A Digital Librarian's Survival Toolkit by Awesome School Librarians

Library Leadership: A Seat at the Table We Are Total Leaders As part of courses that I have been taking over the past year, I have been immersed in thinking about leadership, types of leaders, leadership styles, and what leadership looks like and entails. One of the books that I have read is Total Leaders: Applying the Best Future-Focused Change Strategies to Education by Charles J. Schwahn and William G. Spady. The book first appeared on the scene in the 1980s and has been revised and rewritten several times. Internet Archive’s National Emergency Library Harms Authors The Authors Guild is appalled by the Internet Archive’s (IA) announcement that it is now making millions of in-copyright books freely available online without restriction on its Open Library site under the guise of a National Emergency Library. IA has no rights whatsoever to these books, much less to give them away indiscriminately without consent of the publisher or author. We are shocked that the Internet Archive would use the Covid-19 epidemic as an excuse to push copyright law further out to the edges, and in doing so, harm authors, many of whom are already struggling.

explore.org's LiveCams, Lessons and Resources Will Take Your Students To Animals Around The World Our kids love animals and there is nothing better than being able to see how animals behave, live, act, eat and interact with others. The website explore.org can bring these amazing animal experiences to all of us, at school and at home through animal livecams from around the world. As shared on the explore.org site, Key Action Areas ALA is committed to eight Key Action Areas as guiding principles for investment of energies and resources: Advocacy for Libraries and the Profession The association actively works to increase public awareness of the crucial value of libraries and librarians, to promote state and national legislation beneficial to libraries and library users, and to supply the resources, training and support networks needed by local advocates seeking to increase support for libraries of all types. Learn more... Diversity Diversity is a fundamental value of the association and its members, and is reflected in its commitment to recruiting people of color and people with disabilities to the profession and to the promotion and development of library collections and services for all people.

Future Ready Librarians®: Building Strong Partnerships with School and District Leaders – Future Ready Future Ready Librarians® lead beyond the library, collaborating not only with teacher colleagues, but with building and district leaders to prepare future ready learners. Creating exciting and dynamic opportunities for future ready learners requires shared leadership among librarians, instructional coaches, principals, technology leaders, and district administrators. During this unprecedented time when students are learning from home, one of the most important partnerships is the one between librarians and administrators. During this webinar, our guests with explain how librarians and administrators can work together to benefit students and teachers and ensure continuity of learning. Our guests will discuss

How Graduate School Prepared Me For Teaching During A Pandemic – Sharon H. Fox As a school librarian, I’ve been tasked with helping to support much of our staff as we transition to remote learning. For those of us in the profession, it’s not a surprise since much of our job is supporting staff in addition to the work we do with students in the library. What is a surprise to me, however, is how much my graduate school experience as a student has suddenly come in to play. I graduated in 2010 from Syracuse University with an MSLIS degree. Two Valentine's Day BreakoutEDU's For All Students Added To Our February Choice Boards I have an exciting addition to the February Choice Boards to share with you. My friends at BreakoutEDU, shared two games that I added under the Technology Fun column. Now in addition to being able to create a Buncee Valentine; create, build, color, animate and more in ToyTheatre; make a Valentine picture on the digital Lite-Brite; and find out Where on Google Earth is Carmen Sandiego, all learners will be able to play these BreakoutEDU games at school or at home. The Valentine Day and animal themed games are two different levels. One for K-3 and one for 3-8. I marked that on the choice board with the little red triangles too.

School Libraries There are 90,400 public and private schools for grades kindergarten through high school in the United States. Of those, 82,300 (91%) have school libraries and only 56,000 (61%) have full-time librarians. However, schools with a strong school library program and a certified school librarian ensure their students have the best chance to succeed. More than 60 education and library research studies have produced clear evidence that school library programs staffed by qualified school librarians have a positive impact on student academic achievement. These studies clearly demonstrate that strong school library programs help all students do better academically, even when other school variables are considered: School libraries offer a safe and nurturing climate during the day, as well as before and after school.

The Nonnegotiable Role of School Librarians What principals know and think about school libraries we have learned largely from our own past experiences and school librarians. I have had the distinct honor and privilege to work with and learn from some amazing librarians over the course of my career. These innovative educators have shaped my belief in the indispensable value of robust school libraries. They also have transformed how I think about learning and how I make decisions as an instructional leader. Connecting School to the World Outside the Classroom

How to Sanitize Collections in a Pandemic Keeping libraries safe is important for both workers and guests. But during the current COVID-19 pandemic, questions about how to do that—particularly when it comes to materials and surfaces—have complicated answers. It’s an unprecedented situation. Conservators, who are experienced in diagnosing and repairing collection damage, say that historical information on sanitizing library materials is lacking. Besides a bit of anecdotal evidence from a 2019 Smithsonian Magazine article, there’s very little historical data available, says Evan Knight, preservation specialist at the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners: “There’s nothing published or shared from previous epidemics.” The pandemic also presents challenges of a more philosophical nature.

45 Virtual Field Trips (15 New Ones) On The "Let's Take A Trip Around The World Buncee Choice Board"! Our students are having so much fun visiting all kinds of places through the virtual field trips I added to the Let's Take A Trip Around The World Buncee. We are now up to 45 different virtual field trips as I added another page this morning. It's been great seeing all of the other places people have been sharing, so I spent some time adding some of those to this Buncee too.