Deborah Wells-Clinton: Libraries in international schools

Value of School Libraries

Sun, 22 Feb 2004 12:46:35 GMT

Well-stocked, staffed school libraries boost FCAT scores, UCF research shows. An Anonymous Patron writes to share this article:
Students at schools with well-staffed libraries that circulate the most books and have the most computers outperform their peers on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, according to research at the University of Central Florida. FCAT scores, the state's primary measure of student achievement, were 20 percent higher in 2000-01 in reading at high schools that employed at least one full-time professional librarian and the equivalent of one other full-time library employee, UCF education professor Donna Baumbach concluded in her "Making the Grade" report. FCAT scores also were highest at elementary and middle schools with well-staffed libraries. [LISNews.com]
There are so many of these studies out there now, but it's as if no one reads them except the school librarians. It's hard to believe that legislators and school administrators continue to ignore this kind of data. Are there similar studies that show the effects of low student/computer ratios? Is that where the money goes, instead of into buying library books and hiring school librarians?

Encouraging International Education

Thu, 12 Feb 2004 18:45:52 GMT

Just Launched, Global Gateway for Educators
From the site, "The Global Gateway is a new international website, enabling those involved in education across the world to engage in creative partnerships. It is a one-stop shop, providing quick access to comprehensive information on how to develop an international dimension to education." A bit more in this article. [ResourceShelf]
This is a site with lots of possiblities, and a good effort by the UK government.

School Librarians Needed

Tue, 09 Dec 2003 10:32:41 GMT

Information overload. Sad news out of Indiana where they say finding a librarian in Indiana school libraries is getting more and more difficult. As more information than ever is available to students via the Internet, fewer people are on staff at schools to help students make sense of it. A shortage of both funding and personnel for school libraries is affecting the way students learn to find and use information, but it's the lack of certified teacher librarians that has local library educators worried. [LISNews.com]
If I read this correctly, even if there were plenty of certified teacher librarians around, the school districts couldn't afford to hire them. Sounds like a vicious cycle, with the kids as the ultimate losers.

Hospitality in the Library

Sun, 07 Dec 2003 13:28:36 GMT

Librarians try puttin' on the Ritz [The Palm Beach Post] [Library Link of the Day]
I have a dear friend and mentor, Sandra Gamal, who was the first one to get me to really think about the library in terms of service and hospitality. We worked together in a large, K-12, international school library with a large staff. At one point we even asked a volunteer consultant from the business world to help us look at our operation, including our layout, signs, and general atmosphere, from a service perspective. The article above reminded me of that experience. After I had moved away, Sandra sent me the "Code of Service" that the library staff adopted and that included statements such as "We will welcome and assist each member of the CAC community in an inviting manner" and "We will give precedence to serving library patrons over accomplishing library technical tasks."
Thanks, Sandra!

This is news?

Sun, 07 Dec 2003 13:04:11 GMT

LibrarianTeacher Partnership Key to Student Success. The Appoquinimink School District (DE) has begun promoting librarian-teacher collaboration to increase the academic performance of its students, taking a clue from numerous studies that demonstrate the benefits of such programs. Instead of students going to the library for small periods of time for library instruction, the schools' libraries will be open all the time, as classroom extensions, with lessons co-led by librarians and teachers. Despite the obvious benefits, there are issues with money, scheduling, staffing and implementing a new way. More information here from the News Journal Online. [LISNews.com]It seems so sad and frustrating to me that the ideas of teacher/librarian collaboration and flexible school library scheduling are still so novel to many people that they warrent a news article.

About School Libraries

Sat, 22 Nov 2003 14:35:05 GMT

School Library Perspectives. DEH writes ""More than Just a Pretty Face: and other observations on school libraries and teacher-librarianship" is the title of a webpage created by Donald Hamilton, formerly Education Librarian at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. The page offers a collection of short pithy provocative pieces that appeared in several journals over the past decade. They are offered without charge, to the field for any educational purpose. Check out the classic "Inventory: Folly or Fancy?" that has been reprinted many times. You will find the page at members.shaw.ca/donaldhamilton " [LISNews.com]

School Libraries Suffering

Thu, 13 Nov 2003 10:28:28 GMT

Quebec: School Libraries need more Money. From the article, "A coalition of librarians, writers and educators sounded the alarm yesterday over the dismal state of school libraries in Quebec. Because funding has been reduced to a trickle, many school libraries in the province are turning into stagnant pools of unused knowledge, and school librarians are close to becoming extinct, said Jocelyne Dion, president of the Coalition for School Libraries." [ResourceShelf]
Sigh.

School Library Standards

Wed, 22 Oct 2003 10:25:08 GMT

Achieving Information Literacy: Standards for School Library Programs in Canada. Achieving Information Literacy: Standards for School Library Programs in Canada is a new publication from the Canadian Library Association, billed rather oddly as "the exciting new document that Canada's teacher librarians, school administrators, school districts, and Provincial Ministries have been waiting for."... [Information Literacy Weblog]

Beyond the Net

Fri, 03 Oct 2003 22:33:08 GMT

Catching up on some reading, I just came across a good article by Marylaine Block in LMC, called "Getting Students Beyond the Net."

Lectures by grownups won't convince students that there's more to information than the Internet. For one thing, they won't believe us, because they're convinced they know more about the Net than we do. They haven't yet learned the distinction between the delivery system (the technology), which librarians may or may not understand very well, and the deliverable (information), which we do understand. Students don't realize that because librarians understand how knowledge is organized, we can head directly toward the best source for the answers, once we have clarified what the question is (a step students often leave out).

Block gives examples of how to allow students to discover the limitations of the Internet on their own while providing librarian support and help. She also provides a pie chart that illustrates information sources, of which the internet is only one small piece. This would be a good graphic to show students. Good article!

Research Library Union Catalog

Fri, 03 Oct 2003 19:37:11 GMT

RLGs RedLightGreen Project. David Dillard writes "Posted to NetGold, a review of a powerful new web based free public access database of monographic titles from RLG named RedLightGreen. The full message can be seen at this URL including a sample search with some of the resulting citations from that search shown."

I suggest that all within the sound of this message hike over to this database and give it a test drive. It would be hard for me to come up with enough superlatives to describe the value of this research tool.

...." [LISNews.com]
This could be a valuable tool for our high school students, especially those working on their IB extended essays. I have previously sent them to OCLC's WorldCat, but this seems as though it might be more focussed, in the sense that it is just research support materials.
Gary over at ResourceShelf has some words about this catalog as well.

Graphic Novels 101

Fri, 03 Oct 2003 15:58:23 GMT

A friend forwarded a message from the AISL mailing list with information about this excellent site put together by one of the librarians at the Bunn Library of the Lawrenceville School. The site covers all the aspects of graphic novels that I have had questions about as they have become more and more popular in the last couple of years. We have several on order right now, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the students like them. Our good-sized collection of "bandes dessinées" in French is well-used, and comics are a popular art form here in Belgium.

Wed, 01 Oct 2003 11:54:56 GMT

Learning communities and learning networks.

Courses are artifacts of a learning model that is becoming obsolete. Courses work in an environment when knowledge/information is fairly static and developing slowly. The more rapidly information develops, the more quickly courses cease to serve the needs of learners. The information is outdated before the ink is dry.

.... As much as society and technology have changed, it seems odd that how we learn is still modeled on an environment that no longer exists. I think we are at the beginning stages of rapidly accelerating adoption of (and creation of tools and methodologies for) communities and learning networks.

[elearnspace blog]
This might sound a little extreme, and it is talking about higher education, but I think it has definite implications for secondary education as well.

International Education Indicators

Tue, 30 Sep 2003 11:47:40 GMT

Just launched, International Education Indicators Website
From the site, "This site provides indicators compiled from NCES international publications and is organized by the following subject areas: Context of Education; Preprimary and Primary Education; Secondary Education; Higher Education; and, Education and the Labor Force. The indicators include comparisons between the United States and other industrialized nations with large economies - particularly those that are viewed as our major economic competitors, for example, the Group of Eight (G8) countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States. NCES will continually update the indicators as new data becomes available." [ResourceShelf]

Award Winners From Across the Globe

Mon, 29 Sep 2003 12:05:57 GMT

Award Winning Kids Lit. Database of Award-Winning Children's Literature Over 4000 records from 50 children's literature awards from the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. What a collection of resources!... [Kids Lit]
It was good to get a reminder of this site. In our international setting we especially appreciate the inclusion of award-winners from outside the U.S. We keep looking for awards given in non-English-speaking countries as well.

Another one showing the sad state of US school libraries

Sat, 27 Sep 2003 21:08:55 GMT

Parents do the booking. Anna writes "The parents of students at Doherty Middle School in Andover (MA) have stepped in to help keep the library open. The hours of the school librarian, who has been in the Andover school system as a librarian for over 40 years, have been cut down to four per week, so parent volunteers are filling in the gaps to provide an adult presence and someone to check the books in and out." [LISNews.com]
...and from Andover, no less, that well-to-do town on the right side of the tracks. From my perspective on the other side of the ocean it seems very ironic that libraries in schools are being gutted when research is showing more and more clearly that school libraries have a huge impact on learning.

The Measure of a Great School Library

Sat, 27 Sep 2003 20:50:06 GMT

New trend in high school libraries. Katie writes "From the Lynnfield, MA North Shore Sunday: "The Booking Process - A new facility at St. John's Prep has set the standard for high school libraries. But are such posh digs a pipe dream for the state's public schools? More... (Note: may have to select city/paper to view.)" [LISNews.com]
The librarians interviewed for this story agree that it's the people resources as much if not more than the building, books and technology, that make a great school library.

Censorship Isn't the Answer

Fri, 29 Aug 2003 12:00:54 GMT

Childrens book steps on minefield. "A Little Piece Of Ground," by Elizabeth Laird is the target of a censorship campaign. Groups pressure the publisher to reconsider putting out the novel. [ Toronto Star article] The campaign appears to have originated with a letter written by the co-owner of two children's bookstores in Vancouver. Before the book was released this month, Phyllis Simon, co-owner of Kidsbooks, requested MacMillan UK to reconsider sending out the "damaging book." [LISNews.com]

I really liked Laird's "Kiss the Dust," which could also be considered a one-sided view of an international crisis. There are plenty of books that do the same. If we are teaching our children to think and read critically, it doesn't matter. It does matter if one or the other side of a story never gets told.

After School Kids

Sat, 23 Aug 2003 14:17:38 GMT

Kids.

Now that school has started, a new pattern emerges. Rather than a steady stream of kids all day, we have near silence for the whole morning. By 4 PM, it's sheer madness with kids running in and out the door, up and down the stairs and creating havoc wherever they go. We have no choice but to badger these kids over and over again, telling them "you need to find something to do," "please don't block the staircase," "only one person to a computer." And we have to talk to the same kids over and over again. It doesn't calm down until after 7 PM, by which point I'm exhausted and tired of confrontation.

These children, who frequent the library between 3:00 and 7 daily, will henceforth be known as ASYLUMS: After-School Youth Left Under My Supervision. I like using the term ASYLUMS as it reminds me that libraries are often the safest place for kids to be after school, such that I shouldn't be hasty to drive them out of the library when they aren't behaving appropriately. But still, it'll happen. These kids will push and push, testing the envelope of tolerance. One trick that I find is working well - find out their names. No child likes to be called out, especially amongst their peers.

[Open Stacks]

School hasn't started for us yet, but I'm looking forward (?) to the same phenomena in our school library. Of course we're also busy all day, unlike this librarian in a public library, but this year we've expanded our after-school time to be two hours past the end of school. I really want the kids to come and use the place, but I hope we can keep the chaos to a minimum.
ASYLUMS is a great acronym.

Don't forget the books

Sat, 23 Aug 2003 14:04:44 GMT

Book? What are those?.

Hope Viner Samborn writes:

"Many young lawyers believe they can find all the law they need online, just by entering a few search terms. But top legal researchers know better."

"The best research is done in a combination of electronic and print resources," says Judith Ambler, head of research services and computer-assisted legal research coordinator for the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals library. "If you neglect the print sources, you will not do the most efficient and complete research." (via Law-Lib) [Library Stuff]
This is true in almost every area of research, not just law, and it's a message I am constantly trying to get across to the middle and high school students I work with. At the same time I find myself subscribing to more and more online sources, may of which are just digital versions of the old standby print reference works. Question to self: Am I undermining my own message? Not if I continue to keep a good basic reference collection and a good, broad non-fiction collection, and if I keep demonstrating the message -- here's a good BOOK that gives you great information.

European Perspective

Sun, 17 Aug 2003 23:12:25 GMT

Information Literacy in Europe. A comprehensive review article about information literacy in Europe has been published in the current issue of Information Research . Virkus, S. (2003) "Information literacy in Europe: a literature review." Information Research, 8 (4). http://informationr.net/ir/8-4/paper159.html. [Information Literacy Weblog]
The article referred to in this post has some very good quotes that would be useful to anyone needing an overview of the importance of information literacy in today's world. (Does anyone need to prove that importance any more?) I'm interested in this article because of the European perspective, since Europe is where I live right now. I need to deal with my prejudices and stereotypes that have only recently allowed me to acknowledge that good work in my field is coming out of Australia. What chauvintists we Americans tend to be!

Fri, 01 Aug 2003 16:48:07 GMT

Morphing into a Cybrary?. From Tech-Learning Magazine - the story of the transformation of a school library into a technology-infused "cybrary"... [Education Librarian]
Hmmm. Good article, but I always cringe at non-librarians taking over libraries. Sorry, can't help it. This one has some good ideas and a good attitude, though.

Save a Tree

Thu, 31 Jul 2003 22:53:20 GMT

Libraries seek to close the book on paper wasters. From The Seattle Times, an article about those piles of wasted paper and unclaimed printouts we find at the public-access computer. The Seattle Public Library system is subsidizing printing and copying costs to the tune of $60,000 a year. So come fall they will start charging patrons for printouts. Library staffers don't yet know how much they will charge, but they've recommended a 10-cent-per-page cost. Printing from the library catalog still would be free, and photocopies would remain 15 cents per page. [LISNews.com]
This is the story that our high school and middle school students are going to hear in September, and I'm sure there will be complaints. As with the library in the article, I'm more concerned with curbing waste (and teaching responsibility) than with making money.

Tue, 15 Jul 2003 15:47:00 GMT

The Psychology of Change Management.

The Psychology of Change Management (Free registration required...but worth it :)) via KJJ
Quote: "Employees will alter their mind-sets only if they see the point of the change and agree with it[~]at least enough to give it a try. The surrounding structures (reward and recognition systems, for example) must be in tune with the new behavior. Employees must have the skills to do what it requires. Finally, they must see people they respect modeling it actively. Each of these conditions is realized independently; together they add up to a way of changing the behavior of people in organizations by changing attitudes about what can and should happen at work."
Comment: As educators, we are really in the ultimate change management field...we are constantly directing learners to adopt new/different ways of thinking and doing. This is compounded when we are teaching with technology. It's important to remember, however, that the issue is not the technology, but the underlying mindset that shapes a learners perception of the need to even try.

[elearnspace blog]

21st Century Skills

Sun, 13 Jul 2003 14:40:17 GMT

I've been reading about the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and about the report called "Milestones for Improving Learning and Education (MILE) Guide for 21st Century Skills" that this consortium issued at the NECC conference in June. This is a great effort, but isn't it what school librarians have been talking about for a long time? Information literacy, critical thinking, problem-solving,... Why isn't AASL right in the middle of this organization?
I also wonder how these skills compare with NCREL's (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory) enGuage document, 21st Century Skills: Digital Literacies for a Digital Age.This latter document was cited in the recent ALA resolution, "School Libraries and Librarians are Critical to Educational Success."
I certainly hope we find some way to pool our efforts. This is where I see the danger of the library/technology divide that is so evident in individual schools as well as in national and international organizations. Look at the separate committees for technology and libraries in ECIS. At least NECC now has a special interest group for media specialists (SIGMS).
The presentation I am putting together for the AASL conference in October will talk about this, and from a look at the preliminary program for that conference, I'm not the only one addressing the issue of the need for better library/tech partnerships.

Core Beliefs of a School Librarian

Thu, 10 Jul 2003 22:10:15 GMT

The annual conference of the International Association of School Librarianship (IASL) is underway right now in Durban, South Africa, and how I wish I could be there. Fortunately, however, IASL is great at providing access to a "virtual conference," including a discussion list for feedback and reaction to the keynote address. This year's keynote is by Ross Todd, and it's a thought-provoking essay.
Dr. Todd offers three key beliefs he feels underly the provision of effective school library programs.

The first key belief is that the provision of information and information services makes a difference to the lives of people. If we do not believe that our information services can make a difference to people, then there is no point to their provision. It is as simple as that. Second, the key role of the school librarian centers on pedagogical intervention that directly impacts on and shapes the quality of student learning through their engagement with information. Learning in complex and diverse information environments does not happen by chance, and nor can it be left to chance. Explicit, systematic and planned pedagogical intervention must be the distinguishing and observable characteristic of the school library. Third, the role of pedagogical intervention is to bring on transformation. Learning takes place, and the lives of our students are transformed.

All of this bring us, Todd points out, to the need for evidence to demonstrate the reality of these beliefs. This resonates with me as I finish up my annual report. The statistics and anecdotes I fill my report with show me that I'm doing something, but I can't point to them and say to my administrators, "See what a difference our program makes to students." I need to do tests and surveys to gather some real data.
These concepts of difference, intervention and transformation also fit exactly with our developing curriculum (see earlier post). The understanding which is the main goal of our curriculum is demonstrated in ways that make a difference and show change (transformation).
Perhaps a good exercise at the beginning of the school year will be to have all the librarians read Todd's address and discuss it in terms of the curriculum project and the library's place in that.