What does a good library tell you about a school?

Thank you Governor Walz and Lt Governor Flanagan for recognizng the important role school library media specialists play in building great schools!
 

What does a good library tell you about a school? (from School Libraries Head for the Edge.)

Had I any say in the decision, my grandsons would attend only the very best schools. And in order to qualify as a “best school,” the educational institution would need a darn good library program – one that has professional and support staff, up-to-date materials in a generous quantity, an articulated information/ technology literacy curriculum, a modern physical facility, and lots of up-to-date technology. 

As it turns out, I am not the only person who feels this way about the importance of good libraries. The general public understands this as well. ALA’s 2010 The State of Amercia’s Libraries <http://tinyurl.com/stateamlib> reported:

School libraries ... receive good grades in national surveys, which indicate that 96-plus percent of Americans feel they are an essential part of the education experience because they provide resources to students and teachers and because they give every child the opportunity to read and learn.

Why do nearly 100% of American’s support libraries?  Because you can tell a lot about a school's general philosophy of education - in practice, not just in lip service - by what sort of library it supports. 

Most of us who have been in education for awhile can very quickly sense what a school values within ten minutes of walking in the door. I love it when I see open classroom doors and hear friendly greetings; view student work posted in the hallways; observe fresh paint and litter-free hallways; and notice lots of adult volunteers. Even more than the curriculum, faculty credentials, school awards, or (especially) test scores, an open, inviting climate is the sign of a “successful” school. 

Too often, the most telling signs of a successful school goes unrecognized.  A good library program is a clear signal that the school:

1. Believes education is about teaching kids how to ask and answer questions, not just know the "right" answers and that asking good questions is a sign of intelligence, not stupidity.

2. Believes kids should have access to a diversity of topics and points-of-view and be taught the skills to make informed opinions of their own. This should be as important to every parent, regardless of political affiliation.

3. Believes kids' personal interests are legitimate areas of investigation and that curiosity is a trait worth cultivating. Kids who won’t read novels may well read books and magazines devoted to cars, video games or sports.

4. Believes it is as important to create kids who want to read as to simply create kids who can read and that everyone should read for pleasure. Whether the reading is done in books, magazines or online, fiction or factual, long works or short, all reading is respected and valued.

5. Believes access to good fiction collections of both contemporary novels and classics helps kids meet critical developmental tasks and that reading fiction builds the capacity for empathy.

6. Believes kids should be content creators and content sharers as well as content consumers. The skills, guidance and equipment to make movies, websites or audio casts is a critical function of our best library programs.

7. Believes it is important to have more research skills than simply being able to Google a topic - and that it is important to have a professional who teaches those skills. Good librarians teach discrimination, organization and synthesis skills - not just how to create footnotes.

8. Believes high quality commercial sources of information should be available to all kids regardless of economic level. While there is a good deal of information available at no cost. much of it has a commercial bias, may be incomplete, and lack authority. Good databases and online reference materials cost money - just like print.

9. Believes technology use in education is about creativity, problem-solving and communications, not just drill and practice.

10. Believes learning occurs in lots of places, not just in the classroom and that learning takes place outside school hours. Good libraries are open before and after school, during lunch time, and when students have study periods. And really good libraries are “open” virtually, 24/7

11. Believes kids, like adults, sometimes need a "third place" that is neither the classroom nor home where they feel welcome, comfortable and productive. Good libraries recognize that learning is often social in physical spaces as well as online.

12. Believes life-long learning applies to adults as well as to children. An important role of the librarian is teaching teachers new skills and new resources.

I wonder how many districts’ promotional materials - those glossy fliers and pamphlets meant to convince parents of the quality of their schools - brag about good libraries? Such information might be convincing - at least to 96% of them. 

Photo fate

 

Being home-bound has led a lot of people to tackle those "round-to-it" projects they've been putting off - often for years. I am no exception.

While I am a good minimizer with no heaps of boxes or bags of unused clothes or appliances or whatever else people tend to accumulate in my home or garage, there is the closet in my guest room that has needed weeding and organizing for quite some time. Besides old scrapbooks, family history documents, legal papers, electronic odds and ends, and my children's/grandchildren's artwork, it contains a lot of photographs. The old kind. The ones printed on paper. You know, back in the pre-digital era.

These photos can be broadly lumped into three separate categories:

Old photos from 1900 to 1970. My grandparents and their siblings. My parents in their younger days. And my siblings and I in our own childhoods. Mostly black and white. Some of old relatives whose names are now lost to time. (Examples in this post.)

Photos given to me from 1970 on, not taken by me. Professional photos, school photos, shared snapshots, old Christmas cards, and those of just plain mysterious origin. 

Photos I have personally taken from 1970 through about 2001. Trips, family gatherings, celebrations, lots of photos of children, grandchildren - the normal photo album content.

Questions with which I am struggling include:

• What do I keep and what do I toss? When I converted my travel slides to digital, I converted only those that had people I recognized in them.
• Do all these photos need to be scanned? If I scan, them do I need to keep the paper copy?
• Do all these photos need some kind of tag or annotation? Dates and names at least.
• If I keep the physical copy, how do I organize and store them so they won't deteriorate?
• Should I keep these photos, or give them to my children and siblings now so they don't have to worry about this stuff when I croak? (Not that I am planning to do so anytime soon.)

One big reason I know that I've been procrastinating about dealing with these photos is that reviewing them will carry an emotional toll as well.  Children grow up. Grandparents and parents die. Romantic loves fade. Friends grow apart. One has to ask what one could have done to have made all the happy, but transitory parts of a person's life permanent. What if I had made different choices? When have I failed others and when have I done right by them? When did I take the easy path rather than the right path?

Old photos are a reminder of the vivid impermanence of life is so undeniable. The old bromide about not crying because it's over, but smiling because it happened is a weak tonic for true sadness. 

Old photos? What is your plan?

Rules for idiots, scofflaws, and science-deniers

 

We are blessed in the southern metro area of the Twin Cities of Minnesota to have an abundance of parks. Literally dozens of city parks, county parks, regional parks, and state parks are less than a 45 minute drive from my home. Walks around lakes, ponds, streams, and rivers on dirt paths, board walks, and hard surface trails accommodate many types of walkers. If you feel like adding a few hills to your workout, they're easy to find. Want a flat stroll around a lake, no problem. How about a scramble up a bluff fo a dramatic view of the Mississippi? No one needs to get bored doing the same-old, same-old tired route around here.

During the pandemic "shelter-in-place" orders, the popularity of every park in which I hike has increased dramatically, especially during the week. Families with small children, trail runners, birdwatchers, and backpack wearers all use the trails. The closing of work places, restaurants, stores, movie theaters, etc. has not left just a hell of a lot of things to except get outside. Mother Nature has even teased ys with a few pleasant days in the 50's and 60's.

Happily, with exception of a few boardwalks over marshy areas, the parks are big enough and trails wide enough that allowing a 6+ foot distance between you and the potential Typhoid Mary/Mike you are passing is not a problem. The vast majority of park users are polite, deferential, and do their best to honor the recommendations of the state to maintain distances and not gather in groups. 

Most. But even in Minnesota we have our share of idiots, scofflaws, and science-deniers. 

So government officials are removing the basketball hoops in our local parks. Beaches are closed for the summer already. Golf courses are not open. I worry that the entirety of our large, open parks will be next because the morons will continue to be a health risk to themselves and others.

I get the need for caution. I don't want to be either the victim or the perpetrator of a COVID-19 transmission. But I also want (and need) the mental and emotional health that my treks in nature help me maintain. But somehow I don't think closing the parks will add much safety to our environment. See Plato's observation above.