Librarians are fabulous people; librarians love books; librarians love literacy, and most importantly librarians love people. As information specialists our drive for knowledge is not just about us knowing countless bits of information (although we do love that), we love seeing others bloom while discovering a world beyond their own. Many librarians treasure scattering seeds of learning because it sets us aglow to see minds of all ages enlightened by the possibilities that now exist due to the new information germinating within others. As stated in an earlier blog, The Appetite to Learn, “librarians are master educators” and “librarians are champions of reading”; librarians realize the incredible impact literacy has to change the course on not only one’s life but possibly the world.
So, librarians educate by finding time to read professional books, listen to educational podcasts, and attend trainings, and they do it out of a call to till the ground more than a professional development mandate that may exist in some school systems and workplace settings. Librarians are also chief learners because in order to educate others; library specialists must be the first partakers of the ‘learning fruit’. How can a champion of reading not plant seeds in his or her own garden of knowledge? For years in my career, I gleaned knowledge about librarianship through formal coursework initially then to mentorships with experienced librarians and on to monthly meetings under the guidance of our information literacy and digital resources specialist, also known as district library coordinator. The meetings allow for absorbing information in the library world to stay abreast of universal information, but it was also a time for reflection and collaboration with colleagues to best learn how to grow our campus library programs.
Now, Fiya Librarian is incredibly pleased to provide librarians with information I have learned over my years in librarianship giving back to others who need to blossom. Through Educator Alexander’s Webinar Series, Fiya Librarian presented tailored content to librarians and educators about maximizing their campus’ resources using the budget dollars assigned to them and searching for more fields of funding. This webinar fertilizes the learning ground of educators who desire to grow from a seedling to a beautiful flower. Several librarians registered for a Saturday opportunity thus showing the commitment and dedication librarians have to our profession. During the webinar, librarians shared good comments about their realities in building a collection of books for all patrons. The process of building a collection is not an easy one; acquiring books using district or school policies and procedures, locating books for on level readers as well as finding high interest books for striving readers, and providing teachers books that coincide and extend the subject area curriculum is no small feat.
In the article, The Business of Learning, Fiya Librarian Consulting refers to the “significant work librarians do everyday for students, teachers, families, and the community”; this significant work occurs Monday through Friday on campus with students, but it also often occurs after contract hours each and every day. During the Optimizing Your Budget webinar, a librarian shared that sometimes the seeds planted do not grow because the sun’s heat blazes and scorches the seedlings. When parents, administrators, and sometimes teachers do not understand the role of the librarian and the positive impact on students and learning; the hope for a future harvest may wither.
Our local government’s watchful eye on the process of public education may also stifle our students’ learning, and libraries are included in this narrative. In their efforts to improve the scope and the quality of education, lawmakers’ erroneously legislate the what and the why of instructional materials without the proper how, and unfortunately book resources from the library and classroom have been recently cut down in an attempt to grow student learners. An area of Texas House Bill 900 states that vendors must provide a rating for books that may be deemed “sexually relevant material”, and obviously vendors were not happy with that decision. One point from the School Library: Optimizing Your Budget reiterates librarians “actions advocate”, and librarians must know not only their schools and systems policies and procedures for cultivating a book collection, but now library professionals are required to follow the law for purchasing “sexually relevant materials” and book collections should be open for public review by members of the school community in which learners are blossoming. This is no easy task.
As citizens, you can help, and your help is needed. Be well-informed about the choice lawmakers are making, and how these laws affect your students’ independent reading life, choice learning, and eventual intellectual growth. Discuss with your student what your expectations are for reading materials he or she chooses based on your family’s morals, traditions, and values. Lastly, your school librarian needs your support, not criticism. What does your support look like? Volunteer to shelve books in the library, read aloud a picture book to primary students at your student’s campus, ask to set up library book displays, work at book fairs for a few hours each semester these are excellent actionable items to plant goodwill in the learning partnership between home and school.
When educators attend college, take courses and study for years on how to best educate children, not one graduates with a desire to harm our students; it is the exact opposite: educators dream of changing the learning life of a child and empowering him or her to be the best version of him/herself. One way librarians complete this mission is appropriately using the school’s funding to gain the best books to sow factual information and creative imagination in the ground of students’ minds. Parents and caregivers may also consider connecting with the school librarian and other campus educators regularly to build long lasting professional relationships with school personnel. Let us work together to produce a beautiful bouquet of long lasting learning.
Lighting the way,
Fiya Librarian
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