I started working in my school library just over two years ago, though I taught middle schoolers at the same school for many years before that. Our library has been quite traditional in many ways, and our new director (who started about a year ago) has been steadily making changes and shaking things up, so to speak. It has been a pleasant process for me, as I already felt things were somewhat stale. While reading the assigned texts for the first two modules, I came to further appreciate what my boss is trying to do. A few readings stood out to me from the first two modules, so I’ll focus on those for this blog.
In “Do We Need Libraries?” I found inspiration for rethinking traditional practices, as well as some guidance as to practices that will not help. One particular passage that spoke to me included this quote: “Similarly, computerizing existing library services will result in redundancies that will limit any gains to be made from computerization. There is a need to rethink what services are possible with the new technology, as well as what is no longer needed,” (Denning 2015).
Past leadership of our library had fallen into the trap of providing redundant services digitally (forms for book suggestions, LibGuides full of book lists, etc.). Much of this seems lovely at first, but lead to a cluttered, confusing array of services that simply have not been getting any use for years. This next example doesn’t exactly match up with what the author was saying, but this passage also called to mind our efforts to promote eBooks. I have continually been surprised that eBooks are not more popular with our students. We provide access to Sora, which is definitely more popular among audiobook users. With continued promotion, I hope the eBooks will become more utilized, but so far, it isn’t promising. Our students simply prefer physical books for now.
The five questions the author suggests libraries should ask have given me food for thought. Overall, they promote a user-centered and innovation-minded approach to rethinking services. The first question (“How can we delight out customers?”) requires a lot of innovation and experimentation, I think (Denning 2015). We’ve have found opportunities to delight our patrons in new after-school programming we started offering once per month, for example. We’ve been offering simple crafts and activities, and our students seem to love the engagement. We also started offering unguided activities, such as sensory or building toys in our central space. Right now we have Keva planks (building blocks, essentially) out, and students of all ages are taking so much joy in the communal building experience! I thought it would be fun to offer such activities, but I honestly had no idea the kids would love it so much. I’m looking forward to offering other such activities, and would love suggestions in the comments, if anyone has ideas to offer!
As a new school librarian, I of course took a lot of interest in the article called, “The Hyperlinked School Library…,” (Stephens 2010). One quote that I found personally challenging was, “Today’s teacher librarian (TL) must…be knowledgeable in the emerging world of online social engagement.” At my school, we actually aren’t allowed to use social media for work. We can certainly have personal accounts, and we can “friend” our work friends. But we are not supposed to use our accounts for work, and we are not supposed to “friend” students or use our accounts for the purpose of interacting with them. Now, I actually do not want to share my personal life with my students. I never have. However, I see other school librarians creating social media accounts that they use to promote books to students. I would love to have an account for the library, but we simply aren’t allowed to do this. As an English teacher, I felt quite comfortable with that rule. As a teacher librarian now, I feel interacting with the kids online would help me teach them about social media more meaningfully. I can understand the school’s perspective, particularly as a private school that wants to limit negative interactions online. Also, as a school we utilize technology through classes and encourage students to learn and use various technologies each year. However, those tend to be limited in scope, as they are kept safer and more private. While I value students’ safety, I wonder whether we limit our ability to teach them about safe interactions online by only using such safe and limited platforms and technologies. I love the idea of inviting students to collaborate with the adults in their lives in other, more open spaces, like social media. While it’s incredibly difficult for a large organization to monitor social media activity, and discipline of students involving social media can be tricky, I think they (and we) have much to learn, which can’t be learned without trying.
Overall, I am loving this concept of a hyperlinked library so far. Some concepts are new to me, while others already feel familiar. In general, it feels patron-centered and innovative, which is clearly the best path forward for libraries today.
References:
Denning, S. (2015, April 28). Do we need libraries? Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2015/04/28/do-we-need-libraries/?linkId=13831539&utm_campaign=ForbesTech&utm_channel=Technology&utm_medium=social&utm_source=TWITTER&sh=579a47786cd7
[Image of Keva plank structure]. STEM Supplies. https://stem-supplies.com/keva-maple-plank-sets
Stephens, M. (2010). The hyperlinked school library: engage, explore, celebrate. Tame the Web. https://tametheweb.com/2010/03/02/the-hyperlinked-school-library-engage-explore-celebrate/
Stephens, M. (2016). Hyperlinked librarianship: Attentive, positive, and purposeful change. American Library Association. https://www.dropbox.com/s/gc9ecokb972xgil/HeartofLibrarianship.pdf?dl=0
Emily – Thanks for all you shared here. This: ” I would love to have an account for the library, but we simply aren’t allowed to do this.” Here is where I want to say I really hope that can change. I also think that the school library can have a social media account that does not impact the privacy of any or any of the other issues that may be swirling around this ban on social media in the school. Perhaps going forward they’ll be opportunities to share a bit more about things you’ve learned in the program and how it can be very useful to relate to young people in the channels that they might expect you to inhabit.
@michael I agree! I am really hoping we will be allowed to engage through social media accounts down the road. It’s less of a privacy issue and more an issues of controlling and curating the school’s image. In any case, I hope we’ll be allowed to at some point!
I sure hope so!!!
Hello Emily @emyer,
I liked the point you made in your blog, especially the one about e-books. I work in a law school library and see that our students need many books and resources for their classes, most of which are physical in nature. A couple of years ago, our library purchased licenses to a couple of digital libraries that provide supplements that prove to be useful for their classes. Even though these digital libraries provide multiple options and editions to these supplemental resources, most of our students are unaware that these services are available to them, and the ones who know would rather have the physical book. It can be kind of frustrating to know that a library has services and resources that are not being utilized, but that is where we come in. We need to be able to spot what is not working and take the initiative to advocate for change, whether they are “breakthrough, paradigm-shifting, transformative, and disruptive ideas,” as Brian Mathews states in his article “Think like a Start-Up, ” or fundamental changes to existing services that our users would like to see.
Keep fighting the good fight about social media interaction with students. Sooner or later, the school will come around and will see its importance as a networking and collaboration tool for education.
-Derek