School librarians wear many hats—literacy champions, instructors, tech experts, curators, and more. With all there is to do, it is fortunate that we belong to a collaborative profession where colleagues readily share ideas and resources. In support of this spirit, several ALA Emerging Leaders teams have, in recent years, collaborated to create a series of Activity Guides based on the AASL Standards and the Shared Foundations: Inquire, Include, Collaborate, Curate, Explore, and Engage. These practical, easy-to-use, and adaptable resources offer concrete examples for implementing the Shared Foundations across the four learning Domains: Think, Create, Share, and Grow. These guides are freely accessible online at standards.aasl.org/materials.

Our Emerging Leaders team—composed of librarians from elementary, middle, and high school settings, as well as higher education, and across four U.S. time zones—drew on our collaboration skills to design the AASL Activity Guide focused on the Shared Foundation of Collaborate. In the spirit of its Key Commitment—to “work effectively with others to broaden perspectives and work toward common goals” (AASL 2018, 85)—we navigated many of the same challenges school librarians face in our day-to-day collaborative work: building relationships, carving out time, identifying interests, honing our expertise, and utilizing technologies. At times one of us contributed an idea that perfectly fit the task at hand, while at other times, our collective brainstorming stimulated new ideas and directions that catapulted our work forward—just as we ideally experience collaboration in our school environments.

Resources that Support Collaboration: Activity Guide, Applied Framework, and Infographic

Our Activity Guide, “Developing Creative Collaborators, Flexible Partners, and Resilient Citizens,” can be found at https://standards.aasl.org/project/collaborators. A helpful place to start is the Applied Framework—a one-page matrix that outlines the core content of our Activity Guide. Additionally, our Infographic visualizes the importance of collaboration and can be a powerful tool when shared within your school community to generate conversation and encourage greater collaboration with the school library. The infographic is available online and also appears as the centerfold in the May/June issue of Knowledge Quest.

 

Cultivating a Collaborative Culture

One of our most rewarding—and time-intensive—roles of a school librarian is fostering strong collaborative relationships with colleagues. It can be especially challenging when other educators, who are also pressed for time, may not be fully aware of the instructional support and collaborative opportunities we offer. To help bridge this gap, the Activity Guide offers practical suggestions for raising awareness and promoting collaboration:

  • School Libraries, Create-Activity #3 (page 64): “Demonstrating Impact At-a-Glance” is a powerful way to communicate all that the school library offers and can be completed at the end of your school year to increase interest in possible collaborations for the following school year.
  • School Libraries, Share-Activity #1 (page 44): “Infographics for Visualizing Collaboration” aesthetically advertises the services available in your school library.
  • School Libraries, Think-Activity #2 (page 32): “Micro-Lessons to Address Gaps in Professional Development” offers colleagues 24/7 virtual access to support and training through your school library.

 

Incorporating Collaboration to Bolster Learning

Although learners often only intermittently visit the school library for instruction, school librarians can still design impactful lessons that maximize learning and skill building. Collaboration benefits learners by opening their world to greater opportunities and experiences, as well as teaching them how to work together to accomplish greater ends. In addition to providing strategies for increasing collaboration, the Activity Guide features a wide range of engaging, learner-centered activities, including:

  • Learners, Think-Activity #2 (page 15): “Using Group Discussion to Develop New Ideas” utilizes structured hexagonal thinking to generate or summarize ideas while making connections working as a group and can easily be applied in any unit of study and in one class period.
  • Learners, Share-Activity #2 (page 23): “Generate Literary Thinking and Displays with the Headlines Thinking Routine” can be implemented in a short amount of time with minimal prep in a variety of contexts. It is a novel way for groups of learners to collaboratively distill the essence of what they are exploring. Their work can easily be displayed around your school library.
  • Learners, Create-Activity #3 (page 21): “Creating a Collaborative Book Using Book Creator” could be implemented as a long(er)-term culminating project. This freemium tech tool makes collaborating on a digital book a breeze. The resulting products are precious keepsakes and powerful documentation of learners’ thinking and creativity.

 

Creating Collaborative Communities

Schools often face limitations in budgets, staffing, and other resources. To meet our goals as school librarians, collaboration can—and should—extend beyond the walls of the school library and into your local community, helping to build a culture of cooperation and resource sharing. For ideas and inspiration to kickstart or strengthen community partnerships, explore these sections of the Activity Guide:

  • Learners, Share-Activity #3 (page 24): “‘You Are Here,’ Advocacy Project for Local Literature” is an incredibly rich way for learners to share their appreciation of books and authors with the larger community.
  • School Libraries, Think-Activity #2 (page 56): “Peep into the Library!” offers an engaging way to connect the school library with the outdoors and to deepen learners’ STEM knowledge through birding.
  • School Librarians, Create-Activity #3 (page 41): “Welcome to Your Public Library” lists suggested ways school libraries may collaborate to cultivate lifelong library users.

 

These are just a handful of the countless ways to approach collaboration using the National School Library Standards. Thankfully, as members of AASL, we are an integral part of a vibrant professional learning network—one that empowers us to collaborate, support one another, build on each other’s ideas, and create powerful opportunities for our communities to work together. As Kammer and Mooreland (2020, 41) observed, “School librarians are motivated to collaborate with others not only for the learners but also to improve their own job satisfaction. Library collaboration can create friendships, inspire new ideas, and develop supportive advocacy networks when it is desperately needed.” We hope our Activity Guide offers inspiration and sparks fresh ideas and perspectives on collaboration—so you and your school library community can continue to enjoy the many lasting benefits it brings

 

Works Cited

AASL American Association of School Librarians. 2024. “Developing Creative Collaborators, Flexible Partners, and Resilient Citizens Activity Guide.” www.ala.org/sites/default/files/2024-06/Collaborate%20Activity%20Guide_FINAL-240607_0.pdf.

Kammer, Jenna, and Denise Moreland. 2020. “School and Public Library Collaboration: Opportunities for Sharing and Community Connections.” Knowledge Quest 49 (1): 40–44. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1272606.pdf.