Things that keep us up at night.

Valenza, J. K., & Johnson, D. (2009, October). Things that keep us up at night. School Library Journal, pp. 28–32.         Retrieved from http://www.slj.com/2009/10/future-of-libraries/things-that-keep-us-up-at-night-the-future-of-the-school-library/

Summary: Although written almost five years ago, this article is a still timely discussion of the changing role of the school library and school librarian. Framing their argument in terms of economic changes, intellectual property shifts, the challenges of embracing the role of technology expert, and the need for advocacy from stakeholders, Valenza & Johnson describe straightforward ways to assess and improve your position as a 21st century librarian.

Evaluation:
The call to "evolve, adapt, and thrive" is inspiring and overwhelming. The authors' assertion that this is a critical time in the history of libraries resonates with me as I envision transtioning our school library to a learning commons. I appreciated their succinct discussion of the important trends and concrete ideas on how to adapt to a new role. Many of the ideas echoed strategies discussed in 233.

Visibility, core standards, and the power of the story: Creating a visible future for school libraries

Todd, R. J. (2012). Visibility, core standards, and the power of the story: Creating a visible future for school libraries. Teacher Librarian, 40 (1), 8-14, 4. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1115270137?accountid=10043

Summary:

Using stories as a data collection tool, this article examines narratives from effective school library programs to explore how teacher librarians can overcome “occupational invisibility”. Dr. Todd sees Common Core implementation as a vehicle for increasing the visibility of the school librarian with its focus on developing deep knowledge and inquiry-based learning. Examples of effective school libraries are given demonstrating how they support and contribute to student learning through integrated instruction that provides information literacy skills as well as curriculum content through engagement with appropriate resources.

Dr. Todd’s vision includes the  “...the school library as a pedagogical center; the school librarian primarily working as a coteacher; the focus on curriculum knowledge and meeting syllabus standards; and the implementation of an inquiry-based pedagogy.” He suggests this will improve the visibility of the importance of teacher librarians to student achievement and describes the library as the center of a school; integral to the implementation of all curriculum.

Evaluation:

I appreciate this article’s focus on the school librarian as having teaching as the core of their responsibilities. I also thought the idea that 21st century skills are not just about navigating and using information but actually using those skills to build knowledge was well stated. Some administrators and other teachers tend to focus on the information part of the technology without following through to explore how students will use the technology and information to increase their content knowledge.

Straight from the DOE: Dispelling Myths About Blocked Sites.

Pam Scholz

ET

Barseghian, T.  (2011).  Straight from the DOE:  Dispelling myths about blocked sites.  Retrieved from:  
http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2011/04/straight-from-the-doe-facts-about-blocking-sites-in-schools/

Includes discussion with Department of Education’s Director of Education Technology, Karen Cator dispelling myths about blocked sites and the repercussions.

Moving to a digital-only school library collection

Sinclair, Kimberly

Corbett, T.  (2011).  The changing role of the school librarian’s physical space.  School Library Monthly, 27, 5.  Retrieved from http://www.schoollibrarymonthly.com

         In this article, Corbett discusses the transformation of the physical library space at Cushing Academy, a private high school in Massachusetts, whose staff unanimously voted to focus on building a 21^st Century Leadership curriculum—a decision equated with moving towards becoming “bookless,” as accomplished through three major phases:

o   Moving away from the traditional Integrated Library System toward a newer, better integrated software platform

o   Developing an improved acquisitions policy that capitalizes on the best aspects of digital content

o   Transforming the library's physical space into a collaborative work area for students and staff

            This radical decision was made after staff documented that, although the Cushing library previously maintained a collection very balanced between digital and physical resources, students significantly and consistently bypassed the print materials in favor of accessing the library’s computers and digital materials. While such a drastic shift initially strikes as sacrilegious to most librarians, Corbett reports that, to date, the Cushing library is experiencing a large degree of success since the transformation of its physical library space: database usage by students has increased exponentially, participation and circulation is thriving, and the library has developed an interactive website for the learning commons that appears to be effective and popular amongst users. He also adds that, with more than 175,000 copyrighted academic e-books and 1,000 popular reading titles recently added to the collection, the school’s circulation statistics prove that reading “long-form reading and digital resources are not mutually exclusive” of one another (Corbett, 2011). While the successes listed by Corbett are impressive, he does acknowledge that the school’s library continues to have room for improvement. Specific issues requiring further attention include: overcoming barriers to using copyrighted, subscription-based resources rather than the (simpler) default of free resources on the Internet; increasing student instruction regarding more vigorous selection/evaluation of digital information sources; and managing finances to guarantee there are a sufficient number of e-readers for all students available.

            Although I can readily acknowledge the benefits of e-readers and other digital resources in terms of space and 24/7 accessibility, I cannot help but think that a complete switch to these formats in place of physical materials, is rash, considering sufficient time has not elapsed since the widespread emergence of e-readers for researchers to gauge the long-term effects of primarily reading books on e-readers as opposed to print. I feel extremely old-fashioned even stating this doubt, but am simply being the devil’s advocate by pointing out the lack of evidence supporting such a drastic switch. While I have not come yet come across any hard evidence indicating that reading books primarily on e-readers has a detrimental effect, I have heard a little about some early studies that suggest e-readers may be a distraction, at least among younger students still acquiring reading fluency. In these instances, children tended to focus on the capabilities of the e-reader device itself, rather than on the content of the text, resulting in less information recall afterwards. However, the study (which, unfortunately, I have as yet been able to locate again!) admittedly only identified a correlation—rather than a causal relationship—between the presence of the e-readers and a decline in reading attention/factual recall; the negative correlation could be the result of various other causes. For example, the decline in attention could stem from the fact that the students with lower recall were already struggling readers who may have used the device as a distraction, resulting from an already-existing lack of engagement. Alternately, those students who focused more on the e-reader device than the text may have come from homes less technology-rich than the children who remained focused, such that their distraction resulted out of the e-reader being a much more novel and attractive device.

            In spite of any personal apprehension about chucking out a library’s entire print collection (although, to be fair: the Cushing Academy donated these materials to local schools and libraries, happily), I readily admit that this scenario represents a very intriguing experiment. And, as much as I mention there not being sufficient data to warrant a “e-reader only” approach to academic materials, I also understand that experiments such as this have to be taken in order for researchers to have data to analyze, so I am far from considering it a wholly negative model. However, I cannot help but think that, while relying wholly on digital materials may be economically feasible for a small, private high school setting such as Cushing Academy, this set-up still smacks as unrealistic for the average elementary school (where young readers are still learning how to wash their hands without prodding and how to handle materials responsibly) and/or public school library in a lower socio-economic neighborhood. In the latter scenario, a student may be able to repay the seven dollars needed to replace a lost chapter book, but can their family be expected to repay the hundred plus dollars to replace a lost or damaged Kindle? Until e-readers become far more affordable and much more durable than they currently are, it seems doubtful that moving to a digital only collection is an efficient—or even realistic—goal for the majority of public schools. 

Creating effective presentations

posted by Mary Ann Scheuer - cross-posted at Research and Reflections

I've been working hard on developing a strong presentation for my Vision Project for a school library. My first step was thinking deeply about how I shape and share my vision. But the next step is about how I present those ideas. I want to make my presentation dynamic and impactful. I know I want to avoid a lengthy Power Point presentation, but what are some key points for an effective presentation?

Gwyneth Jones, aka The Daring Librarian, has a great presentation called "How to be a Presentation Ninja".  SlideShare is an excellent tool to use, both to save and share your own presentations but also to follow other outstanding librarians. Here is Gwyneth's presentation

How to be a Presentation Ninja from gwyneth jones

I also have taken a lot of inspiration from Joyce Valenza, both in terms of the content she shares and the way she puts together effective, clear slides. Here is a recent presentation she shared on SlideShare called "Five Forward."

Fiveforward from joycevalenza

Here's another presentation I love from Joyce Valenza, called New Rules.

Newrules from joycevalenza

Some of my takeaways from these presentations:

• Use strong visuals. Capture people's attention with pictures.
• Use Creative Commons images from Flickr and cite your sources.
• Consider purchasing a dynamic image from iStock Photo.
• Use words sparingly to focus attention.
• Use dynamic, bold fonts.
• Add clear, streamlined text to images.
• Share your presentations. Spread the word beyond the initial audience.

I've started working on my Vision Project, developing a Prezi: Creating Dynamic School Libraries. If anyone has the time to take a look and share their comments, I'd love that. One of the things that I so admire about Joyce Valenza and Gwyneth Jones are that they share their ideas openly and freely.

Thanks, Mary Ann

Passion and vision as a school librarian

posted by Mary Ann Scheuer

As we are working on our vision for our school libraries, I wanted to share two videos about passion, teaching and learning. I read these on Joyce Valenza's blog, NeverEndingSearch, in her post "What Librarians Make".

Taylor Mali is a slam poet who first wrote this poem, "What Teachers Make", in response to a question posed at a dinner party. It is fierce, funny and inspiring.



Joyce Valenza was prompted to write "What Librarians Make" in response to a proposal by Dr. Mark Bernstein to make schools more efficient by eliminating teacher librarians. The implication is that school libraries are antiquated and unnecessary in the world of Google-provided information at our fingertips.



Across California, school libraries have been underfunded, understaffed and eliminated completely. Joyce's poem inspires me every time I am feeling stymied by the system. Her vision is dynamic, driving and uplifting.

Head over to her post to see her full vision in writing. You might also enjoy reading her Manifesto for 21st Century School Librarians

How Teens Research in the Digital Age - results from recent Pew research study

Mary Ann Scheuer, cross-posted at Research and Reflections

The Pew Research Center supports a strand of research investigating the impact that the Internet has on American families, communities, work and home, daily life, education, health care, and civic and political life. Their most recent study investigated high school teachers’ views on the impact that Internet and digital devices have had on teens’ research skills. My biggest takeaway from this is the critical importance of continuing to teach digital and information literacy skills to all children.

“Three-quarters of Advanced Placement (AP) and National Writing Project (NWP) teachers say that the Internet and digital search tools have had a "mostly positive" impact on their students' research habits, but 87% say these technologies are creating an ‘easily distracted generation with short attention spans’ and 64% say today's digital technologies ‘do more to distract students than to help them academically.’” (Purcell, et al., 2012)

The survey of 2,000 middle and high school teachers found that while the Internet has made information readily accessible to students, most students have come to expect easy, quick answers and are not prepared to dig deeply and think about information critically. Teachers recognize that the amount of information available to students is overwhelming to most students. There is strong support amongst teacher for including content focusing on digital literacy in every school’s curriculum.

It is interesting to dig into the meat of the study itself, beyond the front page headlines. Most notably, the study found that the Internet has changed the very nature of research itself and what it means for students to “do research.”

 “Teachers and students alike report that for today’s students, ‘research’ means ‘Googling.’  As a result, some teachers report that for their students ‘doing research’ has shifted from a relatively slow process of intellectual curiosity and discovery to a fast-paced, short-term exercise aimed at locating just enough information to complete an assignment.” (Purcell, et al., 2012) 

 It would be very interesting to take some of the survey questions that Purcell and her colleagues developed and administer a local survey of teachers’ opinions of students research skills. It seems that this would bolster the role for the library and the virtual learning center in being an integral part of students’ information seeking practices.

Purcell, K., Rainie, L., Heaps, A., Buchanan, J., Friedrich, L., Jacklin, A., ... Zickuhr, K. (2012). How Teens Do Research in a Digital World. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Student-Research/Summary-of-Findings.aspx

Space Matters: Designing a High-School Library for Learning

Student Name:
Duff, Marina

Bibliographic Citation: 
Nelson, B. and McConachie, L. Space matters: designing a high school library for learning.  Educational Facility Planner (Online), 44 (1), 21-24.
http://media.cefpi.org/efp/EFP44-1Nelson.pdf

Descriptive Summary:

I found this article while searching for ideas about school libraries. It clearly presents five design elements and considerations for school libraries that embrace 21st century students. First, one must value creating learning spaces more than book storage when designing the library. Second, the space must be flexible and adaptable for different teaching styles, learning styles, and groupings. Third, the library collection development policy must be closely aligned with what student patrons need and use. Fourth, the digital collection is just as important as the print collection and should be updated and promoted heavily. Fifth, all students of all backgrounds should feel welcome, safe, and inspired in the library space. Overall, the library must be able to serve many purposes from "social hub" to study hall. One should be able to work on homework alone or work on a group project collaboratively. The lighting, acoustics, air circulation, and bookshelf & seating arrangement must allow for proper supervision yet also make students feel free and independent.

Evaluation:

This article shared how designing a school library is really more about the students' academic and social needs and less about book storage and beauty. The library needs to attract all types of learners so that they feel welcome, safe, and "inspired" in the space whether they are alone or in a group. Moreover, everything from the seating to the books should be chosen with careful consideration and using an authentic community analysis. Flexibility seems to be the key in accomplishing the task of creating a space that can appeal to different people, situations, and technological advances. This article has made me re-evaluate these five elements as they exist in my own library. Though there are some design elements that are not flexible, there are still plenty of items that are moveable such as the table and chair arrangement, book displays, and computer & laptop set up. I think the big idea here is to design and re-design one's library in ways that put the students' need first, and I think it is never too late to shake things up.