photo © 2008 Eric E Castro | more info (via: Wylio)

Welcome to Week 4 of proactive tips. I hope it’s helpful.

Today’s topic is short and sweet: don’t demonize your administrator.

If your job is up in the air, it can be really tempting to rail against your building principal or your superintendent. In private, go right ahead. But please don’t go public with your animosity. (I’ve seen people burn up listservs with their negativity, and I have to be honest: who wants to hire that person to come to their district?) Seriously consider whether your slight or mistreatment is worth grieving or otherwise siccing the union on your administration.

Here’s the truth of how budget cuts work in many districts. The Board goes to the Superintendent and says, “The State cut $400 per student, and we have 8000 students, so you need to find $320,000 in cuts.” Then the Superintendent calls together the principal and district leadership and says, “OK, everything is on the table. We’ve got to cut $320K. Tell me what you’d be willing to give up.”

And the principals start talking. “My art teacher is pretty mediocre. I could cut art.” And another will say, “I HAVE to have my art teacher, but you can take my whiny second secretary.” And the third says, “I want my secretaries, but I’m tired of setting up the A/V equipment at assemblies because the librarian says her union contract precludes coming in 10 minutes early to do it.” And if enough people chime in that the art teacher … or secretary … or librarian is the weak link in the building, guess who goes on the cut list?

By the time budget concerns reach the Board, it may be too late. (Not always – I know some districts that had the threat of librarian cuts 5 or 6 years in a row that didn’t come to pass – but they were extraordinary at negotiating themselves a second life.)

As the daughter of a school administrator, I’m gonna give you some tough love: some administrators think we’re whiny. We’re always talking about how we don’t have enough money, enough equipment, enough bandwidth, enough access, enough help, enough shelving volunteers, or enough collaboration. We do it to support our students, but we do look a little bit like Moaning Myrtle from time to time.

Advocacy for your school library program is what you do every day. If you are friendly, helpful, current in your knowledge of resources and technology, grounded in good instructional practices, and supportive of administration, you’re maximizing the possibility that you stay on. Nothing’s a sure thing, and this national recession and political climate make everything more unsure than ever, but why fuel the fire and give them a reason?

photo © 2006 Jimee, Jackie, Tom & Asha | more info (via: Wylio)

There is no doubt in my mind that this has been one of the most difficult weeks I’ve ever had in LibraryLand. Between the Wisconsin strikedown of collective bargaining rights, the looming budget cuts, the negative press about teachers, the concern about the fiscal health of libraries, some correspondence with librarians who are uncertain if their job is sustainable … it’s not been a good week.

So, Dear Readers, I think it’s time we have a conversation about the elephant in the room. Some of us are scared we’re going to lose our jobs. Some of us are scared we’re going to be sent back to the classroom. Some of us are scared that our support staff will be cut. Some of us are scared that school libraries are at a kind of tipping point. And when we’re not being scared, we’re angry. And frustrated.

Folks, I’ve been feeling this Molotov cocktail of feelings. And you know what? I’m tired of feeling angry and frustrated and scared every spring. (Michigan potholes in spring are bad enough.)

It’s time for us to face our fears.

During a keynote at the Michigan Association for Media in Education annual conference a few years ago, Chris Harris once said something like, “I hate change. But if I’m ahead of the change, I can control the change.”

Let me suggest that by facing our fears, and taking action, we can control how we respond to change. By taking back control, I think we can save ourselves from feeling so crazy and from giving decisionmakers power over our lives.

Let’s talk worst-case scenarios:

1. You fear you will lose your position but will be moved elsewhere in the district, most likely back in the classroom.

The good news is that you will still have a steady paycheck.

To get ready, you can really prioritize your instructional duties in the library, join the professional organization for your new subject area, and start reading up on the latest pedagogical practices.

Some librarians end up in positions that actually give them new opportunities to promote reading, research, and critical thinking because they have regular access to students. Some librarians have found unexpected joy as an English teacher promoting books and organizing research projects or multimedia/technology/video production teachers. You can use your leverage as a classroom teacher to gear your instruction around your “library values” of inquiry and access.

If the worst doesn’t happen, you’ve become a better teacher and more empathetic collaborator with that subject area.

2. You fear that you will lose your library position and there will be no job for you.

Let’s be honest: this is the worst of the worst. To get ready, get your resume out and update it with all the changes and innovations you’ve made. Contact your library school and ask for access to the Career Services database so you can keep an eye open for job openings. Make sure your professional association dues are paid so you have access to those job openings, too. Ask people if they’ll do a mock interview with you so you lead with your strengths. Talk to your references and make sure they’ll still speak for you. (You probably don’t need a letter, just their phone number and address.)

Maybe pull back on a few non-essentials in your library (updated bulletin boards?) and consider a volunteer gig/internship on weekends or in the evenings in another employment area you would consider if you didn’t work in education. Maybe now is the time to go back to school, so surf the Web and look into your options.

Cut back on non-essential spending and save up for your nest egg. Maybe ditch cable TV and indulge in a few months of just reading. Carpool. Cut out gourmet coffee or newspaper subscriptions. Skype, rather than call, your friends. Outfit your kids’ summer wardrobe with secondhand clothes (active kids wear out their summer clothes anyway — why pay more?). Consider trading in your car for a less expensive model. Put your home on the market now if you’re worried you’ll have to move this summer.

If the worst doesn’t happen, you’ve at least taken the time to reflect on your professional growth and accomplishments, which will feel good.

3. You fear that you will be asked to take on additional buildings, or your support staff is cut.

OK, I’ve been there, and this is definitely a challenge. So be thinking in advance about how you will identify, juggle, and prioritize tasks. Remember that administrators are as stressed out as you are about cuts (nobody goes to get a degree in Educational Leadership because they love cutting programs or jobs), so think NOW about how you can be ready to hit the ground running come August. One librarian I know decided, when assigned to multiple buildings, that it was no longer practical to consider that she could directly teach all of her students, but she could focus her energies of professional development so that information literacy/inquiry skills were shared with her classroom colleagues, who could then impart them to students. Smart thinking about how to reach students with diminished time.

Browse subscription services (Follett and Junior Library Guild are two options) that will auto-build your collection, if funding remains available. Consider networking with other district or area librarians. Could they bcc you when they send out a tech tip to their staff so you could then send it to yours, and vice versa? Also, if the idea of multiple buildings seems just too difficult, perhaps now is a good time to get in line for a classroom job or a retirement buy-out. Some people just don’t like being on the go, and that’s OK to say.

If the worst doesn’t happen, you’ll still have done some important thinking about where your priorities should lie. Maybe it’s time for someone else to take on lamination? (I don’t remember seeing laminating in the Common Core Standards.)

4. You fear that although staffing and funding will remain stable, but you’ll be asked to take a pay cut and/or pay more for your insurance.

Try living below your means now (see #2). Put those savings away for a rainy day, and you won’t be stunned when the pay cut takes effect. You’ll feel more upbeat and positive when the new year starts, because you’ll be past the economizing.

If the worst doesn’t happen, you’ve still got a bigger bank balance that you can save for a future rainy day.

5. Your fear that your acquisitions budget will be (or will remain) zeroed out.

The bad news is that you’ll have to hustle more to find money through book fairs, grants, and other fundraisers.

The “good” news is that you won’t be cataloguing, so that may free up time for these financial tasks. Consider spending some spring hours — hopefully pooling your talents and ideas with other librarians — taking a very hard look at the kinds of state databases and high-quality open Web content you can find, with an eye toward free resources to replace what you can’t buy. And hey – this means less shelving. (I know, I know — I’d rather have a budget than less shelving, too.)

If the worst doesn’t come to pass, you have still maximized your search skills and have some pathfinders ready to go.

Now I hope none of these scenarios will happen. But I’m absolutely certain that if you take the proverbial ball by the horns and tell yourself that you — not your district — are going to decide your fate, you’re going to feel less helpless and less victimized. And along the way, you’ll be modeling mature coping strategies for your students. Remember: you’re a LIBRARIAN! You’re resourceful!

photo © 2010 Kyle Van Horn | more info (via: Wylio)

I’ve been continuing to think about things librarians can do proactively to position themselves should bad times come. Last week, the topic was weeding.

Now I want you to think about how you can position yourself so that you are aligned with the priorities the Superintendent/Head of School and the Board of Trustees/Education have established.

You need to find the Strategic Plan.

Most educational organizations have one, and if you poke around on your district/school Web site, you’re bound to find it. (If not, call the superintendent’s secretary or personal assistant.) It’s going to have some statements about the overall mission and values of the district are, followed by a list of goals and, more specifically action steps. Read it over, and look for places where your library program might align.

Many strategic plans have similar themes. Here are some goals you’re likely to find:

- raise test scores (could you position yourself to do mini-lessons for students and/or teachers on non-fiction reading strategies?)
- promote collaborative learning (you got it! Fire up Skype to connect your library with that of a colleague you met at a conference; consider wikis to pool information)
- use technology (the sky’s the limit)
- increase college readiness (think about your role in essay-writing, critical thinking, problem-solving, research assignments)

Now, here’s the tough part. You need to use THEIR language to describe what YOU do. Which may mean that you hide what you really love (“I became a librarian to connect children with great reading material”) inside of their packaging (“90% of students will be proficient on the new Common Core ELA assessment”). In other words, Trojan Horse it if you have to.

I’m not asking you to lie. I’m just suggesting that you consider new vocabulary for what you already do.

Type it up. Don’t let it exceed a single page, and do your best to preserve aesthetic elements like white space, margins, and font size. Use a grown-up font (no Comic Sans, please) so that the document broadcasts that you are a professional.

Now … you know best what to do next. Here are some options:

- Slip it into your desk or server folder. You may not need it now, but when you’re ready, you’ve got it.

- Send it to your department chair and ask what the timeline is for curriculum redesign. Alternatively, ask if a meeting can be arranged with HR to discuss updating the job description.

- Pass it around to your departmental colleagues for feedback, edits, or refinements. Plus, anytime you can share what you’ve done, you take something off someone else’s plate. (By the way, when you email resources or announcements to your staff, do you share those emails with your department? Maybe they can use them, too — share the wealth!)

- Format it attractively and ask that it be included in the next school or PTA newsletter to parents.

- Upload it to your library web site.

- Send it to the superintendent’s secretary/assistant and ask that it be included in an upcoming Board packet. (Get your department behind you first!)

And if you can’t find a match between your goals and that of the district? That should give you pause, as districts often use their strategic plan to guide budgeting and staffing decisions. Ask yourself what you can do, along with your building and (if available) departmental colleagues, to better align yourself.