That's a SMART Car

The Murder of Knowledge (abridged)

Note: This is an abridged version of the article by Adam Lancaster on the  Reading Educator Blog. Read the whole article here.

Knowledge, over the years, seemed to have lost its original meaning or has at least been lost in translation, especially since the dawning of the internet and the world wide web. One cannot just be granted knowledge but that there must be a certain amount of work and graft in a formalized setting. It is this that seems to have be lost since the invention of the internet.

via: http://www.ywanvanloon.com/

Knowledge is now touted as the thing that is easily and readily accessible at the end of one’s fingertips and via a whole host of devices such as phones, tablets and computers. Knowledge is there for the taking. However we must not get confused with the differences between the idea of knowledge and with information.   Information comes at us from all sorts of places and the internet is just one of those. There are endless reams of information that enter our lives on daily, hourly basis but this does not result in knowledge.

The kinds of information that schools are looking for is specific. In the bigger picture of information what schools require is just a drop in the ocean and this is the problem. If there is so much information and a student just requires a minuscule amount of that information how are they able to reach it succinctly and successful? The answer is of course with the aid of a guide ... who is able to arm the student with the relevant skills to enable them but also someone to help filter out a lot of information that just isn't needed.

via: schoolmarmohio.com

Libraries and librarians. We need to trust the skills and knowledge of the librarians and we need to make sure these skills are utilized when analyzing curriculum needs and looking at resourcing subjects. They need to be part of design of schools and the fabric of learning just as the classroom teacher and senior leadership are.
The curriculum does not need the internet but with some taming and an understanding of where and how it can be used to enhance learning and improve processes, the internet can be a useful tool for all of us. So let’s use the people that can already do this in schools, the school librarian.

In Praise of Toronto Public Libraries

Another testimony as to the importance of Libraries, 

yes, even in today's digital age,

Why Librarians Remain Essential to Our Schools

Sense and Sensibility: Why Librarians Remain Essential to Our Schools

Note from Absent librarian:

While Williams is speaking specifically about Librarians, I would read this article as being about all trained school library staff.  Already many school boards have made modifications in staffing which have resulted in the historical Librarian position being tasked by Teachers with no library training, Library Technicians, Technology Teachers and combinations of the these. My school board has few full-time Teacher-Librarians and no longer requires specific training in Library Studies to obtain the position.  I personally work as part of a library team in 8 separate elementary schools. Removing or further limiting the roles of the Librarian, Library Technician or I.T. Teacher limits the availability of current and relevant resources and the ability to access, evaluate and use any resources. 

Re-Posted article by education activist, professor and author Yohuru Williams from his Huffington Post article of 01/02/2015

 

In the broad constellation of professionals who make up public schools, it is important to pause and acknowledge the forgotten education professionals who aide and support teachers. These include the librarians, nurses, social workers, learning specialists, and guidance counselors. [Absent Librarian edit: I would include technical support staff in this as well, including Library Technicians and I.T. personnel.]  They contribute to the growth and development of our young people but often find themselves left out of broader discussions about the preservation of public education. They provide a range of critical support and intervention frequently invisible to us. Most certainly, their value has escaped the notice of so-called education reformers and politicians. All too often, these champions of a "new order" have taken aim at the forgotten teachers in their ever-expanding quest to cut public school funding.

To be clear, budget and personnel cuts have hurt the profession across the board. However, professionals in these areas bear greater risk, given widespread misperceptions about the essential services they provide that remain vital to public schools. As a youngster, for instance, I benefitted from the expertise of a speech pathologist in helping me overcome a minor speech impediment. Having the problem addressed early in my education boosted my self-esteem and ended years of torment at the hands of insensitive friends and classmates. I would not have understood this as a significant moment of formation in my academic and personal growth if not for countless recent news stories about proposed cuts to these position in school districts across the country.

Another equally hard hit position is that of the school librarian. Fifty years ago, it was inconceivable to imagine schools without appropriate library resources and the personnel to staff them. The disparity in library facilities, for instance, helped civil rights attorneys demonstrate the inherent inequality in segregated schools. With the advent of the internet and digital resources in particular, the flawed assumption surfaced that these positions are no longer necessary. Librarians remain important conduits for student support in ways that many might be surprised to learn. Contrary to popular perception, librarians do more than curate collections of dusty books; they teach critical research skills and often serve as the first destination for young people on the road to quality research.

Librarians know best that research in the digital landscape is often more difficult to manage and navigate unless students receive the proper guidance and training. As a former high school history teacher, I was keenly aware of our library staff as a critical part of the instructional team. This remains equally true as a college professor. Although not always regarded as "teaching" in the conventional sense, the ways in which librarians assist students may in fact be one of the most authentic forms of instruction. Working with students on projects generated by their unique interests, librarians help students to unlock and decode the vast amount of information now at their fingertips.

A well-documented pool of research indicating the impact of librarians on student achievement exists. A 2011 Pennsylvania School Library Study, for example, found that school library programs most meaningfully affected students at risk. The same study determined that poor, minority students with learning challenges were at least twice as likely to earn "Advanced" writing scores when they had access to full-time librarians as those without access to full-time librarians.

In spite of this research, school libraries and librarians remain at risk. Last February, the Los Angeles Times determined that "About half of the 600 elementary and middle school libraries" in the city were "without librarians or aides denying tens of thousands of students regular access to nearly $100 million worth of books, according to district data." Unfortunately, we can only expect those numbers to grow in 2015 without a concerted effort to restore library budgets and correct misconceptions about the important role played by library professionals.

In the final analysis as the work done by speech pathologists and librarians illustrate, public school instruction extends beyond what happens in the classroom to other areas where highly specialized and dedicated professionals assist student achievement on a variety of levels. They also reinforce the notion of education as a humanistic rather than a commercial enterprise that requires a respect for the individuals who serve. As the late Jesuit educator Timothy Healy, former President of Georgetown University and the New York Public Library once observed, "The most important asset of any library goes home at night -- the library staff."

Unless lawmakers can be made to understand the critical role these and other educational professionals play in contributing to schools in which we can all be confident and proud, then many of these positions will remain in jeopardy to the detriment of the students and communities they serve.

Homeless find Hope, Refuge and Community at Public Libraries

Social workers are joining librarians to provide help where it's needed

(excerpts from the Nov 20, 2014 article By Terry Reith, Andrea Huncar, on cbc.ca/news.ca)

“A lot of homeless people actually have jobs and have families and need resources, so they use libraries.” says Eric Weissman, a sociology professor at College of New Caledonia in Prince George, B.C.  

“Libraries have always been that central place, that community centre. It’s one of the mandated qualities of libraries...It’s a last stand...the Alamo of urban space for the homeless.”

At least five libraries in Canada employ social workers to work with the homeless. (CBC News)

​Homeless people were using the library, but staff were having difficulty coping with the complexity of their needs. “They have issues bigger than the librarian can answer for them.”

Having the social worker on site has made a difference, says library spokeswoman Michelle Jeffers (San Francisco)

Libraries provide more than shelter from the elements.  They offer access to information, entertainment, services and a sense of community.  Libraries often have a line in their policy to assist anyone and do so in a way that demonstrates respect and offers dignity to patrons.  Whatever attitudes people may face elsewhere, libraries can, and should, welcome, inform and inspire all those who walk through its doors.

Ode to Librarians

From SHH! to Whooping-it-up in the Library

Imagine: A LIBRARY where books are read, patrons laugh, crafts are created and games are played. A place where people not only dive into beloved books but one that also comes alive because of those people.

I would love to have a space and time in my libraries for this. I catch myself policing the library when I could be helping to create a fun atmosphere. I am frequently caught between what the library could be and my own memories of what a library used to be. Growing up, I loved going to the library, finding a quiet space and disappearing into the world of words. I didn't want to talk to others, didn't want to be bothered, just wanted a place to travel in my imagination. The only things I longed for was permission to have a drink and use of a comfy couch or mat to move about on as I read and switched positions. But that is what libraries were back then, houses for books where the only sounds were the comforting wisps of pages turning and the occasional squeak of the book trolley. And yet, I get excited about the promise a library holds today: activities, innovations, live explorations, and...people! 

 
But how can I make that work in my eight k-6 schools where my rotation schedule has me there once every 2 weeks? The Teacher Librarian is only there for the equivalent of 2.5 days- sometimes less if they are pulled to cover other classes. Supervision is a daily issue when no staff is available to cover every period. Convincing staff to bring the classes to the library for more than a 15 minute book-exchange can also be a hurdle. It all comes back to the dream that someday we will have a trained and dedicated library staff member in the library almost all the time. Is that asking too much? I said almost all the time. That's reasonable, right? 

 
The following post from Jenni Frencham is an example of the atmosphere I would like to have in my schools. Incorporating a time for play, socialization and exploration as well as dedicated study and lesson time is a balance I would like to achieve. The hurdles to this goal are many: the aforementioned scheduling challenges, lack of physical library space, gaining support from admin and staff, challenging the traditional view of what a library's purpose is and, overcoming my own knee-jerk impulse to keep the library settled.

28 March 2014

Shh! Or how I stopped enforcing quiet in my library

Before I started library school, I spent six years teaching English at a small private academy on the island of Guam. Because of the small student body, my teaching schedule changed every year, but for the most part I taught 7th grade English, usually three sections of 7th grade English every day.  After six years and well over one thousand students passing through my classroom doors, I learned a few things about middle school students:

• They are very creative.  My students were old enough to have a wide variety of interests, and they loved to incorporate those interests into the assignments I gave them. For example, I had one seventh grade student complete his poetry notebook exclusively with poems about surfing. 
• They have a lot of energy.  My students had just transitioned from elementary school, where they had regular recess and bathroom breaks, to junior high, where they were shuttled from one class to another and required to sit still for forty-five minutes at a time.  Many of my students suffered from Recess Deficit Disorder.  They were perfectly capable of focusing in class and working, but they had too much energy trapped inside to do that unless they had some time to run and play.
• They aren't sure who they are.  I had students come in one day acting very mature, only to come in the next day whining like a toddler. Some students went through phases where they asked to be called by a particular nickname, only to drop it the next week when it was no longer wanted.  These kids are trapped between being children and being teenagers, and oftentimes they will act like both in the span of fifteen minutes.  I taught one class where one student lost a tooth and another student started her first period in the same hour. 
• They love their electronic devices, but they love them for the connection they provide.  My students relished the days I let them play board games in class, not just because it was a break from grammar and literature, but because they got to spend time with their friends. Many of my students didn't have the opportunity to interact with each other outside of school, so they were glad for any time they had during the school day to chat with their friends. Even now, I more often see students gathered around a single screen rather than sitting next to each other texting back and forth. 

As a teacher, I decided early on that it was more important for my students to leave my class knowing that English is interesting and doable than being able to recited the fourteen uses of the comma or being able to differentiate between transitive and intransitive verbs.  I wanted them to be able to enter another English classroom the next year with confidence, a positive attitude, and a willingness to do their best on any assignment, no matter how difficult it may seem.  I wanted English accessible to all of my students. 

Now that I am a librarian, I have taken a similar approach to my library. If my students leave this school after 8th grade knowing that the library is a place they can go to find information, and if they have begun to develop a love of reading, whether it be sports biographies, manga, or 500+ page fantasy novels, then I have done my job.  I want my students to know that librarians are there to help them and that they are not scary cardigan-wearing shushers of humanity.

That means I spend a lot of time around what I call "loosely controlled chaos."  I do not insist that students be silent in the library, because that would turn me into a silence enforcer instead of a purveyor of information and provider of great books. I do encourage students to come to the library often to play board games, to research on the computer, to work together on Minecraft projects, to gawk at the displays I put up, to learn how to fly paper airplanes, to build with LEGOs, and, yes, to check out books. 

Students attempting to lodge a paper airplane in the ceiling tiles.

For example, last week there were some students flying paper airplanes in the library. Rather than tell them to stop or sending them out, I pulled out our paper airplanes books and set them a challenge: build a plane that will get stuck in the ceiling tiles.  Anyone who can throw a plane up to the ceiling and get it lodged there will earn a free book at the book fair.  The students had a designated area for throwing, and although they were not (yet) successful, they left the library talking about trying new designs over the weekend.  What started out as a mostly harmless pursuit turned into a research project. 

The week before I had a student walking around the library holding a water bottle and the largest atlas in our collection.  He used his "holy book" and "holy water" to cast the demons out of the library.  Was it weird? Yes. Was it bothering anyone else? No. Instead of telling him to sit down and be quiet, I thanked him for exorcising the library demons.  Now that student (and anyone who witnessed him) knows that it's okay to be a little bit weird in the library.  Next week he'll probably be done with his exorcisms, but he won't be done using the library. 

Come to my library during a typical lunch hour and you will see a room that barely resembles a library. I have had students create elaborate LEGO structures and use LEGO catapults to bombard them. I have had students spend their entire lunch break looking at books about One Direction and singing their songs together.  I have a group of students who regularly come to the library and play Sorry! or Connect Four.  It's not obscenely loud, but neither is it completely silent.  The library has become a place where students can learn, can try new things, and can connect with each other.   For an hour before school and two thirty-minute lunch periods during the day, I quiet my inner shusher and let the students explore.  Instead of being a bastion of silence, the library is a bastion of exploration, connection, research, discussion, and relaxation. 

The Power of One: Teen Starts 'Giving Library' for Homless

This story is a few years old, but may inspire someone to do likewise.  You don't have to be rich or have an organization behind you to do wonderful things.  Check out what one teen was able to accomplish:

reposted from GOOD's May 2012 article by Liz Dwyer.

Florida Teen Starts 'Giving Library' for Homeless Kids

There’s nothing like curling up in bed with a good book before you go to sleep, but far too many low-income kids don’t know what that’s like. Two-thirds of poor children have no age-appropriate books at home, and the nation's 1.6 million homeless children have even fewer options.

Fifteen-year-old Florida resident Lilli Leight wanted to help provide homeless kids in her community with access to books, so she created a "giving library" at a Miami homeless shelter. To staff the library, she formed a teen book club to encourage her classmates to volunteer. Her effort won her the National Book Foundation's Innovations in Reading prize, which recognizes individuals and institutions for developing ways of instilling a lifelong love of reading.

Leight began volunteering three years ago at the nonprofit Chapman Partnership shelter, and she quickly noticed that after students there finished their homework, they'd turn on the shelter's television instead of cracking a book like she did at home. The kids didn’t even think to ask for a book, she found, because they were so used to not having any around.

A lack of access to books has long-term effects on kids, research shows—several studies indicate that availability of reading materials is a stronger predictor of future academic achievement than socioeconomic status. In Leight's home state, less than 25 percent of homeless children graduate from high school.

To build the library, Leight began collecting donated new and used books from friends, schools, community organizations, and local bookstores. The effort was so successful that the shelter’s library now has multiple books for every child. And when families are back on their feet and able to leave the shelter, they're invited take as many books with them as they want. Leight's book club, called iRead, provides a place for teens from area high schools to get together to discuss books, meet authors, and volunteer at Chapman as homework helpers.

Leight told the National Book Foundation that her project has made her "feel empowered to help change the world―even if it is just one child at a time." Thanks to her, more kids in tough economic situations have the opportunity to fall in love with a book.

Photo via (cc) Flickr user Hermionish

Rick Mercer Report: Research Library Closures

Anything is Possible when You Use the Library

Teens love reading and traditional library services!

Some interesting facts about teenagers use of libraries:  

• 85 percent of 16–17 year-olds read at least one print book in the past year, making them significantly more likely to have read a book in this format than any other age group.

• 60 percent of younger patrons say they go to the library to sit and read, study, or watch or listen to media, while only 45 percent of library visitors age 30 and older do this.

• 67 percent of younger Americans say they would be interested in a digital media lab for creating and uploading digital content; 27 percent say they would be “very likely” to use such a resource.

• 44 percent of library visitors under age 30 have used a library’s computers, internet, or a public WI-FI network, compared with just 27 percent of those age 30 and older.

When queried about what library services and resources are “very important” to offer:
• 80 percent of young Americans name librarians to help people find information they need
• 76 percent name research resources such as free databases
• 75 percent name free access to computers and the Internet
• 75 percent name books for people to borrow
• 72 percent name quiet study spaces
• 72 percent name programs and classes for children and teens
• 71 percent name job or career resources

Read more on this study at School Library Journal online.

The Lord of the Libraries

A fun short film.  Timely for the beginning of book return season at elementary schools and for library advocacy.

When Librarians Take to the Roof!

This may be a new present for my school principals!  Attached will be a note:  Prep the ladder!  and send pizza!

M.G. King writes the true tale of Librarian RoseAleta Laurell who sought to bring in the library's reason for being - the children.

From the book: When RoseAleta Laurell begins her new job at the Dr. Eugene Clark Library in Lockhart, Texas, she is surprised that the children of the town think the library is for adults.

She vows to raise the money for a children's section and spends a week living and working on the library roof, even surviving a dangerous storm.

With the help of the entire town, RoseAleta raises over $39,000 from within the community and across the country.

Today if you look through the front window of the Dr. Eugene Clark Library, you will see shelves stacked full with children's books and tables and chairs just the right size. You will see artwork on the walls, and a row of busy computers.

Best of all, you will always find crowds of children who love to read and learn inside the walls of the oldest library in Texas. 

It seems unfathomable to me that a library would not be about the children.  For adults only?  I have always seen public, and even school libraries, as serving the community.  All people, all ages.  Even within my k-6 elementary schools we have books that are meant to be read-alouds for parents and students.  We have dual language books to promote reading between new arrivals and older generations who may not speak English.  Books are for imparting information, stimulating creativity, teaching literacy and critical thinking.  Books are for bonding, forming relationships with characters and those we read with.  Books help us make memories. Books help us escape a bad day and imagine what wonders tomorrow could bring.  There are no age limits on these things - they apply to the very youngest and very oldest of us all.  For a library to ignore part of the population seems so against the very nature of what a library is.   Librarian on the Roof!  is a great story showing that libraries are  meant to be used and be allowed to bring so much value to it's patrons.

More than a "library" story, this book can be used to inspire our students to create change in their own schools, communities, and world.  It shows what the dedication and determination of an individual can achieve.  It also shows that recognizing a problem exists is not enough...that there are ways to make changes.  

Ms. Laurell on the roof of the Dr. Eugene Clark Library in  Lockhart, Texas.

face BOOK: How do you use your library?

From the Blurberati Blog:
How do you use your library? That’s the question that Ann Schofield put to the patrons of a branch library in Cruddas Park in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the UK. And the way she had people answer is one we quite approve of: having them hold their reasons up to the camera. Knowing that many people use the library for more than just books, she let those patrons hold up signs saying why they came (to use the Internet, read newspapers, attend jobs groups…). And we love the way photographer Keith Pattison captured each shot with tremendous warmth and humanity.

The book that came out of it is a wonderful reminder of what libraries still mean to people in the digital age: a place of community and sharing. In fact, feel free to tell us what your library means to you, in the comments section below.

View the whole book here: faceBOOK

Why do we need library technicians in our school libraries?

As a companion to my last post about what I do as a Library Technician, blogger Kerri Cicolan's post from 2010 brings it home. While I do have a 0.3 Teacher Librarian in each of my eight elementary [k-6] schools and this is from Australia while my schools are in Canada, this could have been a conversation heard at any one of my schools.

 [as posted on THE HUB under the title Why do we need library technicians in our school libraries]

 I’m often asked what I do for a living and see the puzzled look on people’s faces when I say I’m a library technician and I work for the Department of Education in Victoria, where I run 3 primary school libraries. The majority of people assume that I’m a “Librarian” or a “Teacher”, very few admit to not knowing what a library technician is and I often find myself explaining the differences.

I’m not a teacher (they assume this because I work in a primary school). I’m not a librarian as that involves the “Librarianship” qualifications. I’m a “technician,” I run the “technical” side of the library. Most still remain perplexed about the difference and that always entails more of an explanation!

 I started in the school library many years ago without “qualifications” with a teacher who did have library qualifications, but not the current “teacher-librarian” qualifications of today. When she went on to greener pastures l worked alongside another teacher who didn’t have any formal qualifications either, but we were both very passionate about the role of the library within the school and the services that we offered and the importance of the school library and its role in the curriculum.

Both my teacher librarian and I went on to gain more formal qualifications, and with learning became a different understanding about the differences in our roles and more importantly the services we could now offer our patrons. We can both undertake the administrative, clerical and budgetary running of the library; we are both able to assist our patrons with locating and retrieving information. We can create online web-based resources for classroom use, assist them in locating a book whether for project work or personal pleasure, produce displays; provide input into planning sessions and the hundreds of other day-to-day tasks that are involved in providing a viable library service.

 Whilst undertaking my study l focused most of my readings on the primary school library setting and was amazed at the research into the impact of school libraries and what suitably trained library staff could offer the school community. l begun to understand the differences in having some basic idea of my role to learning how l could enhance our library services with my new found training and with all that l was learning. At the same time my teacher-librarian was undertaking her library qualifications and our understanding about our differences were becoming vastly evident. She no longer saw herself as a “keeper” of the books as it were, but someone who is fundamental in the learning outcomes of our students whilst providing peer support to her teaching colleagues at the same time.

Our natural progression saw our roles change and evolve over time to where l undertook all the technical aspects of running the library, cataloguing, maintaining the automated systems in all areas etc. thus allowing the teacher librarian to concentrate on her dual roles, that of the teacher and the librarian. Her expertise as a teacher and a librarian provided us with the opportunity to offer information to our patrons with a school library webpage that expanded our library beyond its walls in that l had the expertise in web design, she had the curriculum knowledge and we both had the ability to select suitable web content for our patrons.

 I do not have a teaching qualification, nor do I have the desire to attain it. I love the technical aspects of my job. I love the cataloguing and revel in learning and teaching everything Web 2.0. l have a strong understanding of the Victorian Essential Learning Standards, but l lack the vital expertise of the teacher in a school library setting. I cannot offer my colleagues the specialised knowledge that comes from having that teaching training.

 Library staff work in isolation in a school setting, whether we are teacher librarians or library technicians. We all envisage a library service that includes digital content, a library programme rich in ICTs, web 2.0 capabilities, a library that allows our users to seek information from a wide variety of media sources, flexible timetabling, co-operative planning and most of all to not be seen as “time release” or “babysitting” for classroom teachers.

 Many library technicians are employed in primary school libraries due to budgetary decision-making in schools as I am and I’m certainly very thankful for that! l successfully run 3 school libraries single-handedly and do an excellent job in all 3 libraries. Why? Because I have trained alongside a teacher-librarian and have been given the opportunity to learn all the aspects required to confidently run them. But I reiterate I cannot fully offer my patrons that expert knowledge that a teacher librarian can.

Recently, I lost my last teacher librarian due to retirement and I am now responsible for that third library. If both teacher-librarians and technicians were allowed to work as they should, staff, students and the wider community would enjoy the benefits of boosted literacy achievement, students who have a love of literature and who are confident in seeking information in an abundant and media rich environment, where the library equips its users with skills in their quest for life-long learning.

 A school library that is staffed by qualified teacher librarians and trained support staff is often the first step in helping students learn how to become ‘information literate’. A library program that is run in conjunction with an information literacy curriculum teaches students how to access and utilise relevant information, where and how to locate it and to be able to adapt it to suit their needs.

 How will we ever be able to provide a viable library service if the fundamental differences between teacher librarians and library technicians are not seen? It should not be an either or situation, adequately staffed school libraries MUST consist of qualified teacher librarians, library technicians and library support staff who all by their very nature undertake different roles to provide a library service that is central to the user’s education. School leadership must take the time to understand these fundamental differences and ensure adequate funding to service library programmes within schools in the same way that they fund the curriculum programmes elsewhere. This begins with qualified library staff, and the rest is just a natural progression.

28. This book is Overdue by Marilyn Johnson

What is it like to be a librarian in a world of too much information? Constant change, exploding technology, shrinking budgets, growing numbers of the baffled...could there be a better spot than behind the librarians' desk to watch the digital age unfold?

Marilyn Johnson dared to write  book about the library and the keepers of knowledge.  I say dared because I bet that if you asked the average person where librarian work rated in the importance of the world, most would respond with "huh?" Within the chapters, Johnson brings life to the 'unusual' librarian and lets readers know that if they paid a bit of attention, they could see how normal and commonplace these 'unusual' librarians are. The librarian stereotype is one who wears a long skirt and a blouse with black rimmed glasses and values quiet above all. Like a microcosm of the patrons they serve, they have tattoos, died hair, are expert gamers, history buffs, have avatars, are renegades and rebels, have families, wear stilettos to work, write blogs on virtually every topic, are funny and irreverent..and yes, sometimes they even swear.

The first half of the book gives a rich identity to those seemingly quiet library workers and reveals the passions, creativity and politics within.

Unfortunately, the second half of the book slows down and, unless you are a great fan of the New York Public library, becomes congested with all the research that happens there. I enjoyed the stories of various writers who conducted research there and the help they received from the staff, but it was bogged down by the salute (even if deserving) to the NY Public Library.

As a library worker, I found the anecdotes and humour refreshing and those parts were a joy to read.

Quotes from the book:

“In tight economic times, with libraries sliding farther and farther down the list of priorities, we risk the loss of their ideals, intelligence, and knowledge, not to mention their commitment to access for all—librarians consider free access to information the foundation of democracy, and they’re right. Librarians are essential players in the information revolution because they level that field. They enable those without money or education to read and learn the same things as the billionaire and the Ph.D…In tough times, a librarian is a terrible thing to waste.” 

“Yes, librarians use punctuation marks to make little emoticons, smiley and frowny faces in their correspondence, but if there were one for an ironic wink, or a sarcastic lip curl, they'd wear it out.” 


“Bibliomancy: "Divination by jolly well Looking It Up.”


“Good librarians are natural intelligence operatives. They possess all of the skills and characteristics required for that work: curiosity, wide-ranging knowledge, good memories, organization and analytical aptitude, and discretion.” 




“We'll always need printed books that don't mutate the way digital books do; we'll always need places to display books, auditoriums for book talks, circles for story time; we'll always need brick-and-mortar libraries.” 

So, you can fix the printer, right?

I often receive looks of confusion when I answer the "what do you do?" question. I am a Library Technician. Once I convince then that I am not a volunteer who visits eight schools several times a month, and that not only is it 'cool' that I bring a laptop to 'entertain' myself during these visits, that I actually WORK in the library, the question inevitably comes up: "so, you fix the library computer each time you are here?".

Well, yes and no. I 'fix the library computer' each visit in that I update the collection and patron databases and in that I provide the unofficial tech expertise of making sure the connections on the circulation computer are secure or that the monitor is actually turned on, making it 'work'. Perhaps it is the word 'tech' that makes them think I fix the computer, or that, at times, I seem to be the only one who can locate the paper jam in the printer, or shake the toner cartridge to squeeze out those last few prints.

I can understand the confusion, after all, I am only at each school every eight school days. I sit at a desk in the corner and type away furiously on a laptop I carry around with me. I am often surrounded by processing supplies, piles of books and frequently quote Dewey numbers at them when there is a long line at the library catalogue computer. I must seem a strange creature.

To many I am the 'girl' who knows where the books are and can suggest a title for that book with the blue cover they used last year. To most, I am the one who can make the check-in screen appear, make the printer work (have I mentioned that yet?), and who knows why The Diary of Anne Frank is not in the fiction section even though it is the same size as those books.

 I have been at my current complement of eight elementary schools for 4 years now. That is about 26 visits each year. I sign in when I arrive, greet the office and custodial staff(who are usually the only people in as early as I am), I reclaim my desk from the piles of stuff that migrates there during my absence. I eat lunch in the staff room, I greet classes as they come in,I post frequently to the staff and school on-line conference and I answers student and staff questions all day. So how is it that no one really knows what I do?

This school year my Library Technician colleagues and I are attempting an formal awareness and self-promotion campaign to remedy this. The timing works out well for me as I will have new principals at five of my eight schools and three new Teacher Librarians. We will be focusing on the services we can provide to all staff, not just those teachers that regularly bring their classes to the library. The hope is to make sure everyone knows we exist and that we can help. We are a resource - use us! I also hope to put to rest and traditional feelings of competition teaching staff may have with my role. I am not trying to 'out' the Teacher Librarian from the library. I am not trying to take her job. I have my own work, thank-you very much, that keeps me ridiculously busy.

 I love my job. I am surrounded by books, people, information and learning. I frequently have multiple labels and bits of booktape on my fingers. I know just how to wiggle the wires to make the internet work. I can tell you that we have a book of lions and tigers in 599.75 and that yes, it is at the perfect reading level for your grade 2 class. I can put the new 39 clues book to the front of the cataloguing pile so that Johnny, who refused to read anything else, will have a book for this weekend. I can locate that title you need tomorrow at 3 other schools and arrange to have one sent to you. I can connect the data projector, locate that streaming video you saw last month and I can work with the lights out while you show it to your class. I select and order books, sometimes with the Teacher Librarian and sometimes at her request because she has no time. I can incorporate programming and marketing ideas that have worked well at my other locations and give a heads up to problems that others have already encountered and solved. Yes, I can help you find your login, your password and I can direct you to the I.T. Department for computer fixes. I know a guy. Ask me a question. Finding the answer or showing you how to find it makes me happy. It's what I do. I am a Library Technician. I don't bite. And yes, I can usually make that printer work.

How to Save a Library

The city of Troy, Michigan was facing a budget shortfall, and was considering closing the Troy Public Library for lack of funds. Even though the necessary revenues could be raised through a miniscule tax increase, powerful anti-tax groups in the area were organized against it. A vote was scheduled amongst the city's residents, to shut the library or accept the tax increase, and Leo Burnett Detroit decided to support the library by creating a reverse psychology campaign.

The Library as a Digital Learning Space

Highlights from Bridget McCrea's Jan 11, 2012 article: The Library as a Digital Learning Space

A high school in Connecticut is developing and honing a hybrid library that incorporates both traditional books and new digital technologies.

Wanting to develop a media center/library that would go beyond stacks of unused books, dark study corners, and low lighting...Some of the key questions discussed concerned the need for a physical library in the information age, the role that books wouldplay in the new facility, and how media literacy would be taught to students.

A Hybrid Approach

After looking at several options--including one that would eliminate the library's physical space completely--the team decided to use a hybrid concept for the new Simsbury High School library/media center. The 1,500-square-foot facility incorporates both traditional and modern elements. Key features include a spacious entry way, two lounge seating areas, mission-style furnishings, a librarian reference desk that's positioned in a central location on the library floor, twolibrary classroom/computer labs, 30 PCs, and 17,000 physical books.

Maureen Snyder, library media specialist, said books and a physical space almost didn't make it onto the agenda for the new facility. "We toyed with the idea of not having books and developing a more digitized environment," Snyder said. "At one point we even wondered if we needed a physical environment at all for the new library."

The more traditional route won out when the superintendent and staff decided that Simsbury High School's 1,630 students needed somewhere to go to borrow books, load up their e-readers, collaborate on homework assignments, and learn the intricacies of media literacy in today's information-rich world.

Snyder estimated her budget to be $20,000 annually for digital media and $4,000 for print. "I don't allocate a lot towards print because we can get so many books electronically," said Snyder. "Plus, it just doesn't make sense to purchase a lot of high-end reference books when I can access a database that includes those resources." Students retrieve those digital databases on a 24/7 basis at school or at home, according to Snyder, who said most of the library's print content comprises recreational reads, including biographies, fiction, and non-fiction titles.

.......
Snyder said her staff works together with the school's teachers to develop classes that combine educational content with the information literacy component.

"There is so much information out there, but that doesn't mean students know how to use it and evaluate it," said Snyder, who said she sees the marriage of classroom lessons and information literacy as an important asset for today's young learners. "In the past a class would come into the library to learn how to use the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature in isolation," said Snyder. "That's changed. Now we're collaborating with teachers across all subjects on their lesson plans, and we're conducting instruction on research, information, and technology."

.....
Other challenges haven't been so easy to tackle.

With 33 years of experience as a school librarian under her belt, Snyder said getting adults to understand the changing role and "look" of the library is an ongoing battle.
"A lot of people still think of the library as a warehouse where you go to get a book or a magazine," she said. "To deal with it we just strive to be a model for helping people understand that a media center is a lot more than just a place for physical books."


Library Redesign: Lessons Learned

Maureen Snyder offered these five tips to schools looking to overhaul their traditional libraries.

1. Think of the space as a media and learning center as opposed to just a place to house books.
2. Be ready to tweak floor plans, move furniture, and take other steps once the facility is open and in use.
3. Accept the fact that adults will expect the library to look and feel like the one they used in high school and college.
4. Create a space that integrates media and information literacy with classroom lesson plans.
5. Serve as a model for those who may need a little extra "push" when it comes to accepting the new digital role that school
libraries play.




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