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June 5 - July 11, 2021
What does it mean to be a librarian in the digital age?
be more collaborative and think about the entire student body as opposed to individual classes.
align library lessons and skills to what’s happening in the classroom.
it doesn’t really matter who teaches an individual lesson, rather, it mat...
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to thinking about their influence on the building and the points of entry for information, skills and lessons so that it sticks with our students and isn’t relegated to just those...
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library lessons we teach are meant to influence the entire building and not only to teach discrete skills to a specific set of students.
to make room in librarian schedules to create space for collaboration and time for them to wield their influence on the teachers in the building.
Wielding influence means that you know what you can offer, and you make decisions based on the needs of both the program and the entire school. It also means that you must manage the changes that you introduce...
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Communities are certainly about relationships, but they’re also about culture. They involve traditions, rituals, and history. Culture drives how schools approach challenges and opportunities, and it connects the past and present in ways that honor where that community has been. At times, culture creates barriers to where you want to go.
every school has their own unique community
not every strategy and idea will work in ...
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an underlying culture that, once identified, can help our libraries make an even bigger impact on the work of the school.
identifying and uncovering it can be the first step toward progress in the library program.
Become an impartial observer and try to see interactions as someone outside the building might.
Ask questions and listen to students.
How are common areas utilized?
Many schools have a climate survey. Is it possible to get the results?
Librarians must be acutely aware of their school’s atmosphere and recognize its capacity for change.
Recognizing how a community is unique and having a keen sense of a school’s atmosphere is crucial for librarians who seek to become the heart of the school.
develop a mindset for change
your school, and what goes on in it, is a reflection of the community it serves.
When you seek to change culture, it’s critical to know what internal and external forces are at play.
communities change.
be flexible to identify and meet those needs while, at the exact same moment, shape the culture of the school.
connect with your administrator to make sure you are on the same path.
every part of your work will constantly be in beta.
make a habit out of observing, identifying, and responding so you are able to stay one step ahead and help to shape that culture daily, for all of your learners.
“The goal is not to increase collaboration but to improve student performance”
The overall goals must remain student learning and meeting the objectives identified by the school community.
one of the many things that can happen for students in libraries is the opportunity to create, explore, and discover.
the experiences libraries offer outside of the classroom curriculum bolster students’ creativity and help them explore the topics that interest them.
It’s a place for discovery and exploration where the librarian, the library space, and the programming supports student learning and self-discovery.
Inviting makers to make—that’s my new strategy for connecting kids with information.
This kind of exploration and self-discovery helps her students to identify their own interests and carry that into their classroom learning experiences while at her school and as they move out of elementary education.
If you make a concerted effort to be an observer and listener, you will be more effective in knowing what your teaches know, and what they need to know, based on the curriculum and school goals.
Just like our students, we are learning all the time, and it isn’t relegated to staff meetings or trainings. If you meet with a grade-level team to help them with a new digital tool, a strategic approach to critical thinking, a lesson that includes elements of media literacy and digital citizenship, that’s professional learning tailored to the needs of that particular group. Don’t forget newsletters that you author, blogs you curate, or articles that you share. Each one of these activities supports culture and allows for a more robust connection between libraries and classrooms.
to foster cultural changes, you also have to be a coach, a supporter, a learning partner, and be in tune with the overall attitude in the building.
As a building leader (whether administrator or librarian), your role is to empower your teachers and sometimes that means pushing them to learn and try things outside of their comfort zone. If you’re strategic and work together, you can develop the strategies that will, in time, create the culture you’re looking for.
an opportunity to influence both our internal culture of the school as well as that of our surrounding community.
every partnership creates a tighter, more direct connection with the school, and an investment is made on both sides. These partnerships absolutely have an impact on your culture when sought and fostered.
all community partnerships should help to meet the learning goals of the school with the spirit of making meaningful connections.
As a leader, you have to weigh the benefits and downfalls of each partnership and enlist the help of a thinking partner to evaluate those partnerships on a strategic level.
Community partnerships are critical to the success of a school’s cultural health with both students and staff and can pay big dividends if intentionally harnessed and fostered.
Curates Digital Resources encourages librarians to seize the opportunity to find and promote high-quality digital resources that can inspire both teachers and students to utilize the wealth of digital information and tools available to schools. The choices we make about the tools and resources that we provide to students and teachers must be intentional and deliberate. They must take into account student privacy and responsible usage and promote equitable access for students
encourages administrators to recognize and actively promote digital citizenship practices and equity of access to resources
Builds Instructional Partnerships invites librarians and teachers to connect around student learning and curriculum through intentional lesson design and delivery to go beyond dissemination of information.
co-teaching, coaching, or common lesson planning,
Librarians can be key classroom contributors to learning, but only if they can meet with and plan with teachers.
Empowers Students as Creators supports librarians’ efforts to create experiences that promote discovery, collaboration, and creation both in the classroom and through library programming.
provides that space for teachers to experiment, get comfortable with, and plan the implementation of digital tools in their classroom. Librarians should be seen as the conduit to bring that awareness, training, and excitement into these activities and given time to find, curate, and co-develop lessons with teachers.
