Three Days In - Summer Reading Program a Success

I have to admit I was psyched about this year's summer reading program.  We were fortunate to partner with our town's new minor league team, the West Virginia Black Bears, so naturally I felt that baseball - "We're All About That Base"- would be a perfect theme,  Since I love baseball, this seemed to be a wonderful fit for me.

My county hired "assistant teachers" for each library media specialist.  I hit the gold mine when Sherri Pisegna agreed to be my coteacher.  Sherri was the second grade teacher of both of my children.  I generally refer to her as the "best teacher ever." Even though she professes no knowledge of baseball, she immediatelycame up with wonderful ideas for activities and snacks.  I feel we have a great working relationship, and planning with her was a pleasure.

Still, when Monday morning rolled around, I was apprehensive.  Would anyone show up?  Would they enjoy the activities?

I was relieved to see our attendance figures during the first three days - 20, 21, and 21.  Maybe one or two kids came Monday, not Tuesday, but returned again on Wednesday.  Monday's survey indicated that parents and students are pleased with the activities.

The part I am enjoying most is student buy-in.  Regardless of the topic, our kids are willing to share and go deeper.  One boy brings his ball and bat everyday.  Today he brought the minor league program. and shared information with our group. A parent asked me if her son could share his baseball memorabilia and his experiences winning the Little League championship. Twins told me that the spent the preceding afternoon playing wiffleball.  And one girl told me that she read two biographies on Jackie Robinson and watched a movie of him last night.  Today, she checked out a biography of Roberto Clemente.  I told her I loved her.

The feedback from parents has been rewarding as well.  I am hoping our final five sessions are as successful. Overall, this experience has encouraged me to look at new possibilities for programming.  I am very thankful for the opportunity.

We Can't Wait Any Longer: Time for a New Plan

For the past two years I have been chair of my state's school library division.  From the outset my goal has been to increase communication among school library media specialists and to increase membership.  Here is a summary of my goals:

• Increased communication:  Fairly successful.  I have created Facebook groups and Yammer groups that do see some use.  In January I taught an Office 365 class just for media specialists.  Have these groups resulted in the full-fledged collaboration I had hoped for? No.  Was it worth the effort?  Yes.
• Increased membership: FAIL.  FAIL, FAIL, FAIL.  And it is demoralizing.  In an attempt to see why more people did not join WVLA, I conducted a survey of the 300-some SLMS in West Virginia, asking them their thoughts.  I received 46 replies.  Respondents cited the following reasons for not joining WVLA:
• Cost (15%)
• Relevance or Lack Thereof (13%)
• Other (44%)
• No response (28%)

Basically, my attempts at unifying our profession and creating dialog have been unsuccessful, and for the most part (72% of the respondents chose Other or did not answer the question) I don't know why.

I strongly suspect WVLA isn't working for WV school librarians because WV school librarians are not trying to make it work.  I have sat at the table and watched the faces of academic and public librarians who are trying to reach out to include school libraries in the agenda.  I have heard them ask how they can help.  They have tried.  We have not. You can't sit back and expect programming to be delivered to you. You have to be part of the machine that provides that dynamic.  As a profession, we have failed.

(I feel like the Lorax as he led the animals out of their formerly beautiful home after the last Trucula tree was cut.)

Now in the interests of advancing (what do I mean, advancing? Maintaining!) school library media services in West Virginia, I am working with a friend to develop a new association not just for media specialists, but also for technology integration specialists, academic coaches, and technology systems specialists.  Here is a rough logo I have devised:

Is this what I wanted? Not originally.  Am I selling out? Possibly.  But there are not enough engaged library media specialists to effectively advocate our mission.  Need examples?  Forty-six librarians took the time to complete the survey.  That is 13%.  Those 46 responders were asked if they would assume leadership in a new organization just for school library media specialists.  Eighteen percent of the 46 responders said they would be interested in leadership.  That sounds solid. But 18 percent of 13 percent is not very many people to depend on when starting an organization.

Academic coaches are responsible for carrying out curricular mandates in our schools.  They coteach and often buy resources.  Library media specialists should be academic leaders in our school, helping implement the mandates.  We know what the materials are.  We can advise the coaches if we see them as colleagues and not the competition.  They need to see we are involved in the total curriculum, not merely recreational reading.  We need to agree on ways ethical use of information, citing and paraphrasing are taught.  We can help them, and they can help us.

Technology integration specialists are responsible for introducing technology support to the curriculum. We do that, too, but we are specialists in resources that are not readily apparent to TISs.  We can provide them with more resources to show teachers.  Better yet, we can coteach with the TIS and the classroom teacher for exceptionally effective lessons integrating technology and academics.  We are partners in technology integration.  We bring different pieces to the same puzzle.

We need technology systems specialists.  We need to articulate our needs and the needs of our teachers and students. We need to understand their concerns in order to propose solutions that better fit our needs,

I am hoping that by partnering with TISs, TSSs and academic coaches we can all define our roles without feeling we are in competition.  I am hoping we will have more immediate access to information and can be at the table when deciding upon resources and programs for our students. I am hoping that partnering with these groups will elevate our profession as those who choose to be involved will bring a high level of professionalism to our conversations.

I am not abandoning WVLA.  I will continue to be a paying member. I appreciate all the leadership WVLA has provided to help school libraries...without the help of school librarians themselves.  I am very disappointed in myself and my colleagues for not doing better.  Let me be clear in saying the reason WVLA has not worked for WV school librarians is because WV school librarians, as a whole, have not WORKED with WVLA.  Our fault.  Mine.  Yours.

But I am not sitting back and watching library media services for West Virginia children dwindle away due to complacency.  I hope everyone who reads this will be joining me as we establish this new group.

Sign the Declaration for the Right to Libraries - I Love Libraries

Sign the Declaration for the Right to Libraries - I Love Libraries

We Need Each Other

This past year I have served as chair of the West Virginia Library Association School Libraries Division.  I can honestly say I never envisioned myself being in a position that would be making decisions that could potentially impact the future of school librarianship in my state.  But here I am.  And here we are.

Currently, out of the 340-plus school library media specialists in West Virginia, only 13 are members of our association.  There are many reasons for that.  I think one of the reasons is that our lack of communication with each other tends to let us forget that the association exists. Another big reason is that school librarians are teachers first, and after paying dues to AFT or NEA, adding an additional membership often seems more of a financial burden than a necessity.

Finally, the biggest reason more school librarians don't join WVLA is that they don't see the relevance of the association to their professional lives. There is a feeling that WVLA is not concerned with school libraries.

I can say, after sitting in on Executive Board meetings, attending both the fall conference and Spring Fling, that WVLA is concerned with the needs of the state's school library media specialists.  The Executive Board want to know how they can help us.  That is a tricky and delicate issue.

You see, many librarians feel that any help offered by other librarians, particularly public librarians, may imperil our jobs.  In these tough economic times we always feel our jobs are on the cutting block.  Heck, we feel that way in good economic times. When I told this to a group of public librarians at Spring Fling and later to the Executive Board, I sensed a feeling of hurt, shock, and insult, as if I was implying that these people had done something wrong.

No, they haven't.  It's not them, it's us.  It is our culture.  We work in isolation with generally no empowerment.  We attend professional development planned by our districts that generally has no impact on our direct duties. ( I cannot include myself and my county in this last statement, but for many I suspect this is true.) The only person in our building that understands our professional responsibilities is....us.  Our priorities, even when aligned perfectly with the school wide plan, are often on the back-burner to activities that "affect student learning."

We have a right to that large chip on our shoulders, but here is the truth: mistrust of offers by other librarians is invalid.  We need to work together, building strong coalitions that can provide excellent services and materials to our children.  By working together, we can offer our children more than they could ever have if we continue to work in isolation.  Obviously we cannot buy ever item our children might want  or teachers might need to deliver that curriculum.  Neither can the public libraries or the academic libraries.  

So how do we deal with the perception (both real and imagined) that we can be replaced by other librarians and their services?  

1. Refer to the second paragraph.  We are teachers first.  As such we are the ones who understand the needs of our students and what materials our teachers need to address the Common Core State Standards. Believe in yourself and your value as a professional educator.
2. Reach out and talk to other librarians about how you can form coalitions to provide excellent services to your kids.  Work together!!
3. Join WVLA or, for other readers, your state library association and network.  These people are allies, not enemies. 

I would like to hear from librarians from other states on this issue.  How do you work with your colleagues from all types of libraries? 

Lessons from Smokey and the Bandit

I will be the first to admit that my taste in movies is of the fast food variety.  

Smokey and the Bandit is one of my all-time favorites.  While it may not have won critical acclaim, I find  the wisdom in this film helpful in troubling times.  This is especially true in regard to our plight of disappearing school libraries.

Towards the end of the film, the Bandit tells Cledus, "l don't like  this any more than you do, but we ain't gonna make it, son. We're gonna hang it up."

Cledus is morally outraged.  "Negatory. Negatory.  We say we're doing a job, we're doing a job!"

There have been many times, especially in the last few school years, when many of us have felt like the Bandit.  We have done a remarkable job against incredible odds (without benefit of the black Trans Am), and we feel we just can't do anymore to help our profession.    When someone like the Bandit says it's time to hang it up, that no one knows we exist - or that our importance to the general education picture is ignored, how fortunate we are for the Cleduses of our profession who boldly proclaim that it's time to "introduce 'em to the boy!"  With that, the Bandit and the Snowman made it to the Fairgrounds in time and saved their hides.

We need more Cleduses, and I am urging all school librarians or friends of school libraries to be one.  I realize that because of our isolation within our schools we are often too intimidated to draw attention to ourselves.  But when all we library media specialists band together and tell our collective stories, our value and prestige will be difficult to ignore.

Be a Cledus.  Here's how:

1. Never miss a chance to blow your own horn.  No one else will do it, because no one else has a clue what our jobs entail.  Talk information literacy standards and how you are helping your students be ethical and savvy users of information.
2. Blog about your daily experiences.  And keep blogging.  Your blogs may be sporadic, but when you have something to say about a day in our profession, say it.  You may think no one cares: it could be that no one cares until you tell them what they need to care about. Blog.  And blog some more.
3. Connect with other school librarians via Nings, Twitter, conferences and any other medium available.  Don't stop connecting.  We all have different challenges, even within the same counties, even within the same states.  We need to know what is happening with each other, so that hopefully we can all devise meaningful ways to help.
4. Never miss a chance to impress your supervisor and his supervisors.  I recently was troubleshooting a laptop/tv setup for an administrators' meeting in the library.  Once I had everything connected, I said, "Oh, while you're here, let me tell you about the ebook bundles the PreK-5 librarians selected to support the Common Core."  
5. Be recognizable by your school community.  I have a library Facebook page.  I use it to post about curriculum, as well as to advertise upcoming events.  
6. Give back.  Seth Godin calls this generosity.  Doug Johnson calls it being indispensable   Whatever it is, give back to the community you serve in a professional capacity.  I have open library nights every Wednesday, where the parents are welcome to come in, read with their children and supervise their taking of Reading Counts quizzes.  Do I get paid for this?  Well, my parents generously support our two book fairs each year.  The least I can do is let them experience the library in action.  If I am ever involved in another staff cut situation, you can bet your last dollar I will have plenty of parents that come to my defense.
7. Collaborate with teachers at least on a monthly basis.  Seek them out.  Go to them rather than expecting them to come to you.  Ask what you can do to help them meet their goals and standards.  Be willing to teach from their classrooms rather that relying on their classes to come to you.  Reach out!
8. If you are faced with staff cuts, don't stand in front of the Board and cite the research.  The only people who care about the research are those who have money to spend.  If a school board wants to cut your job, they don't have that kind of money.  So, what should you do?  Tell them about how you use evidence-based practice in your school to contribute to student achievement.  Show them the data.  Get testimonials from parents. Show how your library actually saves the district money.  Stay positive and focused.

I challenge us all to be Cledus Snows.  Start by responding to this blog and contributing to (or challenging) the conversation.  There is no need to be shy.  We all have professional experiences to share.

Finally I will leave you with my personal pledge to advancing the prestige of the library media specialists in our state.

Suzie

UnPublished Posts of the Past:Over My Head? Self-Doubt About My Latest Endeavor

Oh, Christine McVie, how you taunt me.

Ever since the 4th of July I have been periodically hearing her singing "Over My Head" in the  back of my mind.  While I have been a Fleetwood Mac fan since I discovered the 'white album' in 1975, I am finding this repetition somewhat annoying. Over the past few days, it has played with increasing frequency and intensity.

Call it nerves.  Here we are two weeks from the starting date for teachers, and I am nowhere near ready.  My summer reading goals were a complete failure; the lesson plans I had hoped to have completed by now are only partially done. I have been to the farm once --ONCE--this summer.

But I have been very busy, replacing my original goals with more spontaneous responses to professional development.  I have, somewhat accidentally, created and am moderating a Google+ Community to support candidates seeking National Board Teaching Certification in Library Media. This community will replace the Yahoo Group that so many library media specialists, including me, used to help achieve certification. Nationally. Oh, my word, what was I thinking!

My role in this group is accidental, in that I was did not start out with the intention of creating and moderating a group.  In response to the news that the Yahoo group would close due to the retirement of the Cynthia Wilson, the group owner/moderator, many people expressed interest in maintaining the group in some form.  On July 7 I suggested that this might be the time to move the group to another, more evolved forum.  Janet Clark suggested Google Hangouts, and while investigating that possibility, I discovered Google+ Communities.  I created a community called "Library NBCT Support" and referred it to the Yahoo group for comment.  By July 8 we had 17 members and Cynthia's blessing to move the files to our new community.  We are now up and running with 48 members and ready to help support new library NBCT candidates this coming school year.

I am thankful, very thankful, to the three people who have jumped in and contributed knowledge to this community: Kim Gunter from Florence, MS; Michael Brocato of Jefferson Parish, LA; and Missy Hinerman of Bridgeport, WV. These three epitomize the sharing that is trademark of the library profession. Without their input, this community would be nowhere near ready.  Of course, the creators and contributors to the Yahoo group- Cynthia Wilson, AnnMarie Pipkin and many more- deserve countless thanks for developing this vision of mentorship since it's inception in 2001.

I guess as I am writing this, the self-doubt is melting, knowing that this endeavor is supported by many NBCT library media specialists.  As Janet Clark said to me in one of our initial emails, "people will help, and we will learn together."  This is a true example of collaboration and mentorship.  I am looking forward to our first year.

A Parent's Wishes for His Child's Teachers: Chris Kennedy at TEDxWestVan...

This is a wonderful TEDxTalk by a man in the unique position as a parent and a superintendent of schools. I hope you enjoy his insights.