I have been thinking a lot lately about what would happen if I came to work one day and our library was gone.
Just the building.
Not the books, the technology, the infrastructure, the budget, the demand.
This question is helping me strip away the parts of the library program that are not building-dependent and pushing me toward developing more ability to expand our library beyond its walls.
Certainly, a web presence helps, but we need more than that. In a school setting, I find I need to be present in classrooms, on committees, in the lunchroom, and out in the quad with kids.
I need to push both print and digital resources to all reaches of our learning community.
If there were five of me, here are all the things I'd be doing:
- Booktalks in classrooms.
- Teacher/librarian collaboration on lessons across the curriculum, anytime information literacy involved (not just those that happen in the library).
- Regular staff development around ITC issues relevant to classroom teachers.
- Podcasts for teachers about how to incorporate a range of resources into their lessons
- Podcasts for teachers about implementing effective reading strategies
- Readers advisory as podcasts, both audio and video, by the librarian, teachers, staff, students, community members, and parents.
- A book club for teachers
- A book club for students
- A "Balers Read" book choice to read with the entire community, with accompanying promotional activities
That's just the beginning of my list. The second part of this scenario is considering what the library building actually is important for. At my school, it's a place where
- two classes can work together
- teachers and librarian can easily collaborate
- students can spread out to work on projects
- students can find a wide variety of resources in many formats and at many skill levels
- teachers can come to brainstorm ideas with the librarian and other teachers
- the entire school community can come to get suggestions about something good to read
- students can hang out before school, at lunch, after school, and four nights a week to study, do homework, get help from tutors or teachers, read for pleasure, explore the internet, get help on projects, try out new technologies, or just sit for awhile in a comfy chair or couch.
- students can come knowing it's a safe place where they'll be accepted
