Jay and Ruth Toor

Last week AASL announced the Ruth Toor Grant for Strong Public School Libraries. A brilliant woman with a far reaching career, Ruth is no longer able to be active in the profession she loves.  This grant will ensure that her name and what she has always valued will continue to be reminder to school librarians and the communities they serve of the importance of strong school library programs headed by a certified school librarians. Her husband, Jay Toor said, “Ruth and I want to ensure excellence for every student by advocating for a school library with a certified school librarian in every school. These grants will allow school librarians to talk to their community’s parent leaders, teachers, principals, school board or superintendent about the importance of strong school library programs with certified school librarians.”

Through the generosity of the Toors, winners of the grant will receive $5,000, $3,000 of which is to create and implement a project that promotes school library awareness and its accomplishments to school officials and administrators. The remaining $2,000 is for the school librarian and a school official (or volunteer parent) to attend the AASL national conference or the ALA Annual Conference during the years when there is no AASL national conference. I find this last stipulation to be indicative of the value Ruth and Jay place on how the national conference promotes growth and attending the scheduled sessions will open the eyes of any administrator to the value of school librarians.

The award criteria are a guideline for how to implement a good program. First the goals of the project must be identified, showing how the school library will use the funds to further public awareness. The plan must include a timeline (and in this case it must be completed within eleven months of the grant) and list the number of school library users who will benefit from it. Of course, a budget needs to detail how the monies will be spent.

It is a wonderful award in support of school libraries and school librarians, but it has additional meaning for me.  In the summer of 1976, Ruth and I were part of a post-Masters course offered at Rutgers University.  Both of us turned in a Volunteer Manual as a final project. Our classmates, all experienced librarians, were so impressed they urged us to combine our work into a book and 1979, The School Librarian’s Almanac was published and was a huge success.

The next year, our publisher asked us to create a monthly (ten times per year) newsletter, and the School Librarian’s Workshop was born. Originally it was sixteen pages, but among the changes we made over the years was to move to a twenty-four page publication issued bi-monthly.  We continued working together on School Librarian’s Workshop while working in for our schools and writing numerous additional books, the last ones for ALA Editions.

Early in 2011, it became obvious that Ruth could no longer work on the newsletter.  She retired completely after the June/July 2011 issue when I took it over and made it an e-newsletter. We had a long and productive partnership and friendship.  We watched each other’s children grow up, marry, and have children of their own.  Throughout, Ruth was a strong advocate for school librarians.  I am honored to have had her in my life.  I am overjoyed the award will continue her work.

AASL has a new advocacy campaign.  At ALA Midwinter, buttons were available saying “Ask Me How School Librarians Transform Learning.”  It’s a great idea—if you are able to answer the question.  If you are unsure of what to say, you can go to http://www.ala.org/aasl/advocacy/tools/transforming for a free PDF download of a 29 page magazine done as a supplement to the September/ October 2014 issue of American Libraries. In addition to excellent articles, there is a two-page infographic explaining what we do to transform learning.

I recently was asked the question by a school librarian, and rather than just send her the link to the magazine, I decided to tell her my ideas on how we make this difference. Here’s what I said—with some commentary.

School librarians:

Show students (and teachers) how to use Google more effectively to retrieve more relevant sites- Since we know no matter what we say, for most people Google is a first stop to find information (although students are frequently going to YouTube first), we work at changing how they do it.  Students tend to check only the top two results. If their query is not well-constructed what they find will likely not be relevant.  We also let them know about Google’s filters which skew their results based on their previous searches.

Teach students how to evaluate information for accuracy and validity – In the past, students assumed if it was in print it was true.  This behavior is even truer on the Internet (and in social media).  We show them “misinformation” sites to raise their awareness and then give them techniques to ensure what they find and use—whether for academic or personal use—is accurate.

Incorporate the use of databases into research so students produce more focused projects and are ready for the extensive databases they will find in college – For students to function successfully in college, they need to be able to go beyond Google for their research. By introducing them to databases available in the library they learn how these resources are more likely to have the solid information they need and are prepared for the many more databases they will find in a college library.

Work with teachers to integrate the most current technology and online resources engaging students’ interest – Students live in a digital world.  They are turned off by assignments which are more 20^th than 21^st century.  Because school librarians keep up with new web resources and apps for content sharing, presenting, and other uses (see AASL’s Best Websites for Teaching and Learning and Best Apps for Teaching and Learning), they are uniquely positioned to help teachers integrate these authentic learning projects and/or collaborate (or cooperate) in developing global and digital citizenship projects connecting students to the larger world.

Promote critical thinking through inquiry-based learning – The AASL Standards for the 21^st Learner are the guide for doing just that.

Provide a print-rich environment coupled with comprehensive knowledge of children’s and young adult literature (fiction and nonfiction) developing student’s love of reading leading to lifelong learning – Literacy is at the core of learning.  School librarian’s knowledge of children’s and young adult literature along with their contact with students over several years make them uniquely capable of making the one-on-one contact with students to connect them with just the right book.

Every librarian has to demonstrate How School Librarians Transform Learning every day.  Are you doing all of these?  Do you have any other ways we transform learning?

Librarians – the real super heroes.

School librarianship is a complex multi-layered profession requiring a broad range of knowledge, competencies, and skills.  You have every reason to be proud of what you know and what you do.  And yet many of you find your abilities overlooked by colleagues and administrators. Despite how much you can bring to student learning experiences, teachers at middle and high school often do not collaborate with you and elementary teachers are not interested in working cooperatively on projects.

 Our work is a far cry from the occasionally assumed, “Why do you have to go to college (let alone graduate school) to help people check out books?”  You need to understand how students learn, be familiar with the curriculum across subjects, and through the grade levels. You sometimes move from special needs students to those in honor classes and then to English Language Learners within the span of a single day. 

 AASL’s Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Programs identifies your roles as Teacher, Information Specialist, Instructional Partner, and Program Administrator.  You need to be well-versed in the Common Core State Standards and keep up with the latest in technology resources, apps and on the web.  You must be equally skilled in large group and one-on-one instruction.  That is a lot of hats.  What you do is unique in the school.  No one else can do it.

 So how can we be so overlooked by the teachers and administration?  Yes, they’re focused on their challenges and requirements, but can’t they see how you can help? The truth of the situation is – if you want to change attitudes you might want to take a closer look at yourself.

 Here’s an example – I knew a school librarian who felt she was exceedingly competent.  Unlike many school librarians, she had her Masters from an ALA accredited school.  She flaunted her background to the clerk who was working on a Masters from a school with NCATE accreditation and belittled the rigor of the course work.  She was knowledgeable, but she wasn’t successful as a librarian.

 Ours is a relationship profession.  Her associations with teachers was distant and perfunctory. They felt she didn’t like the students, and to some extent the students agreed with their teachers. She was always the “authority” and would direct students to where they needed to go rather than accompanying them. Whenever possible, she spent time in her office, which by choice was in an area without windows where she could see who was in the library.

 On the other hand, the clerk enjoyed a friendly give and take with students.  She was interested in who they were as people.  She made a point of knowing the teachers and had conversations with them about their families and what they were doing after school.  It’s not that she was close friends with everyone, but she was open and welcoming, always ready to help out.  Even after she got her degree, she didn’t think it demeaning to occasionally run off copies for a teacher who was in a rush to get to class.  Fresh out of library school, the former clerk had no problem getting teachers to collaborate with her.  They were open to her suggestions and support and sought her out. Something we can all hope for.

 As John C. Maxwell said, “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”  How are you building relationships with your faculty, students, and administrators? Are they going well? How can you tell? When you regularly check in on these questions and act on your answers you’ll see your partnerships and role grow in your school.

About two months ago I did a blog on reaching stakeholders by leading with emotions rather than logic.  It is the best opening, but what about the follow-up?  You need to show them hard evidence that a library program staffed by a certificated school librarian makes a difference in student achievement.

Many of you have shared the research studies—the “big data”—with administrators and others but it fell on deaf ears.  Sometimes they dismissed the study because it was done in a different state; other times they possibly ignored it because it was too long and too dense to read. 

How important is it to you to get administrators, board members, and politicians to listen and recognize the invaluable contribution you make?  If you recognize it is critical and you do so for the sake of your students and the future of the library program, you are going to need to do some hard work.

The latest issue of Knowledge Quest, (KQ) (Volume 43, No. 3 – January/February 2015) the journal of AASL, is all about Evidence-Based Practice (EBP), and the opening article is naturally by Dr. Ross Todd, associate professor in the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University. He is the leading expert on the topic, and the rest of the issue is filled with articles by academics and school librarians, explaining the practice and showing it in action. (If you are not an AASL member, contact them to find out how to purchase this issue.)

If you are new to EBP, it can be daunting.  It will take more than one reading to absorb.  Take it in little bites.  To get you started here is a brief view of what EBP entails:

Evidence for Practice – Begin with the research.  You know the studies and can easily find them. Which study would you like to demonstrate in your own building?

Evidence in Practice – Using the study you selected, develop a unit that will demonstrate it with students in your building. This is where Action Research comes in. It gives you the local data you need to pair with the “big data” from Evidence for Practice. If you are unfamiliar with Action Research, the article by Carole J. Stubeck in that KQ issue will give you a good example. You can also search on Action Research School or email me at hilda@slworkshop.net and I will send you my PowerPoint from one of my presentations on it.

Evidence of Practice – How have learners changed as result?  In addition to the results of the Action Research, gather student responses to the learning being imparted.  Using a resource such as Edmodo you can capture their reactions and thought processes.

As always, the process is circular.  Taking all the information in, you and any colleagues involved, reflect on what was achieved and what will be the next step.

While the purpose of EBP is to have a continuous practice of improving the library program, do not neglect Advocacy. You must get the word out to your stakeholders.  Visually documenting the process, possibly getting students discussing the Evidence of Practice, will add the emotional content that opens the door to the strong evidence supporting it.

To become recognized as invaluable and indispensable to students and the school community, you will have to do the work.  When you think about it, what choice do you have? And did you know that each issue of the SCHOOL LIBRARIANS WORKSHOP offers you ideas for implementing programs that can increase your contributions and visibility?