Editorial
School Library Monthly/Volume XXVIII, Number 5/February 2012
Make It Meaningful
By Deborah D. Levitov
All the work that goes into advocacy, activism, public relations, and marketing cannot be seen as self-promoting or an effort at job protection. Rather, it must be portrayed as what school libraries and school librarians can do for students, learning, and achievement.
Current trends in education and the economic mêlée demand that members of the school library profession take a hard look at the messages being sent, the images being conveyed, and the proof (e.g., evidence-based practice, assessment) being provided to those who make decisions about what stays and what goes in educational programs across the country. To remain standing, school librarians have to rise to this occasion and pull together new messages, new images, and new data that turn the outdated impressions of school libraries (and librarians) on its proverbial head.
There has been a repeating theme in SLM for years and it has had a heightened emphasis in more recent issues (e.g., January highlights: Survival: Advocacy Planning, Embracing Change, Collaborating) and this issue (e.g., Networking: Advocacy 101, Furloughed but Not Forgotten, The New Boss!, Sharing Your Library, Grass Roots Advocacy, Dealing with Less). The same is also seen in related literature throughout the profession.
It has been said before that there is not time to be complacent. Everyone associated with the school library profession knows and believes in the importance of school libraries, but we are not joined in that perspective by enough of the decision makers and budget planners to make a difference. We have to show why and how school libraries are an essential part of schools in the 21st Century. We have to show how the school librarian is a change agent and a powerful force in helping students learn and achieve. This requires that we embrace and communicate an up-to-date and radically different approach to envisioning school libraries and the role of the school librarian.
Many school librarian voices are constantly bringing new ideas and solutions that address these issues through articles, books, presentations, and postings. It is up to all school librarians to seek out the information available and begin to incorporate it into their vision, their program planning, their practice, advocacy, and activism. It isn’t just that we must do it; it is that we can do it, with intentional effort.
February is Library Lover's Month, a good time to start collecting data from those who know why they love libraries… getting beyond books to why libraries are important to learning, teaching, research, social networking, using technology tools, and more. It is one step among many that can be taken to rethink, reinvent, and reimagine school libraries and communicate to all stakeholders.