Saturday, September 18, 2010

reflective journal: the aasl's 9 common beliefs

Read the 9 Common Beliefs (AASL_Learning_Standards_2007.pdf). Do you agree with them? What concerns you? excites you? is interesting? What questions do you have? How do they relate to current educational paradigms, philosophies, and/or policies?

God bless the AASL. Here’s to the researchers, educators, and librarians who thoughtfully codified these nine beliefs and learning standards. (Incidentally, I’m curious to compare the AASL library standards with those adopted by the California Department of Education this week, to see where they overlap and where they don’t.)

So, yes. The short version is: I’m on board with these common beliefs.

Here’s the longer version:

The AASL’s Common Beliefs strike me as a very pragmatic, thoughtful, forward-thinking collection of tenets that would serve as a useful guide for school library professionals, particularly pre-service librarians. I started my first school library job last week and I am thrilled to have a guide like this as I begin my first foray into this profession.

I like that these beliefs address specific and important components of the LIS realm, but are broad enough to be applied in a variety of contexts. I’m amazed and baffled that while educators across disciplines echo the sentiments of these beliefs and consider them among best practices, our educational system is so focused on discrete skills, standards, and testing, testing, testing. Who’s got time for inquiry? Sheesh.

I was struck by the inclusion of “texts in all formats” in the first belief, Reading is a window to the world. Raising pictures and video to the level of print is appropriate, I think, but potentially controversial. I appreciated also the assertion that reading includes decoding and comprehension of texts, but extends into critical thinking skills too. I like the focus on creating independent learners. It seems to me that a main theme of this document is that today’s students must learn how to reliably and critically evaluate information for themselves. Cultivating an attitude of inquiry and curiosity aids in the development of information literacy, especially when coupled with the technical and technological skills to support that curiosity. The emphasis on equity is an important one, as is the call for teaching ethical behavior. That learning has a social context isn’t a new idea in the world of education, but it was interesting to see this belief reconceptualized and applied to the digital world.

I especially appreciated the last belief: School libraries are essential to the development of learning skills. To me, the breadth of the Common Beliefs is a positive and a potential negative at the same time. That these core ideas could be applied to all aspects of school curricula is a testament to their relevance and usefulness. Inquiry-based learning in a social context is a concept that educators across disciplines can get behind, as are equitable access, ethical behavior, and the development of information literacy and technology skills. It is crucial, though that we as LIS professionals continuously make the case that these types of learning and skill building happen potently in libraries, and we must make sure that they do. In other words, reading books in the classroom isn’t enough, nor is working toward equity in only non-library areas of the curriculum. It seems to me (if my wiki research is any indication), that school librarians must continuously justify their role. The AASL’s Common Beliefs seems like a good way to start.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

reflective journal: library memories

Describe your current understanding of the role and mission of school libraries. What are/have been your experiences with school libraries and how has this colored your understandings of what a school library is and should be?


I remember my elementary school library. It was at a major hallway intersection of the school; we would all walk past it on the way from our classrooms to the multi-purpose room for lunch or gym. Mobiles hung from the ceiling. My fellow classmates and I would sit on the floor, Indian-style, if you please (it was the 70s—we still called it Indian-style), and listen to the books the librarian read. Probably we checked books out as well, but I can’t remember.


In middle school, the library was a secret getaway, a place to practice skulking in corners and to read the current issues of YM and Seventeen, which my friends and I couldn’t believe were allowed in the library, since they weren’t “educational.” Looking up racy words in the dictionary was another fine sport (I was kind of a nerd in middle school).


My high school library was primarily a place to study. Occasionally a teacher would bring us for the librarian’s presentation on research methods. This involved a lot of 3x5 index cards, but nothing else too memorable. It was pre-internet, so there was no irresistible cosmic pull to the computers. By this point, my allegiance was with the public library, where I could take out books about psychology and travel and underwater life and craft projects by the armful.


I realized, during my little trip down school library memory lane, that I have always related to libraries as someone who likes to read. As I have moved into the role of teacher and now school librarian, I encounter kids who love reading, but many reluctant readers as well. When I compare my memories of school libraries as a student with my observations as an adult and teacher, I realize that school libraries present the opportunity for students to relate to the library in their own individual ways. For some students, the library is haven. Others may feel neutral or actively disinterested in the goings-on of the library. I think it’s our job as school librarians to create and promote multiple access points for students (and teachers, and parents) to connect with books and information in ways that are authentic, personalized, and meaningful.


School libraries are unique and vital because, while they can (and should) be an integral component of school life, they exist in a slightly removed realm from the classroom. I feel like students can enter the library on their own turf—with their own interests, seeking information that is personally significant—in a more self-directed way than is sometimes afforded by the classroom. Students who find themselves passively receiving information in class can have the opportunity to actively seek out information in the library. With curriculum becoming ever more standardized, and with teaching becoming increasingly about testing in the interest of leaving no child behind, school libraries can become a territory for exploration, creativity, and the pursuit of individual interests.


To me, libraries are about literacy. Information literacy, media literacy, and good old fashioned book reading literacy. With all of the talk about the internet and Web 2.0 tools and Facebook and schools banishing books from their library, it’s still critical to remember that kids still need to learn to read. They need to be inspired and excited by all forms of the printed (spoken, drawn, sung) word. They need to learn to think critically to evaluate information and make connections. Occasionally they need to skulk in corners and read Seventeen, and make their own memories about what a school library is.