Entries in school library media centers (39)

Monday
Feb162009

School libraries as a "third place"

The third place is a term used in the concept of community building to refer to social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of home and the workplace. - Wikipedia

Coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg in his book A Great Good Place, the term "third place" has come to describe an area for informal social gathering outside of home (first place) and work (second place). Oldenberg suggests such environments are necessary for a healthy society.

A lecture by Constance Steinkuehler introduced me to this term. Steinkuehler's assertion was that online game environments like those in World of Warcraft become third places for the users*. Since I am not a gamer, I more or less forgot the term.

Until I started doing some reading and thinking about library design in the secondary schools. Might, just might, the school library serve as a "third place" for students and staff, especially in locations where other "third places" such as teen-oriented libraries, coffee shops or YMCAs do not exist?

This idea has been explored by public and academic librarians.** Several of the criteria of a third place are evident in how Valerie Diggs transformed her high school library into what she calls a "learning commons***."

What are some of the characteristics of the third place? Oldenburg writes:

"The character of a third place is determined most of all by its regular clientele and is marked by a playful mood, which contrasts with people's more serious involvement in other spheres. Though a radically different kind of setting for a home, the third place is remarkably similar to a good home in the psychological comfort and support that it extends…They are the heart of a community's social vitality, the grassroots of democracy, but sadly, they constitute a diminishing aspect of the American social landscape."

Chiarella describes her attempt to create a third place atmosphere in her public library:

We are working to encourage a teen presence at the library in a number of ways. We have a “Teen Zone” section of Youth Services dedicated to teen (grades 7 through 12) fiction, a non-fiction browsing section, manga, graphic novels, music CDs, magazines, and teen-oriented DVDs. We are planning to expand our regular book displays to periodic “issue” displays featuring books and take-home literature on teen pregnancy, teen drinking, drugs, eating disorders, etc. We have tables/chairs and soft rocker-type chairs in the Teen Zone where teens can hang out with friends. Computers are close by and are available to all students under 17.

Yes, yes, I also understand that school libraries have a serious academic mission. And that one runs the risk of trivializing the school library program if efforts to create a social environment overshadow its educational role.

Is there a happy medium? Might the school library be the third place outside of regular school hours? Might some sections of the library be third place "zones"?

A comment by a student many years ago (and to which I often refer) has stuck by me - that the school library was his "home away from home." Schools do have the societal charge of helping teach social skills to students. Might actively working to make school libraries the students' third place do this?

________________________________________

* Steinkuehler, C. & Williams, D. (2006). Where everybody knows your (screen) name: Online games as “third places.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(4), article 1.

** From the NSLS website:

*** Loertscher, The New Learning Commons Where Learners Win! Reinventing School Libraries and Computer Labs.

Monday
Feb022009

Minnesota's aging school library collections

Hard hitting investigative reporting:

Books on disco dancing from the 1970s. On computer graphics from the 1980s.
Where did we find them? Your local school library. How did these collections get so old?

From “KSTP/TV” at: <http://kstp.com/article/stories/S763319.shtml?cat=1> (Go to URL for link to video of broadcast).

This five minute clip, an over generalization of the status of school library print collections, is probably pretty accurate. Our last school library survey (2004) indicated an average copyright date of 1985 for books in Minnesota school libraries. We are almost to the point that African schools will be sending their discarded materials to us.

The automatic assumption is that the reason for aged collections is a lack of funding. It's actually more complicated than that.

  • Every school school has the funds to maintain a first rate library collection. Now the school may not choose to expend its funds to do so, but it has the funds. Budget always reflect priorities. (Budgeting for Lean Mean Times) Poor budgets do not reflect a lack of money, but a lack of advocacy for the budget line item. Sorry, that's the way it is.
  • Old collections demonstrate a lack of professionalism as much as a lack of funding. It costs nothing except an hour or so a week to weed out old materials. Each week pick one section of bookcase and look at each book. If it is less than ten years old or has been checked out within the last three years, keep it. If not, toss it. Dump duplicate copies unless popular. Toss anything that is worn-out.
  • Yes, logic would have it that schools without professional school librarians are more likely to have dated collections. I wish I could make that statement with more confidence than I feel.
  • Full shelves of worthless books are much, much worse than half or three-quarter empty shelves. See Weed! and Weeding the Neglected Collection. I can state with confidence that your book budget will increase after a comprehensive collection weeding.
  • And put yourself in your students' position for a moment. Which would prefer using - a shiny new computer or an aged, nasty book?

As a profession, we librarians need to stop viewing the book as a holy object. Discarding Preparing for Jobs of the 80s is not the same as censorship. Like cornflakes, baby aspirin, and even the Kennedy political family, books have a shelf life that needs to be observed.

Start weeding today.

Wednesday
Oct012008

First year goals for a library program


From an LM_Net post this morning:
Dear Great Brain, [this was addressed to the collective brain that is LM_Net, not me. But you guessed that.]

I need to write up my goals for the year and give them to my principal. I have a few general ideas such as collaborating with teachers as much as possible, becoming a good resource for them, teaching students to use the databases, starting a lunch time book club, and decorating the library with student art. If you could send me any other ideas that seem reasonable for a first year in high school it would be much appreciated...I love creative ideas.


Diane

Hmmm, I personally get asked this question at least a couple times a year. Below is my standard response to which I can now refer when the question comes up again. Ain't blogs wonderful...

Dear Diane and other LMSs new to the profession or a school:

My advice is based on Johnson's Three Commandments of a Successful Library Program:

  1. Thou shall develop shared ownership of the library and all it contains.
  2. Thou shall have written annual objectives tied directly to school and curriculum goals and bend all thy efforts toward achieving them.
  3. Thou shall take thy light out from under thy damn bushel and share with others all the wonders thou doest perform.

Pretty good, huh? What do you think the job of biblical prophet pays nowadays?

These would be my goals for my first year at a school:

  1. Establish a formal library advisory committee comprised of teachers, parents, and students. And the building administrator if his/her leadership style is collaborative, not dictatorial. (See Advisory Advice.) Oh, get on your building's improvement committee/leadership team ASAP.)
  2. Work with this committee to establish collaboratively-created goals and a good budget. You may wish to conduct a library survey and do a collection evaluation to give direction to these goals. (See tools here for examples.)
  3. Quickly establish a formal communication plan with four main audiences: your students, your staff, your principal and your parents. (See Using Planning and Reporting to Build Program Support)

While I applaud you for wishing to do individual collaborative projects with teachers immediately, do not neglect a long-term, systematic approach to developing a program that has buy-in by the entire staff.  You need a school culture that values and uses the library's program and resources, not just a few enthusiastic teachers. Be strategic!

Good luck and let me know how things go!

Doug

PS. This probably not all that bad of advice for technology integration specialists starting out either.

Blue Skunk readers - Your advice for first year goals???