Excellence in School Librarianship

This is a really powerful video (less than 5 minutes) compiling feedback from administrators of different schools located around the nation on the impact of school librarians. It was posted on the AASL forum yesterday and was created by Judi Moreillon, who is known for her advocacy of school librarians. This would be a fantastic resource to share with principals and other supervisors! 

*Personal side note, feel free to take or leave it: the only two aspects I really wish they had tweaked were the consistent reference to librarians in the feminine (as we all know we have some rockstar guybrarians in our midst!) and the emphasis on school librarians as the Most Important Person. We are each free to have our thoughts on this, but personally I don't think that touting ourselves as the most important members of our faculty is beneficial or accurate. We are equal partners with our teachers and administrators and students and support staff...we just have unique training that helps us fill some special roles!

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!

Christmas came to us in October!

*This post was written by our sweet and fearless leader, Meg Brooke! :)

Christmas came to us in October! J  There were some funds left in the account that we were approved to spend, and so I ordered these books for our professional development.  It does not look like we will be moving downstairs, and so I will keep these in my office upstairs.  I know that there is little time for much extra, but hopefully some of these references will be something that some or one of you needs to give that extra “umph” to take your library or you as a librarian to that next level!  Our students deserve this!

If you’re interested in any of these, let me know and I’ll send it by the PONY.  I plan to do some quick “reviews” of these in the future, too, to hopefully pique your interest.

These are the books:

I get pumped just reading the titles!  But the real worth is what’s inside………

TITLE	AUTHOR
School Libraries Matter: Views from the Research	Mirah Dow, ed
Growing Schools: Librarians as Professional Developers	Debbie Abilock, Kristin Fontichiaro, and Violet Harada, editors
Literacy: A Way Out for At-Risk Youth	Jennifer Sweeney
Get Those Guys Reading: Fiction and Series Books that Boys Will Love	Kathleen Baxter and Marcia Kochel
The International Baccalaureate Diploma Program and the School Library: Inquiry-based Education	Anthony Tilke
The Library Catalogue as a Social Space: Promoting Patron Driven Collections, online Communities, and Enhanced Reference and Readers’ Services	Laura Tarulli
Copyright Catechism II: Practical Answers to Everyday School Dilemmas	Carol Simpson
iPads in the Library: Using Tablet Technology to Enhance Programs for All Ages	Joel A. Nichols
Travel the Globe: Story times, Activities, and Crafts for Children	Desiree Webber, Dee Ann Corn, Elaine Harrod, et al
Book Clubbing:  Successful Book Clubs ..	Carol Littlejohn
Reference Skills for the School Librarian	Ann M. Riedling, Loretta Shake, Cynthia Houston
Integrating Young Adult Literature through the Common Core Standards	Rachel Wadham and Jonathan Ostenson
The Learning Commons: 7 Simple Steps to Transform Your Library	Pamela C. Harland
Seven Steps to an Award-winning School Library Program	Ann M. Martin
A Guided Inquiry Approach to High School Research	Randell K. Schmidt
Guided Inquiry Design: a Framework for Inquiry in Your School	Carol C. Kuhlthau, Leslie K. Maniotes, and Ann K. Caspari

ALA Leadership Institute

             Instructional Specialist for Library Services, Head of Liaison Services, Assistant Library Director, Art Librarian, International Documents Librarian, Special Projects Coordinator, these are a few of the titles held by this dynamic group of public, academic and school librarians,  who converged at the Eaglewood Resort outside Chicago  in August  for the four day  Inaugural Leading to the Future Leadership Institute sponsored by the American Library Association.  We were taken in hand by Maureen Sullivan, Past-President of ALA, and Kathryn Diess, Content Strategist  for ACRL/ALA and guided on an informative and exciting journey into leadership development.        
         It is difficult to describe all of the things I learned in any kind of detail, and I'll attempt that later, but what was so remarkable about this Institute was the people. Have you ever taught that class where all the kids just worked together in harmony and you were able to achieve great things?Have you ever worked with a group of people or had a group of friends where everybody's personality just fit? This Institute had all those elements. The environment was so warm, supportive and safe, which is wonderful, but for that kind of cohesion to take place nearly instantly among 40 attendees and two instructors from so many different cultures and backgrounds in such a short amount of time is something truly remarkable and unforgettable. The only way I can think to describe it is by our seating arrangement. Personally, I pick a place and stay there. Most people tend to that behavior from my observation, but everyday, people sat in different places during the sessions and at our meals.  It just seemed like we were just that interested in knowing each other. And although I felt completely intimidated by even showing up for this Institute, by Day 2 I was thinking, Yeah! These are my people! But seriously, it just fueled the environment for learning and discovery.     
  Here, in as little detail as I can manage are some of the highlights I felt like have and will transform my practice as a school librarian and school leader. 
 1. The difference between internal and external power. External power is a defined power given by an outside entity.However internal power comes from our ability to do things, our power is drawn from within and has to be developed. 
 2. Skillful Discussion-which begins by building trust, asking the right questions, listening to others and responding when necessary. We discussed several models and spent time practicing skillful discussions several times. It takes energy and time, but yields a much better outcome. 
 3. Planning-I started to write that nothing good comes from poor planning, but sometimes we do get lucky, however a little up front work is important. We began  with identifying our strengths and weaknesses, developing our own personal visions, then were able to apply the information to that vision throughout the Institute. By the end we were able to sketch out a plan for our personal leadership development.
 4. Pay It Forward-One epiphany I had at the Institute was exactly where my power and leadership come from, although I do not have defined leadership position. I am a leader of students. We all are.

All the materials and information we received have been cleared to share. Let's do it!