School Librarian PSELs – What are They and Why Do I Need to Know?

by Dorcas Hand, Editor TASLTalks; co-chair School Group of Julie Todaro's ALA Presidential Initiative: Libraries Transform: The Expert in the Library

NOTE: This was written to be posted in September, but somehow didn't get published. How appropriate to have it now in January as a reminder that personal professional growth is a good thing in winter as a way to finish the school year strong. I hope the PSEL rubric is helpful to you - now read on to see what it is!

Texan Julie Todaro ended her term as President of the American Library Association in June 2017. With that job came the opportunity to lead an initiative that would have broad impact on ALA members and other library professionals. Julie chose to build on Libraries Transform, an ALA public awareness campaign. Those "Because" statements come from Libraries Transform.

Julie chose the theme Libraries Transform: The Expert in the Library.

To build her broad initiative, she selected a steering committee of strong librarians from all kinds of libraries. The school subgroup was co-chaired by me, Sara Kelly Johns and Susan Ballard – a Texan and 2 past Presidents of AASL. We in turn selected a committee that included strong practitioners from across the country to begin the work of locating resources that would support school librarians across the US, AASL members or not, to develop stronger expertise in all aspects of school libraries.

Initially, we gathered resources that generally discussed competencies, dispositions, value and measurables, leadership and collaboration, and advocacy resources. We build a LibGuide which is now open to all: Todaro/ALA Initiative School Libraries Workspace "Libraries Transform: The Expert in the School Library. But then Julie challenged us to develop a rubric with supporting resources that would push librarians in to improve their practice. Susan Ballard’s work in New Hampshire introduced her to, and she showed us, the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSELs), a list of competencies for building and district level school administrators – like principals. They had 10 competencies, but none specified Literacy which we felt core to school librarianship - so we added #11.

We determined to adapt the PSELs for school librarians, keeping the administrative vocabulary but imposing library functions. So, then we had 11 competencies – just the beginning. Then our committee went to work building a rubric and locating useful resources to support any librarian deciding personally where to focus improvement, and then be able to read already curated articles to do just that.

1. Mission, Vision and Core Values - Effective School Library leaders develop, advocate, and enact a shared mission, vision, and core values of high-quality education and academic and/or professional success and well-being of each learner.

2. Ethical Principles and Professional Norms – Effective School Library leaders act ethically and according to professional norms to promote each learner’s academic success and well-being and/or practitioners’ professional success.

3. Equity and Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness - Effective School Library leaders strive for equity and inclusivity of educational opportunity, and culturally and linguistically responsive practices to promote each learner’s academic and/or professional success and well-being.

4. Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment - Effective School Library leaders design, deliver and support intellectually rigorous and coherent systems of curriculum, instruction and assessment to promote each learner’s academic and/or professional success and well-being.

5. Community of Care and Support for Students - Effective School Library Leaders cultivate an inclusive caring and supportive school community that promotes each learner’s academic and/or professional success, personal interests and well-being.

6. Professional Capacity of School Personnel - Effective School Library leaders develop their personal professional capacity and practice to best support other school personnel in order to promote each learner’s academic and/or professional success and well-being.

7. Professional Community for Teachers and Staff - Effective School Library leaders foster development of a professional community of teachers and other professional staff to promote each learner’s academic and/or professional success and well-being.

8. Meaningful Engagement of Families and Community - Effective School Library leaders engage families and the community in meaningful, reciprocal, and mutually beneficial ways to promote each learner’s academic and/or professional success and well-being.

9. Operations and Management - Effective School Library leaders manage resources and operations to promote each learner’s academic and/or professional success and well-being by creating an inviting environment, providing a flexible program, developing the collection, curating and organizing the resources, integrating digital and technology access, managing appropriate funding and encouraging critical thinking to create a community of lifelong learners.

10. School Improvement - Effective School Library leaders act as agents of continuous improvement to promote each learner’s academic and/or professional success and well-being.

11. Literacy and Reading – Effective School Library leaders promote reading for learning, personal growth, and enjoyment (and) are aware of major trends in children's and young adult literature. They select reading materials in multiple formats to support reading for information, pleasure, and lifelong learning. They use a variety of strategies to reinforce classroom reading instruction to address the diverse needs and interests of all readers. Literacy takes many forms (EX: digital, information, cultural, etc.) that all rely on the foundational literacy of reading.The short title is the School Librarian-PSELs, but the real title that tells you what we offer is the School Librarian PSEL Personal Professional Growth Tool for Self-Assessment Using School Librarian-PSELCompetencies 1-11. The full document is cross referenced, rubric to resources and resources back to rubric. There is no scoring, or any intent that an administrator use it for evaluation. It is just for YOU to become better at what you already do pretty well. You might view yourself as Ineffective on one competency, Highly effective on some others, and in between (Emerging or Effective) on the rest. That’s pretty normal – take this opportunity to get better at anything that is your goal for this semester or year. And then set another goal.

We hope that school librarians in Texas will take full advantage of this tool. How will you complete the Expert badge now. I’m an Expert in ____________________. Go ahead – make a plan! Your students will appreciate even better service in their favorite school library.

Top 10 Reasons to Attend Conference

You’ve seen that beautiful new edition of Texas Library Journal encouraging you to register for this year’s conference, Perfecting Your Game, in Dallas, but you haven’t opened it. Or maybe you’ve seen a few postings that include the #TxLA18 hastag, but you still can’t commit to registering.  Here’s a handy dandy guide just for you:

Top 10 Reasons Why you Should Go To Conference:

1. It’s THE BEST place to network and expand your professional Learning Network.  You will meet THOUSANDS of librarians, who are all ready and eager to talk about every detail of library world.  It’s lonely being the only person on a campus who cares and understands about circulation rates, the latest 2X2/Bluebonnet/LoneStar/TAYSHAS lists or the pros/cons of self-check out, so it’s good to meet others in the know!
2. Learn new strategies to bring back to your campus that will help improve your overall library program.  You get to attend hundreds of sessions presented by librarians currently working in successful libraries and see/hear how they have made a difference on their campus.
3. Recharge! By the time April rolls around we’re all running a little low on energy and dreaming of the late night reading sessions of summer.  This conference will help you power through the final few weeks of the school year and get you ready to go for the following year.
4. MEET SUPERSTAR AUTHORS! If you have yet to meet and hear from some of the giants in children and teen literature, then this is your best chance to do so.  The only librarian conference bigger than TLA is ALA so ALLLLL of the publishers attend and bring along their top authors.  These authors appear on panels to discuss their work or some are available for book signings in the exhibits hall. There is nothing like reading a book written by an author you’ve met and sharing some insider details with your students.  Getting them to sign a book for you or your students = PRICELESS!
5. BOOKS! Like I mentioned before TLA conference is so big and Texas librarians are so widely respected the publishers make a great effort to share newly released or soon to be released books from both debut authors and well established authors at our conference.  Many times those books are passed out FREE OF CHARGE!  It’s a great way to get a sneak peek at tomorrow’s best sellers. Look for all the big and smaller publishers in the exhibit hall - it’s like several mini-bookstores in one place!
6. Exhibit Hall - the first time I attended TLA I was not yet a librarian and could not afford the full conference registration. I purchased a daily pass for the exhibits and was absolutely blown away by what I saw.  17 years later, I’m still blown away.  You know all those catalogs you see with beautiful looking furniture or have you heard about some interesting makerspace pieces or new database features? You can put your hands on all of these things and more in the exhibit hall.  There are also little mini-sessions in some of the vendor booths so you can hear from librarians on how these products are used in their libraries. It’s such a great way to really examine items you are considering for purchase before spending those limited funds. Save several hours for a thorough examination of the exhibits.  Bonus tip - there are always pretty awesome library T-shirts for sale and who doesn't need a new shirt??;-)
7. F2F meet-up! You know all those awesome ideas you’ve seen posted on #TXLchat oe read about in #TxASLTalks blog? Chances are you might might meet some of your fellow chatters and bloggers in person!  It’s always good to finally thank someone face-to-face (F2F) for their great ideas or inspiration and develop a professional collaboration. Who knows, that conversation might lead to virtual collaborations among your schools!
8. Library Specific Technology  - sure there are technology only conferences, but this is one that is geared specifically with the librarian in mind.  Learn about the latest tech tools that will help you energize your students, teachers, and broader community.  Hear how librarians are adapting these tools to support our library standards as well as the classroom TEKS. You can also register for Tech Camp and have the ENTIRE day dedicated to library programming and technology.
9. It’s Good to Get Away - I used to work on a campus that held a yearly leadership team retreat.  We would gather at a ranch, far away from campus, telephones, and computers, and discuss our plans and priorities for the upcoming year without the distractions or interruptions that would occur if this was held on campus.  While TLA conference isn’t quite the same experience, it’s a great way to move out of our everyday routine and reflect on your library experience with new voices and perspectives.  
10. Strength in Numbers - As mentioned previously, it can sometimes be lonely to serve as the only campus librarian and you may feel all the data you share on the importance of your program is falling on deaf ears. It’s an indescribable feeling to actually see thousands of fellow librarians who truly understand your job and may share similar experiences. We are stronger together and by gathering at conference we can provide each other the encouragement to continue to promote the necessities of our programs.  TLA is a strong vibrant community and having the support of that community is something no professional librarian in Texas should do without.

Reflections Of A First-Year Librarian

By Wenndy Pray, MLS, Librarian, B. L. Gray Jr. High School, Sharyland Independent School District

Nervousness. Anticipation. Trepidation. Excitement. A librarian’s first day on the job is a mixture of emotions. Librarians can think back to their first day and remember these feelings and many others. A year has passed, and for me, it was no different. Getting my feet wet in the library felt incredibly similar to my first days as a teacher. I didn’t know what to expect and held on to everything I learned in graduate school. I had mastered my studies but knew all too well that on-the-job training would take on a life of its own.

I was a first-year junior high librarian and a graduate student in Library Science. This combination afforded me the ability to put everything I learned into practice. I was at the feeder campus to the high school where I had been an English teacher for three years. I was surrounded by eager students, excellent teachers with an incredible reputation, and an administration that genuinely believed in my potential to revitalize the library program.

Everyone on campus was hungry for a change. I was filled with plans and aspirations and couldn’t wait to unleash my hopes and dreams. It was an incredible year. As I begin my second year in the profession, I can’t help to ascribe my first-year successes to fostering valuable relationships with faculty, tapping into the campus administration's vision, and the guidance of a knowledgeable, supportive librarian team.

I quickly learned that fostering relationships with faculty was just as important as managing the library collection. As a teacher, I knew the importance of collaborating with my teacher family. I not only partnered with teachers in my department, I also connected with teachers in other disciplines, including my librarian. I knew that collaborating with my librarian would enrich my classroom instruction, so I saw myself eager to co-teach in my new role. I started to connect with English Language Arts teachers. They visited the library religiously, and I wanted to offer my services in a more dynamic capacity. I knew these teachers incorporated reading as part of their instruction, and their time in the library gave me the opportunity to share other lessons in digital citizenship, research, poetry, and ethics. By connecting with them and sharing the library’s success with others on campus, I began to chisel away at the stigma that still plagues many library programs today. The library was not just a room with books, it was becoming a place where students could think, create, share, and grow. I also pressed to participate in campus professional development. I knew that even a fifteen-minute lesson on how to reserve technology would help promote other library resources in the future. My relationship with the English teachers helped foster collaborations with other departments and in other capacities. I will forever be grateful to the few who believed and supported my vision for the library. These relationships continue to strengthen and inspire today.

A librarian’s relationship with administration is just as vital. As a first-year librarian, I wanted to validate my principal’s decision in selecting me to be a part of her team. I wanted to prove that I was an asset to the campus. By tailoring the library to support curriculum and instruction, I aligned myself with my administration’s vision. Scheduling conflicts and other factors made it difficult to integrate to the administrative team. I wanted to meet and share about what was happening in the library. Educating administration on the ever-evolving role of the librarian and the library was important to me, but it was also a difficult task to take on as an outsider. Persistence was key, and although I knew not to be overbearing, I took advantage of every small opportunity to share a bit of the library’s new and improved vision. I also became Parental Involvement Liaison for my campus and connected with parents. My district librarian, and mentor, helped me to hone my communication skills in library advocacy. These were key factors to establishing credibility with administration and faculty.

With the support of my mentor, fellow district librarians, and college professors, I solidified my active role on campus and enjoyed a successful first year. I remember being filled with questions and doubts. The individuals that guided me made a profound impact on how I would see myself as a librarian. They taught me anything from best tips, how to navigate my library automation system, writing press releases, booking book fairs, preparing for author visits, conducting an end-of-the-year inventory, etc. Networking broadened my professional learning network and horizons. My mentor, Nicole Cruz, invited me to the Texas Association for School Library Administrators (TASLA) conference as intern when she was president elect, she exposed me to the TALL Texan social at TLA, and introduced me to many predominant movers and shakers in school librarianship. She advised on what is necessary to be a librarian that looks past obstacles and works toward a goal. She provided words of wisdom when situations weren’t always ideal, words I still remember today. Mrs. Cruz recognized that I have innate attributes that equip me to flourish in school librarianship early on; her ever-evident belief in my capacity has never wavered.

My team’s encouragement was palpable, and it revitalized me when I doubted myself or asked the dreaded, “Why did I sign up for this?” Having a strong network of knowledgeable individuals enriched and strengthened my foundations during my first year. These gave me the confidence I needed to soar this year and in years to come.

You could be a Winner! TASL and TLA Awards

By Dorcas Hand, Editor of TASLTalks, School Library Advocate, co-founder of www.StudentsNeedLibrariesinHISD.org

So January is the time that nominations and applications for these various awards are mostly due. And most TASL members are oblivious of many of these. So here is a comprehensive list - with links (as much as possible) to the web information about each. Some are simply grants to support a project in your library or your own adventures at TLA Annual conference. Others are awards that recognize service to school libraries above and beyond the basics, and over many years. A few are scholarships towards an MLS or other further education. Some are not given by TASL - I know school librarians who have won CRT’s Siddie Jo Johnson Award for their outstanding service in children’s library service. This award, and some others are by nomination - a group can get together and submit the documentation as a surprise for the potential winner - maybe around their retirement.

You have seen in our blog this year a few posts by winners of some of these - those were to set the stage for this email today. You could be a winner in 2018. But time’s a-wastin’! Skim the list - see what works for you, and get the paperwork done.

TASL Awards

The Distinguished Library Service Award for School Administrators

Shirley Igo PTA/School Library Collaboration Award (co-sponsored by the Texas PTA)

TASL Library Information Student Scholarships

Media/Virtual Presence Award (TASL)

CRT

Siddie Joe Johnson Award (CRT)

YART

Young Adult Reading Incentive (YARI) Award (YART)

Grants

Woll Memorial Fund (school or public with emphasis on children’s literature)

[Priscilla Delgado]

TLA Awards

Librarian of the Year Award [Barry Bishop, HISD]

Distinguished Service Award [Carlyn Gray, Round Rock]

Lifetime Achievement Award [Nora Galvan, PSJA ISD]

Outstanding Services to Libraries Award

Wayne Williams Library Project of the Year Award [Read Across the Prairie, Grand Prairie ISD]

Libraries Change Communities Award [Gregory-Portland ISD & Bell-Whittington Public Library]

Branding Iron Awards – for PR efforts: http://www.txla.org/branding-iron (frequent TASL winners)

Texas Youth Creators Awards (formerly Texas Media Awards)

Upstart Innovative Programming Award (TLA)

Intellectual Freedom Award (TLA)

Junior Library Guild/Diversity & Inclusion Committee ($750 stipend for conference attendance)

Association-sponsored Post Baccalaureate Scholarships

Janeway

TLA Summer School

Van Dusen-Tobin-Kaiser (awarded in even numbered years)

Vivian Greenfield Education Award ($1500)

Walter H. Escue Memorial Scholarship (Conference Stipend $250)

Mission Possible: Leadership, Vision and Personal Professional Development

by Dorcas Hand, Editor, TASL Talks; School Library Advocate; Co-Founder Students Need Libraries in HISD

http://the-house-of-anubis.wikia.com/wiki/File:Mission-Possible-Logo.jpg 

So here it comes, ready or not. A new calendar year starting right on time in the middle of a school year that has been fraught with even more challenges than usual. How are you preparing yourself to cope? Do you have a considered vision of what you want your school library program to look like, and a set of steps outlined to accomplish that goal? Instead of a resolution that is impossible, why not try setting a goal, and measuring progress in the right direction? A mission and goals give you an anchor to hold you on track as the days are crazy.

When you read about Mission, it is generally discussed with Vision as a core of a strategic plan. And yes, really you should take the time to develop a full plan with the help of your stakeholders. (Burns, Elizabeth. "Take Action! Advocacy = Building Stakeholder Relationships." School Library Connection October 2015; Foote, Carolyn. "School Libraries: Leading the Way into the Future." School Library Connection October 2015.)

But I get it – school is starting already. You need the down and dirty way to start with a new outline that supports your work in the direction of recommended best practices. What is a Mission anyway? Or a Vision? Well, actually, I just started you on a path of Personal Professional Growth that can inspire your work in 2018. I went to the first competency listed in the Todaro Initiative The Expert in The School Library, and found the two articles I linked in the last paragraph. Those are a simple way to understand the strategic planning process, and mission/vision. And now you can return to the full document anytime you want for ready help in any of the 11 competencies.

Back to Mission/Vision. “The mission of xxx is to provide activities and resources that will assist students and staff in becoming effective and discriminating users of information, developing a pattern of lifelong learning, and in fostering a love of reading.” (slide 8 from Koren, Johan. "Vision Mission Goals and Objectives for the School Library Media Center." 2008. SlideShare. Lecture. Even though this is 2008, it covers the overview beautifully.)

From AASL, “The mission of the school library program is to ensure that students and staff are effective users of ideas and information; students are empowered to be critical thinkers, enthusiastic readers, skillful researchers, and ethical users of information.”

For the most current thinking, look to the six Common Beliefs underlying the new AASL Standards, especially #s 3 and 4:

• Learners should be prepared for college, career, and life.
• Reading is the core of personal and academic competency.

Try tweaking these two models with some verbiage from your school and district missions to be perfect for your own local situation. No more than two sentences! This shows you to be both professionally aware of library standards as well as aware of your local directives.

So far, the only surprise may have been the idea of writing a formal statement for public consumption – but think how impressed your administrator will be to see that you have been thinking hard over break.

Now, what are two steps you can take to implement your vision. Hint: You are probably already doing these things but had not seen them as part of the big picture. As the term progresses, you can add additional items that look towards next year – but two goals for January-May is plenty. And how will you measure your progress? You’ll want to be able to have some numbers AND an anecdote or two to illustrate your impact.

So, let’s look at the “activities and resources” bit in the first example above. You might say “plan monthly thematic displays and related activities to encourage love of reading widely.” Measure? Class visits for theme activity. Or circulation of themed books. Teacher requests for related books. Or something else that suits you.

Alternatively, you might choose “support classroom reading with special collections of books focused on a classroom topic.” Measure could be details of classroom support.

Both of these ideas are likely ideas you already do – but here they are framed as part of the envisioned library program within the larger frame of school and district goals.

Congratulations!:

• You’ve made a Mission statement and two supporting goals.
• You’ve discovered and used a Personal Professional Growth resource.
• Most importantly, you’ve made an outline of your new year to guide you even when life gets a little crazy.

You are ready to start the 2018 portion of the current school year!