"To Be or Not to Be"... a Teacher Librarian

I would be remiss if I did not devote at least one blog entry to my own soap box.

I expect we are no different in our school district than many, as financial strains and budget cut decisions are being made at the board level.

Again, cuts in school library programs are one of the areas under discussion, as they usually are.

Essentially, in British Columbia, all educational professionals who do not enroll a class are at risk because in 2002, Bill 28, The Public Education Flexibility and Choice Act was enacted by the provincial government that removed staffing ratios for all non-enrolling teachers from collective agreements.

I have worked in libraries since I was 12, being a librarian is all I have ever wanted to do. I did not foresee, when I chose this profession over 20 years ago, that I would have to be in a constant state of advocacy.

Ten years ago I was a member of a district team that researched, then wrote our district's library service deliver model Libraries: Literacy and Literature in the Information Age: A Framework for Library Programs and Services in the 21st Century. The research was and is still clear.

At the time, researcher Dr. Keith Lance Curry and his Library Research Service Impact Studies team had just published his second Colorado Study on the impact of school librarians on student achievement. Since then Curry has conducted studies in over 14 states. Powering Achievement: How School Librarians Impact Academic Achievement reports library predictors of academic achievement and recommends staffing school libraries with professional & support staff, stocking them with current books & licensed databases as well as Internet capable computers, funding them to support school's curriculum and state's standards, adopt flexible scheduling and utilizing the school computer network to extend the library program’s reach into every classroom.

Past cuts to school librarian time have already jeopardized student achievement in our district. When librarian time has been cut it is seldom, if ever reinstated when the financial situation improves. The same may be said for library budgets.

The 2008 British Columbia Teacher Librarian's Association Working and Learning Conditions of Public Schools in British Columbia Survey shows where we land in terms with the rest of the province.

Locally, our own Dr. Ken Haycock has summarized studies related to school libraries in The Crisis in Canadian School Libraries: The Case for Reform and Re-Investment, including the impact on student learning, best practice and recommendations.

Statistics Canada published a study in 2005, Canadian school libraries and teacher librarians: Results from the 2003/04 information and communications technologies in schools survey. This study illustrated the influence on the students' education that the teacher librarian has in extending, beyond traditional teacher librarianship into roles that include ICT, skills such as finding and evaluating information online.

For my own thesis research, I was privileged to work with an exceptional group of teacher librarians and studied their practice for my Master's Degree Teacher Librarians, Technology and Collaborative Connections: A Case Study of Teacher Librarians from a Communities of Practice Perspective . The goal of this study was to document and analyze the work of teacher librarians and how it contributes to the delivery of educational programs. Data were analyzed using codes developed from Wenger’s Community of Practice research, and conversation analysis. The research questions considered whether the teacher librarians constituted a community of practice, the nature of that practice, and how this practice correlated with the delivery of instructional programs. It is argued from the findings how the notion of a community of practice may be helpful in reconceptualizing the nature and role of teacher librarianship.

This work is facilitated by having library aides in place to do the clerical administration of a library, processing and signing out books for example, while teacher librarians focus on curriculum development, literature appreciation, and information literacy.

Teacher librarians are often the unseen heroes of the school, providing safe havens for students to hang out, matching the perfect book to a student's reading interest, hunting down the best reference source...

Teacher librarians are the curriculum integration and information literacy specialists, we support all school programs.

We are the champions for integrating district programs, such as Web in the Classroom, Reading 44, and Literacy 44.

I was at a dinner party last weekend with one of my very good friend teacher librarian mentors. I was telling Mike about the current situation. He said that was why he left the library to become a classroom teacher - the constant advocacy was exhausting. The school library's loss was definitely the classroom's gain. Interesting idea. I have between 10 to 15 years left - I have the energy now to advocate again - what the future holds - we'll see.

To be or not to be a teacher librarian.

If you know someone who you think should read this post, please pass it on.

What to Read... Where to find it...

Continuing on the lit/reading theme, are you looking for something new to read? Check out one of the booklists below.

Then, check into the library for the book, if we don't have it, we'll find it!


Links to Great Reads
Cool Reads

Guys Lit Wire

Modern Library 100 Best Novels

Outstanding Books for the College Bound

Reading Rants: Out of the Ordinary Teen Booklists

Teen Books in a Series or Sequel from the Bettendorf Public Library


Canadian Award Winning Books
Governor General Literary Awards

Young Adult Canadian Book Award


International Award Winning Books
Giller Prize

Man Book Prize

Newbery Medal and Honour Award


E-Books
Project Gutenberg


Author Info
Do you want to find something out about one of your favorite authors?

Check out the Teenreads.com author list for bios and interviews.


Do you have any favorite booklists in your bookmarks?
Pass them on!
The more, the merrier!

DEAR USSR...

DEAR USSR is not a letter to Russia - they are acronyms - DEAR meaning Drop Everything And Read and USSR meaning Uninterrupted Silent Sustained Reading - are just two of many acronyms for silent reading programs: FUR, FVR, SSR, SQUIRT, and WART to name a few more. Regardless of the name, the message and the research is clear. Reading improves comprehension.

Dr. Stephen Krashen, a linguistic educational researcher, has argued for years the benefits of FVR, by compiling numerous research studies in his books The Power of Reading. FVR is the most effective tool for increasing literacy. It is the act of reading itself that is the key to linguistic development.

Krashen recently wrote an article for School Library Journal, Free Reading, which summarizes the benefits of USSR.

An article which complements Krashen's is this one written in Education World Silent Sustained Reading Helps Develop Independent Readers and Writers .

Check them out and get back into USSR!

As the article states:
If the teacher models, the students will follow!

A few years ago Educational Leadership devoted a whole issue to Literacy. Two articles I remember specifically:

Becoming an Engaged Reader presents information related to reading comprehension. The article emphasizes learning to comprehend as an ongoing process, as the individual reader encounters different texts, in different ways, for different purposes. Effective readers think within the text. They pick up the basic information to understand what the text is about. Both fiction and nonfiction reading require literal comprehension.

Strategies for Teen Readers presents information related to reading comprehension in teenagers. The article defines reading as a complex, purposeful, social, and cognitive process in which readers simultaneously use their knowledge of spoken and written language, their knowledge of the topic of the text, and their knowledge of their culture to construct meaning.

Both of these articles can be found in the Ebsco Professional Development Collection database to which we have access. The username and login can be found in the staff conference, along with navigation instructions.

Here is the complete bibliographic info:

Coutant, Carolyn, and Natalia Perchemlides "Strategies for Teen Readers." Educational Leadership 63.2 (2005): 42-47. Professional Development Collection. EBSCO. Web. 20 Nov. 2009.

Scharer, Patricia L., et al. "Becoming an Engaged Reader." Educational Leadership 63.2 (2005): 24-29. Professional Development Collection. EBSCO. Web. 20 Nov. 2009.

Read on!!!

To BOB or Not to BOB... back into USSR and into Literacy

Once upon a time there was a principal and teacher librarian who proposed a USSR block of time and BOB was born. There was a staff who embraced this notion and diligently had their students read and read themselves. Students who would not read at any other time were encouraged to do so. Students who were readers already either embraced this notion or were frustrated with the short time period - some staff were too. Students were seen reading in the halls, in the cafe, in the library, and in the classroom - administrators and teachers too.

BOB was considered so worthwhile that literacy was incorporated into the school goals.

BOB was not a panacea, but it was a start.
Fast forward in our story to the imminent arrival of the wrecking ball - a change in focus - a drifting away from the original purpose of BOB. There are still the devoted few, the last bastion of hold outs; however, students are wandering the halls, choosing to use BOB time to complete other tasks. The original purpose has been lost in a mirage of paper and pens, and BCESIS, not books. Yet, there is a glimmer of hope, the belief in BOB still lives.

The next couple of blog entries will be devoted to reading and literature related topics as we, as a staff, refocus on our school goal of improving literacy.

So, Who or What is BOB?
BOB stands for Bring on the Books. It is Sutherland's name for USSR, a block of time dedicated to Uninterrupted Silent Sustained Reading.

Did you know BOB was named after a real person? Bob Baldwin was a community coach, an inspiration in the manner in which he conducted himself and an example in how he dealt with the cancer that took his life – he believed in the dedication of practice and the devotion to learning well. Bob’s son was a student at Sutherland.

As with the skills of the sports Bob coached, practice makes perfect - be it sports, music, cooking, sewing, acting, painting, problem solving, scientific experiments and … reading.

BOB was established with the consultation of students, staff and parents.
As educators, we place value on learning opportunities we schedule in the school day.

Did you know reading comprehension is a provincial, district, and school goal?
Did you know Sutherland’s school planning council includes reading as one of its goals?

There are years of research and numerous studies illustrating the benefits of reading. One study showed evidence that 40% of Canadians cannot sufficiently read enough to compete in the job market or complete daily tasks … this is the equivalent of 400 Sutherland students. A second study reported students who achieved lower grades spent less time reading than those with higher grades.

Give 20 minutes, twice a week a chance… in the grand scheme of things… 40 minutes is not a lot of time to commit to a skill you will use for a life time. This amounts to 25 hours in a school year… a little more than one day of uninterrupted reading.

Long Live BOB!
Picture used under Creative Commons license by Yves
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yives/3025506130/sizes/m/