Welcome!
The true power of school libraries and librarians is not in the resources that we amass, but in the relationships that we build and the connections that we foster. On this page, we will highlight ideas for collaborating with various stakeholders and explore ways to ensure that these experiences are effective and meaningful. By sharing the models and best practices implemented by other librarians, my hope is that you will be inspired and find fresh ideas to take back to your community as conversation openers for potential collaborations. I invite you to visit this page throughout the year for more ideas and updates as we connect across our shared professional community. Thank you for joining me!
Suzanne Sannwald
Teacher Librarian, West Hills High School, Santee, CA
Suzanne Sannwald
Teacher Librarian, West Hills High School, Santee, CA
Engaging Your School Community in Social-Emotional Learning
by Suzanne SannwaldSocial Emotional Learning (SEL) is among the top educational buzzwords of recent years, but when looking at what it encompasses, I would argue that school libraries have historically and consistently been one of the strongest supporters and sources of SEL in our schools for a long time. The branding of libraries is generally around literacy, and when trying to demonstrate our impact, we typically find ways to tie our programs to gains in academic achievement, which is understandable since test scores do hold capital in our educational systems. However, from my own experience, some of the most powerful contributions of my own school library have been those related to students' general wellbeing, their sense of belonging and self-discovery. Read More >>
Video
![Collaborating with Your School Psychologist [15:41]](https://schoollibraryconnection.com/assets/mediaserver/SLC/2286/2286020s.jpg)
The role of a school psychologist isn't always understood clearly, but they provide a range of valuable services to their education communities. Suzanne Sannwald sits down with San Diego school psychologist Elana Hamovitch to discuss not only what school psychologists contribute, but how educators can collaborate with them to better serve students.
Video
![Bringing Social and Emotional Learning into the Library [22:53]](https://schoollibraryconnection.com/assets/mediaserver/SLC/2263/2263416s.jpg)
Suzanne Sannwald and SEL specialist Anita Cellucci discuss different ways librarians can provide vital and unique support for social and emotional learning.
Lesson Plan
In this SEL lesson from Suzanne Sannwald and Ashley Worth, students learn more about personal growth by exploring an aspect of their choice through an independent research and reading project.
Video
![The Compassionate Library [26:46]](https://schoollibraryconnection.com/assets/mediaserver/SLC/2262/2262787s.jpg)
Suzanne Sannwald and Gina Seymour discuss ways librarians can nurture the social and emotional well-being of their students.
Article
Nationwide, schools are grappling with how to bring social and emotional learning (SEL) to their classrooms—and we are wondering how, as librarians, we are to bring SEL to the school library.
Feature
Trauma-informed education is focused on understanding how to engage, support, and respond to students who have been impacted by trauma. This approach is becoming more commonplace in schools as the benefits and successes are documented, and there are numerous relevant practices that school librarians can develop and adopt.
Feature
The library as a safe space is more than the absence of harm and danger. It gives students a place to risk new thoughts, learning processes, and products. These may involve reading choices, creating presentations and art, exploring new ideas, debating and discussing potentially emotionally charged topics, developing new friendships or connections, acquiring communication tools, and asking questions.
Article
In this article from The International Educator, Graeme Boyd describes a proactive collaboration between the school counselor and the school librarian at the elementary level.
Selected Reading
In this excerpt from Radical Collaborations for Learning: School Librarians as Change Agents, Gina Seymour discusses how librarians and library programs can help their school communities process grief, bereavement, and crisis.
Article
While not a new issue, teen mental health is making new headlines and sparking fresh debates. Veteran teacher-librarian Liz Deskins knows the vital role mental health plays in the lives of her students; in this article, Deskins describes her discovery of a program at Westborough High School (WHS) in Massachusetts, where a librarian and teacher help teens examine mental health through a Psychology in Literature course.
Feature
A vital part of the school librarian's role is to nurture the development of the whole child through careful listening, and empathic responses to students' questions and actions. In this article, school librarian and administrator Barbara Stripling discusses how her own literacy-based approach to education helped her devise a new program in which she uses the act of inquiry to nurture the whole child.
Article
In this article from Edutopia, Chris Bryner describes an approach to formative assessment incorporates discussion of social and emotional learning competencies.
Feature
When we talk about social and emotional learning, as educators we automatically put the needs of our students first—how are they learning and coping in this environment? As school librarians, we should broaden that concern to include the adults we also serve. How are teachers, support staff, paraprofessionals, and administrators working and coping?