Blog Archives

Librarians and the Pareto Principle

Have you noticed that around 20% of your teachers constitute 80% of the collaboration projects you develop.  This is the Pareto Principle. Named after Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist who observed in 1906 that 80% of Italy’s wealth was owned

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Posted in Career, Librarian Life

Acknowledging Others and Building Relationships

As librarians we are in the relationship business which means constantly strengthening the ones we have and always reaching out to form new ones.  We must cultivate relationships with students—not as a friend but as a trustworthy, safe adult.  We

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Posted in General, Librarian Life

Leadership Is Not An Option

ALA and AASL along with other divisions work hard promoting the value of libraries and librarians with legislators, the community, along with the various partnerships they have built over the years.  If these efforts are to succeed, librarians need to

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Posted in Librarian Life, Professional Development

Changes – Either you’re changing…

There are still reminders of the season that was and some days the air has a chill, but winter has past and spring has arrived.  The seasons change, and we all welcome it.  Yet in our own lives we resist

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Posted in Librarian Life, Professional Development

Cooperation vs. Collaboration

School librarians are quite specific about the difference between cooperation and collaboration.  In the first case, the librarian and the teacher work independently from each other but share a common direction with each contributing content or process based on what

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Posted in Career, Librarian Life

Mentors – Get One, Be One

I mentioned this topic almost a year ago, and my stand on its importance hasn’t changed. Charting your library program, managing students, and dealing with teachers and administrators, all in addition to the your ongoing tasks and responsibilities, can cause

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Posted in Career, Librarian Life

College Ready – Childhood Lost

I am appalled. The Education Life section of the February 8 New York Times has a feature article on first graders becoming college ready.  This is not about study skills, although I am sure it is part of it.  These

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Posted in General, Librarian Life

To Create a Learning Environment – Support Students’ Self Esteem

School is back in session.  From now until spring break the greatest amount of learning for the year occurs. However, how much students learn depends on several factors.  The least important is their individual intelligence. The teacher counts for most

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Posted in Career, Librarian Life

Rejoice, Relax, Reflect, Re-focus

The holidays are over. The mad scramble is past. I hope you rejoiced with family and friends.  Facebook was filled with greetings exchanged with those too far away to see over the holidays, and it was good to see us

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Posted in General, Librarian Life

Hello? Are you listening?

We live in a noisy world.  Until the power goes out we don’t realize how much background noise exists in our everyday life. Our brains have become skilled at blocking most of this out to preserve our sanity. Not hearing

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Posted in Career