What if ALA leadership fought for school librarians like it fought for access to ebooks?
Rally for NYC Public Libraries; Christopher Awards Gala
By on May 24, 2013 Leave a Comment
NYC Councilmembers and other library supporters gathered on the steps of City Hall to protest proposed cuts to library funding. Warren St. John and Jo S. Kittinger were both presented with Christopher Awards on May 23.
What Are You Afraid Of? We Can’t Afford to Hesitate | Project Advocacy
By on May 14, 2013 Leave a Comment
Educators “must be fearless in advocating for our students’ needs,” says Carolyn Foote. In this debut of her SLJ column, “Project Advocacy,” Foote provides school librarians and media specialists with a “seed kit” of inspiration for stepping out and building a professional network and leveraging the autonomy of your library program.
Mo Willems Exhibit; Kidlit Book Awards; Gaming in the Classroom | News Bites
By on May 9, 2013 1 Comment
Celebrate 10 years of Mo Willems’s Pigeon with a visit to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA, which will be hosting an exhibit on the award-winning author/illustrator. Winners for the Jane Addams, Golden Kite, and IRA awards have been announced. Attend a one-day workshop focused on integrating games into the K–12 classroom. These stories and more, in this week’s News Bites.
The Cost of Cuts: When we lose librarians, it’s the kids who suffer most | Editorial
By on March 7, 2013 6 Comments
The Pennsylvania study joins a growing body of research that proves the efficacy of librarians in our schools, but the findings of this study alone should take the decision to cut a librarian off the table.
Latest Study: A full-time school librarian makes a critical difference in boosting student achievement
By on March 7, 2013 7 Comments
An important new study of Pennsylvania’s schools shows that students in schools with full-time librarians score substantially higher on reading and writing tests than their counterparts in schools that lack librarians.
Making the Principal Connection
By on January 31, 2013 Leave a Comment
Mark Ray asserts that principals and librarians have a lot more in common than you might think—and he should know. After 20 years as a teacher librarian, the 2012 Washington Teacher of the Year has become a district IT administrator. From his new perch, he shares insights into the the pivotal alliance possible between two key solo players in the school: librarian and principal.
WLMA: The library should be the heart of the school
By on January 12, 2013
The wonderful teacher librarians of the Washington Library Media Association (WLMA) recently released the five-minute video, Teacher Librarians at the Heart of Student Learning. The video, partially funded by Mackin, is designed to present school libraries and teacher librarians as a vital resource for student learning and to highlight the essential role teacher librarians play [...]
A Call for ‘Blended Funding’: Schools must pool money to support Common Core
By on December 10, 2012
How will schools pay for new CC resources, including digital? One approach is to look for existing funds within your school and district that can be redirected so that your library can purchase CC resources for the classroom. But that requires that libraries market their expertise in resource selection and collection development so that your value is obvious to others, says Christopher Harris.
SLJ Summit 2012: Of Leadership and ‘Blended-Learning Baristas’
By on October 27, 2012 2 Comments
“I love the library, and I firmly believe in it,” says Mark Ray, a former teacher librarian and Washington’s 2011 Teacher of the Year. “But what I also think is that we can redefine perceptions on the part of administrators and decision makers by not necessarily wearing the library on our sleeves.”
SLJ Summit 2012: Full-Time School Librarians Boost Student Test Scores in Reading, Writing, Says PA Report
By on October 25, 2012 14 Comments
Access to a full-time school librarian increases test scores, closes the achievement gap, and improves writing skills, according to a new study of Pennsylvania public schools announced at the start of SLJ’s Leadership Summit.
DC Parents Demand School Librarians Be Restored
By on October 15, 2012 1 Comment
Parents in Washington, DC, are taking to the streets, advocating for more funding for their school libraries and librarians. The Capitol Hill Public Schools Parent Organization (CHPSPO) has spent the past seven months pushing for Washington, DC, to open its coffers to school libraries to replenish shelves, upgrade library spaces and hire more librarians for K–12 students.
How Does Your Boss See You?: Proof That Principals Value Librarians
By on September 4, 2012 4 Comments
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.
Fuel Your Advocacy Work
By on August 2, 2012 Leave a Comment
Thursday, March 29, 2012, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM ET Featuring informative presentations from Dr. Lesley Farmer – professor, author and international school library advocate and extraordinaire, and Sara Kelly Johns – former AASL president, advocacy expert and author of the all new SLJ Blog Make Some Noise!
Kentucky’s Teacher of the Year Advocates for the Need for School Librarians
By on July 27, 2012
There is a 2012 Teacher of the Year in Kentucky who “gets it.” And, she expresses well what students need to do to be successful meeting the Common Core standards, tying them closely to what it is that school librarians do. She does so in an article that can be sent to every superintendent, shared [...]
“Big ALA” and the new School Library Resolution
By on July 13, 2012
“Big ALA” will be focused on school librarians even more after the 2012 Annual Conference recently held in Anaheim. We need it. So many school librarians want to join AASL or other divisions without paying dues that include the parent organization, “Big ALA.” I personally joined ALA and AASL as a new school librarian because [...]
MARC Records as an Advocacy Strategy: My AASL “Advocacy Tip of the Day”
By on May 30, 2012
Teachers drift in and out of my office all day for the $.25 freshly ground coffee, “real” and decaffeinated. I sometimes sit at my desk with a pile of new materials, entering them into my automated catalog. Suddenly it hits me. We talk about school and life, give each other advice, plan collaborative projects (the [...]
NLLD or VLLD: Time to “Take Action”
By on April 22, 2012
I am on my first train to get from Albany, NY to Washington, DC on a grey, chilly Sunday morning as part of the New York Library Association (NYLA)’s delegation. We will participate in the American Library Association’s National Library Legislative Day (NLLD) on Tuesday, April 24th. I am fairly sure I will be the [...]
It Takes a Group of People to Rescue a Sinking Ship: Colorado’s “Survive and Thrive” Campaign
By on April 16, 2012
Can we have business as usual on a Titanic? That’s a question that bothered Becky Russell, the School Library/21st Century Skills Content Specialist at the Colorado Department of Education’s Library Development Office, about the diminishing number of school library positions in her state. After reading Doug Johnson’s blog post about the new Colorado Association of [...]
“Library Skills” = Information Literacy Skills = Common Core Skills
By on March 23, 2012
If you have not sat down yet with your downloaded copy of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) with a highlighter in your hand, it’s time. And if you have, it’s time to read it again and for all of us to change our vocabulary. School librarians teach Common Core skills. Right now, schools are [...]
