Advocacy and Leadership

"Social media is not going away…best to keep in step with it & model proper use than fight against it," as stated by Gwyneth Jones in "Transparency is the New Black." Using any one of the eight various types of social media mentioned by Jones would be a great way to advocate libraries. What a better way to promote a product than to let your customers see it being used in action.

Rebecca Ekstrom used this vary technique to promote her middle school library in New York. She incorporated the goals for the library along with photos, text, and music into an Animoto video that could be shared with and view by faculty, staff, students, parents, and even the Board of Education. This use of social media to advocate Ekstrom's library allowed her to demonstrate the importance and the benefits to students by having a certified librarian in the school. Ekstrom says, "Using Animoto as an advocacy tool helps others to see what students gain from our programs and that being a school librarian is a multi-faceted job." By being a leader in technology she can help others to see that a librarian is extremely essential in motivating students to read, teaching students how to become effective users of information, and engaging a variety of learners by using a combination of technology tools.

It is up to the librarian to advocate, promote, or market what the library has to offer for the school and to build relationships with teachers, students, staff, and parents. Woolls mentions that it is significant to keep activities positive and reduce the negative aspects associated with the school library. This will help others to see that the library is useful, necessary, and it is the center of the school. Librarians can create that positive environment by collaborating with teachers, displaying student work, making special efforts for teachers and students, changing bulletin boards and/or displays frequently, offering a variety of activities to entice users, changing or removing the fines policy, handling inappropriate student behaviors themselves, and having a positive attitude.

Another part of being a leader and an advocate for the library is to think and act like a sales representative. Woolls suggests using a variety of sales techniques to promote the library including school announcements, school newsletters, flyers, demonstrations, displays, brochures, presentations, and even free samples. If librarians can be successful at using these tools the results will hopefully be happy teachers, students, staff, and parents. If these users are pleased then in turn they will develop into great advocates for the library.

Several of the articles mention that it is an exciting time to be a librarian and it is definitely a multi-faceted job. Hamilton's comment supports this idea in that she believes a librarian functions as a connector, teacher, producer, impresario, and a concierge. She says being a librarian makes her feel more like a teacher than when she was teaching in the classroom. As a librarian you have continual opportunities to explore, investigate, discover, learn, teach, and work with an assortment of people from diverse backgrounds, aptitudes, and ages.

If we as librarians can learn to embrace these changes then we will have the opportunity to experience this as an exciting time. Nancy Dowd points out that the world will move on with or without us. If librarians can embrace these changes, change their thinking and mindset, and re-imagine the core purpose then we will be able to provide the connections and resources that the users need. By making these changes, librarians can be great advocators, leaders, and supporters of the library and its users. "Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." –Will Rogers

Works Cited:

American Association of School Librarians. Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Programs. Chicago: AASL, 2009. Print.

Dowd, Nancy. "The 'M' Word - Marketing Libraries: Godin, Gutenberg and Going Forward." New Marketing Trends 14 May 2011. 27 May 2011. <http://themwordblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/godin-guttenberg-and-going-forward.html>.

Hamilton, Buffy. "Are Librarians, Not Seth Godin, The Ones Missing the Point on Libraries?" The Unquiet Librarian 16 May 2011. Web. 27 May 2011. <http://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com/2011/05/16/are-librarians-not-seth-godin-the-ones-missing-the-point-on-libraries/>.

Jones, Gwyneth A. "Transparency is the New Black." The Daring Librarian. 3 Apr. 2012. Web. 1 June 2012. <http://www.thedaringlibrarian.com/2012/04/transparency-is-new-black.html>.

Johns, Sara K. "Guest Post: Visibility Works!"
Make Some Noise!
School Library Journal, 9 Mar. 2012. Web. 01 June 2012. <http://blogs.slj.com/make-some-noise/2012/03/09/visibility-works/>.

Johnson, Doug. "BFTP: Why I Belong to ALA/AASL." The Blue Skunk Blog. 14 Apr. 2012. Web. 1 June 2012. <http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2012/4/14/bftp-why-i-belong-to-alaaasl.html>.

Woolls, Blanche. The School Library Media Manager. 4th ed. Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, 2008. Print.

 

The Library and the Educational Environment

The information in these articles and chapters made me reflect on what the libraries were like when I was a child over 25 years ago. I recall the teachers assigning research papers or other assignments and then it was up to me to do the research and find the information that I needed in order to complete the assignments. I don’t really remember ever seeing the teachers and librarians working together, maybe they did and it was just not evident. I have to admit that I was a bit intimidated when using the school and public libraries. I do not recall the libraries having an inviting feel and I would try really hard to find the information myself without having to ask the librarians for help. At that time, the libraries seemed to be a place that you just went to get what you needed, you had to whisper or not talk at all, and you did not dare put a book back on the shelf in the wrong place.

Today, I feel that the libraries and the education environment are much different. As a teacher, I have worked directly with the school librarian to collaborate on assignments for students. During these assignments, the students have benefited from being instructed by both the librarian and classroom teacher. We also worked collectively to create a rubric for the students to use in order to complete the assignment most effectively as well as for the teacher to use when assessing the completed assignments.

As Woolls indicated, the LMS needs to help classroom teachers teach students independent learning skills and help students learn how to become independent learners. Again, back to what I remember from using the library as a young student, I guess I was using my independent learning skills. But I don’t feel that I was really taught how to do this, it just came from the fact that I was intimidated and anxious to ask for much help from the librarians. From my example in the previous paragraph, I am hopeful that my students have benefited from the experiences of having their classroom teacher and school librarian working closely together to enhance the learning environment for them and that it will help make the library a more enjoyable place to visit.

Being a LMS requires many tasks, functions, and responsibilities to be filled. Woolls mentions that a school librarian may be required to be a curriculum coach, manage information literacy, and be responsible for information technology and digital literacy. Other aspect may include teleconferencing and distance education and assisting teachers as well as administrators in become aware of the opportunities of using these in the education environment. If the school librarian becomes proficient in these aspects then he or she will become a leader in the school.

Many of the educational experiences that were listed in Abram’s article show that progress has been made in learning and education not to mention many other areas of life. The 15 experiences that Doug Johnson listed that his granddaughter will not have the chance to experience are certainly not to her detriment in my opinion. Just as I am experiencing the opportunity of taking a graduate level class online and using various forms of technology to research and complete an assignment for a class while I am away on vacation in another state is such an amazing demonstration of progress. While working to fulfill the requirements of this assignment I have experienced the use of a mouse, laptop, Nook, WiFi, and even printed text. What amazing opportunities and resources that I have been able to access just for this one task.

I will say that I believe students and adults alike need to not only rely on technology, but also remember that there are other humans in the world that can be used as excellent resources. Therefore, my answer would be yes to the question raised in Brichacek’s article, Do School Still Need Brick-and-Mortor Libraries? This article supports my thinking in that students need to learn to use both human and non-human resources. Someone needs to help students learn to use and apply various technology resources, validate sources, discriminate and filter information, and limit the overpowering amounts of information that can be found while using a variety of technology and resources. The libraries today provide a place for students to ask for help, feel safe, and for studying and relaxing. I know that both of my daughters have very inviting and accommodating libraries in their schools. Especially in our local high school, this library has a "Barnes and Noble" feel. It is very modern, comforting, and welcoming. The same high school library was very much different than when I was there over 25 years ago. This "brick-and-mortar" building may be the only opportunity some students have to experience this kind of feeling and to know that it is happening within the school should be a wonderful feeling for students, parents, teachers, librarians, and administrators. Brichacek’s article also supports this by saying that libraries provide more than just books, it provides services. If the actual building allows students to have the experiences mentioned above along with providing the services needed to meet different learning styles, become discriminating researcher, and develop a love for life-long learning than it is necessary for the "building" to exist.

As Ross and Hay pointed out in their article, School Libraries 21c, if a brick-and mortar library did not exist some students may not have the opportunity to use a variety of resources due to cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. Again, this article supports the idea that libraries provide a safe place of refuge and belonging encourages a love of literature and learning, offers a crossover between technology and print, encourages individual research, and supports classroom teaching. The librarian is an essential part of helping support the need to have the actual library. Ross and Hay specify that the librarian needs to be the technology leader, help develop curriculum, as well as manage the various resources within the library. Learning must be the center focus and blend the priorities of the school along with the student differences.

Valenza mentions that the idea for what a school library should look like is ever changing. In keeping learning as the center focus, it may be helpful to target the idea of what Valenza calls a "shared family cookbook" rather than a textbook idea. If librarians, teachers, and administrators can truly work in collaboration and be supportive of one another than I believe that it would result in noticeable benefits for those involved now and in the future.

In conclusion, the vision for a librarian and the library is that they need to exist together in order to best support and promote learning and be of the most benefit to the student and the educational environment. In order to best serve, assist, and accommodate the needs of the students and staff a library cannot truly exist without a librarian and a librarian cannot best function without a library. It is all in the vision, how one reacts to changes, and the essential procedures for keeping learning as the focus. As Joyce Valenza states, "You continue to consider and revise your vision and feed it with imagination. Think outside the box. Heck, there is no box!"


Works Cited
Abram, Stephen. "15 Educational Experiences my Granddaughter Won’t Have." Stephen’s Lighthouse, 8 May 2012. Web. 5 June 2012. < http://stephenslighthouse.com/2012/05/08/15-educational-experiences-my-granddaughter-wont-have/>.

Brichacek, Andra. "READERS RESPOND: Do Schools Still Need Brick-and-mortar Libraries?" ISTE Community Ning 17 Aug. 2009. Web. 27 May 2011. <<http://www.iste community.org/group/landl/forum/topics/readers-respond-do-schools>>.

Hay, Lyn, and Ross J. Todd. School Libraries 21C. Rep. NSW Department of Education and Training, 2010. Web. 30 May 2012. <http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/schoollibraries/assets/pdf/21c_report.p df>.

Valenza, Joyce. "A Revised Manifesto." NeverEnding Search 3 Dec. 2010. Web. 27 May 2011. <http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/neverendingsearch/010/12/03/a-revised-manifesto>.

Woolls, Blanche. The School Library Media Manager. Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited, 2008. Print.