The best administrators are those who welcome conversations and new ideas, collaborations, and support. Many school administrators accomplish this lofty goal by instituting an “open door” policy where teachers and students can feel free to come in if the door… Read More ›
advocacy
Wikipedia and Advocacy
The High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, is hosting an Art + Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon. The event is designed to train interested people to edit Wikipedia pages with this stated goal: to edit, update, and create Wikipedia articles related… Read More ›
More Support for Ending School Library Fines
A couple of blog posts ago I wrote that I was evaluating my stance on school library fines. Since then my co-librarian has warmed up to the idea, and we’ve been planning how we are going to phase out fines…. Read More ›
Advocacy Toolkit: Library Reports
Get the Word Out! “They won’t know what you’re doing unless you make sure they know. And if you don’t, your job will eventually end up on the chopping block and no one will know why you’re worth fighting for.”… Read More ›
Circles of Concern, Influence, and Control
Everything we do in our work is an opportunity for advocacy, and we should take full advantage of each opportunity. Every email we send, every conversation we have, every resource we curate, and every event we plan all have an… Read More ›
The Ready to Code (RtC) Collection
There are 450,000+ open computing jobs across the United States, but only 35% of high schools teach computer programming (code.org, 2019). The American Library Association (ALA) wanted to understand and support libraries with information and resources related to computer science…. Read More ›
The District Library Newsletter: An Advocacy Tool
As you plan your advocacy efforts for 2019, don’t forget about your district-level administrators. The decisions they make can have a huge impact on your library and on your district’s library program. Even if they’ve always been supportive of libraries,… Read More ›
Professional Development Power
Did you know that as a school librarian, you have an incredible super power? This power can increase teacher retention, improve academic achievement, and change your school culture. What is this magical power? It is professional development for teachers. Let… Read More ›
What does $500 buy you?
Recently I saw a post on a Facebook group where a school librarian from an affluent area was budgeted about $500 for a private school of nearly that many students–so about $1 per student. The librarian seemed to think that… Read More ›
Rethinking School Library Fines
How does everyone feel about school library fines for late and lost books? Until recently, I’ve been mostly okay with the concept, especially in middle and high schools, but now I find myself questioning the effectiveness of library fines. Our… Read More ›