Illustration by David Flaherty from
SLJ
The school holiday break is providing an opportunity to follow up items I've saved to
Instapaper
for reading later. This post reflects on Principal's perceptions of
school librarians compared to how the librarians saw themselves in
research conducted by Tricia Kuon and Holly Weimar. Published in the
School Library Journal blog, 12 September 2012, the article is entitled:
How does your boss see you?: Proof that principals value librarians.
Having visited school libraries in both the US and Canada over the
past two years, I'm aware that, on the whole, we are in a far better
position here in Australia. Generally speaking, we have more library
staff and better budgets, although both are being closely monitored and
library services reduced as in North America. In reading this article
from an Australian perspective, I also read the role of 'librarian' as
the full range of models from teacher librarian as library manager
through to technicians in that role.
Authors, Tricia Kuon and Holly Weimar have explored their evidence to
provide a signpost of attributes for librarians to adopt a leadership
role within their schools. Principals are looking for that leadership,
especially in relation to technology.
Marcia Mardis, associate director of the Partnerships Advancing Library Media (PALM) Center at Florida State University says some s
chool librarians don’t feel comfortable labeling themselves as leaders—but it doesn’t mean they’re not acting like ones, “Leaders are as leaders do.”
The authors lists of 'Librarian's top 10 tasks' from a Principal's,
compared with Librarian's perspective, is particularly significant. The
Principal's view is broader and management-focussed, the librarian's is
narrower and task-focussed. In these few weeks we have off over the
summer Christmas break, it's worth taking time to reflect on our roles.
Don't just shut down and wait till we go back and start the year in the
same way.
Reflect: What takes up the time in your day? What tasks could you
do more efficiently? What could you abandon completely? What does your
Principal value most about your role? How does the library team
contribute to the discussion? Does everyone have a voice?
To quote (from the article) retired school librarian, Alice Yucht, 'it’s important to promote the library, not yourself—and to know the difference between promotion and advocacy. “You cannot self-advocate. You need to create satisfied customers and users who will then advocate for the library.”'
So
I invite you to join me in reflecting during the break, ready to return
to school with a 'plan for action' in 2013. In the week the New York Times Room for Debate topic: Do we still need libraries? stimulates discussion, take time to reflect and plan.
I found this article valuable reading. Thanks Tricia and Holly.
PS: As a benchmark against our own practice, further recommended reading is the
School Librarian Evaluation Rubric recently released by the New York State Department of Education (SED) through submissions from
Section of School Librarians (SSL) of NYLA and the NYS School Library Systems Association (SLSA)..
