Objective 4.4: Advocacy
Indicator: Candidates develop a plan to advocate for school library and information
programs,resources, and services.
“Just do it.” “M'm! M'm! Good!” “Have it your way.” You probably know at least one of these phrases due to a successful marketing campaign of their companies. Just as huge corporations rely on advertising in order to showcase their product, librarians must also advocate their collection to the school community.
Establishing positive relationships with the staff will lay the foundation for a library program that reaches its full potential. If staff members want to explore new resources, I need my program to be seen as the place to find the answers. One way to not only showcase resources, but get teachers to see them as necessary in their classrooms, is to host in-services. I was able to create and deliver an in-service for 9th and 10th grade English teachers at Reservoir High School. Before the in-service, I had spoken with a few of them about using www.turnitin.com in conjunction with their research assignments. Few teachers knew that this service existed, let alone how it could fit into their curriculum. I gathered that they were interested in using this resource, yet had no idea of how to implement it into their classrooms. With this in mind, I produced an in-service that highlighted the PeerMark and GradeMark features of www.turnitin.com. My in-service allowed me to emphasize the benefits of this resource, but moreover persuade the teachers that their students’ learning experiences would be greatly enhanced by incorporating it into their lessons. I provided examples for specific ideas and assignments in which this resource could be used in their classrooms, further convincing them that this program is worthy of being a permanent addition to their toolkit. In the end, several of the teachers asked me to assist them in integrating this tool into their upcoming assignments. Through this in-service, I opened their eyes to the fact that the resources in my program are truly indispensable to student learning. I would not have been able to promote this resource, which supports the curricula of both my program and English, if I did not have knowledge of the units my teachers carry out. By discovering new resources as well as knowing my audience, I can continue to create an advocacy plan that touts my program as essential to the school. I believe that advocacy starts with a strong mission statement. We must ‘practice what we preach’ and be defined not only by the words we say but by the actions we take. If teachers and administrators see librarians as educators who have a vision, believe in that vision, and also have the tools necessary to make that vision a reality, they will realize that we are serious about how vital the library is to the entire school. Good leaders take initiative—they do not sit back and wait for opportunities to happen, they make opportunities happen. Librarians must be proactive and constantly work to increase the visibility and effectiveness of their program. If we want teachers to see the value of our resources, we must attempt to set up collaborative relationships in order to share our knowledge. With a clear goal in mind, I can then spread the word about the impact that my program’s resources can have on our students. Advocacy is important to our programs, and although it can take time, effort, and collaboration, its results are well worth the work. We are our biggest advocate and supporter for our program. We must work to ensure that everyone in the school community knows what our program does and how we do it, but more importantly why we do it. Our program has a direct affect on student achievement, and we must collect data to show that this is the case. If we rise to leadership positions and maintain high expectations, all stakeholders in the school community will see our program as absolutely essential to the students’ education. |
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