Managing the Elementary Library
Course
Students, Teachers & Principals [5:16]
When we think about elementary school libraries, we think about all the different people that we work with. It's important that we build relationships with them as we build our library program.
You can have the world's greatest facility, the best collection, all the latest technology gadgets but if you don't build those relationships then you really aren't able to have a successful school library program.
Let's talk about some of those groups. Let's begin with students and thinking in terms of we want our libraries to be welcoming and inviting and we want them a place that they want to come. I always made sure that we never referred to it as my library, we talked about it being our library because it's a shared space, it's a shared facility, it's a shared program and we need everybody working together to make it an active place.
I always thought that our elementary school library, I wanted a place that kids wanted to come, that it was a place that they really felt comfortable, that they felt safe. that they knew what they could do and couldn't do when they were in the library. One of the examples is that I had a library assistant who really got annoyed during recess because we would have all of these kids that wanted to come to the library instead of going to recess.
It always really kind of bugged her because she thought that her students should be going outside but for me it always was a real gratifying moment because it meant that our students loved our library that they wanted to come and spend their time their free time in our space. Making it warming, inviting, and colorful and bright and lots of different options of things that they can do besides just checking out books was a way that we did that.
Thinking in terms about teachers and how we may create the library space and we build those relationships with our teachers, one of the things that I tried really hard was to make sure that I was always going to their planning sessions. Depending on the type of schedule that you have, that may be easier or harder to accomplish but certainly, making those connections that they saw me as a visible presence when they were planning their instruction was so important.
In terms of making sure that I was there, I was an active participant. Sometimes I was just talking about the different programs that we had or the different books that we had that might go with a lesson. Sometimes we could plan a whole big collaborative projects and even when you are more in a fixed schedule just knowing what they're doing that you can make those connections are so important.
Even if you can't be there physically some sort of connection where that they always know a reminder that the library is there and wants to include them. We also had our library cookie jar that was a big incentive for us, it was in our library workroom and periodically I would just bake cookies and fill it. That was just a great way to get teachers in so that Ithey could -- I could learn a little bit about what was going on in their classrooms and how we can make those connections in the library.
Building those relationships with teachers and following through so that if I said I was going to offer and do something in the library that I actually did it. Especially in elementary school when you have the same 25 students all day long, you get very attached and that's your class and you don't always want to share. Making sure that they knew that if we planned something together or the instruction that I was going to do during my library time was something that was a benefit that they really could see that they could trust their kids to be with me for that time and it was going to be a good experience.
The last group from this segment is administrators and thinking in terms of your principal is always huge. How do you build that relationship, how do you make those connections and my most successful adventures with that was with the principal who actually had no experience with school libraries whatsoever. I was absolutely terrified when he got hired because I thought he knows nothing about school libraries and why they're important.
He'd never worked with the school librarian before, he had never had a school library program before, he hadn't even had a school library assistant in his libraries. The schools that he worked at didn't have school libraries and I was really afraid about how we were going to make sure that he understood what school libraries are all about. We made sure that we did lots of things by sharing resources that connected to his agendas.
That first year he was talking about bridges and connected bridges all through our professional development. I pulled every resource we had about bridges and took them down to his office and he tells me that that's the first chance that he knew that our library program was something different than what he had experienced because we were able to bring those resources to him that connected to his agenda.
Then we built on that all along so anytime he was ready to roll out professional development with literacy or things like that, we would make sure we connected those resources we had in the library. The library was part of the PD, I as a librarian offered some of the sessions that we were always building our program going forward just as he was building what he wanted to accomplish in the school.
Aligning those agendas together became key and making sure that we had the same conversations about that global perspective. As a principal he had to work with every teacher, every student, every parent. As a librarian we work with every teacher, every student, every parent, every everybody and there whole global perspective is such a key part that we can relate to as principal.
He and I had lots of great conversations that he couldn't really have with a classroom teacher because they didn't have that same global perspective of working with everybody. By building that relationship we really were able to push our library program forward because we were helping push the principal's agenda forward.
Additional Resources
About the Author
E-mail: charvey@schoollibraryconnection.com
Twitter: @caharvey2
MLA Citation
Harvey, Carl A., II. "Managing the Elementary Library. Students, Teachers & Principals [5:16]." School Library Connection, ABC-CLIO, January 2018, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2135529?learningModuleId=2135578&topicCenterId=2247903.
https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2135529?learningModuleId=2135578&topicCenterId=2247903
Entry ID: 2135529