If school librarians are on the Titanic ...

When I visited the Colorado Library Association conference last fall, one of my big take-aways was just how influential and necessary state-level leadership is to school libraries. Unfortunately, we in Minnesota lost our library specialist in the DOE many years ago and while trying its hardest, the state school media association has never really been able to pick up the slack.

The e-mail below reminds me to renew my commitment to restoring the state school library consultant here in Minne-so-duh.

Greetings-

I follow you all via blogs or twitter ..., and wanted to let you know of an advocacy initiative we’ve launched here in CO for all school librarians (regardless if they belong to our state organization or not (membership is down due to all the layoffs; we are hopeful that a culture or inclusion will also result in increased membership.)  But, this advocacy site is less about membership rather than helpful leadership strategies for our librarians to advocate and show how we impact student achievement.  Below is what we sent out.  I am letting some of my personal learning network partners know about this to either spread the word or use as tips or opportunities for your own states/districts.

Thanks for always helping me grow, and let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Becky Russell, MLS |Library/21st C. Skills Specialist | Colorado Department of Education |303.866.6772 | russell_b@cde.state.co.us

School Librarians Teach 21st Century Skills

“If school librarians are on the Titanic, is it business as usual?  We hope you just answered "NO!" and, with that premise in mind, we (CO Assoc. of School Libraries) have created a new advocacy website for ALL school librarians.  Whether you are a CASL member or not, could you please take 1-2 minutes to read the information and request below?  We want to keep our students (and school librarians) afloat, and we feel the following will help.

WEBSITE INFO:  We have launched a great new website to help school librarians advocate in a positive manner for our students and our school libraries.  The CASL Survive and Thrive website provides tools to educate and inform stakeholders about the vital and irreplaceable role that school librarians play in teaching and learning.  

In order to better communicate to our community members (both educators and non-educators) what “21st century skills” are all about, CASL developed “taglines” for the 21st century skills of the Colorado Academic Standards.  On the site, you will find message templates (sample e-mails, letters, newsletter blurbs, brochures, and even videos) containing  the taglines and targeting specific stakeholder audiences in order to promote school librarians as 21st century skills experts. Here is the web address:

https://sites.google.com/site/caslsurvive/

REQUEST:   Our request?  Regardless of whether or not you are a CASL member, could you commit to communicating to one of these stakeholders each month?  For instance, consider e-mailing or calling one parent this month to let him or her know about a 21st century skill that you witnessed with his or her child in the l library.  Or, could you send a 2-3 sentence e-mail to your principal to let him or her know of a collaborative success over the past month or two?  Could you use the brochure example as a template for your school board?  

These are just a few of the many suggestions you'll find at the "Survive and Thrive" website.  And, this is a dynamic website.  So, if you have additional suggestions or examples for us to upload, please let me or any CASL members know.  We must band together in these tough times to let non-librarians know the significant impact school librarians have on our children and their future.  Please forward this website to as many librarians as possible!!!”