Advocating Libraries, Librarians, and Becoming Visible

1.       Empowering Learning through leadership – Librarians are the biggest leaders and show others how to lead even though challenges creep up fast and multiply quickly. Learning has evolved from memorization to critical thinking and problem solving through collaborative efforts. Technology has been the biggest change to hit education and librarianship. If we don’t keep up, we will be left behind in the dust.  Librarians must also build strong relationships with others in their building such as with faculty and administrators. To build these types of strong relationships, a librarian must be seen and be active in all aspects of the building and in the community as well. Librarians need to advocate for the library and put the word out what they have to offer. Librarians must have good leadership characteristics such as enthusiasm and creativity. They must always look ahead, collaborate, and be a part of our global society. (American Association of School Librarians, 2009)

2.       Woolls – Chapter 12 On the Job: Advocacy and the Media Center – Media specialists must “sell” the library to administration, parents, and the community in order to keep funds coming in and to not be a target of budget cuts. In order to do this, the librarian must have something good to “sell.” They must show what exactly how the library can affect positive learning outcomes. When media specialists can get teachers and students to use the library and its resources, they will spread the word to others about what is available in the library which in turn will encourage more to use it. If there ever is speculation of cutting funds, these are the people who will speak up and give proof of why that should never happen. “Selling” a library is a lot like operating a business. “…it is the bringing together of producer and consumer.” (Woolls, 2008, p. 190) There are three marketing traits in advocating libraries.  One includes public awareness to which library staff must be helpful to everyone. Another is dissemination of information which can be included in the public awareness portion. Dissemination of information includes showing library patrons the materials and resources they may be interested in. Lastly, development of services is researching the target audience to support curriculum and classroom learning.

 

Services are the number one facet of the library that a media specialist must market. After services, comes the collection. What to market is determined by patrons by what they use most often, what needs do they have, services that people are not aware of, new services, new materials and databases, and special collections. School libraries are similar to businesses in that they have competition, producers, consumers, products, promotion, distribution, planning, etc. Media specialists are the producers and patrons are the consumers. Products are the services or collection the library has to offer. Distribution is how patrons access the products. There are four steps involved when planning. First, the media specialist must analyze what the library needs and what funds are needed. The second step is to build strategies to accomplish what needs to be done. The third step is to keep track using good records and the fourth step is to evaluate those records. To show the community exactly what is being used in the library, it would be good to display the statistics of patron usage.  

 

Communication is the key to promoting the library. The media specialist can promote through the printed press using newsletters and newspapers to get the word out. They can also use the intercom at school. Put notices in teacher mailboxes, present new materials at teacher meetings, hold contests, give away free samples, create displays and signs, etc. When preparing presentations, the media specialist should consider the length, have an outline handy, use visuals, and hand out copies. When speaking, the librarian should tell the audience what they are going to say, say it, then go over what was said. (Woolls, 2008)

3.       Woolls – Chapter 15 Leadership and Professional Associations – Librarians must work to change the way people perceive the library profession. Librarians that can get across to others the importance of the library will be able to help teachers by enhancing their classroom curriculum. They will also be able to help students become better at learning. One way librarians can help themselves to become better at what they do is to join professional associations. The National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) are both educational associations at the national level. Special associations are the National Council of Teachers of English, the International Reading Association, and the National Council of the Social Studies. Other organizations are the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and the International Society for Technology in Education. These associations can help the media specialist with curriculum and keeping abreast of educational news. (Woolls, 2008)

 

Library and Media Associations can help with correspondence with other librarians and to get the latest information concerning librarianships. Some associations consist of state library organizations which usually hold annual events. There are national library organizations which help with lobbying efforts and include the Association for Educational Communications and Technology, the American Library Association, and the American Association of School Librarians. There are many benefits in belonging to these associations such as subscriptions, discounts, awards, scholarships, and training. There is also an international organization which allows global collaborations and it is called the International Association of School Librarianship. (Woolls, 2008)

 

The librarian must also practice politics. They must lobby locally for the needs of the library especially when programs or positions are threatened. Documentation must be kept on how valuable the library is to the school. They also need to show what would be lost if the school lost the library. The professional associations can provide help in these areas with pamphlets, books, articles, and more. When confronting elected officials, they need to know that they are elected and they also work for us. It is up to the media specialist to keep the community informed of legislative actions. When corresponding with elected officials it is best to be brief, be appreciative, be specific, be informative, and be courteous. (Woolls, 2008, p. 230)  It would be best to establish a connection with government offices before the need arises.

 

Media specialists need to learn how to expand globally as worldly communication grows globally. If librarians make connections in the global community, they can pass along what they learn to other teachers and students therefore expanding knowledge.

If media specialist expect to be treated professionally, they need to act and dress like professionals. Author Blanche Woolls devised “Fifty Ways to Succeed @ Your Library.” This includes ways to manage the library, of teaching in the library, how to have good public relations, and putting forth that extra effort. (Woolls, 2008)

 

4.       The ‘M’ Word – Marketing Libraries – Seth Godin points out libraries will be changing drastically and although they will change, he doesn’t want them to be eventually eliminated. He argues that right now, libraries are a place to house books, the price of eReaders and eBooks will go down, people can research from home, there will be no need for print, and future tax payers may not see the need for today’s type of library. As technology changes the way people need things, libraries need to change the way they provide these needs. A lot of it will be about connecting and communicating and libraries need to move forward with those aspects.  (Dowd, 2011)

5.       Are Librarians, Not Seth Godin, The Ones Missing the Point on Libraries? – As Buffy Hamilton states, “libraries should be idea and learning-driven – that focus and our rethinking what the spaces of library and where librarians can be embedded in our communities” (Hamilton, 2011) is where the future of libraries will go. She says we may not need clerks anymore but we will need the librarian more than ever. She quotes Dr. David Lankes in saying that librarians are moving from using tangible artifacts to producing the ability to gain knowledge. Buffy says she feels more like a teacher than when she taught English. She now questions what it means exactly to be a librarian. She says rather than push aside what non-librarians have to say, we should listen and keep an open mind on their vision of future libraries. (Hamilton, 2011)

6.       Transparency is the New Black – Gwyneth Jones states that educators need to have a web presence now more than ever to promote what they do. She lists eight tools she likes to use including Wikispaces, Twitter, Flicker, Facebook, Linkedin, Youtube, Google Apps, and Blogging. (Jones, 2012)

7.       Visibility Works!- Sara Johns gives a report about a guest (Rebecca Ekstrom) who created a fun way to show others what students have learned or accomplished in the library. She used Animoto to create videos. Her administrators loved it so much they allowed more people to have access to the videos. This type of visibility helped her advocate the library and all that she does. (Johns, 2012)

8.       Why I belong to ALA/AASL – Doug Johnson complains about the cost of joining professional organizations such as the ALA. He also complains about some of the things they do that he disagrees on but he continues to pay his dues. The main reason he continues is not for what he gets out of it but rather what the organizations stand for as a profession. (Johnson, 2012)

9.       Why You Need Your School Librarian – Kimberly Shearer talks about Common Core standards wanting teachers to teach 21^st century skills and how this is very similar to what students already know such as the use of Facebook for example. She says librarians are needed more than ever to help students evaluate information, collaborate, master technology, and to be readers. (Shearer, 2012)

 

Questions:

1)      From the readings above, we know librarians should be leaders in the school. How should librarians get this message across to administrators and other teachers who still believe librarians are merely circulation clerks to let them step up?

2)      Teachers often say they just don’t have the time to evaluate new web tools. How can a librarian show them that by using these tools, they would save time in the future?

3)      As community needs change and even if the media specialist is on board with those changes, how can the media specialist show their co-workers, administrators, and board members that if they don’t keep up, they will be left behind in the dust?

Works Cited

American Association of School Librarians. (2009). Empowering Learners. Chicago: American Library Association.

Dowd, N. (2011, May 14). The 'M' Word - Marketing Libraries. Retrieved September 20, 2012, from New Marketing Trends: http://themwordblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/godin-guttenberg-and-going-forward.html

Hamilton, B. (2011, May 16). Are Librarians, Not Set Godin, The Ones Missin ght Point on Libraries? Retrieved September 20, 2012, from The Unquiet Librarian: http://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com/2011/05/16/are-librarians-not-seth-godin-the-ones-missing-the-point-on-libraries/

Johns, S. K. (2012, March 9). Guest Post: Visibility Works! Retrieved September 20, 2012, from Make Some Noise! School Library Hournal: http://blogs.slj.com/make-some-noise/2012/03/09/visibility-works/

Johnson, D. (2012, April 14). BFTP: Why I Belong to ALA/AASL. Retrieved September 20, 2012, from The Blue Skunk Blog: http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2012/4/14/bftp-why-i-belong-to-alaaasl.html

Jones, G. A. (2012, April 3). Transparency is the New Black. Retrieved September 20, 2012, from The Daring Librarian: http://www.thedaringlibrarian.com/2012/04/transparency-is-new-black.html

Shearer, K. (2012, July 12). Why You Need Your School Librarian. Retrieved September 20, 2012, from Kentucky Teacher: http://www.kentuckyteacher.org/kentucky-teacher-of-the-year/2012/07/why-you-need-your-school-librarian/

Woolls, B. (2008). The School Library Media Manager Fourth Edition. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.