Meet the New Coach -- the School Librarian
Meet the New Coach – the School Librarian
Today I walked into an elementary school library and watched a coach hard at work.
No, I am not talking about one of those coaches that teaches athletics, sportsmanship, teamwork, and what it takes to get into the big leagues and earn lots of money, fame, and celebrity.
I’m talking about the life-long-learning coach that teaches students how to read for information and fun, how to research the best information to answer life’s questions, and how to recognize and catch that golden ticket to success in life. I’m talking about the school librarian – and so are these folks:
Comedian Drew Carey said, “I used to go to the library all the time when I was a kid. As a teenager, I got a book on how to write jokes at the library, and that, in turn, launched my comedy career.”
Editor Paula Spencer said “I fell in love with libraries when I first walked into the school library in Falls City, Texas, population 462. It was tiny and I quickly read through almost everything, but it was a lifeline for a child starved for a larger world. In many ways I owe great chunks of the life I lead to libraries.”
Musician Gloria Estefan said, “The part of my education that has had the deepest influence wasn’t any particular essay or even a specific class. It was how I was able to apply everything I learned in the library to certain situations in my life.”
Former First Lady Laura Bush said, “School libraries help teachers teach and children learn. Children and teachers need library resources – especially books – and the expertise of a librarian to succeed. Books, information technology and school librarians who are part of the schools’ professional team are basic ingredients for student achievement.”
Former U.S. Commissioner of Education Howard Howe said, “What a school thinks about its library is a measure of what it thinks about education.”
I’m a librarian with a Master’s in Library Science degree from the University of North Texas. But I cannot be hired as a school librarian. School librarians in Texas have to be certified teachers first who have taught in the classroom for 2-3 years. And that is as it should be.
I have profound respect for school librarians. When encouraged and enabled by the school administrators, “[school librarians] are at once a teacher, an instructional partner, an information specialist, and a program administrator.” [They] play an essential role in the learning community by ensuring that students and staff are efficient and effective users of ideas and information. They collaborate with teachers, administrators, and others to prepare students for future successes.” from the report “Certified School Library Media Specialists and School Libraries are Vital to High Achieving Schools” (see Website of the Week below).
I challenge school administrators and teachers to take a new look at your school librarian. Let’s be sure our school librarians have the chance to do the job they were trained to do. Are you using them:
• to teach skills and strategies students need to learn and achieve?
• as partners in educating students, developing curricula, and integrating resources into teaching and learning?
• to teach the skills students need to become effective users of ideas and information?
• to instruct teachers and students in how to use the resources they so carefully select and evaluate? (from the same website)
Librarians don’t know all the answers, but they do know how to find them. Go life-long-learning coaches! Go school librarians!
Website of the Week: “School Libraries Work!” from Scholastic Research and Results is found at http://www2.scholastic.com/content/collateral_resources/pdf/s/slw3_2008.pdf – This is not a website per se, but it is the place to find an incredible collection of support for school libraries and school librarians.
(This "librarywillie has information..." article was first published in the Del Rio News Herald on 16 October 2011.)
Today I walked into an elementary school library and watched a coach hard at work.
No, I am not talking about one of those coaches that teaches athletics, sportsmanship, teamwork, and what it takes to get into the big leagues and earn lots of money, fame, and celebrity.
I’m talking about the life-long-learning coach that teaches students how to read for information and fun, how to research the best information to answer life’s questions, and how to recognize and catch that golden ticket to success in life. I’m talking about the school librarian – and so are these folks:
Comedian Drew Carey said, “I used to go to the library all the time when I was a kid. As a teenager, I got a book on how to write jokes at the library, and that, in turn, launched my comedy career.”
Editor Paula Spencer said “I fell in love with libraries when I first walked into the school library in Falls City, Texas, population 462. It was tiny and I quickly read through almost everything, but it was a lifeline for a child starved for a larger world. In many ways I owe great chunks of the life I lead to libraries.”
Musician Gloria Estefan said, “The part of my education that has had the deepest influence wasn’t any particular essay or even a specific class. It was how I was able to apply everything I learned in the library to certain situations in my life.”
Former First Lady Laura Bush said, “School libraries help teachers teach and children learn. Children and teachers need library resources – especially books – and the expertise of a librarian to succeed. Books, information technology and school librarians who are part of the schools’ professional team are basic ingredients for student achievement.”
Former U.S. Commissioner of Education Howard Howe said, “What a school thinks about its library is a measure of what it thinks about education.”
I’m a librarian with a Master’s in Library Science degree from the University of North Texas. But I cannot be hired as a school librarian. School librarians in Texas have to be certified teachers first who have taught in the classroom for 2-3 years. And that is as it should be.
I have profound respect for school librarians. When encouraged and enabled by the school administrators, “[school librarians] are at once a teacher, an instructional partner, an information specialist, and a program administrator.” [They] play an essential role in the learning community by ensuring that students and staff are efficient and effective users of ideas and information. They collaborate with teachers, administrators, and others to prepare students for future successes.” from the report “Certified School Library Media Specialists and School Libraries are Vital to High Achieving Schools” (see Website of the Week below).
I challenge school administrators and teachers to take a new look at your school librarian. Let’s be sure our school librarians have the chance to do the job they were trained to do. Are you using them:
• to teach skills and strategies students need to learn and achieve?
• as partners in educating students, developing curricula, and integrating resources into teaching and learning?
• to teach the skills students need to become effective users of ideas and information?
• to instruct teachers and students in how to use the resources they so carefully select and evaluate? (from the same website)
Librarians don’t know all the answers, but they do know how to find them. Go life-long-learning coaches! Go school librarians!
Website of the Week: “School Libraries Work!” from Scholastic Research and Results is found at http://www2.scholastic.com/content/collateral_resources/pdf/s/slw3_2008.pdf – This is not a website per se, but it is the place to find an incredible collection of support for school libraries and school librarians.
(This "librarywillie has information..." article was first published in the Del Rio News Herald on 16 October 2011.)
Posted by librarywillie at 16 Oct 2011 
Categories: News Herald articles
Tags: students school library reading success
Categories: News Herald articles
Tags: students school library reading success
I loved the article! Don't know why I never saw it in the newspaper! Great job, Willie.
Reply to this