Happy New Year!
Okay, well, it’s not January 1st…but it’s close enough! Yesterday was a busy one for my daughter (a senior) and me as we worked on her college admissions essays. She began the process on New Year’s Eve and wrote through most of the day and night (which is a good thing.) Then she gave them to me to review and make suggestions…..at 11:30 p.m. we finished the final essay which needed to be submitted before midnight on January 1st! (Talk about procrastination…and, yes, I did push her to start earlier, but I also know how teenagers are when it comes to writing essays!)
Although we finished only two essays (the ones with the January 1st deadline), my daughter’s comment to me afterwards was….”Thanks, Mom, for all your help! If I had known how much help you were with this kind of stuff, I would have let you help with me with ALL my research and writing!”
Hello? I guess when you’re this close to the situation (and the parent), it’s hard for your child to realize how much help you can be; however, the help that I provided was no different from what I normally do at school when I’m helping high school students in the library. Allowing her to research, take notes, pre-write, write, and then edit are all important parts of the instructional process….but how many students don’t get this opportunity to work one-on-one with a teacher or even a librarian?
As a high school librarian I have always assisted students with essays, college applications, and other writing assignments. I am happy to say that most (if not all) of the time, the students have been very happy with the results of our interactions and the one-to-one conversations that allowed me to mentor and share some of the resources and information that our libraries provide. Many times, however, I have watched students struggle to meet the goals of their research or writing assignments without ever approaching me (even when I have offered my assistance during a formal class presentation). Unfortunately, I have also been in some situations where just ”being available” to assist students was virtually impossible because there were just too many students, too much work to do, no library paraprofessional to help with the clerical work, and too many “fires to put out!”
In many schools, librarians are often the greatest instructional resources for students who need additional help with research or writing. Many times librarians are often available to review bibliographies, read through papers, make suggestions for additional content through library resources that are available, or to advise students about who to speak with for additional help. However, for those schools that do not provide certified librarians, many students are left without anyone with the expertise in these areas. Many student are left without that additional level of support that libraries and librarians provide. In addition, for those students who do not receive assistance from their parents at home and do not have a certified librarian to provide a “safety layer” of support within the school for research assignments, it is nearly impossible for them to receive the same quality of instruction and information that can be found in those schools that do provide certified librarians.
Does this mean that the school librarian is the “Super Hero” of the school….well, actually, yes! Certified school librarians are teachers first with a background in education and a teaching degree! Additional hours of library and information science provides them with the qualifications to become a school librarian (and to many, the “hero of the day!”). When schools fail to provide certified school librarians on every campus, they remove a “safety layer” of educational support that will ensure student achievement. At every level, school librarians impact student achievement, provide instructional collaboration opportunities with teachers, and share quality resources and information better than any other individual on the campus. As Dizzy Dean once stated, “It ain’t braggin’ if you can do!”
Let’s hope that this New Year provides all of us with the opportunities to know what a certified librarian can do for a school and for student achievement. Just yesterday, California introduced its new Library Standards that describes a strong library program through quality levels (much like Texas’ levels of exemplary, recognized, acceptable, below standards); however, unless these standards are adopted by the state legislature as mandates (and not “suggestions”), it will become more verbage to be ignored by those who are already overwhelmed by double-speak. (http://www.csla.net/pdf/CSLA_Standards.pdf ).
Let’s hope that 2008 is a year for changes in how educational leaders view school libraries! Student achievement and academic success comes from a variety of individuals working together to guide and mentor. Let’s be sure that every school library provides that certified librarian that will make a difference in a child’s life.
