I’ve been thinking a lot about a session at TCEA’s Library Sig group meeting, where Barbara Jansen and her former principal Marla McGee did an excellent presentation about ‘five things librarians would want their principals to know about their programs’. (See Dr. Mary Ann Bell’s excellent summary of the session).
Barbara emphasized the importance of identifying what your ‘five most important things’ about your program are, and then not only telling your principal, but “showing them.’
Ok, this gets to one of those complex trackbacks, but worth it. A recent thread on Doug Johnson’s Blue Skunk blog about librarians and technologists working together to implement 21st century information literacy skills (which tracks back to a series of posts by guest bloggers Justin Medved and Dennis Harter on Dangerously Irrelevant) led me to think about Barbara’s “five things” in relation to other aspects of our roles as librarians.
I’m thinking that part of improving our partnerships with teachers or with our technology departments is identifying those “five things” that we want each of those constituents to understand about our programs. Having a focused message is part of making it “stick.”
We need to, as Barbara and Marla did in their presentation, join forces to understand one another better.
But, we also need input in order to do that–not just telling our own stories but hearing the stories of others.
So maybe we should be asking teachers five things they want librarians to understand about their work, or asking technologists five things they want librarians to understand about theirs, or asking students five things they want us to understand about their use of the library.
Finding ways to open dialogues with our customers through surveys, questionaires, and face to face discussions is a way to enhance and grow our partnerships.
Because we are instructional partners, all of us. Our goal is helping students learn. When we all understand our piece of the partnership and how we can best contribute, the whole school is stronger because of that. What can we do to support one another more effectively? Because ultimately, good partnerships end up helping students learn more meaningfully.
So, teachers, students, technology coordinators, principals–what are those five things that are most important to you?
What do we need to know about your jobs, and how can we partner with you better?
And in return, how can you partner with us better as well?
(Much thanks to Barbara Jansen for the idea.)
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Hi Carolyn,
This is a great idea. It ties into what Joyce Valenza call’s branding too.
I wrote a column – Top 1o Things Baby Teachers Should Know About School Libraries – which still says it for me. Sorry it is 1o and not 5!
http://dougjohnson.squarespace.com/dougwri/baby-teachers.html
All the best,
Doug
Carolyn,
I want our libraries to be student centered comfortable places which are essential spaces in our schools and within the curriculum, beyond signing books out. I want librarians to be partners with teachers, offer resources beyond the card catalog and the Access PA database for students to use in demonstrating their understanding of content. I want librarians to foster conversations of 21st century skills with teachers and administrators, to begin discussions of new information literacy skills, be versed in what they are and how they may be used within the school community. I am not sure how to make this a reality in my district.
As a teacher/librarian, I want:
-collaborative planning time with teachers
-a flexible schedule so that I can be available at time of need for students & staff
-access to integrated curriculum
-some unstructured time to skim some of our new titles so that I can recommend them to patrons
-the ability to unblock sites to experiment and explore new resources
diane
Doug,
Great list for new teachers–thanks for reminding us of that 🙂 I’ve already passed that along to other librarians I work with too!
Robin,
Good question–maybe I should explore that in another post sometime. Maybe we should have open PD for librarians as well 🙂 like the model you are doing right now.
Diane, I agree with your comment about the librarian having the ability to unlock the filter and be able to explore sites for curriculum purposes. Important that we be trusted as professionals and given the keys to unlock access!