I recently posted a question to the listserv asking for ideas on how to track the invisible work I do in the library. Recent changes in the structure of library services at my school confirmed that the higher levels of administration do not fully understand all of the tasks that go into making the library run. Part of this is on me – I tend to let my work speak for itself and after a building level administration change several years ago, I did not advocate for myself or the library as much as I should have done.  My increased advocacy efforts were too little, too late and library staffing and services were cut. The positive side of these events is that my elementary colleague and I are working together to highlight the instructional and enrichment activities that we lead within the library program, and we have increased our communications with all of our constituents. Advocacy is our joint goal for the next few years.

Meanwhile…. about that invisible work. I know I’m preaching to the choir, but there is a lot of invisible work that happens in the day to day running of the library.  My breaking point, so to speak, happened a couple of weeks ago when I spent the better part of 3 days physically preparing books for the shelves.  There was a backlog of books, due to the loss of our library assistant position, and it took me longer than normal to complete this task.

Through conversation with one of the administrators on campus, I discovered that the perception of the libraries is that when students are not in the room, we are not really busy and have time to “sit on the computer”.  My computer time at work is filled with updating the library pages, curating book lists in Overdrive and our catalog, reading book reviews, searching for relevant databases and resources, preparing research guides, cataloging books, etc.  The conversation with the administrator again highlighted the lack of visibility for much of the work that fills my day.

As a first step I took time to make a shared spreadsheet for both librarians to track the work that must be done behind the scenes for the library to run. We are going to try this low-tech version of tracking for the rest of this calendar year while we investigate other options that we can share with administrators.  I am also adding this “invisible” work to my quarterly updates to administrators because it is important information they need to know.  I’m working on an infographic format that isn’t as text heavy but will still get the message to the right people.

I feel like I have the best job on campus, and I suspect that I have taken it for granted because of course everyone knows how important the library is to the school. This year, I am going to show my community all of the ways we impact student learning and school culture.  What are some of the ways that you highlight your work and library within your community?

My family considers August as the start of the new year, and it has been this way for as long as I remember. My mother was a school librarian, I am a school librarian, and my husband is a high school teacher, so new beginnings happen in August. And I’m looking forward to this year.  From new school supplies for both me and my children, to new programming ideas (school wide Shakespeare Festival, anyone?), to a new attitude as I walk into the building….I’m ready. I’m not really one for resolutions – they feel like too much pressure to maintain –but I’ve decided to set some goals for the year.

Increased programming. I spent last year experiencing the full year of a middle school in action. My previous part-time experience in the building gave me glimpses, but I was really able to dig into all that middle schoolers bring to the classroom.  I connected with students and was able to pinpoint areas of weakness that I can build up this year. Last year was about passive programming and while I’m not abandoning that concept, I am embracing some active events. The highlight of the fall will be a one-day Shakespeare Festival that pulls in work that all three grades do in the classroom. My principal is 100% on board with the idea and I’m pinning down details over the next few weeks. This is out of my comfort zone, but I am excited to give this a try.

Low tech maker space. Our students have access to quite a few technology tools from iPads for daily work to robots and 3D printing in STEM classes. I want to give them the opportunity to slow down….to think about nothing but the activity in front of them…to laugh together with no pressure about assignments or grades. I’m gathering thread and beads for friendship bracelets; felt, stuffing and needles to sew together little critters; puzzles; Lego building blocks; and coloring books are waiting for me at the library.

Student library helpers. I have students who recommend books and give up a few minutes each day to help me shelve books.  My goal is to make this a formal group that can help me with some of the routine tasks and also build more connections with students.

Focus on joy. As much as I love books, the library, and my students, the days are not always joyful. I am not naïve enough to believe that I can just wish “joy” into my life, but I do want to find moments of joy every day. It may be something as simple as spending my plan period with my teacher-bestie or it may be watching a student’s face light up when they “get” the research concept that I teach.

I report back to work in 2 weeks and while I am not wishing away the last days of my summer break, I am looking forward to the new year. What are you looking forward to in the upcoming year?

Today is the last day for our students and tomorrow is the last day for teachers.  As much as I dislike our early start of the year (we report back at the beginning of August), it is nice to be done with school by Memorial Day.  This is always a time of reflection for me as I review the previous school year and (attempt) to clear my head for next year’s planning. This year has been one of growth and change for me.  Frankly, at this time last year I was disheartened, and I entered the summer with uncertainty.  I was not sure how I fit into the vision for the school.

My day-to-day activities changed as I moved into the middle school library full time.  I was able to fully collaborate with the 6^th grade students and teachers and build a scaffold for both technology and library instruction.  The year also brought the opportunity to build personal relationships with teachers in the other two grades with the goal of deeper collaboration next year. I am happy to say that the uncertainty that I felt last summer has disappeared.

As I reflect on the 2023-2024 school year there are definite wins!

• Regular meetings with all 6^th grade students.  During English class, we met twice per month during the first semester and at least once per month in the second semester.  We worked together to hone citation skills, basic evaluation of digital resources, and work on building effective notecards.  Additionally, I met with these students during Science class beginning in October.  I became an embedded librarian for the duration of their science fair research project.
• Increased circulation of library books. For the past 6 years, I was only part time in the middle school which made it difficult to consistently promote reading and check out of books.  With an increased presence and more opportunity to talk books with kids circulation increased by 15% over the 2022-2023 school year.
• Connections with students. The library became a “third space” for a significant number of students before school and during our morning break.  Getting to know my regular visitors was such a treat.  We connected over books, I learned more about what was going on in their lives outside of school, and several of them became unofficial library helpers.  When shelving books moved to the back burner, these kids jumped in and helped me empty by shelving cart.

What does the 2024-2025 school year bring? I’m not entirely sure.  I have a great relationship with my building administration and feel fully supported in the library activities.  I have a few big programming ideas that I am working on implementing and I have plans to increase my collaboration with classroom teachers.  But first…..I’m going to work on my personal summer reading list! 

As I began drafting my first blog post, my weather app began showing snowflakes for the upcoming week. Snow warnings are not an infrequent occurrence, but my town usually does not get anywhere near the predicted amounts of snow and often we end up with no snow at all.  Not this time.  Snow started falling on Monday and we ended with 8-10 inches of snow and ice across our town.  As a mid-sized Southern city we are not prepared for this level of winter and the city basically shut down.  Last week was spent at home, all appointments canceled, and a total of 6 school days were canceled.  Coming so soon after our winter holidays, the extended break was not “needed,” but I did appreciate the slow days and ability to leisurely finish planning for this year’s research season.  My forced time at home, away from the distractions of my daily work and interruptions, allowed me to reflect on our current research practice and make some plans for improvement.

After six years of splitting my time between the high school and the middle school (and feeling like I was not fully successful in either building), I am now full time in the middle school library.  While change is always hard — and not always something that we choose — I am embracing the opportunities that I have to lay a strong foundation for information literacy and research skills.  My previous interactions with students were often limited to a few one shot info lit instructions, with an extra lesson or two during research time.  Students often viewed me as the one who popped in to tell them not to plagiarize, but not as a true partner in the learning process. This year, I am able to change that perception.

During the 2023 fall semester, I focused on working with our 6^th grade team across the curriculum on a variety of lessons.  We talked about everything from the basics of the internet   (what is the difference between a browser and a search engine?) to where to find our library databases to how to write a citation.  A lot of this work built upon the knowledge they received in lower grades so I was not starting from scratch.  As their research project begins in earnest around the middle of February, I scheduled a few more lessons for foundational work with the research process.

The other two grade levels start their research projects this week. Both projects are familiar ones and I have supported the classes in the work over the years.  I am looking forward to more daily involvement with the classes and the opportunity to have small groups and one-on-one work as needed. We planned staggered start dates beginning last week, to give both the students and myself time to work together over the course of a few days, but our snow event has compressed that schedule.

Small group work is the new piece for this year’s projects.  With almost 9 weeks to work on the various steps of the projects, I have time to meet with students in groups of four or five to fine tune keywords and to record the first two sources.  I plan to share a digital copy of the form below via Google Docs so that I (and the teachers) can see the work completed.  We will also use Noodletools for the citations and notecards so instruction for that part will be woven into our sessions.  Most of the 7^th and 8^th graders have used Noodletools on previous projects so my work will be mostly a refresher session.  Using a shared document with a rubric will allow both the classroom teacher and me to see the work in real time and provide guidance as needed.  As we move through the project the small group work will change as we approach new milestones. 

This has been a year of change in ways that I did not seek out or anticipate.  Embracing these opportunities means that I am more deeply involved in the classrooms and can make a stronger impact on my students’ learning. As we move through these projects I look forward to finding new ways to improve my work with students! I would love to hear more ideas about how you connect with students during the research process.