I have posted about the value of collaboration before, and I believe that collaboration is a central aspect of the teacher librarian’s role. While collaboration is important for all teachers, a teacher librarian expertly liaises with all stakeholders, demonstrating leadership, negotiation and communication skills in the process. As I consider collection management, I reflect back on my own experiences. I have observed that when students and staff feel ownership of the collection they are more likely to fully utilise it. As Hughes-Hassell & Mancall (2005) wrote, “building a collaborative access environment demands that school library media specialists, teachers, and other members of the learning community enter into a collaborative relationship and share authority for collection and access decisions” (p.48). When I think about the space that I want to create in the library, it is one of community, student ownership and empowerment. I think that my approach to collection management can support this vision.
There is a myriad of ways that a teacher librarian can foster a culture of collaboration. In my experience, this is born from both incidental and more formal interactions. For instance, I have noticed that developing strong relationships with staff and students means that in the small incidental conversations, moments can be found for feedback and input. I often get a book recommendation from a student in an informal conversation about their day, or I might be able to identify a curriculum area that needs further representation through a conversation over making coffee. I think that being opportunistic in asking questions can afford insights, especially in a busy school environment.
The more formal collaborations to support collection development can take many forms. Teacher librarians can attend curriculum meetings when units of work and specific assessments are being developed or refined. The teacher librarian can hold meetings with key stakeholders to identify areas of need or changes to the curriculum. Other key staff, special needs coordinators or the school psychologist can also offer valuable insights. I have been working with individual teachers to develop online curriculum support which expands my own knowledge of the curriculum and the resources (both physical and digital) that can support each unit of work.
Last year, I reorganised the non-fiction area into subjects. I am going to hold meetings with each faculty to focus on their section in the library to help me to ‘fine tune’ the labels and titles in their collection. In this way, it will support the specific learning needs of their students and identify areas of need in the collection. I hope that through tactically touching the collection and by assigning ownership of the collection, this will empower staff to direct students to the resources by having a more intimate knowledge of the collection themselves. I am inspired by Joyce Valenza (2013) who stated that “increasingly, collection is less what you buy and more what you use and make discoverable” (p. 52).
The responsibility for resource selections lies with the whole school community but the teacher librarian has the opportunity to be an educational leader and agent for change. I look forward to questioning, organising, reflecting, agitating, searching and planning for a meaningful and engaging collection for my specific community of learners.
References
Hughes-Hassell, S., & Mancall, J. C. (2005). Collection management for youth: Responding to the needs of learners. ALA Editions.
Valenza, J. K. (2013). Tech trends. School Library Journal, 59(12), 52-53.