Simply Indispensable: An Action Guide for School Librarians

182 Pages·2010·1.593 MB·English

by  Janice Gilmore-See

Simply Indispensable
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Simply Indispensable
An Action Guide for School Librarians
Janice Gilmore-See
Copyright(cid:2)C 2010byJaniceGilmore-See
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,
storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyany
means,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,orotherwise,
exceptfortheinclusionofbriefquotationsinareview,withoutprior
permissioninwritingfromthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Gilmore-See,Janice.
Simplyindispensable:anactionguideforschoollibrarians/JaniceGilmore-See.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-1-59158-799-6(acid-freepaper)—ISBN978-1-59158-800-9(ebook)
1.Schoollibraries—UnitedStates—Administration.I.Title.
Z675.S3G55252010
025.1’978—dc22 2010012798
ISBN:978-1-59158-799-6
EISBN:978-1-59158-800-9
14 13 12 11 10 1 2 3 4 5
ThisbookisalsoavailableontheWorldWideWebasane-book.
Visithttp://www.abc-clio.comfordetails.
LibrariesUnlimited
AnImprintofABC-CLIO,LLC
ABC-CLIO,LLC
130CremonaDrive,P.O.Box1911
SantaBarbara,California93116-1911
Thisbookisprintedonacid-freepaper
ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
1 CrisisinSchoolLibraries 1
SecretLanguageofImpendingCuts 2
AdvocacyEffortsandToolkits 4
2 StateGuidelinesforSchoolLibrariesintheUnitedStates 7
3 TheAttrACTiveLibrarian 21
Ten“AttrACTion”ActionItemsforEverySchoolLibrarian 21
AttractionQuiz 22
SettingRealisticObjectives 25
ChallengingtheStereotype 27
Q&A 27
4 TheInterACTiveLibrarian 33
Ten“InterACTion”ActionItemsforEverySchoolLibrarian 33
TrueorNot-So-TrueQuiz 34
Personality 37
IsolationandtheEffectonSchoolLibrarians 39
MeetingsinSchools 40
Teaching-StaffMeetings 40
Parent-TeacherOrganizations 41
SchoolSiteCouncil 41
GradeLevelorDepartmentalMeetings 42
Committees 42
LibraryMeetings 44
ProfessionalAssociations 45
5 TheCollaborACTiveLibrarian 47
Ten“Collaboration”ActionItemsforEverySchoolLibrarian 47
CollaborationQuiz 48
vi Contents
WhyCollaborate? 51
PublicLibraryandSchoolLibraryCollaboration 51
GettingAdministrativeSupportonCampus 54
BuildingRelationshipsonCampus 54
LikelyCandidates 55
Paraprofessionals 56
CollaborativeModels 56
TheSharedPlanningProcess 60
Assessment 60
WhattheStudentsLearned 60
WhattheTeacherLearned 61
WhatYouLearned 61
6 TheImpACTiveLibrarian 63
Ten“ImpACT”ActionItemsforEverySchoolLibrarian 63
Two-PartQuiz:DoYouKnowYourStakeholders? 64
SchoolLibrarians!LightthatFire! 67
TraditionalMeasurements 69
WhatWeAren’tMeasuring 70
ActionResearchandtheSchoolLibrary 72
Equity 74
7 TheLibrarianasBenefACTor 77
Ten“BenefACTor”ActionItemsforEverySchoolLibrarian 77
“NoWaytoFail”Quiz 78
FromFirsttoWorst 80
BudgetCuts 82
UnderstandingFunding 84
LegislativeAdvocacy 85
Grants 86
ServiceOrganizations 87
Fund-raising 87
YourSchoolLibraryBudget 88
8 TheProACTiveLibrarian 91
Ten“ProACTive”ActionItemsforEverySchoolLibrarian 91
ProactiveQuiz 92
TheSchoolLibrarian:AgentofChange 95
AdvocacyasaPlannedActivity 97
TenGoodIdeasforAdvocacyMeetings 99
LegislativeVisits 99
MakingYourselfMemorable 101
WhatIsYourMessage? 101
ElevatorPitches 102
Letter-WritingCampaigns 103
SampleLetter 104
LetterstotheEditor 105
Contents vii
UsingTechnologytoSpreadYourMessage 105
Blogs 105
Book-LoverSites 105
Listservs 106
Microblogging 106
PhotoSharing 106
Podcasting/Webcasting 106
Presentations 106
SocialNetworks 107
Wikis 107
Coalitions 107
9 TheReACTiveLibrarian 109
Ten“ReACTive”ActionItemsforEverySchoolLibrarian 109
ReactivityQuiz 110
Foreshadowing 110
GettingtheBadNews 112
ContactYourUnion 113
ActivateYourFanBase 113
Mobilization 114
PlanningfortheShort-TermBattle 115
SpeakingatMeetings 117
BoardsofEducation 117
Community/PublicForums 117
10 DeACTivation 121
Ten“DeACTivation”ActionItemsforSchoolLibrarians
WhoHaveBeenGivenAdditionalDutiesorWhoHave
BeenReducedinHours 121
DeactivationQuiz 122
AssessingtheNewSituation 123
LibraryClosed 123
LibraryStaffEliminations 124
AdditionalDuties 125
SplitAssignments 125
ReductionofHoursorDays 125
BottomLine 126
MeetingYourAdministratortoSetPrioritiesandPolicies 126
CreatetheStop-DoingList 127
ConsiderChangesinPolicyandCommunicateThoseChanges 128
MaintainaPositiveAttitude 129
GiveUpPerfectionismforYourHealth 130
ProvideValuebyMaintainingaStudentFocus 130
MaintainandGrowYourFanBase 131
UseTechnologytoSimplify 132
KeepConnected 132
viii Contents
MakeWishListsandBeReadyforReinstatement 132
LookforAlternativeOpportunities 133
MovingUpandOut 133
11 TheRetroACTiveLibrarian 135
Ten“ReACTivation”ActionItemsforSchoolLibrariansWho
ReturntoaLibraryThatHasBeenClosed 135
Quiz:Matching—PicktheBestAnswer 136
Safety 137
Inventory,Weeding,andCataloging 137
FillingtheGapsQuickly 138
GetPatronsBackintotheLibraryHabit 139
EatCake 140
AppendixA:Fund-raising 141
AppendixB:StationTeachingExamples 155
Index 157
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my parents, Charlyn, Steve, and Tom, for a lifetime of sup-
port and encouragement, for passing on the writer’s gene to me, and for
listening to my travails; to my husband, Patrick, and our children Brandon,
Chris, Dillon, and Amber, for cleaning the house and keeping things
going; to Jane Lofton, my California School Library Association mentor; to
the library media techs and teachers at La Mesa-Spring Valley School Dis-
trict; to my editor, Blanche Woolls, without whom this would have been
impossible; and to Franki Corless, for finding the perfect title for this
book.