From my estimation (based largely on about 15 years of library and book conference attendance), the love affair between authors and librarians is one of deep, mutual adoration and appreciation.  “Authors are our rock stars” and “I’m here because of librarians like you” are genuine, heartfelt, and often articulated foils in library land.  Young adult author Ally Condie – known for Matched, Crossed, and the upcoming Reached – offers her thoughts on “how essential those school libraries are” in this recent video from atyourlibrary.org, The Campaign for America’s Libraries.

In the video, Ms. Condie explains that in schools, “to have a true librarian is paramount,” which I think is an important distinction between being content to have a space called a library, and recognizing the value of a quality school library program administered by a professional school librarian.

This video isn’t my first chance to be impressed by Ally Condie’s support of school libraries. Earlier this year, when school librarians and advocates were working hard to obtain 25,000 signatures on the White House petition “to ensure that every child in America has access to an effective school library program,” Ms. Condie retweeted my request to share our mission with her followers (pasted here). I’ll be the first to admit that it was a great feeling to have a rock star in our corner.

I saw a banner posted in the hallway of an elementary school this week that read, “Is This Your Best Work? Make Your Grandparents Proud.” (See image, below, with my apologies for the glare of the hallway light.)  I loved the saying instantly, and I think it’s because it resonated on a few levels with me.

With this brief message (and one might assume, related talk in classrooms), this school community is helping children build habits of meaningful self-reflection and consistent good effort, and teaching them to show and share pride in their learning.  It’s the type of school-wide initiative that librarians can easily incorporate into classes, and it’s so simple and clear.  By asking this question and prompting a few descriptors (e.g., “did you follow all directions,” followed by some task-specific queries), teachers can model effective think-aloud strategies.  And if we want to be particular, we might even notice a few Standards for the 21st Century Learner that fit right in. “Is this your best work” is a self-check that sounds a lot like “Assess the quality and effectiveness of the learning product” (3.4.2) and “Recognize how to focus efforts in personal learning” (4.4.3).

There’s also something powerful in the “grandparents” mention, both for the kids and for the educators at the school.  First, for the children, this shifts the common reference to parents’ opinions of school performance in a new direction.  A teacher’s typical admonition about poor behavior or work might fall along the lines of “what would your mother say about that?” or the dreaded, “should we call home?”  And the accolades are usually directed at parents and guardians, too: “Great job! Take this home and show mom and dad.”  But even though many family units today include multiple generations living together in one household, I’m not sure when I was a classroom teacher that I thought to mention grandma and grandpa as persons to please with good work at school, at least not often.  Whether they live with the children or reside elsewhere, grandparents are proud of their grandchildren’s learning, too, and by reminding students that their work matters, perhaps we can encourage another level of energy and investment in trying their best.

As far as teachers and librarians are concerned, seeing “grandparents” on this sign reminded me of my tendency to think “parents” when considering potential school community advocates for the school library.  I use the term “school community” rather loosely though frequently,  and it occurs to me that it is helpful to consider just which people comprise this group, and what their interests and contributions might be.  In a group of grandparents of K-12 students, we probably have a diverse pool of knowledge, connections to local organizations and government, and likely, personal interest in the success of local schools, by way of their grandchildren’s successes and needs.  So why not get the grandparents connected to the school library?  From inviting readers and volunteers, to asking for help with school history archives, to offering extra copies of library newsletters to take home to grandma, there are lots of ways to get grandparents involved and apprised of the library program.  So remind your students to make their grandparents proud, and try out some ideas for making grandparents proud advocates of the library, too.

–Rebecca Morris

Hat tip to Fletcher-Maynard Academy, Cambridge Public School District, Cambridge, MA, where I snapped the banner photo.

Back to school at the library may draw to mind images of library orientation, especially at the secondary level, and following the guidance of educator Harry Wong at the elementary, first library classes of the year often incorporate the teaching of procedure, including how to come in the library and gather for class, how to use shelf markers, and what to know about routines for checking out and returning books.  September means welcoming new students, starting new projects, and giving a first go at updated policies, shelving arrangements, or school schedules.

Although these processes are important in setting the stage for a productive learning environment for the students, it’s also helpful include students’ parents and families in these welcome efforts.  We know that advocacy isn’t about us saying how great we are; it’s about getting others to notice and share this message.  Christie Kaaland writes in “Developing a Culture of Advocacy” (in Activism and the School Librarian, full info below) about manageable strategies for building layers of advocacy for the school library program, and included among these are sound rationales for and ways to build support from parents and the community.  The strength of a message of support for the library is deeper when coming from parents or students, writes Kaaland, especially when advocating to decision-makers like principals and legislators.  Establishing omnipresence of the library is also necessary, through visibility in school functions of varying audiences and formats.  A simple way to start is connecting with parents at back to school events.

Turning to my own experiences now, when I was a first grade teacher, we had two separate events for “open house” and an introduction to the first grade program, the latter known in some schools as “curriculum night.”  The introduction to first grade was a structured presentation for parents, so when we hosted students and families for our less formal open house, I preferred to engage the kids and parents in some independent and interactive tasks, like a classroom scavenger hunt.  They could find assigned places in the classroom, read and write in the students’ journals, and always, visit the “special teachers” around the school.  The stop at the school library served a few purposes.

First, I think a sense of pride and student ownership in the library program is important, and I wanted for students to show parents “their” library.  (Side note: this is a distinction I like to emphasize among librarians, too – when you can, shift away from calling it “my library” and instead, describe the space to students as “your library” or  more generally, “the students’ library.”)  Another key piece in this family visit was representing the library as integral to the school community and learning.  Finally, the school library had (and still does have) a flourishing parent volunteer program, so stopping by also introduced this opportunity to moms and dads.

Now, to be honest, I’ll admit what clever readers have already noticed here – sending my students and families out of the classroom was also a way to manage the volume of people and chaos in the room – but I promise my motives were genuine!  When I was a librarian at the middle school level, for our open house, parents followed their children’s daily schedule for a few minutes per class.  I encouraged teachers to send families to me during students’ tutorial (study hall), and I was ready for them in the library with displays of new books and student work, how-to’s on using library databases, a looping slideshow of library services and resources with lots of photos of the students, and – this was my favorite part – sign-up forms for library cards, provided to us through a collaboration with the local county library association.

One year I had the student library helpers plaster the school with signs saying, “Come to the library for the smartest card!” (as part of Library Card Sign-Up Month)- and parents actually came in and used that phrase!  Having a library card number was required for students to access databases from home, and kids needed a parent signature to get a library card.  Through our agreement with the library association, I collected and sent in the registration forms, and students received their library cards at home in the mail, which I like to think was a treat for the kids.  We typically signed up 30-40 students during open house, and I was so pleased that I had the chance to explain to parents the benefits of the card and the connection between school projects and helpful, reliable – and free – kid-appropriate resources through the state library database collection.

Open house and related back to school meetings are often contractual obligations for teachers and librarians, so it makes good sense to seize the day – or the night.  Parent-teacher organization meetings, arts and science fairs – these are all possibilities to introduce families to the role of the library in their students’ education.

–Rebecca Morris

Works Cited:

Kaaland, Christie. “Developing a Culture of Advocacy.” In, Levitov, Deborah D. (Ed.) Activism and the School Librarian: Tools for Advocacy and Survival. Denver: Libraries Unlimited (2012): 39-56.

Image: Welcome by Claudio Matsuoka, on Flickr. Used with a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.