usually set up that way). Also, a live stream of video is seen. Webcasts can accomodate a larger audience and multiple viewing areas. Skype allows up to three additional parties in different viewing areas that can be invited to join in on the video chat.

Almost all publications have a smaller free online version available for subscribing to, so look them up, log in and be ready scoop up information. It's there for the taking!