BFTP: Do school librarians have "enduring values"?

From the introduction to The Indispensable Librarian

Do school librarians have "enduring values?"

Before you continue reading this book on managing an effective school library program, it's only fair to ask if libraries, library programs, and librarians will around long enough to make such a reading worth your time. Quite frankly, it's a difficult but extremely important question. And my answer is definitely yes…

If.

We already know we need to adapt to changes in technology. We already know we need to be more accountable about the impact of our programs. We already know that we will need to spend time on effective advocacy and developing broad ownership of the library program. We know that our physical facilities will evolve, our areas of expertise will change, the format of our collections will become more diverse, and our libraries’ services will be different each year.

So a second question then comes up: Will our libraries be so changed from what we now consider libraries will they still continue to be called libraries. And my answer is definitely yes…

If, we maintain the core values that will transcend the specifics of library programming.

Just as technology was starting to have a major impact on libraries, long-time academic librarian and past ALA president Michael Gorman identified these as enduring central or "core" values of librarianship (Gorman, 2000):

1. Stewardship
2. Service
3. Intellectual Freedom
4. Rationalism
5. Literacy and learning
6. Equity of access to recorded knowledge and information
7. Privacy
8. Democracy

Are these core values still held by practicing school librarians? Are there other common central beliefs that define us as librarians? When I describe my own professional core values as a librarian, I include:

1. Every child should have access to as diverse number of opinions as possible and be allowed to drawn his or her own personal conclusions about the world. The library program’s primary educational role is teaching children to think, not simply to memorize or believe.
2. Every child's interests, learning style and abilities should be respected. Skills are best taught in a personal context.
3. Every child’s preference in information format should be respect, both as an information consumer and producer. Information in all formats should be treated equally.
4. Every child’s privacy must be honored and protected. It is our role to help children protect their own privacy.
5. The ability to find, evaluate, organize, synthesize and communicate information is a basic skill for every child.
6. Reading skills are best developed through voluntary free reading on topics of personal interest to students. Students must be intrinsically motivated to read and to learn.
7. Every child should have access to a place in a school where he or she is comfortable, valued, safe and can learn with other students.
8. Every child is must be taught the skills and sensibilities of digital citizenship.
9. The library’s primary function is to be of service to children – directly and through other educational programs. Our success is a reflection of how successful we make others.
10. The skills taught and resources provided by the library program are critical to a free society. 

As some schools replace librarians with clerks or "technology integration specialists" - or no one at all, my greatest concern is that these values will be lost. Who will fight for information access for all students? Who will fight for intellectual freedom? Who will be concerned about the privacy rights of students and faculty? Who will insist that information literacy is right of every child? Yes, there are teachers who value these things, but for how many teachers, unlike librarians, are they their primary mission?

Now and in the future, the physical room, the title of the person running it, or the kinds of resources provided will not matter. I will know I am in a library when it is run by a librarian.

Gorman, Michael Our Enduring Values: Librarianship in the 21st Century, Chicago: American Library Association, 2000. Gorman

So readers, what values have I missed?

Original post January 7, 2012.

What expertise do we lose without school librarians?

As a school librarian at a small K-12 district in Illinois, Angela K. is at the center of a battle of extremes in educational technology and student privacy.

On one side, her district is careful and privacy-conscious when it comes to technology, with key administrators who take extreme caution with ID numbers, logins, and any other potentially identifying information required to use online services. On the other side, the district has enough technology “cheerleaders” driving adoption forward that now students as young as second grade are using Google’s G Suite for Education.

In search of a middle ground that serves students, Angela is asking hard, fundamental questions. “We can use technology to do this, but should we? Is it giving us the same results as something non-technological?” Angela asked. “We need to see the big picture. How do we take advantage of these tools while keeping information private and being aware of what we might be giving away?”

School librarians are uniquely positioned to navigate this middle ground and advocate for privacy, both within the school library itself and in larger school- or district-wide conversations about technology. Often, school librarians are the only staff members trained as educators, privacy specialists, and technologists, bringing not only the skills but a professional mandate to lead their communities in digital privacy and intellectual freedom. On top of that, librarians have trusted relationships across the student privacy stakeholder chain, from working directly with students to training teachers to negotiating with technology vendors.

A School Librarian Caught in the Middle of Student Privacy Extremes  DeepLinks Blog, Electronic Freedom Foundation, February 8, 2017

Gennie Gebhart does a fantastic job of describing the role of the school librarian in helping educators understand and follow best practices on student privacy issues. (Please, please, please read the whole article - one of the most informed pieces on the issues of student privacy I've read in quite a while.)

Hopefully, your school librarian plays a role like Angela K's in your school. I also hope your librarian is the go-to person on issues related to:

• Intellectual Freedom
• Digital Literacy (finding and evaluating information sources)
• Intellectual Property/Copyright/Fair Use
• Digital Citizenship
• Free Voluntary Reading
• Digital Conversion
• Social Networking
• Personalization of Educational Resources and Materials
• Performance-based Assessment

If you do not have a librarian (or worse yet, have librarian who has refused to evolve along with technology and educational practices), who is the "go-to" person in your building when questions on these topics arise, when new educational resources and practices are considered, when policies and guidelines are written? Who in your school sees the big picture of technology adoption?

Who is your school's guide through the digital jungle?

Google?

Image source

To have influence, show up

Leadership is getting someone to do what they don't want to do, to achieve what they want to achieve. Tom Landry

My friend Jen Hegna from Byron MN, in her Grin and Bear IT blog writes about what she is learning about influence. She discusses a book study on Influencer: the New Science of Leading Change that she is doing with her class on instructional leadership. Based on her summary of the book, I just bought the Kindle and audio versions. (Damn, Amazon gets a lot of my paycheck!)

So I am going to return the favor, Jen, and suggest another book on the same topic that has had a big impact on my thoughts about getting others to do stuff they don't necessarily want to do (per Landry's quote above): Influence: the Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini. First published in 1984 and revised a few time since, Influence to me is still the bible on the topic.

Calling them "weapons of influence," Cialdini devotes chapters to reciprocation, commitment, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity. The book address influence not through the lens of education, but draws examples from everyday life (Why do charities often give you a gift before you even commit to a donation? - The rule of reciprocity - human nature says that we feel compelled to return the favor when given a gift.) Highly readable and quite useful.

One of the "likeability" strategies he suggests is to always attend happy events - awards programs, building openings, any sort of celebration. Even if you have played absolutely no role in the event, go anyway. When others see you repeatedly at happy events, they will subconsciously associate you with happiness, and you will therefore be more likeable.

My experience is that all influence is personal and individual.

All change starts with a single person.

Up your influence game.