As part of INLS 744 (The School Library Media Center), I was asked to respond to the following prompt via a podcast:
“You have just graduated with your degree and you are seeking a position as a library media coordinator in North Carolina. You receive a call from the principal of School X…. She schedules an interview with you. In the phone conversation, the principal candidly tells you that the School Community Council has discussed the possibility of not hiring a library media specialist for the upcoming school year and using the funds to establish another teaching position. Given this state of affairs, she makes a special request of you: she wants you to prepare a 5 minute podcast for the School Community Council that is comprised of members representing families, faculty, and the neighboring community. She asks that you articulate your philosophy and vision for the school library media program for School X.”
Transcript:
My name is Kimberly Hirsh and I am a teacher-librarian. Some librarians believe that they are in the business of stuff: books, magazines, DVDs, computers. As a teacher-librarian, I believe I am in the business of people: students, faculty, and community members. I believe that the library is not a warehouse, but a place where we make connections. We build relationships between people and information. We serve students, whose needs are at the heart of our program. We collaborate with the faculty and staff who work to meet those students’ needs. We also work with the larger community which both supports our students in their endeavors and benefits from their contributions. The needs of these three groups are at the heart of my philosophy and vision for the school library media program.
Students are the core constituency of any school library and every action we take must be learner-centered. Students benefit from participating in engaging lessons created by a teacher and a librarian working in collaboration. These inquiry-based lessons offer students the opportunity to answer real-world questions. They enable them to gain expertise in multiple literacies utilizing various formats which engage their diverse learning styles. The skills they learn in these lessons support their lifelong-learning and their future careers.
In the library, students form a relationship with reading. They are welcome in the library before, during, and after school and can check books out themselves using the automated check-out machine. They feel ownership of the library because it is decorated with their own work and they have a voice through the student advisory committee. They are comfortable spending time in a safe place where they can meet and work with friends or, if they need it, read in privacy. The library collection addresses their interests. Reading becomes a social act when they meet in book discussion groups and interact with authors in person and online. They share their insights through posts on the library blog, maintaining communication even when they are not in the school building. They have constant access through the virtual library which enables them to access the library catalog and their own accounts, useful websites, databases, and multimedia at any time of day.
Throughout all of this, students are supported by a faculty and staff who also benefit from the school library media program. As they collaborate with the teacher-librarian, the isolation which many classroom teachers feel disappears. Not only do they have someone with whom they can share ideas, but they also have a partner in assessing their students. The librarian can bring a fresh perspective to the curriculum. The library facilities support instruction of varying types for large and small groups as well as for individual students. Faculty and staff feel ownership of the media program, as well, because they have a voice as members of the Media and Technology Advisory Committee and through focus groups and surveys. They, too, benefit from the online catalog and the school website, using it to plan lessons whether they are in their classrooms or off campus. The selection and reconsideration policies posted on the website support teachers if their use of library materials is challenged. By following the library blog, they can read posts written by their students and stay up to date on opportunities for partnership with the larger community.
This wider school community also benefits from school library services. Members of the community are welcome at our social events such as book discussions and author visits. We provide a safe space for your students to spend time and positive experiences for them through groups such as the gaming club. Our website serves as a communication tool for the community as a whole. It also promotes transparency. In addition to our circulation, selection, reconsideration, weeding, and acceptable use policies, our mission, vision, and goals are available on the website. We also include our annual report, which addresses the progress we’ve made towards our goals and explains how we have used library resources. We welcome members of the community into our Friends of the School Library organization, through which we also maintain partnerships with the public library and local academic libraries. Our school library is a resource not only for students and teachers, but for parents and other community members as well.
We support the wider community and our faculty and staff because they support our learners. Students are at the heart of everything we do in the school library. The school library media program exists to facilitate their relationships with each other, with their teachers, with the community, and with information. Thank you.
