Deborah Wells-Clinton: Librarians

Hospitality in the Library

Sun, 07 Dec 2003 07:28:36 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 07:04:11 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.

Reading for December

Tue, 02 Dec 2003 06:35:55 GMT

Librarians Book Club Selects Reading for December. Bibliofuture writes "The book selections for November are "Book Lust" by Nancy Pearl and "The Truth about Reference Librarians" by Will Manley. There is also a fiction recommendation titled "Souls in the Great Machine" that is about a post-apocolyptic world that is run by librarians. Additional details can be found at librariansbookclub.org" [LISNews.com]
Well, I won't have much time in December, since I'm packing to move and trying to put my desk in shape for others to take over my work, but I'd like to keep track of these. Maybe in the new year....

About School Libraries

Sat, 22 Nov 2003 08:35:05 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]

Libraries vs. Authors

Sat, 15 Nov 2003 09:24:36 GMT

Libraries told stop lending. Over in Japan, the Daily Yomiuri has a story about the conflicts between bookstores, publishers, and libraries. The prolonged economic slump lies behind the sluggish book sales, but authors organizations and publishing houses feel public libraries are becoming a problem, too. In last autumn's symposium titled "Debate Between Authors and Libraries," authors said that lending a large number of new books would lead to a violation of their copyrights. But public libraries refuted this claim, saying that lending out new books would increase the number of readers and the public service did not undermine book sales. Authors proposed introducing a system requiring libraries to compensate authors financially according to the number of books they lend. [LISNews.com]
Omigosh! I'm not really surprised, though. This is the logical next issue in the intellectual property debate that the Internet has fostered, but come on, people.

School Libraries Suffering

Thu, 13 Nov 2003 04:28:28 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.

Librarian Action Figure

Thu, 16 Oct 2003 06:01:14 GMT

Unshelved strip for Tuesday, October 14, 2003. Unshelved by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum
[Unshelved]
I've ordered one of these figures -- I couldn't resist. BTW, is it ok for me to post this strip here? I don't want to goof here. Maybe I'll change it to just the link.

More Evidence for Value of School Libraries

Thu, 16 Oct 2003 05:25:42 GMT

School Libraries Source: Orlando Sentinel [requires registration]
Good school libraries boost readers"Donna Baumbach, a professor at the University of Central Florida, analyzed more than 1,700 media centers at Florida schools. She found that well-staffed, well-stocked libraries drive up elementary reading scores by 9 percent, middle-school scores by 3 percent and high-school scores by 22 percent." Link contributed by Shirl Kennedy. [ResourceShelf]

Another one showing the sad state of US school libraries

Sat, 27 Sep 2003 15:08:55 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 14:50:06 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.

Who Owns Dewey?

Wed, 24 Sep 2003 06:38:32 GMT

Of course Nate would comment on this story that's been making headlines and has been the source of many exclamation points in blogs of the library world. I especially agree with Gary Price of ResourceShelf, who wrote,

"Even if OCLC wins the case once again libraries and librarians suffer from negative publicity. A real shame when the exact opposite type of marketing and pub is needed and OCLC, being a large library organization, should be leading the charge. IMHO, OCLC should be working with the hotel to promote the role of libraries and librarians as opposed to suing them."

Back when I was in library school and a new librarian, OCLC was such a respected organization. I don't want to say they were gods to us in the library back rooms, but pretty close. That was a long time ago, however, and this recent move has certainly knocked them off any remaining bits of pedestal.
Of course the Dewey system itself is not owned by anyone! I do like Nate's idea for a new system, though.

Thu, 18 Sep 2003 05:33:14 GMT

The Library Web Managers. David Dillard writes " The Library Web Manager's Reference Center is a Major Topical Categories which contain links to specific subtopic coverage include: Getting Connected, Web Page Authoring & Site Management, Library Web Site/Catalog Directories, Public Access Measures and Organizing the Internet While the focus of the information provided on this page is toward library web pages, the information should be valuable to others including those involved with website design that is not for libraries." [LISNews.com]

Importance of School Libraries

Sun, 07 Sep 2003 05:08:32 GMT

The most recent ASCD Research Brief looks at the question of the effect of school libraries on student achievement. The research study profiled was done in Texas, but the results parallel those done in other states.
The conclusions are obvious: the presence of a good library in a school, with a certified librarian and adequate support staff, can make a definite difference in the achievement of students. A remark at the end of this article caught my attention, however.

Although libraries appear to account for up to 8 percent of test score variance on TAAS, this study does not include a cost-benefit analysis.

Is the author suggesting that the costs of maintaining a good school library might be higher than the benefit of increased student achievement? How can one put a price on student achievement? I know there are political considerations, but I'm thinking of the individual student and his or her success in school and perhaps in life!

First Lady Flap

Wed, 02 Jul 2003 06:19:48 GMT

Booksellers cranky over Laura B.'s CBS Early Readers Club. Booksellers were initially pleased with the team-up of First Lady Laura Bush and CBS to create a series focusing on literacy and children's literature on the network's Early Show. Host Harry Smith joins Mrs. B once a week at the White House, where a specific title is featured and read. Nice, eh? Nice if you're Amazon.com, where viewers are urged to visit and donate books to literacy efforts. Monica Holmes, President of the Association of Booksellers for Children, wrote to CBS, expressing her dismay over the exclusive promotion of Amazon.com. The sting was made sharper after the inaugural book, Book! Book! Book! featured on the June 25 segment, was returned by a Bush staffer to the independent bookstore where it was purchased. Apparently, the White House had a difficult time tracking down the 2001 title, but found it at the Alexandria, VA bookstore, A Likely Story. The store issued credit, but wondered why the White House didn't donate the gently used book to a library. More here from Publishers Weekly [LISNews.com]

When Will Principals Understand?

Thu, 26 Jun 2003 07:54:53 GMT

A discussion on LM_NET in the last few days has centered on educating school administrators about school libraries and what we librarians bring to the school. One resource referred to is a website with a good overview of the problem and some solutions. Some of the posters are indignant, and rightly so, I believe, that it is necessary for us to teach our principals what they should be learning when they first become educators.

I believe that much of our problem starts at the university level (or certification area level) when administrators are learning what their role is in the school. Nothing teaches them for the most important element of a school's success--the heart beat--the library. Study after study after study can be done and they will always report that with strong libraries, students succeed. However, no one except librarians and those interested in studies are reading these reports. [Shonda B.]

Managing Subscriptions

Wed, 25 Jun 2003 17:45:06 GMT

Library Group Launches New Subscription Management Tool.

InfoToday reports that:

"The Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries launched GOLD RUSH (http://grweb.coalliance.org), a new tool to help librarians manage subscriptions to electronic resources...

Source: Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries"

[Darci Chapman: InfoMage in Training] Someone needs to create something like this for the little libraries. No school library can afford this program, but we really need a tool for managing our online databases. When a student or teacher wants a specific article, or wants to search only a specific journal, it's so difficult to tell which database to find it in. This has been bothering me for a couple of years, so maybe I should create the solution myself. Hmmm.

Fri, 20 Jun 2003 06:53:15 GMT

New Library Weblog.

Mrs. Rabbitt's Bookbag - "Charlotte Rabbitt, Youth Services Librarian Peterborough, NH Collected musings, quotes, links, information, book reviews and suggestions dealing with children, books, libraries and librarians." (No RSS Feed) - (via my referrals)

[Library Stuff]

Smart Quote

Mon, 16 Jun 2003 05:16:03 GMT

"I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by looking up something and finding something else on the way." -- Franklin P. Adams, journalist A great quote for librarians, from the ASCD SmartBrief of June 12.

Call a Librarian!

Sun, 15 Jun 2003 06:06:49 GMT

Adventures in Downloading Haydn. On the iTunes online music service, classical music is easy to buy but hard to find. By Anne Midgette. [New York Times: Technology] I just have to post this article, even though it only narrowly fits in the parameters for this blog as I have them defined in my head. All the way through reading it, I wanted to shout at the author, and at the iTunes people, in frustration. Why didn't they ever think about talking to a music librarian? Do they think no one has ever had to catalog music? Argh!

Changing Role for Librarians

Thu, 12 Jun 2003 06:30:12 GMT

Ninety-one Percent of Librarians Say Shift from 'Information Gatherer' to 'Information Consultant' is Key to Success. You can take a look at some of the results published in the news release. Note: This survey was sponsored by LexisNexis. [ResourceShelf] Looking at the title of this article, it seems that it applies to school librarians as well. I think a change in the way we see ourselves and our role is crucial, and I'm not sure it's happening as quickly as it should in schools. This article, though, is about special librarians and information professionals in the business world. It's actually kind of fun -- and perhaps revealing -- to try and read it as if it were written about schools. "Now that most employees have Internet access on their desktops, information professionals are forced to justify their positions constantly."

Public Schools Losing Librarians

Thu, 12 Jun 2003 06:25:59 GMT

Sad State for School Librarians in Wisconsin. Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel All types of information professionals are having job issues these days. This article reviews the sad situation for school librarians in Wisconsin. Shirley Reis a librarian hits the mark when she notes that part of the blame must be placed on the librarians themselves. From the article, "Librarians historically have not been attuned to public relations, and I think that's our biggest downfall," she [Shirley Reis] said. "Because we sit in our little library cubicles and check in our books and don't tell people about the important work we do." [ResourceShelf]

Librarians Book Club Selects Reading for June

Wed, 04 Jun 2003 06:49:12 GMT

The current book selections for the Librarians Book Club are Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution and From Gutenberg to the Global Information Infrastructure: Access to Information in the Networked World. [LISNews.com]
These books look good, but would I really be able to get through them in this month of the end of the school year, writing of reports, etc.? Probably not. Maybe in July, when I'm travelling, visiting family, and taking an online course -- maybe then I'll have time.

Professional Summer Reading Suggestions

Tue, 03 Jun 2003 05:30:06 GMT

From Teacher Librarian - reviews of new educational titles.... [Education Librarian]

Library Cartoons and Comics Galore

Sun, 01 Jun 2003 06:43:22 GMT

LISNews links to Library Girl a long animated (Flash enabled, please) cartoon about a girl and her dog. There is blog and apparel too.

Also, Andrea points to this comic entitled, "Errant Story", which I found amusing, if not a bit stereotypical (but more amusing)

Then again, the old standard is still the best in the biz.

[Library Stuff]

Rutgers Opens Center To Study School Libraries

Fri, 30 May 2003 11:40:42 GMT

I have read several references to this new center at Rutgers, but I hadn't added it to this weblog before now. It sounds good, but I guess I haven't been as interested, because I'm on the lookout for more practical stuff. On the other hand, if they can really come up with hard data that shows that school libraries make a difference in the teaching/learning process, I'll be very interested, especially if they can show exactly what about school libraries is valuable.