What Jim Rettig was meant when he coined the phrase, is that libraries should not think of themselves as separate from each other.  We should not compete with each other.  The success of one type of library is contingent on the success of all types of libraries.

You have only to see the initiatives of the successor ALA past-presidents to see the evidence of ALA recognizing that all types of libraries need to thrive.  Inevitably, there has been a focus on working to promote the value of school librarians.  ALA as well as AASL will rise to the challenge when there is a major threat to school libraries in a state, and the Washington Office works hard to secure passage of legislation supporting school libraries.

I am completing my term as Chair of AASL Advocacy at the close of ALA Annual.  As part of my responsibilities, I am a member of the Advocacy Coordinating Group which is a great example of the Library Ecosystem.  There are 22 members, including staff liaison.  Both Terri Grief, AASL President and I represent ALA.

Here are some of the divisions and groups represented: Association of College and Research Libraries, Association for Library Services to Children, Association for Library Collections & Technical Services, United for Libraries, Library & Information Technology, Association for Specialized& Cooperative Library Agencies, Public Awareness, Committee on Legislation, International Federation of Library Associations, Library Leadership & Management, Office of Information Technology & Telecommunication Services,  Research & Statistics, and Asian/ Pacific American Library Association.  That’s quite a broad range of members.

It took me a while to appreciate that every one of them had a stake in Advocacy.  You may think at first that we have little in common, but remember the concept of the Library Ecosystem.  As Benjamin Franklin said at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, “We all hang together, or we all hang separately.”

What emerges is that we find a few messages that apply to all of us.  Using three or four messages rather than a barrage of them from different camps ensures that it is heard, and that makes it powerful.

Currently the committee has just drafted the Advocacy Strategic Direction plan.  It is our part of the overall ALA Strategic Direction plan.  In turn, AASL Advocacy is going to work with it to craft an AASL Advocacy Strategic Direction.  ALA is very large and diverse, but by working together we speak with one voice.

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The presentation I gave at NYLA/SSL draws heavily from the business world.  I often said to people, while I am a school librarian, I am also in sales.  I sold my program every day to everyone who came into my library whether it was a student, teacher, or someone picking up a piece of equipment going out for repair. I am not saying we can or should run our libraries like a business.  We are not in it for a profit, and we are limited in bringing in new “customers.” But we can adapt many sales principles to sell our program to our various customers and stakeholders.

Someone I worked with had sales training and she noted how important it is to always remember no one wants to be sold—but everyone wants to buy.  What she meant was, we resist any sales pressure, which is one more reason we don’t get anywhere when we lead with research findings showing the value of school libraries and librarians.  It’s obvious to whomever we are speaking that we are “selling” our program.

The idea is to make the program something they want to have.  This is where marketing comes in. Marketing identifies a problem the customer has and shows how your product (your program) can solve it. You can see it easily with your students.  You introduce a research project and the students’ problem is find relevant, accurate information in the most efficient way, know how to organize it, and use the finding to create something of value.  If you are doing your job, they know you are the best person to help them get on track and stay there even when research gets messy.  Look at the image to the right – can you see how these words apply to your program and getting it noticed? 

Apply the same approach to your administrators.  What problems do they have that your program can solve or make easier?  How can you demonstrate that? Once you begin to think in these terms, you can tackle a bigger challenge—figuring out what problems board members have and your ability to help them.  What about parents?  Parents of elementary students have different wants and issues than parents of high school students.  What can you do to assist them?

The first step is to alter your mind set.  It used to seem as though everyone took for granted that what we did was important and valuable. But in reality, people were just accepting it because it was there. Once money became an issue and everything was on the table, if the library program was not of high value to the stakeholders with power, it was cut or eliminated.  It’s time to show them, your program is one they definitely want to buy.  Remember – you’re indispensable.

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What does this mean? Leadership is not an option; it’s a job requirement.

By being a leader you prove you are essential—and indispensable.  Those of you who read this blog along with the School Librarian’s Workshop tend to be leaders.  In order make the most lasting impact, you need all the librarians in your district to be leaders.  One single pro-active librarian surrounded by those passively doing their job is not enough.  I urge you to reach out to these librarians.  Learn what’s holding them back. Provide encouragement, advice, and support.  A month ago I blogged about mentoring.  Offer to be a mentor.

Believe it or not, I wasn’t a leader when I began my career, but I soon learned and saw the importance of continuing to develop as a leader.

In 1973, I became the elementary librarian in a new school modeled on the British infant school concept. Grades 1 and 2 were together as were 3 and 4, and 5 and 6.  Teachers at each double grade level worked in large rooms with dividers separating them from the others.  They planned their units together.  This highly collaborative model, overseen by a principal who was open to new ideas, led me to finding different ways for students to learn, mostly on their own and guided by me and their teachers.  My role became vital for the success of what happened in the classroom.

Energized by what was happening, I began taking on new challenges.  I became an active member—rather than just a dues-paying member- of my state association and then AASL.  Although the term didn’t exist, I developed an extensive PLN.  When the time came to automate my library, I was an early adapter and I knew qualified librarians in other states who guided me through the process and made me look good. I took on more leadership roles in my state association and wrote a book.  My confidence kept growing and my ability to explain the importance of librarians and what we do grew with every experience.

Assure those who have not taken the plunge into leadership, that all they need to do is to take one small step. Focus at first on what is easy and natural to you.  Go to leadership institutes if your state association offers them.  Read what others are doing and try doing it on a smaller scale if necessary. Anyone can become a leader. All that is necessary is the will, and all of us must be leaders if our profession is to thrive.

Who among your colleagues needs to hear this?  How can you help?

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Obviously, the second model is the better one for transforming student learning, but for most elementary school librarians and many middle school ones, the constraints of a fixed schedule make collaboration challenging.  That doesn’t mean it can’t happen.  You just need to choose your partners in a different way.  A post on the AASLForum electronic discussion list reminded me of how collaboration can be achieved within a fixed schedule day.

Many years ago, I worked in an elementary school modeled on the British infant school. All first and second graders were in one large room with 5 feet high dividers separating six classrooms for five teachers with the last being used for group gatherings.  Each teacher had a class composed of first and second graders, allowing for a more ungraded environment.  Third and fourth graders also had a large room with pairs of team teachers – one for math and science and the other for social studies and language arts. Fifth and sixth graders were “departmentalized” and moved as a homeroom to the different subject areas. With a principal open to innovation, all the teachers had room to experiment.

One of the great concepts we created were school-wide events occurring several times a year.  I along with the art, music, and gym teacher would develop a theme designed to culminate in an evening showcase to which parents were invited. Among the memorable ones was the one entitled “Under the Sea.”  In music, the students learned sea chanties and other relevant songs.  In art they designed murals.  In gym, the teacher created games simulating underwater environments, and in the library I worked with students researching marine animals and plants so their murals and oral presentations were accurate. We had a dress rehearsal by day and a grand presentation in the evening.  The halls were decorated with student murals. In the gym they cavorted in “underwater games.” At various locations in the corridors, students sang songs or talked about marine life.

Many years later, when I moved to the high school of the same school district, those who had been my students would talk to me about those presentations. It was what they remembered most of their elementary days. Where fixed schedules are present, all the special teachers have the common challenge of making their weekly (or less) meeting with students meaningful.  When you collaborate on a project of this scope you can make a huge difference in student learning and spotlight the value of what each of you bring to the educational community.

Those with a flex schedule often have their own difficulties in getting teachers to collaborate.  Instead of focusing on the English, History, Math, and Science, consider making connections with art, music, and computer teachers.  Also look for possibilities working with world language teachers.  If you can develop a large, visible culminating activity, preferably one which the parents can see, you will lay the foundation for many more collaborative projects – including some with the more difficult-to-reach teachers.

Have you had any success working with those teaching special subjects?  Share your projects here or on the School Librarian’s Workshop Facebook group.

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Image from the World Literacy Council

It once was simple in the days before apps and the Internet. When all information came by way of books, magazines, and newspapers. Literacy was easy to define. It meant you were able to read and understand printed matter.  Functional literacy was said to be the ability to read on the fourth grade level. Basic literacy as defined by the U.S. Department of Education 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy is using “print and written material to function in society and achieve one’s goals and to develop one’s knowledge and potential.”

However, most often today when someone refers to literacy, you need to know which type of literacy they mean.  Information literacy?  Digital literacy?  Transliteracy?  Visual Literacy? And there are more out there.  The bottom line is that all these types of literacy are important, but it’s important to recognize that all these literacies –even visual literacy to some extent—rely on being able to read and comprehend text.

As school librarians we are responsible for guiding our students to develop fluency in all literacies, but we can’t forget the basics.  We still must provide the print rich environment leading to a love of reading and learning. All else follows from that.

On June 13, 2013, ALA Council passed a resolution reaffirming ALA’s commitment to basic literacy, noting that the ALA Policy Manual “recognizes Literacy as a core service and responsibility of all libraries.” All types of libraries are charged with “making literacy a high priority in planning and budgeting.”  In schools where administrators are pushing for book-less libraries (when they are not replacing them with computers for taking PARCC and other high stakes tests), standing up for literacy in its most basic definition is not simple.

It’s not that ALA and AASL don’t recognize we are living in a digital age.  These organizations are also working at helping librarians improve their own mastery of multiple literacies to be able to share that with teachers and students. (Several years ago AASL held it biennial Fall Forum on Transliteracy.) What they realize, as noted earlier, these skills rest on basic literacy.

How can you support basic literacy in a culture focused on technology?  Do what many of the top school librarians in the country are doing.  Create programs using a variety of digital resources to coincide with and connect to reading.  An example of the simplest level is having students write online reviews of books. You can have a book club with another school or have pairs of students in different schools read the same book and have an online discussion which they then share with others.  You don’t have to come up with these yourself. Librarians on Twitter and TL Chat on Google+ are sharing what they are doing.  Respond to them with any questions. They’ll be glad to help—and get your students reading for the fun of it.

The post Defining and Supporting Literacy appeared first on SLWorkshop.

The bottom line is in order to be relevant in todays’ world, our resources must always be accessible, and we as librarians are responsible for making that happen. Students and faculty should be able to access your online catalog, databases, and e-reference from whatever is their preferred device. You are always “open” when you are involved in online collaboration with teachers via Google Drive, participate in blended learning with stations for making audio and/or video presentions, Your website and the content you put on it is still another way you are available 24/7. 

But all this won’t make you an intrinsic part of the 21^st century learning landscape unless you recognize the importance of being a leader in your building.  According to Ann Martin and Kathleen Roberts you need to be able to self-assess, manage people and technology, develop leadership dispositions (attitudes, behaviors, habits of mind, — see the Disposition strand in the AASL Standards for the 21^st-Century Learner for examples), communicate effectively (across all types of platforms), and accept responsibility.

Communication is a huge piece of being Anywhere/Anytime. According to keynoter David Warlick, “every 5 seconds there are 417 tweets, 50 new Facebook members, and 120,370 Google searches.”  YouTube is the second largest website and the #2 search engine. Outside the classroom, our students are constantly learning by asking questions and exchanging knowledge and skills.  They learn complex games without instructions by asking questions and learn to success by getting it wrong.  We need to translate this quest for knowledge and the acceptance of “failure” as part of the process into what happens within the library and classroom.

I urge you to check #aasl14 for the conversations that occurred and some of the great links included, one of them being a 15 minute YouTube video covering 15 of the AASL’s Best Websites for Teaching and Learning and Best Apps for Teaching and Learning.  The Genius Hour was also mentioned by several participants.

Some questions we were asked to consider: How can I make this learning environment talk back to the learner?  How can it require learners to exchange knowledge?  How can I add value for the learner?  And some final words from David Warlick as to what our business is,”…it is not just what you you can be trained to achieve, but it’s what you can resourcefully accomplish, and “It is not a ‘Race to the Top’ but it is a joyful exploring, discovering, and inventing The Future!”

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Librarians talk of informational literacy and digital literacy.  Educators and parents are concerned about financial literacy.  With the emphasis on STEM, there is increased reference to numeric or quantitative literacy.

Another important concerns is Transliteracy. It’s defined as “the ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks.”  (www.transliteracy.com). In an age of multiple devices and means of connecting with people and sharing information it is certainly a critical skill.

Those dealing with adults also discuss legal literacy and health literacy.  If you have ever tried reading a legal document or dealt with health care policies, the importance of these literacies cannot be denied.  Even college graduates find themselves unable to comprehend all the subtleties of how language is used in those areas.

I recognize the importance of all these literacies and support all that is being done to improve the ability of student and adults to master them.  However, as a member of ALA Committee on Literacy, I am ever mindful of what was once said at a committee meeting, “The house of literacy has many rooms, but the entrance is through text literacy.”

So we return to where we were in the mid-20^th century.  First and foremost, we need to be able to read text.   And the rate of adult illiteracy is shocking.

In the U.S., 14% of adults over 16 read at or below the 5^th grade level, and 29% read at the 8^th grade level. The implications are huge.  Among those with the lowest literacy rate, 49% live below the poverty level. A substantial portion of our prison population is composed of illiterates or low literates. (ProLiteracy)

Although school librarians are highly trained to teach the other literacies mentioned, they also are committed to creating lifelong learners and readers by instilling a love of reading.  The first Common Belief of the AASL Standards for the 21^st-Century Learner is Reading is a window to the world.  It then explains, “Reading is a foundational skill for learning, personal growth, and enjoyment.”

Students are taught to read in class.  For some, the skill is difficult and they are turned off.  This is the route to illiteracy and low literacy.  In the school library, surrounded by books at all levels, guided by a school librarian, adept at connecting a student with just the right book, students discover that reading can be fun.  We need more, not fewer school librarians.  The wealth of our nation depends on it.

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We have just finished the annual

But the issue is far larger. Banned Books Week is a personal reminder of why I am so proud to be a librarian.  Chatter on the social media is easy, but being a bastion for intellectual freedom and freedom of access to information can be both challenging and frightening. While our everyday workload may be hard, it is nothing compared to what it takes to stand against censors.

Every year ALA and its divisions, including AASL (American Association for School Librarians) present an Intellectual Freedom Award to a librarian who stood up for ALA’s Code of Ethics and most particularly the Library Bill of Rights.  Most state library associations have the same award.  I have known at least one recipient personally, and while she got support from ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom and from her state organization, she said it was lonely and she was often fearful.  She had a positive outcome, and the challenged books were re-instated in the library.  Even better, she was a role model for her students.  But, it was a very difficult time.

Sitting alone and selecting which books to order, librarians quietly face the dilemma of whether to adhere to the strong beliefs which are a foundation of our profession or take the easy way out.  Many decide it isn’t worth the risk, rationalize their budgets aren’t large enough to buy all the books they would like, and pass over titles on LGBTQ subjects or other hot-button issues in their communities.  No one knows of their individual decisions.  There are no consequences for their action or inaction – except for a student or patron who doesn’t get access to much needed information and/or reassurance.

Those who would remove books often point to librarians’ decisions on what to purchase and what not to buy, claiming it, too, is censorship, but they miss a fundamental point.  Book selection—which is what librarians do—is based on the merits of the work as a whole and whether it serves the library’s population. Censorship focuses on snippets—a word, picture, or idea-found unacceptable. It seeks to impose what should be a personal decision on all the library’s users.  As a guide, many of us hold that every library should have something that offends someone – including the librarian who purchased it. I have had works by Klansman and other equally personally offensive titles in my libraries because it was my responsibility to present a broad range of viewpoints.

So as another Banned Books Week comes to an end, I want to honor and celebrate the courageous librarians who take on the toughest aspect of our profession.  I hope those of you who are librarians are equally brave. For non-librarian of this blog, I wish you have these librarians in charge of the library you use.

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I was an undergraduate, planning to become a high school English teacher, and took a job as a page in a public library.  As graduation approached, I was desperate to find a job within walking distance of a buses to New York City (where my soon-to-be husband worked) and applied for a teaching position in Fort Lee, NJ.  On my application, I stated I was willing and able to cover when the librarian had lunch or a free period. The acting superintendent, called back from retirement when the current one had a heart attack, was eager to get all position filled and said if I got 6 credits over the summer, he would hire me as Teacher Librarian with emergency certification.  The location was perfect.  The director of the public library helped get me into Columbia University’s School of Library Science (now defunct) – with its Melvil Dewey Chair of Cataloging—and I completed my two courses the day before my wedding.  My career as an accidental librarian began at the same time my marriage did.  Both, I’m happy to report, have withstood the test of time.

So, how did you become a school librarian?

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