Part A: What Makes an Effective Teacher Librarian (TL)
Word Count: 86

An effective teacher librarian is courageous. They can apply educational theory in new situations, they gravitate towards the complex and difficult areas of school culture to improve upon it and they take the time to both promote and learn from others. They help to understand how learning and transferring skills are vital in the dynamic 21st century. They are humble enough to admit their shortcomings and failures, while resilient enough to overcome them. They are the heartbeat of the school and a trusted, valued member of the community at large.

 

Part B: Evaluation- Collection Management, Technology and Leadership
Word Count: 2502

Collection Management
Even now, after completing ETL 503, I still feel as though collection management is the largest “gap” in the TL skill set. I remember taking the course and feeling a bit unsure about the course content, and I underestimated its importance. I was not sure about subtle differences in key terms: what is the difference between collection management and collection development? I was relieved to see the same question on a discussion board post in the class and the ensuing thread that developed from it, inspired my blog post on the topic (Neil, 2017) Reviewing this post reminded me how Johnson defined management as an umbrella term covering all the things that happen to an item once it is part of the collection, while development refers to building the collection (2009, p151). Deciding what texts to bring into the library and what to do with them was something that I was ignorant about. I thought it almost happened “organically”, as if some magical force made these decisions. However when tasked with creating an Annotated Bibliography in the ETL 503 course and investigating how to build a Collection Development Policy I realized it is a painstaking process that has nuanced challenges but also endless opportunities (Neil, 2017) (Kimmel, 2014). It was troublesome to think how no policy has a “one size fits all” template and the policy needs to be revisited in a cyclical way to ensure the library is keeping up with the patrons’ needs. It seems that pinning down definitions in this programme (e.g teacher librarian, collection management) is as fluid and dynamic as the position itself. 

 

This complexity of defining a collection management brings me back to what I consider the most important term from my TL studies: context.  Even dating back to my blog post in 2016, in which I stress the importance of knowing your school’s needs, it still feels though that one term underpins so much of a TLs decision making. Theory and experience are of course needed, but being a part of the school’s culture and proactively supporting the school’s mission and vision is what makes a great TL.

 

Collection Development: Personal Practice
Covid restrictions have disrupted many of our classroom spaces this year and our school library was likely hit the worst. The fiction section of the library was moved to a computer lab and the lab was moved into the library, occupying half of the space adjacent to the non fiction section. While our school community was happy to still have access to books, the “cool” spaces to read were either gone, or could be disrupted by a class in the computer lab.

 

Our English department has classes in a separate building (“the pavilions”) from our main building and we take classes to the library weekly for reading (DEAR) and book exchange. Most students were happy to curl up in the library space or browse books.  It was a weekly event and a favourite time of the week for many, but now the excitement for students seemed tarnished, as space was limited and our department began discussions with the librarian about solutions. We thought that we could begin to bring the library to “the pavilions” by having selections available for students. Although initially reluctant to “spread out” the collection, our librarian agreed to put together a graphic novel collection and let us house it. It was a modest start, but we were excited as graphic novels are more likely to be picked up by reluctant readers, who rarely had a novel on hand during DEAR time.

 

Our “steady readers” did not need as much browsing time because they usually had a book with them, therefore did not need browsing time, and those less likely to read are gravitating to the graphic novels. In the past, our non readers were sometimes unable to even start a book in our 30 minute DEAR slots, by the time they walked over to the library, browsed shelves and checked out a book our time was coming to a close. I’m sure some students thought it was a great “waste of time”. With the collection closer to the students I feel as though more students have a book in their hands and are reading more effciently. The avid readers have books, and more time to read, while the reluctant readers had something within their grasp.
I’m reminded of Tiana Croft’s course notes in our first 503 module: one constant is change. Change in curriculum, technology, teaching approaches, publishing and student learning needs challenge TLs to create a balanced collection that meets the needs of learning in the school context (Croft 2017).  I feel our department has helped match the needs of our learners by managing the physical location of a selected collection and by selecting the graphic novel format our least interested readers might be inspired to pick up a book that is close by. Our next steps are to balance the collection by surveying students as to their interests and expand to more comprehensive selection available in our building, as I don’t see Covid restrictions being relaxed ,and the library returning to “normal, anytime soon. 

Technology
In keeping with our most recent initiative of building a reading collection for students in the pavilions, conducting surveys, as the ALIA confirms, is a clear way to align with your patrons needs and be transparent about decision making (2017). However students have been surveyed extensively about their experiences at school and at home recently and I am wary of students feeling “surveyed out” which can lead to disinterest or unreliable results (Korodaj and Godfree, personal communication, 2020). One of the unseen benefits of moving the graphic novel collection has been arming and training teachers with the Destiny Follet app on their phones.

 

The Destiny app allows us to see some of the more popular books, genres and formats that are being borrowed by patrons and of course allows us to check out books remotely. This avoids surveys, which may feel contrived, and I personally think many non readers need  book recommendations that suit their interests. Now that the English department has access to Destiny, and is at the front line of exchanging books with students, I think we are in a better position to recommend and promote books that our students love, ideally getting more students reading. One way our department is using technology to improve student learning.

One of my favourite courses in the programme is INF 506, Social Networking for Information Professionals. In my reflective statement blog post (2019) on the subject I reviewed the American Library Association’s Twitter account and it was inspiring: promoting, sharing, empowering its followers while managing to be humorous and not overly political. The ALA sets the bar high for librarians and social networking and in revisiting my post I am reminded that staying “ fresh and frequent” is key to a successful social media networking (Ashley & Tuten, 2015). Posting more frequently is something I would like to find time to do. Though I’m happy with some of the Twitter content I’ve created, I am most definitely not “fresh and frequent”

  

 

 

However, after being fortunate enough to hear from TL Krystal Gagen Springs and how she runs her library’s social media accounts, I realized that great social media use is not limited to large accounts like ALA. Gagen-Springs noted two things that her team were doing that really stood out to me: they wisely tailored their posts to corresponding demographic (teens on Instagram and parents on Facebook) and they actually became the leaders on creating a social media usage policy at her school  (personal communication, 20202). More proof that  if you courageously gravitate to the uncertainty in your community and act on the needs of that community, TLs will become indispensable leaders (Toor & Welsburg, 2011).

Personally I see an opportunity to use Goodreads more widely in our school community. This platform is another way to see what the community is reading without surveying and we can take the data from this virtual space to inform, similar to the Destiny app, how we promote and display books in the community. 

During our campus closure in the spring of this year I was reminded of the creating a report on  “future proofing the library” in ETL 506. Campus closure and online school made me wary for what the future of education may be. However, as Scott notes,  it is less likely that we plan for exactly what the future will be, instead we must attempt to actively try to shape it (2015, p.2). Using screencasting software and “flipping lessons” became the norm for me and my colleagues as students were understandably quick to disengage during “Zoom lectures”. As I became more comfortable with Loom, a Chrome extension, I found myself not only delivering content, but providing feedback on student essays using screencasts. It was more efficient and students told me they were more likely to listen to feedback, maybe even more than once, than read my notes. They also liked hearing my tone and annunciation to highlight the areas of strength and growth in their writing, which is not always the case with written feedback. This was particularly effective with my senior Advanced Placement students that were scheduled to write the external exams in May.  The feedback and learning cycle became strictly online and students said they “studied” my video notes more regularly before their exam (Example Loom feedback session) I feel this is a positive example of transferring a technology tool, which I was“forced” to learn, into a means of “shaping” feedback for my future classes.

Leadership

This August I took on the role of English department head at my school and  one reason for doing so was the hope of advancing my skill sets to eventually become a TL. Budgeting, advancement meetings, team goal setting, mission and vision – much of these concepts were theoretical to me and if I wanted to truly understand the context of my school, I felt I had to understand it from a more strategic level. As Matthews notes, only by encompassing a range of stakeholders can a TL truly meet a school’s needs (2011). As I have been at my school for eight years, it was time for me to expand my understanding of the school’s needs by taking on this leadership role.

 

During ETL 504, TL as a Leader, I reflected that one of my weakest aspects of leadership may be what is referred to as servant leadership: aimed at benefiting individuals by listening to their needs, developing their skills and celebrating their accomplishments (Marzano et al 2005, p.15). While I’ve always wanted to celebrate others and develop their skills, I was likely guilty of assuming I know what people need and not doing enough listening. So, with this in mind, I made the clear purpose of our first department meeting this year to be about listening to my department’s needs. What became clear is that, in light of the potential to return to online learning or a hybrid model of it, teachers wanted to learn about how to better their online classroom strategies. 

 

As a group we decided to build a simple webpage that will serve as a reference tool for our department which would showcase some strategies we were using with students online. After listening to discussions, I sensed  the group felt a large level of disconnect as to what “partner teachers” and our team was doing during online classes. Regular school allowed for us to drop in on one another, share ideas in the staffroom or during planning meetings. Online learning seemed to rob us of this collegiality and we thought the webpage would be a good idea to reflect on what worked well in the past, build a virtual collaboration space, celebrate achievements and better arm ourselves for the uncertain future.  As the group decided that this idea was valuable, I felt a strong sense of by-in from the beginning. In past experiences with administrative initiatives, staff can feel that it is a “top down” initiative that does not directly benefit the teacher, though they are asked to do a lot of the heavy lifting.  This project did not feel forced and I feel that staff involved were looking forward to sharing and learning with each other; making up for “lost collegial time” during online classes. We are however still in the theoretical stages. Next month our agenda is to create the webpage and begin uploading and sharing resources that we feel will benefit our practice and perhaps motivate us to keep working hard while “borrowing” other ideas and reinventing them for our own classrooms(which our department affectionately calls “stealing”). Initiatives such as this, which flatten the hierarchy,  develop and share ideas together, all the while there is professional buy-in (tsked, 2012), may be the strategies that help shape and create the future.

 

Of course it is not always perfect as a new leader in the department. There are times when I feel overwhelmed with my own priorities and a staff member wants to tell me about their own issues. This is a challenging time for me. Trying to prioritize others’ concerns when my own work and family life has me maxed out, is proving to be a new challenge for me. I’m learning that leadership is easy to criticize and hard to do. I genuinely feel that the challenges I face as a leader have far less to do with curriculum and more to do with promoting well being amongst a staff that is tired and “running out of air” teaching behind masks. Tedious tasks like ensuring smart boards are running properly, batteries for wireless devices are charged and classes are stocked with supplies, have been noticed and appreciated by the team. I find the more details I pay attention to, the more colleagues can focus on what they love: teaching kids!

I feel this is a valuable learning experience and makes me wonder how as TL I can apply the same strategy of taking things “off the plate” of teachers across the school. I reflect back to my study visits and think of how Lori Korodaj and Holly Godfreee built pathfinders that combined course content and media literacy skills. By listening to what teachers need and building pathfinders with their input, I can help teachers satisfy the Media Literacy  “Approaches to Learning” requirement, which is one option for reporting on student skill growth. I sense teachers feel this is “extra” work or evaluating this skill even seems contrived or unauthentic. Korodaj and Godfree also noted that using the school’s online learning management system was a valuable tool in accessing the course content, without having to ask for the teacher’s input repeatedly (personal communication, 2020).  I see an opportunity to improve student skills and share some of the weight that teachers carry, by helping build quality, evaluative media literacy tasks. Perhaps the pathfinder may serve as a vehicle for future success at our school.

 

Part C: Professional Skills of a Teacher Librarian 

Word Count 466

Teaching and Learning

At the core of the standards provided by the ASLA and AILA is the phrase teaching and learning. As a high school English teacher for the past fifteen years, I feel that I started the programme with an adequate foundation in some of the standards (eg Knowledge of Teaching and Learning, Knowledge of Curriculum, Leadership), however the programme has taught me that in my own specific domain of the English department I am adequate, but there is much room for improvement in regards to being a TL. I learned quickly that TLs do not have guarantees about their position in the school and what the future may hold for them. As an English teacher I never considered that my job may not exist if I don’t prove its importance. I need to learn to gravitate towards the complex issues surrounding my school’s learning and help find ways to improve upon it, while shaping the future. Dating back to the initial 401 course, I remember being idealistic about the position: creating jazzy makerspaces and trendy seating areas, the next front page photo of the school magazine. I have learned that TLs need to build on the past and re-engineer themselves to the information demands of the present (Cooper & Crum 2013) and there is no one size fits all TL template that will work in every school. The Lifelong Learning and Evaluation standards (ASLA/AILA) aim to keep TLs gravitating to the complex nuances of education and though I feel I understand this better now than I did, I need to visit other schools and work more closely with other TLs to better shape my own school’s future. 

Community
Scattered throughout the ASLA/AILA standards are the words collaboration and community. While I feel somewhat sound in my teaching practice, I feel there is so much growth needed in my library community initiatives. My study visits in the course and working with Australian colleagues make me believe that Australia has a rich librarian community and this is something I would like to improve amongst international school TLs, especially here in Switzerland. Private schools at times, particularly those in close proximity, tend to compete with, not collaborate with, one another. I hope to forge a more collaborative relationship with schools and libraries in the area and hope to share resources and learn with one another. Following the advice of other TLs on my study visits, hiring a trusted consultant to come to your library is often more specifically useful than spending PD budgets on large scale workshops. Local schools could perhaps combine PD budgets to cover a consultant that could help us individually and as a community. Perhaps a consultant from CSU could visit some of the international schools in Switzerland and help us all move forward!

 

References

ALIA. (2007). A manual for developing policies and procedures in Australian school library resource centers. Melbourne, Victoria. Retrieved from : http://www.asla.org.au/policy/policy-development-manual.aspx

Ashley, C., & Tuten, T. (2015). Creative Strategies in Social Media Marketing: An Exploratory Study of Branded Social Content and Consumer Engagement. Psychology & Marketing, 32(1), 15–27. https://doi 10.1002/mar.20761

Cooper, D. & Crum, A.J. 2013. New activities and changing roles of health sciences librarians: a systematic review, 1990-2012. Journal of the Medical Library.

Croft, T. (2017). ETL503, Module 1: the school library collection [CSU Online course notes].  Retrieved from https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_23916_1&content_id=_1294041_1

Johnson, P. (2009). Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management. [ALA Editions version]. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=267756&site=ehost-live&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_73

Kimmel, Sue C. (2014).  Developing Collections to Empower Learners.  American Library Association. ProQuest Ebook Central. 

Matthews, S. (2014, January 13). Five answers to successful strategic planning. In 21st century library blog. Retrieved from http://21stcenturylibrary.com/2014/01/13/five-answers-to-successful- strategic-planning/ 

Marzano, R. J., Waters, T., & McNulty, B. A. (2005). School leadership that works: From research to results. Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Retrieved from Ebook Library.

Neil, M. (2017). “Does Context Make Cowards of Us All?”  Meandering With a Mazy Motion.
https://bit.ly/2DpEEd8 

Neil, M. (2019). “INF 506 Reflective Statement” Meandering With a Mazy Motion.   https://bit.ly/3keYDec 

Neil, M. (2016). “The Role of Teacher Librarians ?”  Meandering With a Mazy Motion.
https://bit.ly/2QOPbS7 

Saunders, L. (2011). Librarians as teacher leaders: Definitions, challenges, and opportunities. Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Conference papers, (pp. 264- 274). Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/confe rences/confsandpreconfs/national/2011/papers/librarians_as _teache.p df

Scott, C.L. (2015). The Futures of Learning 1: Why Must Learning Content And Methods Change In The 21st Century? UNESCO Education Research and Foresight, Paris. [ERF Working Paprs Series, No. 14

Tksed.  (2012, July 26).  The future of school libraries [Video file].  Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKj6NT0KGOo