A Panacea That’s Not Snake Oil I’ve heard school librarians called the super-heroes of education, since they have so many skills to draw on and serve their entire school populace. School libraries are often called the Swiss army knives of… Read More ›
advocacy
Count Your Blessings
Happy New Year! Many of us sit down in December at year’s and send messages to friends and relatives reporting what happened over the past year. To make them more interesting, many add pictures of the various events in our… Read More ›
If You Have It All, They Probably Won’t Come
The Having-It-All Mentality By having it all, I’m not referring to individuals with a perfect life. Instead, having it all is the old-school librarian philosophy to have a print collection covering every topic and issue known to humans. Having-it-all librarians… Read More ›
What If We Were “Just Book Slingers”?
Perceptions versus Reality Okay – WE all know that school librarians are the “Swiss Army knives of education.” (Thanks for that phrase, guest on School Librarians United!) But too many people are confused about the many diverse aspects of being… Read More ›
Dear School Leaders: 5 Things You Need to Know about Your School Librarian
Recently, I was fortunate to present at the Louisiana Teacher Leader Summit to school, district, and state leaders on the importance of having full-time, certified school librarians at every school. I spoke to the fact that we are one of… Read More ›
Are You Backable? 5 Ways to Advocate
What does it mean to be backable? You know the person who seems to convince others with ease. The person who can get up and share an idea and show others exactly what needs to be done. When becoming a… Read More ›
School Library Advocacy: The Time Is Now
Over the past few years, I have cultivated a professional learning network on Twitter of exemplary school librarians from across the world. One of the biggest lessons I have learned from my PLN is the importance of school library advocacy… Read More ›
Being an Active Collaborator
If there is one consistency in our ever-changing school library profession, it is the need to tell the world who we are, what we do, and why we’re essential workers. Remote Collaboration Collaboration is always difficult for educators. But this… Read More ›
School Library Month: A Celebration and Time to Reflect
School Library Month always invokes a sense of nostalgia for me as I reflect on my school’s library programming and the experiences I had as a child. I have fond memories of visiting my elementary school library and searching the… Read More ›
School Libraries – More Than Just Books? (or More Than Just Book Check Out?)
In Michigan, we are preparing for an upcoming Michigan Library Advocacy Day on April 20, 2021. The virtual library advocacy day is a partnership between the Michigan Library Association (MLA), the Michigan Association for Media in Education (MAME), and the… Read More ›