School Libraries Matter: The Changing Role of the School Librarian

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eilZJp3_h8

Everyday Advocacy You’re in an elevator with the Board president. Or the Mayor. Or the Chairperson of the city’s Youth Commission. You have one minute before the elevator opens and you go your separate ways. What do you say? What is an "elevator speech"? An elevator speech is a clear, brief message or “commercial” about you. It communicates who you are, why you are valuable, and how you can benefit your stakeholders. It’s typically about 30 seconds to 1 minute, the time it takes people to ride from the top to the bottom of a building in an elevator. Elevator speeches are handy to have rehearsed to advocate for school library programs in all kinds of situations: those planned and those unexpected.

Letter to PM Jacinda Arden on school libraries & librarians This blog is about encouraging reading throughout the school years. By watching book trailers it is hoped that you will be inspired to read the book. An open letter to Prime Minister Jacinda Arden on school libraries and school librarians Posted: January 11, 2018 in Uncategorized Tags: Librarians, Libraries, Literacy levels, Open letter to Jacinda Ardern Dear Prime Minster, Politicians and Members of the Ministry of Education LIS-6455 Syllabus SYLLABUS AND CLASS SCHEDULE LIS 6455, Organization and Administration of the School Library Media Center Spring Semester, 2011 By Internet Course Instructor: Course Description: What School Librarians Do The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) states on their website that “Information and media literacy enables people to interpret and make informed judgments as users of information and media, as well as to become skillful creators and producers of information and media messages in their own right. The following resources may be used to guide parents through the maze of information about information literacy and help to facilitate acquisition of these 21st century skills. Communications in Information Literacy Communications in Information Literacy (CIL) is an independent, professional, refereed electronic journal dedicated to advancing knowledge, theory, and research in the area of information literacy. The journal is committed to the principles of information literacy as set forth by the Association of College and Research Libraries.

*Advocacy - NYC School Librarian Advocating for Your Library and Its Program The structure for this LibGuide was inspired by Barbara Stripling's September/October 2014 American Libraries Magazine article: Reimagining Advocacy for School Libraries: Creating a strategy for getting out your message. In order to get the most out of this LibGuide, we suggest accessing and reading the article. In Reimagining Advocacy for School Libraries, Barbara Stripling identifies five pillars of library services around which all strong school library programs are built: Reading Guidance Instruction Access to Resources and Technology Library Environment (Physical and Virtual) Collaborative Partnerships (support for teaching and learning throughout the school)

*Pitching the Library: the Elevator Speech Presented by Michelle Luhtala, Library Department Chair, New Canaan High School, CT; and Susan Ballard, Program Developer and Instructor USNH Sponsored by Mackin Educational Resources If you attended the live session, you’ll be emailed a CE certificate within 24 hours of the edWebinar. If you view the recording and would like a CE certificate, join the Emerging Tech community and go to the edWebinar Archives folder to take the CE quiz. When administrators are faced with challenging budget cuts, they frequently cut from library programs—often because they don’t understand how strong library programs serve the learning community.

School Libraries Matter Wow, two articles at The Book Chook on the same day? Here’s a really important announcement on something I care deeply about. Can you help? Strategic Planning Assignment Task: To analyze the strategic plan of Seattle Public Library. This analysis provides the essential elements of the plan (mission, vision, values, goals, strategies), describes who developed the plan, analyze the strategy underlying the plan (how well will it generate the necessary resources and achieve the goals), and how well it guides the organization (leadership, decision-making, collection development, technology planning, etc). According to Erica Olsen’s Strategic Planning Kit for Dummies, “Strategy is the ‘what’ part of the equation and helps you answer the question, ‘What are we trying to accomplish?’” This question is just as important for libraries and information centers as it is for any other type of organization or corporation.

SC Study Shows Link Between School Librarians and Higher Test Scores The members of the South Carolina Association of School Librarians (SCASL) have always known how important school librarians and library programs are to student achievement in their state; however, they needed a way to prove it to administrators, teachers, parents, and legislators who were yet to be convinced. To develop their case, in 2013, the SCASL board commissioned a study conducted by Keith Curry Lance, consulting with RSL Research Group president Marcia J. Rodney and vice president Bill Schwarz.

* AASL One-Pagers for Stakeholders One-Pagers for Stakeholders Your School Library in the Learning Community Understanding the National School Library Standards What School Library Standards Mean to Educators Advocacy, Legislation & Issues An elevator speech a message intended to spur decision makers to action. An elevator speech must be short, specific, and memorable. It is important to have your elevator speech rehearsed and ready because you never know when you'll have an opportunity to use it! Who is the audience for my elevator speech? For school librarians, decision-makers can be school principals, parent organizations, district administrators, elected officials, community partners and more. It's good to have a few elevator speeches ready--or a few versions of the same speech--so that you can quickly shift to address the audience in front of you.

Striving Readers? Hire Librarians. | by Nader Qaimari As an ESL student and a child from an immigrant, economically disadvantaged family raised in blue-collar northern Ohio, I know first-hand the power a good book can have on a child who feels different and inferior from everyone around him. Aside from being a great escape vehicle, through character dialogue and imagery, books can introduce you to the colloquial language parents cannot teach – creating fewer awkward situations among friends and classmates. However, without proper guidance, children with backgrounds like mine struggle even further, as they often do not even know where to start reading. When I recall my childhood, I see now, whether at the schools I attended or in the community, my life would have taken a very different course if it were not for librarians. Fast forward more than 30 years, and now, as a father, I see the world through my kids’ eyes.

EOY Reporting, Especially During COVID-19 Whether you are a teacher-librarian like me (a.k.a. school media specialist, school library media specialist, media and educational technology instructor) or an instructional support person (technology, curriculum, etc.), you are often tasked with summing up your year’s worth of work. It’s not very easy at all. Who is this for? And what do they want? Am I justifying my whole career?!