Advice to New School Librarians

This week I was asked to be a guest discussion host on the Syracuse iSchool's MLIS School Media intern seminar discussion boards, as an "early career librarian." It was fun to be back on the boards, just like old times in grad school at SU, talking with budding school librarians! This was from my initial post:

I am not just lucky to have A job, I’m lucky to have THIS job. I have the best job in the entire world! It is certainly challenging and frequently stressful, but I can nearly always pinpoint at least one moment in my day when I feel like I really helped someone learn something. Which is, after all, what it’s all about! As a school librarian, I get to know most of the students in our school. I can plan fun events, have engaging conversations about books, teach technology skills that students will carry with them to college or career, and work with amazing teachers to plan creative classroom units. I think it’s the challenge, the creativity, and the fact that I’m always learning something that I like most. Since I am always collaborating and co-teaching with classroom teachers, I am constantly exposed to not only different teaching and disciplinary styles (which, as a new teacher, is immensely helpful), but also new content.

The student interns were terrific, and brought up some excellent questions that I answered as well as I was able. The questions ranged from what to do if my library support staff doesn't support me, to how should I respond to interview questions, to how do I handle a tough job market, to how do you get parents and students involved with library events?

Particularly difficult to answer was the questions of librarians' APPRs and how we should prepare. From what I can gather from recent BOCES School-Based Inquiry Team turnkey trainings, School Library System workshops, and just talking to people in the know, there isn't a good answer yet. The NYS Education Department has not yet accepted an APPR template specifically for librarians, although we can use them for local assessment portion of our evaluation. We will definitely be expected to be evaluated under APPR this next year, however. Each school district has the discretion to decide how to proceed, so there is no one over-reaching answer to the question except talk to your administrators and union reps to see what is planned in your own district. I think most of us have no problem being evaluated as a teacher. I feel that if I am doing my job well, I should have no reason to be concerned about my evaluation. It's being evaluated based on test scores that we have no direct ability to influence that concerns most school librarians and other professionals in non-testing areas (guidance counselors, nurses, gym teachers, etc). This is unfolding rapidly so keep yourself informed! There's a great (albeit depressing) article in the Washington Post about students and testing that will put things into perspective.

Thank you to Dr. Renee Franklin and the iSchool Schmedia interns for a great week! I'm no  library expert by any means, but I am always happy to share my experiences for what it's worth.