Another wonderful infographic entitled 27 Things Your Teacher Librarian Does is making the rounds of library circles this week. Have you seen it? And it is so true. How many hats do you wear? In any given day, how many different technologies, different teachers, different students, different projects.... do you see, help, work on, teach, problem-solve, etc.? A few years ago, I had the privilege of working with a small group of library colleagues in our Putnam/No.Westchester BOCES School Library System on a Power Point presentation and video about what all happens in our libraries. We were bouncing around ideas one summer day and I offered up the fact that "it all happens in the library" meaning all subject areas are taught/studied in the library, all students and teachers are served by a library program, all manner of skills are practiced in the library - even though we don't teach them ourselves. Our video was part of the AASL advocacy toolkit and we all use(d) it for parent meetings and presentations. With all these great tools, we can arm ourselves for the daunting task of advocating for school librarians, school library programs, and library resources. We would love to hear about your advocacy efforts. What works for you? What additional resources or assistance would be beneficial? Let us know at SLMSSENY.
Here are some other advocacy tools.
Strong School Libraries Build Strong Students an infographic created by the AASL Legislation Committee http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/aaslissues/advocacy/AASL_infographic.pdf
School Library Program Health and Wellness Toolkit (AASL)
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
It's National Library Week! Speak up and speak out about your library, your students, what you do!
This is National Library Week. It is a perfect opportunity to write your legislators and let them know how important libraries are to you and about the positive difference libraries make in your community. Libraries need your voice!
Although they continue to be busier than ever, many libraries struggle to maintain budgets, staff, and resources to serve the needs of their communities. Your message of support is important because state governments provide much needed funding for libraries. Without funding, libraries will be unable to continue making available all the resources they do (e.g., books, public access to the Internet, homework assistance) to your community. Like you, families, job seekers, small businesses, and students need their libraries.
If you agree with Walter Cronkite—“Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an ignorant nation.”—take this opportunity to write now. Your message will make a difference, and your state library association has provided an easy and effective way for you to write your elected officials to let them know how much you value the libraries in your community. Here is that link:
Consider sharing a personal story about how your public, school, or college library makes a positive impact in your own community. For example, let your elected officials know how much your children depend on their school libraries to help them succeed in school, or explain how much you depend on your public library to connect you to information you need.
Please forward this message to your friends, family, and colleagues in your state. Ask them to take this opportunity to support libraries in their communities, too!
Thank you for advocating for libraries and library staff.
Sincerely,
Michael Dowling
Director, Chapter Relations Office
American Library Association
Director, Chapter Relations Office
American Library Association
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)