LIBE 477 Reading Review Part B

 Library Advocacy: 

What does it mean?  What does it look like?

Every school is unique in the way they function and the community they serve, but there are many Teacher Librarians who excel in promoting their program and the learning that is happening in their space. There are many different ways this can be done, but it is critical that I determine where I need to focus my attention to promote the wonderful things that are happening in my library.  

I believe the following sites and articles will help me to define more clearly what it is I am looking for and what the needs of my school may be:

Although this site refers to public libraries, the focus on advocacy and developing a personal plan for advocacy look useful.  I initially discovered this site on https://www.ala.org/pla/leadership/advocacy/turningthepage.

https://www.publiclibraryadvocacy.org/curriculum-sessions/

Giles, N. (2020). One small voice: My school library advocacy journey. Knowledge Quest, 48(4), 22. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1250005.pdf

        Looking at how one school librarian created a plan for advocacy for her program.

Gruenthal, Heather ( 2012). A School library advocacy alphabet. Young Adult Library Services, 11(1), 13-18. https://web.s.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=d04dccf2-4b38-46b4-9515-43be2b1540a7%40redis

        Breaking down what advocacy can look like with many practical ideas as well as looking at the bigger picture of how to effectively advocate.

Stripling, Barbara K. (2014). Reimagining advocacy for school libraries. American Libraries Magazine, September/October, 8-13. https://digital.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&edid=6c7cb940-d8fb-43d8-8ad8-864bf0e83f38

    Looking at how to determine the message, build partnerships, and evaluate the impact of my advocacy.

Canadian School Libraries. Leading learning:  Standards of practice for school library learning commons in Canada. http://llsop.canadianschoollibraries.ca/supporting-you-measurement-growth-tool/

    Reading through the Leading Learning site and using some of the rubrics found there can also help me to frame my needs and determine where I need to go next.

Adopting the Language 

A large part of advocacy is going to involve strengthening my understanding of the ISTE standards and Future Ready Librarians and School Framework and adopting this language.  

Who can I look to as a mentor?

Shannon McClintock Miller is a great example of how to advocate for your program and promote student learning. 

McClintock Miller, Shannon. https://vanmeterlibraryvoice.blogspot.com/

Hursch, Angela. https://superlibrarymarketing.com/category/library-marketing/

Website on library marketing and how to enhance your promotions.

Up-skilling

If I want to be successful in developing a tool/resource that I continuously use, I need to ensure I have the necessary skills.  I have heard for several years that LibGuides in an excellent way to promote a LLC, and my colleague has recently begun to set something up for our school, but I have not created any content for the students/staff and parents I work with.  It is going to be critical that I take some tutorials to be able to use Libguides in a way that makes sense and is accessible for my patrons.  It will also mean ensuring I have the most up to date knowledge to use databases and resources we already subscribe to so I can ensure I am promoting their strengths to our staff

Follett webinar with Shannon McClintock Miller with different tools to help engage our learners  https://www.follettcommunity.com/s/communityevent/a1l2J000003j8TmQAI/digital-tools-apps-essential-tools-for-curriculumfocused-teacher-librarians

 LIBE 477 Assignment 1: 

Reading Review Part A

As I read ‘Leading from the Library: Help your School Community Thrive in the Digital Age’, I have been reflecting on what I have learned about best practice during previous courses and considering my own strengths and weaknesses. One weakness that I keep coming back to is advocacy, not only for the library program, but for the learning that is happening through the program.

As fortunate as I am to work in a school that values collaboration, and  as respected as I am by colleagues, there is still a huge misconception amongst staff and leadership surrounding what my role is and what a Future Ready Library program can offer.  In my attempts to not take over the role of our Tech coaches, I have neglected this entire area of my role, and this neglect is evident in how I share student learning.  I realise it is not enough to encourage the use of digital tolls to support my students, I also need to reflect their use in my own practice.

I work with the youngest students in my school, our three to seven year olds.  They have an incredible amount of knowledge to share, and their curiosity and wonder is both inspiring, and challenging to capture in a way that accurately reflects their excitement and wonder.  I am very quick to share my observational notes or anecdotes with their class teachers as I see them, but I am realising their is much more strength in sharing the photos and videos I take.  

I believe that through the use of presentation tools such as Adobe Spark, Canva, or even IMovie, I could strengthen my documentation to capture their learning and make more direct links to learning outcomes we are looking for as teachers, and directly show how I support the whole school curriculum. By developing my skills with these tools, I hope to work more efficiently so that my documentation is completed in a more timely manner.

I think this could be further enhanced by  sharing this documentation on seesaw, where the students' parents and even the students themselves can view it.  I also wonder how this could be shared within the physical library space so that students can view each others thoughts.  With the rise in QR code use due to the pandemic, I wonder if something like this would work within the library. 

We want our program to be child-led and responsive to the students' interests, and the technology we have access to would allow students to respond to their thinking, but how often do we actually share this back with them?  Posters of documentation look very nice in the classroom, but if I work with children who are not reading independently, how useful is this documentation to them? 

I am curious to learn more about how documentation has been digitized to be shared with a wider audience to support and enhance student learning.   There are so many inspirational librarians working to advocate for their students and their program, I need to begin to follow their lead and advocate for my own.

Works Cited:

Miller, S., & Bass, W. (2019).  Leading from the Library: Help your School Community Thrive in the Digital Age. International Society for Technology in Education.

Shannon McClintock Miller https://vanmeterlibraryvoice.blogspot.com/