Thinking About School Librarianship

The more I read about school library practice, the more I understand that the school librarian’s role is a confluence of place/space, person, and program.  As the Scholastic (2016) compendium of research on school librarianship illustrates (quite literally with a nice graphic on page 2), when these three factors are all at their best, student academic achievement improves.  

Screenshot of the Venn Diagram - check out the full report!

One of the things I find most interesting is how the research comports with the traditional, and still I think prevailing, view of the school librarian as the gatekeeper of books in a school who shushes people.  While updated collections of books that have high circulation are certainly factors that aid student learning (Lamborne & Helgren, 2011), school librarianship is a holistic practice that depends on a professional, certified librarian offering collaboratively developed information literacy instruction in a well-resourced, technologically up-to-date, welcoming space (AASL, 2016; Scholastic, 2016).  In short, it is about more than just the books. 

School librarians, as both AASL (2016) and Scholastic (2016) note, work with every person in a school building, providing programs that support both teacher instruction and student learning and independent exploration.  They manage books, yes, but also data, databases, and devices.

Increasingly, the place is both a virtual space and an IRL location!  One thing the pandemic has certainly shown many of us – as we have been barred from the physical libraries in which we work – is that the virtual space a library now occupies can be just as important as the traditional physical space.  How many of us found virtual learning to be a time to build Bitmoji libraries and revamp websites and social media accounts, to host Google meets and Zoom conferences, to rethink how we offer and resources programming in an online environment?  In a very real sense, these virtual spaces are now important places where students and teachers can meet and interact with the library’s resources and leader.

 

AASL. (2016). Definition of an effective school library program. http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/aaslissues/positionstatements/AASL_Position%20Statement_Effective_SLP_2016-06-25.pdf

Lamborne, R. S., & Helgren, J. (Directors). (2011). Chapter 4: School Library Characteristics that Affect Student Achievement [Film]. Library Research Service. https://vimeo.com/16517124

Scholastic. (2016). School libraries work! A compendium of research supporting the effectiveness of school libraries. https://www.scholastic.com/SLW2016/index.html