Student Voice in the Library
Course
Engagement [9:25]
Keeping students engaged is our quest, it's our mission, it's our plot in life to make sure that we have programs and opportunities that will allow for students to be actively engaged as part of the learning process.
In a library, there are multiple ways for students to be engaged. There are also multiple ways for students to be distracted and maybe lose their focus. If you're going to start a student leadership program through the library or student work program, we need to make sure that that program is engaging. If it's just a figurehead or just token students who are on a team that are just waiting to be told what to do, the level of enthusiasm for that will decrease, the level of respect for the program will decrease and your frustration for this will increase. We don't want that.
We want the program to be well respected. We want students to be actively and authentically engaged, and we want this program to be a source of happiness, and problem-solving for you, not a source of frustration and distraction. But kids are kids, it doesn't matter what age. If they're not feeling that there are opportunities for them to be actively engaged, they may start to lose interest and we don't want that.
So, there are lots of things you can do, just like you would do with any sort of instruction or program to keep students engaged. When I use the word kids, I am thinking in a K-12 spectrum and obviously, what you do to keep a high school student engaged is going to look very different than a first-grade student. But keep in mind your culture, and your age, and your population, and a lot of these concepts can be adapted to fit that.
For example, number one thing I found I've had good luck with to keep students coming back and keep students wanting to be a part of our leadership program, is to make sure that they have ownership. That doesn't come immediately. That takes time. It comes after their structure and expectations, but I really provide a lot of opportunity for students to have choice and voice in what they're doing.
We have a board, kind of our headquarters for our student work team called the iStaff. We have a combination of tasks and projects. Tasks are just things that need to be done. We need things picked up, put away, materials, organize, things that have a very tangible beginning, middle, and end. There are kids who love doing those things. That's fine because they need to be done, and it may seem menial, but those are part of what we need to do to manage the library.
So we have tasks. We also have projects. We have ideas. We are trying to empower our students to come into work and say, "You know what I was thinking?" or, "How about we do.." or, "I was wondering if maybe…" Anytime we can do that, anytime a student has come in the next day or after a weekend with an idea of what we could do next, to me that's a sign that they're self-directed and they're creative thinkers, but they're also willing to put the work into it because it's their idea.
So, a lot of times, I get to know students as you will and find out what makes them tick, what their special interests are, and really connect them with making their interest become part of the projects that these student leaders will lead. It's easier said than done because you may have 30 students or 10 students or five who have very different interests, very different schedules, and getting to know them, and connecting them may not come overnight.
But that's part of the building, the relationships that are really going to be worth it in the end, where you can build relationships and find out what students are really passionate about and turn those passions into programs that are going to benefit the whole school community through the library.
Recognize that. Find out ways to honor and acknowledge these unique and special talents. If you've got students who are into karate, or lacrosse, or they're on sports teams, or they're in the theater, tap into those talents and see how what they do beyond the school day or in extracurricular activities, what talents do they have there, what leadership skills do they already have that would be beneficial to add to the library program.
Give out certificates. Make it fun. Give them awards. Give them recognitions. Offer new opportunities. Subcontract them to work in other classrooms, with classrooms, with different departments. Are there ways that your leadership team could serve in other capacities throughout the school? Can they help with assemblies? Can they help with special events? Can they help with tutoring?
There's lots of ways you could keep these students empowered and engaged in and through the library. It doesn't always have to be in the actual facility of the library. With healthy collaboration, this really can expand and keep students involved and be great role models beyond the library.
Have celebrations. Don't hesitate to acknowledge what students bring to the team. You may have only 10 students, but those 10 students may be bringing their 10 different healthy perspectives, and healthy ideas, and unique opportunities, or unique things that they're involved with beyond the school day. Let people know so that as we grow as a team, we're each bringing something unique to this work family, so to speak. As a group, we can acknowledge that.
Authentic praise, they know when they've done a good job, and they know when they haven't. If everything seems like, "Oh, good for you. Good for you" they start to realize that there's no level of expectation and minimal effort is okay. Make that a genuine opportunity for you to recognize good work and raise the bar for better work.
Make sure new ideas are welcomed, supported, whether there's a board where kids can write things on, or they can contribute to the Google Classroom, or a website, or a post-it note, or a suggestion box. Make sure there are opportunities for students on your team and all students to give ideas about what we could do or why don't we do this. As soon as students know that you're open and there's a culture of support for new ideas, the ideas really will start to flow.
Make a list of problems in the library or school, and ask them to think about solving it. They could be big conceptual ones, they might be silly procedural ones, maybe it's signage that's needed, customer service troubles. I mean, think of the things that are frustrating you as the leader of the library, and then let them come up with solutions and be honest when you don't think it's going to work.
For example, I started with an iPad for a sign-in when we first started the school and I thought that was great, we'd have everything digital. And forever we had a line out the door with sign-ins and kids would forget and it wasn't working. I thought it was a pretty simple system and I said, "How can we get kids to sign-in quicker? How can we do this better?"
In the end, they came up with a clipboard and a pencil and a sign-in sheet that address our safety concerns, if we had to go for a fire drill, it addressed the time saving, it addressed everything. It wasn't necessarily a high-tech solution, but they thought about it. They came up with a solution to a silly problem and we move forward, or it may be something bigger that, "Hey, we don't have opportunities for students who are interested in this. What can we do about it? Can we re-evaluate what type of fiction books we're buying? Or is there a graphic novel section meeting the needs of our customers?" and so on.
So, they could be big issues, smaller issues, but they're honest, and they will offer solutions and you need to be honest with them too about counterpoints. Maybe you like part of their idea, but the rest isn't working for you and so on. The more you're a problem-solving team, the more honest they're going to be and more confident they're going to be in offering suggestions.
Kids really want to serve. Kids want to help. They want to problem solve. They want to create an environment that lets them lead. We need to provide that environment. Think about yourself. How do you stay engaged? What keeps you energized and making changes in your work environment? Think about how you can create that same atmosphere or that same culture for students.
As you create a student work program through the library, be thinking about ways that you can keep the students actively engaged so that they become part of a collaborative leadership team.
Kowalski ties student engagement with respect. This lesson links the core principles of a student-focused help or work team with examples from practice. Among these principles are ownership, relationship-building, authentic recognition, celebration, and shared problem solving. For Kowalski, making these principles a day-to-day part of the student work program fosters genuine engagement and collaboration.
In this lesson, Kowalski describes a situation where students helped solve a library sign-in problem. Instead of a time-consuming digital sign-in on the iPad, students found that a paper list on a clipboard was more efficient and easy. Whether big or small, problems placed in the hands and minds of students to solve is a real-life exercise worth pursuing. For this activity, identify a problem or concern that you might bring to students for their ideas, opinions, and perspectives. If possible, engage students "for real" on this topic, even if your helper program isn't in place yet. As Kowalski suggests, let students share their thoughts and be honest about potential counterpoints.
MLA Citation
Morris, Rebecca J. "Student Voice in the Library: Engaging through Ownership." School Library Connection, October 2024, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2078600?learningModuleId=2078594&topicCenterId=2252405.
Entry ID: 2142766
Additional Resources
About the Author
MLA Citation
Kowalski, Susan. "Student Voice in the Library. Engagement [9:25]." School Library Connection, ABC-CLIO, December 2017, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2078600?learningModuleId=2078594&topicCenterId=2252405.
https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2078600?learningModuleId=2078594&topicCenterId=2252405
Entry ID: 2078600