Party in the Library

To wrap up this series, I interview Nan Davis, school librarian at Lake Murray Elementary School in Lexington, SC.  We chat about the shared foundation of "Curate." Mrs. Davis begins by stressing the importance of knowing the curriculum your school or district uses. Regularly have conversations with teachers and staff to keep open communication so they will be willing to collaborate with you. She states that the resources she uses most frequently are SC DISCUS, Epic, Study SC (part of DISCUS), and Common Sense Media lessons. With my background as a veteran classroom teacher, I know how to find the district curriculum and state standards so I will be able to curate a collection that supports this curriculum by accessing this and keeping in contact with teachers to see what gaps exists. She collaborates with mostly 4th and 5th grade teachers on appropriate ways to use Google. This includes how to evaluate sites, copyright and plagiarism, and how to credit sources. She collabora...

Today I will continue my series where I speak with school librarians and how they incorporate the shared foundations in the AASL standards into their programming. Today's interview is with Merri-Anna Allred, the school librarian at New Providence Elementary School. We examine the shared foundation of "Explore." Mrs. Allred begins by saying that materials should match the school population, but also include other groups. For example, the Indian and Asian populations at her school have been growing so she has been adding materials to reflect that. It is interesting to note that both Mrs. Jorgenson and Mrs. Allred brought this up, even though they focused on different foundations. This is because a strong, diverse collection is vital to be able to support all the AASL standards. When collaborating with teachers, Mrs. Allred takes it on a case-by-case basis. For example, 4th graders were researching the American Revolution and wanted support for students creating a bibliograp...

Today's interview is with Sarah Jorgenson, the school librarian at Carolina Spring Middle School in Lexington, SC. We focus on the shared foundation of "Include" and how she implements this into her library program.  Something that is obvious as soon as you walk into the school library at Carolina Springs Middle School is their commitment to inclusiveness. This is the poster that greets you: I knew that Sarah would be perfect to have a discussion with about the shared foundation of "Include." She begins by discussing that she wants her collection to be reflective of the students she serves, but also reflective of a wide representation of people. I am reminded of Dr. Bishop's phrase of literature being used to serve as windows and mirrors. She wants to make sure her displays reflect this as well. Not only does she feel it's important to make sure the collection is inclusive, but the library space as well. The CSMS library includes different types of seati...

Today will begin a 4-part series of interviews with school librarians. I spoke with four different school librarians about the AASL standards. Each librarian was asked the same questions, but each one focused on a different shared foundation. Today I will be sharing my thoughts and reflections on my interview with Mrs. Debbie Oswald at Lexington High School. I asked her to consider the shared foundation of "Collaborate." Mrs. Oswald says that she incorporates this through creating a faculty newsletter each semester, serving on the Wildcat Leadership team, her weekly meetings with all district high school librarians, her monthly meetings with all district school librarians from all levels, and social media. Resources she uses to collaborate are Google Classroom, Destiny, the school website, Twitter, and Facebook. She creates displays that highlights different authors and genres. She also collaborates with students when they come in for personal inquiry projects. More collabora...