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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When the recession hit in 2008, many businesses panicked.  They tried to minimize all expenses and for the most part circled the wagons hoping to ride out the crisis.  Most of those who took that approach failed. The more successful looked around and identified what made them or their product unique.  They looked to see who besides their current customers could benefit from it and what changes in marketing would be needed to attract these potential customers.

If your library looks the way it did in the 1990’s with the addition of more computers and a Smartboard, you have not changed.  Having a website and adding e-books doesn’t make you a 21^st century librarian. And certainly it isn’t having a quiet library with kids polishing their Dewey Decimal skills. 

Have you taken stock of what makes you unique? At the end of February, I blogged on how librarians transform student learning.  That’s about change. Do you do those things?  Have you let your administrators know?  How?  Emailing memos and reports is not 21^st century.  Videoing students exhibiting these transformative behaviors and sending those out is 21^st century.

Is your library a place where students find things or is it one in which they create things?  Do you provide opportunities for them to go beyond your walls?  Across the globe? Who are you following on Twitter?  What’s the best idea you got from these outstanding school librarians—and have you adapted it for your library program? 

What do you know about Learning Commons?  Find out how other librarians have transformed their facility, often on a shoestring budget.  Share with your administrator the excitement of the possibilities a Learning Commons creates.

Life is about change.  You are either changing or you are dying.  We have lost too many libraries and librarians.  If you haven’t done so, decide it’s time for a change, and if you need help… I, and many other librarians, are here for you. Reach out!

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Most school librarians work alone.  Teachers and administrators assume you learned everything you need to know to do your job at library school, but this is far from the reality.  Managing the environment without having the structure of a classroom is a challenge in itself. Getting to the “backroom” responsibilities and doing clerical tasks or overseeing a clerk or volunteers (increasingly rare) handling them while still focusing on teaching and meeting student and teacher needs require focus and organizational skills you were not likely to have been taught. Generally, school librarians are thrown into the deep end and have to learn to swim.

In 2007, my colleague Ruth Toor (now retired) and I wrote New on the Job (ALA Editions) to deal with the challenge. I am now working on the second edition.  Ironically, it has become a text book in a number of library school courses. Although I believe it is a solid resource for beginning librarians, it does not replace the benefits of a mentor.

My state association, New Jersey Association of School Librarians, works with our Department of Education to provide mentoring for new librarians.  A handbook (unfortunately in need of updating) guides mentor and mentee through the requirements and responsibilities of the relationship.  Over the years it has been in place, I have taken the opportunity to mentor a number of librarians, giving back to the profession I love.

If you have been a librarian for over five years, consider offering to mentor a newbie.  For those entering the profession, I strongly recommend you seek out a mentor.  Look for someone who is active at the state and/or national level. Don’t be afraid to approach people you think are “famous.”  They are usually more than happy to help.

Your mentor will guide you through the pitfalls of dealing with teachers, administrators, and board members who wander into your library.  They can help you with classroom management and creating a budget. When you need to vent, your mentor is a safe person to whom you can turn.

We cannot afford to have any librarian fail.  It puts their jobs, their programs, and the students and teachers they serve at risk. Ask for help – or be the one to provide it.

The post Mentoring: Who are You Helping? Who’s Helping You? appeared first on SLWorkshop.