Sample letter to teachers about reference databases and professional resources for teachers

A helpful way to lead and support your teachers' professional growth is to point them to practitioner resources and peer-reviewed journal articles in reference databases. They may not be familiar with the titles available through reference databases, and you can expand their professional reading through this channel. The letter below introduces reference databases to teachers, and also provides reminders of in-house print resources and an honors system teacher book exchange.

LIBRARY LETTERHEAD

Dear [School Name] Faculty:

I am writing to tell you about three great resources for teachers at our school library: print books and magazines, the teacher book exchange, and online articles and ebooks.

Our library has a growing collection of professional books and periodicals, located [add info here]. I've attached a few "Table of Contents" pages from recent issues of professional publications available at your school library to give you a glimpse at the titles.

When you visit the library, take a look at our ongoing "teacher book exchange," [located here]. Right now the books are mostly fiction, from a variety of authors and genres. We're always looking for new titles and topics. Donate a book and take a book – and model good reading habits to our students!

Did you know that the [database titles or collections here] offer resources for teachers? Whether you need a peer-reviewed article for a graduate class or you're seeking information on instructional strategies, these articles and ebooks are easy to search and diverse in content. Below, I've included some highlighted titles from [database title's] professional development resources, available through [consortium or regional database collection].

To access these resources from school, [list instructions here].

From home, [add these instructions].

Note that for some titles, only the bibliographic records, not the full text articles, are available. You may be able to find the full-text at the public library or your university library, or you can select "full-text only." I'm happy to help you navigate these resources to find what you need.

See you at your school library!

Rebecca Morris, School Librarian

(On the next pages, provide sample tables of contents from recent print magazines from the library. List selected titles of interest in the reference databases. You might group by research journal, practitioner magazines, or by category—guidance, leadership, subject area.)