Is it the head or the heart that makes a good librarian?

My friend Jennifer LaGarde writes in On Lost Library Books and the #BestPartofMyDay: 

... I landed at a school where collecting fines and keeping kids from checking out books, if they owed money, was just part of what had always been done, and I eagerly played along. I worked hard, every year, to collect every last dime that was "owed" to the library, and in the process made a lot of kids feel like they weren't welcome or that they were somehow suspect. It took me several years to pluck up the courage to decide I needed a do-over and to reset my circulation policies, so that they were more closely aligned to my core mission of helping students develop rich and authentic reading lives.  

And guess what? The number of books I lost as a result was minimal. I didn't end the year with empty shelves. Here's what happened instead:

• I developed relationships with kids who I would never have gotten to know before, because their debt to the library stood in the way. 
• I changed the library from a place of punishment to one of possibility. 
• I was able to get books in the hands of kids who would have had no reading material otherwise.
• My circulation statistics went WAY up.
• I retired from the role of book police and was promoted to the job of reading champion.
• I slept better at night.

And, ironically, I discovered that for kids who did lose materials, positive relationships are a far better motivator than the threat of not getting their diploma or not being admitted to a school dance. When kids love you and know that you love them, there's very little they won't do in order to not let you down.

If I could have new (or old) librarians read no other advice, Jennifer's words above would be it.

One of the happiest trends in professional reading over the past few years has been the emphasis on the value of and need for personal connections to our students. Knowing someone cares about how well you do in school is a critical for most kids, and too often that concern does not come from the home. It has to come from someone in the school itself.

What I loved about Jennifer's recollection is that the "heart" approach to getting library materials back was more effective than the "head" approach of fines and threats.

I suspect the heart approach works for motivating most adults too. Do your co-workers and those you may supervise know that you care about them and their success? Something I know that I will be thinking about. Thanks, Jennifer.

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