In the upcoming Building a Culture of Collaboration webinar, the co-bloggers invite you to connect with us for a lively discussion about sparking and sustaining collaboration with stakeholders in our schools and communities. So far this month, Judi proposed some self assessment questions about collaborating with students; last week Judy added questions about collaborating with administrators; and this week I will add some things to think about when developing relationships with teachers.

During my years in practice other school librarians used to often ask me “how do you get teachers to work with you so much?” I was always surprised by this question because to me it was just a natural part of my job as a school librarian – working with teachers. But it was also something that was hard to put into words when thinking of how to respond to this question.

We all know the importance of working with teachers and the research on the various roles of the school librarians repeatedly illustrates the importance of developing relationships with teachers, but I think it is the “how” part that is sometimes difficult.

So hopefully our discussion on May 19^th can focus on the “how” of making that connection with teachers and the sharing of strategies to cultivate this all important relationship.

Some things to think about:

1. Approaching Teachers

2. Foundational Steps to Developing Relationships

3. Proactive Strategies

4. Publicize the Benefits of Collaboration

Bring your thoughts and strategies so that we can share and learn from one another on May 19^th!

Advocacy is one of those terms we throw around in school librarianship, assuming everyone in the room knows exactly what we are talking about. Most of us can probably point to examples: promotional videos, events and programs such as School Library Month, Family Fun Night, Read Day etc. However, it can be easy to confuse advocacy with marketing. While the examples I just listed are extremely important, I believe these are only a slice of advocacy – not the entire cake.

Advocacy is typically defined as the act of speaking or writing in support of someone or something. MW defines it as “the act or process of supporting a cause.” I like the use of the word “process“. To me, this word reminds us that advocacy is comprised of daily actions, communication, instructional decisions, relationships nurtured, even budgetary choices. Advocacy is a daily attitude.

If this way of thinking about advocacy seems foreign, do not be surprised. Most school librarians come from content areas that did not expose them to the need for advocacy. How often have you heard an educator say: “I’m afraid they are going to cut the math program for lack of funding” or “The science teacher was so unpopular. None of the students enjoyed her class. Maybe we should get rid of the science program all together. We can simply replace it with class science experiment kits or videos.” What we DO hear are comments like: “Why do we need a library when we have Google?” or “That librarian is very unfriendly. None of the children or teachers enjoy going to the library. I am not even sure what he does in there all day!”

This is where I am going to bring up my pesky musical past again. Music educators and programs know that advocacy is a crucial component of their daily professional lives. In fact, read how the National Association for Music Educators discusses advocacy:

“One of the best forms of preventative advocacy is a strong, vital, quality music education program. Music educators become advocates for their programs at concerts and public performances by relating to the audience the musical content of the music being performed and the musical challenges students have met and mastered. This informal form of advocacy can yield significant benefits by building support for the program and demonstrating in a very real way the unique educational value of a music education to students. Inviting an administrator into the music classroom or rehearsal to see students engaged in active learning is another of many informal forms of advocacy that can build beneficial and even essential support when a crisis situation arises.”

Here is another, especially meaningful section:

“What prompts any advocacy efforts are the welfare and education of the students and the right of every student to a quality music education. Although developing and maintaining a career is important, as a music educator you are advocating for a higher cause than continued employment—you are advocating for a quality music education for every child.”

Re-read those statements and replace the words music program with school library program. Aren’t the efforts the same? The purpose equal? Are we not advocating for a quality “school library education for every child”?

I encourage you to read through the rest of NAfME’s advocacy statement – it lists concrete examples of advocacy that foster a daily attitude of support and program promotion (including good ideas for dealing with potential program cuts).  Of course, AASL and ALA have wonderful advocacy kits and resources, as well as a treasure trove of articles and columns on the subject. However, I find that exploring issues from a different profession’s perspective sometimes helps to clarify our own, introducing us to a new way of considering our existing challenges.

I also encourage you to think through your daily professional practice in light of that list. What are ways that you can advocate for your program locally, throughout the day? Do you make a point of sharing curated resources with teachers, parents and administrators? Do you actively pursue relationships with parents, administrators, board members, and the community, always sharing how the school library academically benefits students? Is your school library an open and welcoming place? Do teachers perceive you to be open and supportive of their classroom goals? As you celebrate School Library Month, remember that the process of advocacy is a daily one.

Suggested Reading:

Green, L. (2014). School librarians and music educators: A concert for student success. Library Media Connection, 33(3), 20-23.

January is always a very busy month for me and so if you are like me you may have missed some of the great discussion here on the BACC blog.

As I have been looking back at the post from my co-bloggers this month several things resonate with me. I am teaching Administration of the School Library this semester and reading these posts I found that there are several items that need to be added into my course. First, I really like the term proposed “classroom collections” over “classroom library” and agree with Lucy’s assertion that “the classroom collection is not a library because it is missing the information literacy expert.”

And we need to prepare future school librarians for “classroom collections” and the challenges they may experience with these, but also how they can transform this into an opportunity for collaboration. Offering to help a teacher select books for their classroom collection is a great way to connect with them and then in turn as Judi talked about, always get input from teachers when building the school library collection too.

Whether it is through a library advisory committee, a survey of needs, and/or just informal feedback. The collection does indeed belong to the entire school community. If we want teachers to work with us and utilize the collection it only makes sense to promote this type of ownership through including them in the selection process. I know I teach this to my students, but we need to add more strategies on how to do this.

Because as Judy says “Resources for literacy should not be an either/or choice for investing in school wide literacy programs.” And she is exactly right – we all should be contributing to the same goal. Teachers and teacher librarians are partners for the literacy in their schools. I believe this is just one more collaborative relationship that we as school librarians need to cultivate. I well remember the strategies I utilized to maximize this opportunity and Judy expressed several of these in her post with a great list of some ideas to add to your toolbox and connect with teachers to serve as a literacy leader in your school.

Hello BACC readers,

I am writing to you on a cold and rainy day in South Georgia; a day with just enough fog to make my small town look like it belongs in the Chronicles of Narnia. I am also writing to you after having enjoyed listening to my nine year old daughter read sections from Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming aloud to me as we snuggled on the coach before school. I share this second tidbit with you because Brown Girl Dreaming is a book leveled above 3^rd grade, and one not many third grade teachers would be likely to stock in their classroom collections. Thankfully, my daughter was able to check this book out from her school library under the guidance of a school librarian who is aware of my daughter’s reading capacity and interest.

When thinking on the BACC theme this month (school libraries compared to classroom libraries), several threads began to weave themselves together. I’d like to share those threads with you all.

Thread 1: Is it “And” or “Vs”?

As a school library educator, my job is to prepare future school librarians. It occurred to me that in our program here at Georgia Southern, we do not formally address the presence of classroom libraries. Since the overwhelming majority of our students are classroom teachers, I imagine many of them maintain these collections in their classrooms. Does it behoove the school librarian to push against classroom collections? To discourage their presence and present a negative reaction to their existence? Should I teach my school library candidates to set their cross-hairs for classroom collections, ridding the world of these “imposters?”

I don’t think so.

Much of what we do is inter-relational, and oftentimes, politically sensitive. I cannot see the benefit in attacking an effort that comes from a well-intentioned place, and I actually think this would hurt a librarian’s ability to maintain positive interactions with his or her colleagues.

Thread 2: The Terms We Use

When Judi blogged last week, someone posted that he preferred the term “classroom collections” to “classroom libraries.” I think he makes an excellent point. The terms we use are extremely important. The school library should not merely house a collection of books, e-books, databases etc. Its primary treasure, I argue, is the expertise the school librarian embodies; an expertise that multiplies the impact of those instructional resources. The classroom collection is not a library because it is missing the information literacy expert. Tying thread 2 to thread 1, I think it is our job as school librarians to promote this expertise, to be willing to engage in collaboration and multiply the impact of any library resource – be it space (makerspace activities, after school coding clubs), be it print, be it online research. If a teacher asks for my help, for my expertise, I am going to say yes! I am going to prove that I am the key resource in that school library! Instead of attacking classroom collections, encourage teachers to see the multitude of extras they have access to when accessing the school library (and you!).

Thread 3: Comparing Apples and Oranges

Years ago, I was a music teacher in Fort Worth, Texas. For a while, this school district considered getting rid of elementary music because it was reasoned that classroom teachers could easily sing songs or play music games (hey! We have boom boxes now!) with their own students. The community fought back. Music teachers explained that simply singing songs or playing games is not a music education. It takes an individual who is a certified music teacher to use these resources to teach foundational music skills such as ear training, steady beat, accurate pitch matching, harmonization, and sight reading. This may seem obvious to people who are trained musicians, or familiar with musical concepts. However, to a school administrator or other individual who walks by a music classroom and is unaware of the pedagogical reasons behind the activities, a music class might look like chaos!

I see this same lack of awareness being an issue for the school librarian. We KNOW how wonderful we are. We KNOW what we bring to the table. We KNOW why the school library collection, developed with our care and expertise, and used in collaborative instruction is an incredible component in student achievement. But. Does your administrator know this? Do your parents know this? Do your teachers know this? Have you clearly documented and voiced your role in instruction?

These are the three threads I am weaving today as I think on classroom collections. Help teachers understand that while classroom collections are great for supporting silent reading, for example – these cannot replace the impact of an instructional expert working with a large, curated collection. Finally, develop the discipline of documenting and explaining your instructional choices, approaches and decisions. Clearly outline your reasoning for the collection development process you undertake, voicing connections between your expertise, resources, and student learning needs.

Please share your thoughts in the comments below, or tweet at me: @lucysantosgreen