Illustration by Jean Tuttle

After 20 wonderful years as a teacher librarian, I’ve gone over to the dark side. I’ve become a suit—an administrator—and the very worst kind, a district IT administrator! (Cue Darth Vader’s theme song.) Before you turn away in horror and disbelief, here’s a quick tell-all from the Evil Empire. I’m going to share some shocking (and instructive) secrets from the Death Star of Administration, explaining why principals should be your best friends and colleagues. I’m also going to stop using Star Wars metaphors.

My fade to gray didn’t occur overnight. I have worked as an instructional technology facilitator in Vancouver’s (WA) public schools since 2008. During the first three years, I was also Skyview High School’s full-time teacher librarian. Then, in 2011, my role changed: I spent half of my time in the library and the remaining half in the IT department. Depending on the day of the week, I was either “The Man” or I was working for him. And despite enjoying the opportunity to blame myself for whatever was wrong either with management or with teachers, in 2012, I was finally asked to make a choice between those two options. I think you’ve heard about receiving an offer you can’t refuse….

While I still see myself as a teacher librarian, last July, I became a real-live administrator with a spiffy title—manager of instructional technology and library services. During the last few years, I’ve been able to reflect on many of my own beliefs and assumptions about working with administrators. As a former teacher librarian, I’m also well aware of other perceptions that teachers have regarding management. Speaking now as a teacher—and not as a manager—I’ve come to realize that the reality is far more complex than a simple equation of us vs. them. Teacher librarians have far more in common with principals than we realize. I’d like to share some ways to find common ground with our friends in the corner office.

When I was in grad school, Joyce Petrie, my wise and now long-departed professor at Portland State University, explained in detail how library administration and building administration are a lot alike. She was right. Now, speaking from experience, I teach my University of Washington graduate students that school librarians often have more in common with principals than with their fellow teachers. Why is that? Like principals, we manage budgets, purchase materials, evaluate employees, and make executive decisions, ranging from selecting materials to determining instructional outcomes. Unlike many teachers, we know virtually everyone in the school by name and maintain positive working relationships with all of them. We also excel at putting a wide variety of district policies and programs into practice. Most importantly, like principals, we’re often the only ones in our schools who do the jobs that we do. I often hear teacher librarians say that they feel misunderstood, isolated, and even lonely in their positions. Empathy check: Do you think principals just might feel the same way?

If it hadn’t been for my many wonderful teaching colleagues, I wouldn’t have been the 2012 Washington State Teacher of the Year. But it all began with my Skyview High principal, Kym Tyelyn-Carlson. Over the course of five years, our professional friendship evolved beyond library advocacy and became a two-way exchange between educators who both cared deeply about the success of our school. We discussed everything from staff socials to strategic planning. When she called me into her office in May 2011 and told me she was nominating me for teacher of the year, it was less about my librarianship than it was about her perception of me as an educator. Well beyond my library role, I had become a trusted confidante, consigliere, and colleague. Kym isn’t an exception. I’ve enjoyed good and frequently great relationships with the six principals I’ve worked with during the last two decades. I’ve always seen them as allies rather than adversaries.

Before addressing the opportunities for media specialists to connect with principals, I’d like to dispel some common misconceptions. First, there’s a widespread belief that building and district administrators always think the same way. More often than not, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Get a principal to talk off-the-record, and you’ll find out for yourself. Despite the mysterious district meetings and the inscrutable binders on their shelves, principals struggle with translating district policy into practice as much as we do. In more than one meeting, I’ve heard them express frustration, uncertainty, fear, and powerlessness in the face of the same issues that teachers confront. Like other educators, building administrators are concerned about daily challenges such as poverty, student readiness, literacy, fear of violence, and assessments. In addition, many district policies and programs are often created with insufficient input from or consultation with building administrators. Like many teacher librarians, principals are the ones who must explain and train faculty in the policies and practices created by managers like me.

And what of the conspiracy theory that administrators are “all in it together”? Ask any superintendent: they’d retire and die happy if they could only get their administrative leadership teams to plan, work, and lead based on an authentically shared set of values and priorities. Even the highest-functioning educational administrations grapple with issues of nurturing and maintaining social capital—communication, relationships, leadership, and sustainability. Just like individual schools, district programs and departments work with specific challenges, leadership models, and cultures.

Are there bad principals? Yes. And bad teachers? Of course. Are there tyrannical administrators and administrations? Yes, probably. Do administrators circle the wagons when challenged? Yes, in the same way that teachers and librarians do when they’re threatened. Do administrators meet in secret to devise evil plans? Unlikely. I have found that most district conspiracy theories are often conflated with honest mistakes, incomplete planning, imperfect implementations, and/or poor communication. Speaking for my district, our leadership team cares deeply about students and it respects and values teachers and staff. We work very hard to get it right. Sometimes we do. Sometimes we could have done better.

This is where teacher librarians come in. By cultivating strong relationships with principals and even district administrators, we can strengthen library programs, not to mention improve schools and districts. I am wearing a suit because of relationships with both teachers and administrators, built on shared work, planning, and success. Here is a quick list of ways to create those relationships, even when you’d think it might be impossible.

Seek out win-win opportunities. Identify what keeps principals up at night and then offer to help. Right now, three big trains are barreling down the tracks—Common Core, new teacher and principal evaluation systems, and 21st-century student skills. In addition to running a school, principals are accountable for these vaguely defined and game-changing reforms. Choose one, learn as much as you can about it, and then offer to help your boss. Join them on district or regional teams. Offer to provide leadership in your building. You’re likely to be surprised at just how enthusiastically they say yes.

Give before you receive. Teacher librarians often conceive their relationships with principals as quid pro quo, beginning with the question “What will you do for me?” rather than, “What can I do for you?” Pay it forward with the goal of building trust, rapport, and a valuable relationship. Many years ago, I took up an offer by our former chief information officer to lead our district’s library automation project. I had a vested interest in the job being done right, and she wanted the implementation to go smoothly. Thanks to our partnership, the project was a success. A few years later, she asked me to join her team as an instructional technology facilitator.

Bridge the gap. Because of our hybrid roles, teacher librarians can effectively bridge the artificial divide between teachers and administration, and promote communication, collaboration, and advocacy between and across various roles and functions. In the same way that my recent leadership role blurs the definition of “The Man,” teacher librarians can provide unique building and even district leadership. Teachers often grapple with crossing a line by appearing too supportive of administration. As a teacher librarian, I never saw a line because my job was different. I necessarily had to see things from a systems perspective that included not only building administration and teachers, but also district interests. That’s why some of our teacher librarians currently lead a district task force to develop a digital citizenship program. They are working with administrators to develop a systemic digital content strategy, and they’re participating in state and district groups connected to the Common Core. Like principals, the best teacher librarians see the big picture and can build partnerships that ensure success.

Identify successes. Most teachers hesitate to call attention to their work or to be praised for it. But principals always want to be able to share good work with parents, peers, and their bosses. When teacher librarians see innovation, creativity, and greatness in the classroom, they should share those stories with the principal. Principals appreciate the ability to see and value success in others. More importantly, they value hearing about good things beyond the library program. In addition to building rapport with your principal, everyone wins. Teachers get the recognition they deserve. The principal better understands the great work that’s going on. And the school may well get some praise at the district’s next meeting. As a proponent of creativity in the classroom, I made it a point to highlight innovative teachers who dared to emulate Apple and its slogan “think different.” More often than not, Kym would nod in agreement. In those moments, we were of one mind, not about libraries, but about great teaching.

My friends and colleagues keep checking up on me and asking how I like my new job. I tell them it tastes like chicken. To me, the only significant difference between what I’m doing now and what I’ve done for years as a teacher librarian and an instructional technology facilitator is that there’s a different title below my name. Sad as it might seem, that changes a lot in my relationships with others, both among teachers and administrators. To many teachers, I’ve gone over to the dark side. To some administrators, I’m now part of the club. But here’s the reality—there’s no dark side; and there’s no key to the executive washroom. Thankfully, my teacher librarian colleagues still see me (and themselves) for what we are—occasionally lonely, frequently misunderstood, and loving the jobs that we do. Just like principals.

Mark Ray (Mark.Ray@vansd.org) is the manager of instructional technology and library services at the Vancouver (WA) Public Schools.

School Library Journal (SLJ) is looking for a reporter/editor to write, assign, and edit news for our website, e-newsletters and award-winning magazine. If you have serious journalist chops, with an interest in covering libraries, education, and publishing, we’d be interested in hearing from you.

What we’re looking for

First, you’ve got to bring the skills, with demonstrated experience in reporting and editing (clips and references, please). You’ve got excellent news sense and can work independently, making quick decisions around news, able to turn around polished stories on deadline. You’re fastidious when it comes to copy and can handily craft a lede and a headline. Experience with social networking in a journalistic context and multimedia tools: a plus.

You’ll be covering K–12 schools, including legislation, policy, funding, and reform issues; public libraries; education technology; news in kids and YA (young adult) publishing, including authors; and industry initiatives, as well as cornerstone issues, including literacy, copyright, intellectual freedom, and privacy.

It’s a wide-ranging, eclectic beat and one of the challenges of the position. And we’d expect you to dive in fully, with the spirit of a learner, establishing contacts in these fields—from big associations and vendors to on-the-ground librarians and educators—getting up to speed on the issues (e.g. ebooks, Common Core, etc.), tapping into the insight of your colleagues, unafraid to ask dumb questions.

Passion for the subject is essential to the job—without a true interest in education and libraries, you won’t grasp the larger issues or be motivated to pursue the details to provide the depth of coverage necessary to serve our users.

What the job entails

Per the formal job posting: “The news editor will write and report stories, overseeing news flow to the website, e-newsletters, and print magazine, and assign and edit stories by freelancers and in-house staff.” That means you’ll take point on determining and executing stories posted daily to our site and set the lineup for our newsletters. You’ll also build a stable of freelancer reporters. And we’ll tap you to edit and write the occasional feature story and edit columns. (Our standards, for the feature well in particular, are high—take a look, if you haven’t already, to really get to know our content across the board, print to Web.)

You’re nimble and responsive around what’s going on in the field and look to provide the very best news coverage to inform and engage our users, primarily school/public librarians and information professionals who work with kids and young adults, and by extension their teacher peers and related institutions. You want to do good as well as do a good job.

How to apply

Review the listing in our Job Zone, which has the requirements and the rundown of benefits for this fulltime position at our offices located at the western edge of Soho in Manhattan. Then follow the link to begin the application process.

Photo by Roger H. Goun 

You see, I’m not really that smart. I just know people who are. One of the wisest things that we librarians can do is to collaborate with other smart librarians who love to share. For example, I have a strong personal learning network (PLN) that starts on Twitter and even includes a monthly face-to-face gathering. My PLN provides me with lots of really good ideas, answers questions, and supports my work. It is through these resources that I have gathered a huge technology toolbox, assessment strategies, promotional ideas, and a ton of worthwhile resources that I can pass on to my teachers.

The core of my network starts online with Twitter and the #tlchat hashtag. You can get started on Twitter by following great school librarians like Buffy Hamilton, Gwyneth Jones, Donna Baumbach, or Jennifer Lagarde. You can also find librarian folks on Facebook and Google+. Several blogs like The Never Ending Search and Not So Distant Future post great resources, links, ideas, and challenges. I find the online world a great place to ask questions or get directions. For me, this is better than email because there are so many knowledgeable experts who respond almost instantaneously.

Librarians can also take advantage of some great (free) professional development opportunities. Join the Teacher Librarian Virtual Cafe webinar presentations the first Monday of every month, live #tlchat twitter discussions the 2nd Monday of every month, or peruse the outstanding free online recorded sessions of Library 2.012 Worldwide Virtual Conference held last month. School Library Journal also features many free webcasts including a series that just began in September focused on Common Core.

Do you need more ideas? My state’s professional organization (Colorado Association of School Libraries) has been developing a site where we librarians can upload examples on everything from advocacy to lesson plans. Perhaps your state has a site like Survive and Thrive which has been created as a space for sharing stories and models of 21st century skills. Broaden your perspective by joining  EdWeb.net, Council on 21st Century Learning, or your own state’s eLearning professional development site (like eNet Colorado).

Finally, take some time to meet face-to-face with other professionals in a learning atmosphere. A small group of us have committed to meet once a month (at the bar of course!) where one of us facilitates the discussion or shows new tools for learning. While we often arrive beleaguered by the trials of the day, we invariably leave energized and ready to try new things.

Librarians love to grow and learn, and must do so to be on the cutting edge of positive change. Since most of us are the only staff person in our field in the building, we must utilize opportunities to develop our own personal learning networks, share ideas, and find ways to be rejuvenated.

School Library Journal (SLJ) is looking for a reporter/editor to write, assign, and edit news for our website, e-newsletters and award-winning magazine. If you have serious journalist chops, with an interest in covering libraries, education, and publishing, we’d be interested in hearing from you.

What we’re looking for

First, you’ve got to bring the skills, with demonstrated experience in reporting and editing (clips and references, please). You’ve got excellent news sense and can work independently, making quick decisions around news, able to turn around polished stories on deadline. You’re fastidious when it comes to copy and can handily craft a lede and a headline. Experience with social networking in a journalistic context and multimedia tools: a plus.

You’ll be covering K–12 schools, including legislation, policy, funding, and reform issues; public libraries; education technology; news in kids and YA (young adult) publishing, including authors; and industry initiatives, as well as cornerstone issues, including literacy, copyright, intellectual freedom, and privacy.

It’s a wide-ranging, eclectic beat and one of the challenges of the position. And we’d expect you to dive in fully, with the spirit of a learner, establishing contacts in these fields—from big associations and vendors to on-the-ground librarians and educators—getting up to speed on the issues (e.g. ebooks, Common Core, etc.), tapping into the insight of your colleagues, unafraid to ask dumb questions.

Passion for the subject is essential to the job—without a true interest in education and libraries, you won’t grasp the larger issues or be motivated to pursue the details to provide the depth of coverage necessary to serve our users.

What the job entails

Per the formal job posting: “The news editor will write and report stories, overseeing news flow to the website, e-newsletters, and print magazine, and assign and edit stories by freelancers and in-house staff.” That means you’ll take point on determining and executing stories posted daily to our site and set the lineup for our newsletters. You’ll also build a stable of freelancer reporters. And we’ll tap you to edit and write the occasional feature story and edit columns. (Our standards, for the feature well in particular, are high—take a look, if you haven’t already, to really get to know our content across the board, print to Web.)

You’re nimble and responsive around what’s going on in the field and look to provide the very best news coverage to inform and engage our users, primarily school/public librarians and information professionals who work with kids and young adults, and by extension their teacher peers and related institutions. You want to do good as well as do a good job.

How to apply

Review the listing on Job Zone, which has the requirements and the rundown of benefits for this fulltime position at our offices located at the western edge of Soho in Manhattan. Then follow the link to begin the application process.

Photo by Roger H. Goun 

Illustration by David Flaherty

Principals value their librarians. They also want them to be more visible leaders.

Those are just two of the interesting findings from a recent survey of 102 media specialists and 67 principals. In fact, 90 percent of the administrators that we surveyed think we have a positive impact in schools—and a large number also feel that our jobs are important. That’s great news, considering only 65 percent of librarians in the study thought their bosses would recognize the valuable role we play.

Tech respect

When asked about our tech contributions, not only did 90 percent of principals say that we encourage its use, they also ranked dealing with technology as one of the top 10 important tasks that we perform. In fact, our bosses highlighted three technology-related activities—sharing our tech expertise with students and teachers, offering tech leadership, and providing tech equipment—as being among our most important job functions.

“The evolution of the ‘library’ into the ‘media/technology’ center is a reality,” says one administrator. “The librarian needs to be current on new and emerging technologies, and assist others in their use.” Another explained that our “teachers are not technology literate, but the librarian is doing her best to change that problem.”

One principal even went as far as to say that technology and the library go hand-in-hand. “As the information landscape continues to evolve, the librarian is the rudder guiding the school toward the new or unknown, while at the same time melding ethical use and appropriate application in the school environment as well as life outside of school.”

Not surprisingly, we’re keenly aware of the crucial role that technology plays in our professional lives—and we like being called the “tech expert.” Some 95 percent of media specialists surveyed agree, or strongly agree, that technology is an essential component of our work, with one librarian saying it was “vital” to her library and another saying she pushes it all the time.

“Technology is my baby! I infuse it into each lesson,” says one respondent who’s also part of her district’s tech team and offers tech training to her colleagues in newsletters and emails. “I present with it and teach it. It hooks the students and the staff.”

Every librarian who responded to the survey said they embrace and encourage technology in their schools, with many adding that they’re one of the few people in the building who are up to date on the latest and greatest technology available, in addition to having in-depth knowledge of web design, prezis, wikis, blogs, and the hottest educational apps.

While some media specialists—especially the veterans—admit to fearing technology at times, they say they still push themselves to help teachers see its value and how it’ll make learning easier in the long run. Several, for example, mentioned getting creative with their Kindle Fires and iPads to teach students about online resources. The only negative comments were about funding—or more specifically, the lack of it—for keeping up with the fast-paced tech evolution.

What are other areas of our jobs that scored high with our bosses? The bulk, 93 percent, strongly agree that we’re helpful in “reinforcing concepts learned in the classroom” and that we assist teachers by making resources available. Plus, 90 percent of administrators think our rooms are inviting. Meanwhile, 90 percent also feel our professional development efforts with teaching colleagues are effective. This is an area of opportunity for librarians: as more than half of librarians surveyed report working with teachers on a one-on-one basis, and express a desire to do more professional development and collaboration in the future.

The big disconnect

Of course, there are areas where school librarians and their principals simply don’t see eye to eye. One that stands out has to do with the promotion of recreational reading. A whopping 98.4 percent of librarians agree—and 81.3 percent strongly agree—that they encourage reading for pleasure, which, according to researcher Stephen Krashen, “is the major source of our reading competence, our vocabulary, and our ability to handle complex grammatical constructions.” Simply put, those who read more show superior literacy development, and as Krashen explains, literacy and language growth are “clearly attributable to free reading.”

Yet only 48.8 percent of principals strongly agree that the librarian encourages recreational reading. It’s quite possible that the question was misunderstood, or that of more concern, principals just don’t understand that it’s a significant—and important—part of what we do each day.

This may help explain another disparity we uncovered: when asked to list the activities that librarians perform daily, media specialists provided a list that exceeded 100 tasks. On the other hand, principals listed 20 items, which, when we eliminated redundancies, were narrowed down to a mere 10. The good news is that both pretty much agree that the top tasks performed by librarians include helping students to access books and information, teaching students and teachers research and tech skills, and collaborating with teachers.

Looking for leaders

So why do so many librarians complain about not feeling the love? Our survey found that some of the negative stereotypes that we’ve been fighting all these years still persist. A lot of principals continue to view librarians as unfriendly shushers who are more concerned with keeping their books in order than encouraging kids to read. One administrator said that courtesy and customer service were important but lacking in his librarian, with another adding that a smile wouldn’t hurt. And when asked to identify the visible leaders in their schools, most of our bosses simply don’t think of us. Only 24.4 percent of administrators view media specialists as visible leaders. And the sad news is that we agree. When posed the same question, only 28 percent of school librarians say they strongly see themselves in a leadership role.

A very likely explanation is that school librarians don’t feel comfortable labeling themselves as leaders—but it doesn’t mean they’re not acting like ones, says Marcia Mardis, associate director of the Partnerships Advancing Library Media (PALM) Center at Florida State University. “Leaders are as leaders do.”

Mardis makes an interesting point. As our survey shows, media specialists perform dozens of tasks each day, but they don’t necessarily feel the need to stand up and shout about it to the world. Some feel that librarians would have taken district-level or managerial jobs if they wanted to be identified as leaders in the traditional sense of the word.

“Labeling yourself a leader can require a lot of chutzpah in an environment that very clearly labels its leaders as principals, assistant principals, and curriculum directors,” explains Mardis. “To stand in the face of that formal recognition and say, ‘I am a leader, too—even if you don’t call me one’ is a professional risk. It’s much less professional risk to act like a leader than it is to call yourself a leader.”

We’re trying to overcome this exact problem with our MLS students at Sam Houston State University, where I train teachers to become school librarians. When asked to rate themselves on key areas that are important to the role of a media specialist, my students consistently rank themselves low in leadership potential and high in the areas of literature expertise, tech ability, library administration, and teaching. Since these future librarians don’t seem to know how to lead—or don’t have a natural affinity for it—our faculty has developed several assignments to teach them how to lead through collaboration, by providing training, teaching technology, and by encouraging them to be the go-to person in the school and community. We’re even teaming up with our school administration department to offer a Ph.D. program in school administration, with an emphasis on library science. By training our students to lead before they enter the media center, we hope these future school librarians will consider leadership and advocacy as important as ordering books and teaching kids how to do research.

Indeed, formidable obstacles to leadership exist in the real world. While many librarians who were surveyed say that they feel like visible leaders with their students and want to be leaders outside the library, it’s a different story when it comes to standing out among their teaching peers. The roadblocks range from fear of rocking the boat and being spread too thinly among different schools to jealousy from classroom teachers and a lack of support from administrators.

“I have been an advocate in my district, which has earned me a few gray hairs due to the lack of interest,” says one respondent. Another says she’s never invited to faculty meetings, despite raising repeated requests to her administrator. “It’s hard to be a visible anything—let alone leader—when you aren’t even seen.”

Lisa Hunt, a media specialist at Apple Creek Elementary in Moore, OK, concurs. “The first year my principal arrived, she rarely came into the library. It soon became clear that she not only thought I wasn’t leadership material, she wanted to ignore my existence.”

One high school librarian in rural Alabama says she wasn’t even allowed to accept an invitation from a student to a banquet honoring academic excellence among the top 10 seniors at her school because “my principal said, ‘No, she’s not a teacher.’”

Lorraine Calabrese, an elementary school librarian with the Northgate School District in Pittsburgh, PA, inherited both the legacy of a former librarian who possessed few leadership qualities and the difficulty of splitting her time between two buildings. “I have two schools, two principals, often with very different styles of management,” she says. “I have my hands tied somewhat by teaching seven out of nine periods a day. Students are dropped at the door, [and I’m] lucky if I see the teacher. When technology came in, I grabbed the chance to be a leader and was… until they hired a technology teacher.”

Taking the lead

Although most administrators don’t see us often taking the lead, about 50 percent of respondents say they’re receptive—and in favor—of the idea. And while some media specialists say they’re waiting for an invitation to lead from their principals, a majority of administrators say librarians should take the initiative themselves.

“This position is the best of both worlds,” wrote one principal. “Students work in project-based learning environments without the threat of failure in the library, and actually, failure in the library is incentive alone to continue learning.” Meanwhile, another administrator said, “An effective librarian could be as important as an effective principal, given his/her ability to impact teaching and learning in the school.”

At the same time, almost all librarians agree that achieving success without their principal’s backing is impossible. “It is vital,” says Gerri Ellner Krim, a media specialist at Brooklyn Collegiate in New York and a 2007 winner of the School Library Journal/Thomson Gale Giant Step Award for the most improved library.

What advice do librarians who consider themselves leaders have to offer? Advocacy ranks at the top of the list for all of them—and it can come with huge payoffs. Alice Yucht, a retired school librarian and the creator of the widely read Alice in Infoland blog, describes the need to be “assertively courteous” by offering timely and useful resources to teachers and administrators. But she cautions against complaining. “Always be positive, even if you have to fake it,” she says, adding that it’s important to promote the library, not yourself—and to know the difference between promotion and advocacy. “You cannot self-advocate. You need to create satisfied customers and users who will then advocate for the library.”

Learning the language of administrators and even dressing like them was key for Rose Luna, a librarian at New York’s Freeport High School. “When you wear a suit, people perceive you a certain way. If you’re wearing a holiday sweater with a pumpkin on it, you aren’t going to be perceived as a leader or as a part of the leadership tribe.”

After giving numerous presentations and workshops to teachers, parents, and other community members—sometimes on weekends and after school—Margaux DelGuidice, a librarian at Garden City High School in New York, says she and her co-librarian were asked by their superintendent to present at a Superintendent’s Cabinet Meeting to administrators from across Long Island. The topic was a librarian’s dream: the importance of a research curriculum and the link between school librarians, research skills, and the Common Core Standards.

For Pamela Jackson, a teacher-librarian at East Wake High School in Wendell, NC, social media played a big role in her success. “I’ve Twittered with educators globally for over three years, and this has led to exponential professional growth,” she says. “I’ve participated in numerous free online webinars, boot camps, edchats, virtual cafes, classroom 2.0, and unconferences. I’ve attended board meetings, advocating for librarians, information literacy, and student success; and I’ve shared with business leaders what librarians do.”

The best advice that Maureen Schlosser offers is to attend every meeting possible, especially the ones at grade level. “Bring to every meeting some little tidbit from the library, whether it’s a great book that will support a lesson, or a website that will help teachers or administrators in some way,” says the librarian at Colchester Elementary School in Connecticut. “When presenting the tidbits, think of it as a quick commercial, and you are the star of the commercial, and the cameras are rolling. If the audience sees you excited about whatever it is you are bringing to the table, they can’t help but be excited, too. Especially when they see that you truly want to help support what they work so hard at doing every day. Who wouldn’t appreciate help?”

Schlosser also says to stay current. “Read all of the current information out there about what is new and relevant. Go to any classes or workshops that will not only help you in the library, but also teachers in the classroom.”

She routinely follows “revolutionary” librarians such as Joyce Valenza, Michelle Luhtala, Buffy Hamilton, and Gweneth Jones on Twitter to see what they’re doing.

“With the Common Core being implemented next year, you can’t help but see library media skills written all over those standards,” says Schlosser, explaining that her goal last year was to team up with her school’s ed-tech teachers on lessons using the Common Core Crosswalk and the Inquiry Model developed by Barbara Stripling, the former head of school libraries for the New York City Department of Education, and to share the lessons with everyone. “Because of our efforts, our administrators are asking all social studies teachers to work with school librarians on research projects.”

Nicole Knott, a media specialist at Connecticut’s Watertown High School, sums it up best. “If you promote the image of the media center as the hub of the school—for staff, students, and the community at large—it will inevitably become such, and the person in charge of such a vital place is bound to be sought out as a leader.”

He replaces Barbara Stripling, who left the position at the end of 2011 to become a professor of practice at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies (iSchool). Stripling held the position since 2005.

Hasenyager (right) assumes his new post on July 30 and will oversee the largest school library program in the nation, with more than 1,000 media specialists spread throughout the city’s five boroughs.

“This will be an experience of a lifetime, and it’s a huge responsibility that I will not take for granted,” says Hasenyager, adding that his biggest challenge will be the sheer size of the school district, which serves 1.1 million students in more than 1,700 schools. By comparison, Hasenyager oversaw 64 buildings, 82 librarians, and 82 support staff while at San Antonio’s North East Independent School District.

However, he sees the continuation of existing partnerships with the public library and others, as well as the creation of new relationships within and outside the district, as ways to “enable us to leverage our size to provide the best to our students.”

While Hasenyager admits that the current economic downturn makes it difficult to ensure that all students in the city have access to a quality school library program, he says he’ll remain “nimble and innovative” to find solutions.

“I will need to create relationships with other district administrators to communicate the importance of a quality school library program,” says Hasenyager, who was named a 2011 Mover and Shaker by our sister publication, Library Journal. ”It is through conversations and action that will demonstrate these needs.”

Hasenyager also wants to build upon the Information Fluency Continuum,a framework that forms the basis for the skills and strategies that are essential for students to become independent readers and learners, which was created by Stripling and her team during her tenure. The next step, he says, is to ensure that the city’s school librarians-as well as its administrators and teachers-are offered adequate professional development to carry out the plan.

Recruiting classroom teachers as school librarians is also high on Hasenyager’s agenda. While in Texas, he successfully convinced teachers about the benefits of continuing their studies and becoming certified school librarians.

“I will work to partner with universities to provide them the education they need in order to help students become fully certified school librarians,” he says.”This will require the director of library services to apply for grants to allow us to reduce the cost of education for those pursing a Master’s degree, with an emphasis in school librarianship.”

Hasenyager says he’s qualified for the new position because he has a firm grasp on the big picture when it comes to how library programs fit into the overall classroom instruction-and he can successfully communicate that vision to others. In addition, he says, his leadership style unites-rather than divides groups-and he makes decisions based on what’s best for his students.

Illustration by Giselle Potter

It was 2001 and I was a year out of college, my dream of becoming a photographer neatly scrapped due to the slightly sobering fact that my photography skills, not to put too fine a point on it, stunk. Library school seemed a given at that point in my life, and I was determined to follow what I had always thought was my lifelong ambition: becoming an archivist. I wanted to conserve books. Never mind that I’m as gentle with rare materials as a cat with a dead mouse; I was determined to see it through.

That resolve lasted until I took LIS 721 Library Materials for Children on a lark. Despite the fact that I was pretty sure I didn’t like kids (a suspicion that proved to be poorly founded), just a couple of classes with Professor Heidi Hammond were enough to turn me off the wayward path of conservation and onto my true calling—children’s librarianship. After graduating in 2003, I left the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, MN, and soon discovered that New York City was the place to get hired.

At the time, landing a children’s librarian job was tricky but surmountable. These days, of course, it’s significantly more difficult. Between budget cuts and systems that reinvent the very definition of what it means to be a librarian, the word of the day for us must be “flexibility.” Still, in the end, it’s entirely worth it. Children’s librarians are the very backbone of the public library system, creating the readers who’ll grow up

to support the system with their tax dollars. As for school librarians, they’re often the first and sometimes the only librarians whom children will ever encounter, providing services for comers of every background.

I’m going to go out on a wild limb here and assume that many SLJ readers have a pretty little ALA-accredited library degree tucked safely away in their closet. But for those of you who don’t or hope to have one soon, let me guide you through the profession’s trips and traps. Let’s look at what you’ll need to know, where you’d like to go, what you can expect in terms of pocket change, and what the future holds. Everyone else, come along for the ride.

Where would you like to work?

As a children’s librarian, your choices basically boil down to four possibilities: working in a public library, a private library, a public school library, or a private school library. Librarians in each work with children but serve them differently. A school librarian’s days are chock-full of classes, leaving little time for her own work (and what little time remains is often booked by teachers who think the media specialist has nothing better to do than help them). A public librarian must balance storytimes and other programs with class visits and the after-school rush, as kids with working parents race through the door to claim computers and table space.

The public vs. private school question is an ethical and a financial challenge. Recent Pratt library school graduate Allison Bruce put it best when she explained that for her it comes down to working “for an impoverished population and risking failure and burnout, or continuing to serve a population that I don’t feel particularly needs my skills.” To some degree, children from families of every income level need a librarian, but those with fewer advantages particularly benefit from having one in their lives. Then there’s the question of hiring. While public school libraries often require additional education degrees, private schools don’t have such restrictions and can pay more. Hiring practices in public libraries vary according to location. While big cities like New York, Toronto, and Los Angeles have put the brakes on hiring, right now, suburban library systems seem to be advertising for new librarians. As for private children’s libraries, they’re rare but wonderful beasts. Imagine working for a children’s library housed in a museum or a private children’s literary collection that’s owned by a university. It can happen, but you have to be open to the possibility.

What it all boils down to is the fact that you’ll have to look in a variety of places. New York Society Library children’s librarian Carrie Silberman found her position through the American Library Association’s (ALA) website. Though she’d studied to be a school librarian, her new job allows her to “create a modern children’s library within this historic institution.” The trick is staying flexible about where you end up. As another new graduate from Pratt, Danielle Kalan, says, “This job market requires it…. I’ve noticed a trend away from total specialization in library school, since students want to be more broadly employable.” So while you may prefer working with children, stay open to young adult librarianship, archival librarianship, or working with adults. The job you get today may just lead to the job you want tomorrow.

Mad skillz

Which is to say, there are classes that you’ll be glad you took. I’ll level with you. In grad school, I took a total of two classes directly related to children’s librarianship. These consisted of a class on literature (the one I credit with my vocation change) and another on programming. At the time, I had no idea that many of the other classes I happened to take would prove useful, including:

Reference and online services. Recent Pratt graduate Mahnaz Dar says, “The most important course I took was Information Services and Resources, which taught me how to reference sources and conduct reference interviews with patrons. It seems like the one skill that almost every librarian will use, and it was extremely valuable to me to really think about evaluating reference sources. Because I want to work as a school librarian, helping students conduct research is a big part of what I’ll be doing, and this course taught me to think critically about sources in a new way.” These classes sometimes offer help with managing a children’s reference desk, which may come in handy when you’re faced with a tow-headed five-year-old who wants to know where he can find “the orange book.” As Professor Hammond says of the skill that they don’t teach but that we all wish we had, “Mind reading would be helpful.” In lieu of that, try a reference course.

Management of libraries and information centers. Managing a library system may be the last thing on your mind when all you want is to just get hired. Yet you’d be amazed how easily a children’s librarian can slip into the role of manager. Why’s that? Jill Rothstein, manager of New York Public Library’s 67th Street Branch, says, “The same skills that make a good children’s librarian—dedication, energy, innovation—are important, along with understanding how to communicate with different personalities in staff and management, the ability to motivate others, and the ability to keep track of lots of balls in the air.” Remember, keep an eye on the future, even as you try to find a job in the present.

Cataloging. Don’t believe me? Then take it from newly minted school librarian Allison Bruce who says, “I wish I had taken a class devoted solely to cataloging…. I am finding that I’m teaching myself a lot of cataloging on the job and am sure that there are major elements I’m missing as I go.”

Serials management. Whether it’s dealing with the latest print issue of Ranger Rick or the digital edition of Kirkus, a course in serials will give you all the information you’ll need when deciding how to allocate your limited budget and what formats to consider.

Law. OK, I’m kidding here. I’ve found the law librarianship class completely useless. Sorry, law lovers.

While you’re considering potential courses, don’t shy away from those that test your prejudices. Whether it’s taking a class on young adult literature when you’re sure all teens are the devil’s spawn or a graphic-novel course when you couldn’t care two bits about the comic format, taking courses in areas you dislike or fear can only allay those worries and give you the preparation you’ll need. Consider, too, taking classes outside of your graduate program. As Steve Zampino, a teen librarian at Stamford, CT’s Ferguson Library, points out, “Being able to speak Spanish, or another foreign language used by a significant number of a library’s patrons, can be a big help on the job.” These days, multilingual librarians have a significant leg up on the competition.

Also pay attention to what’s new. Today’s innovation just might be tomorrow’s norm. Professor Hammond recommends keeping up with ebooks, ereaders, iPads, and apps, as well as social networking sites and cyber safety. New grad Danielle Kalan says the information technologies class, a core requirement when she attended Pratt, is extremely relevant to her work, especially the basic Web-design skills she learned. “These are the skills that are going to set recent graduates apart as desirable applicants, skills that those who were library students even 10 or 15 years ago won’t have,” she says. They’ll also give you the ammunition you need to justify your job. And when it comes to applying those skills later, find librarians in the field that you can look to for guidance. For example, if you want to be a public school librarian and you don’t currently worship at the altar of Buffy Hamilton, a. k. a. The Unquiet Librarian, now’s the time to start.

It’s all about personality, baby

My mother always said that they should give out degrees in social work alongside degrees in library science to folks going into public library work. Basically, if you’re going to deal with the public, you need to consider how your personality gels with the profession. Work in a public library and you’ll find out some valuable things about yourself. When asked what makes a good children’s librarian, Steve Zampino suggested that “diplomacy and empathy…can be very helpful when dealing with kids, teens, parents, and teachers in a variety of situations.” Don’t feel particularly diplomatic or empathetic? Have a short fuse? Figure out now what might cause you trouble later.

Surprisingly, the rewards outweigh any unpleasantness. Helping a tiny tot find a copy of Strega Nona will get you through an irate mom who demands that you burn your copy of In the Night Kitchen any day of the week. Above all, know thyself. If merely answering the phone gives you stage fright or you don’t much like people, any people, then perhaps front-desk work isn’t for you.

What’s the going rate these days?

Naturally, you’re going to want to know how much your average children’s librarian makes. I don’t think I’ll shock anyone by noting that few folks retire in their 40s, thanks to a lucrative life behind a reference desk. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2010 the median salary for any librarian was $54,500 per year or $26.20 per hour. (For more information, see SLJ’s first public library spending survey and Library Journal’s 2011 “Placements & Salary” survey.) Here’s the good news and bad news about job prospects. The bad news is that while the “employment of librarians is expected to grow by 7 percent from 2010 to 2020,” that’s slower than the average for all occupations. The good news is that while there are limited positions available in the early part of the decade, the prospects will sharply improve as older librarians retire. That’s all well and good, but how does it look for children’s librarians? Well, according to SLJ’s 2010–2011 school library spending survey, librarians who work in the educational field also have a good and bad scenario. Tiny budgets, additional duties, and limited hours are some of the problems you might encounter. On the plus side, the survey showed that media specialists’ salaries went up by 10 percent, book collections have grown, and it appears that painful budget cuts are at last ebbing.

Finding a job

Happily, in spite of every economic downturn, library jobs still exist. Unfortunately, the number of applicants per position is sky high. That means you’ll need to explore unconventional places for employment. “I try to keep up with various listservs,” says Mahnaz Dar. “For example, there’s Pratt’s listserv, and I’m also on the Hudson Valley Library Association’s [an organization for librarians working in independent schools] listserv. However, most of the actual jobs I hear about are from people I know who have told me about opportunities at their libraries.” Joining a library as an intern, a page, a clerk, or a volunteer can give you first dibs when a job opens up. Plus, librarians will sometimes bend over backward for an employee they know over an unknown applicant.

Connect!

The children’s librarian who works in a bubble is just asking for trouble. If you think you can ignore networking just because you work with preschoolers, think again. With public library cuts looming and school boards axing media specialists, the time to meet, collaborate, and learn is now. Public librarians need to reach out and meet up with local school librarians, public and private. Build relationships with these people, and you’ll get your hooks into students who might otherwise never have stepped foot in a public library without a gentle little push. Likewise, a school librarian who connects with a public library can discover that the relationship yields all kinds of unexpected rewards. For example, one Manhattan public school of my acquaintance cultivated a partnership with its local public library. When the school librarian fell ill and was out on leave for several months, the public library sent multiple children’s librarians to the school to read to the kids on a regular basis. Build a bridge, and you’ll have many reasons to cross it.

Another way to connect is by joining a professional organization consisting of like-minded folks. There are the usual suspects like ALA, the Public Library Association, and the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), which all help you find your tribe. Consider thinking outside the box—join organizations that connect to your world but in ways you’d never imagine. For example, I’m a member of the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators as well as the United States Board on Books for Young People, both of which give me insights into the crop of new books for children in the States, as well as children’s books found worldwide.

It can be done!

No matter how daunting the outlook seems, there’s hope. Maybe it’s ridiculous, but I believe that even if all other forms of librarianship were to crumble to the ground and wash away with the tides, children’s librarians would remain standing. New parents and children appear every day. They need your opinions, your thoughts, your recommendations, and your help in finding the best books, websites, apps, and materials out there. Some people say that where there’s a will there’s a way. I say that where there are children there will be librarians, by hook or by crook. Now go out there and help those kids, tiger!

Kudos to Sarah Ludwig, the tech coordinator who was interviewed for School Library Journal’s cover story, “Next Year’s Model.” [Sarah Ludwig] sounds likes she is serving her students and colleagues well. However, I do have to say that there are many school librarians out in the field who have been doing similar things for years. Maybe we are all just flying under the publicity radar.

As a learning resource center director for an elementary school, I do it all: teach information and media literacy to both students and teachers; teach and promote the use of new technologies, again, to both students and teachers; search for and promote the use of print and digital resources; collaborate with my colleagues to develop technology projects that promote student learning in all content areas; teach and co-teach those projects from beginning to end; write curriculum to meet the new Common Core standards; write grants to help fund for all this cool stuff; AND promote a love of reading and literacy through readers’ advisory, read alouds, family reading nights, collection development, and community outreach. On any given day, I am in the library, in the tech lab, and in the classroom. And I am proud to do it under the title of librarian. Admittedly, I go home pretty tired at the end of the day. But that’s how I roll!

Joanne Zienty

Learning Resource Center Director

Butterfield & William

Hammerschmidt Schools, Lombard, IL

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