School Library Research From Around the World

Brenna Smith

Gavigan, K. (2018). School library research from around the world: Where it's been and where it's headed. Knowledge Quest, 46(5), 32-39.

Summary: In this article, repeated keywords from issues of School Libraries Worldwide from 2010 to 2016 are studied. The recurring topics are advocacy, collaboration, impact studies, reading and reading promotion, and technology. They found that staff who advocate for the library are recognized as being leaders and indispensable members of the school community. In 2011, Ewbank published a study where half of 381 school librarians around the U.S. did not engage in advocacy activities due to lack of time and awareness. They found that collaboration between librarians and teachers help development of programs, improve instructional planning, and decreases plagiarism. Canadian-based study in 2011 found that school libraries that were more accessible, better funded, professionally staffed, and had more resources resulted in higher standardized test scores. Findings in several studies show that partnerships between school libraries and public libraries helped develop students’ reading skills. It was also discussed that school librarians need to develop and use their technology skills to become technology leaders. Two important factors to becoming school technology leaders is having support from principals and being proactive about how librarians approach their technology role. Overall, as for many studies, additional research is needed to find what effects school library programs have on student achievement.

Evaluation: I thought that this article was very informative, and reiterates what we have been learning throughout library school. It was interesting to find out that the same topics are being discussed and studied across the world, and that despite the populations, we all want to focus on the same ideas in the library.

Revisiting 1918's Ideals of the Future

The Future of Library Work, according to St.  Louis Librarian Arthur E.  Bostwick

Jessica Fibelstad
INFO 266 - Spring 2019

Perhaps the favourite article I stumbled across in JSTOR dates from 1918 and offers the author's vision of libraries in the year 1950.  His prognostication of the future library requiring a patron-centric operation and prioritization of outreach to non-users.  Some of this is downright eerie in its familiarity!

His factors of a positive operation are:

1.  Size of the libray's physical establishment: Awareness of the geographic and socioeconomic conditions that may limit patronage, and Cost: another limiting factor

2.  Professionalization: Development of industry standards and respect for the profession

3.  Popularization:  Opening libraries for "the many, not the few....provid[ing] something for EVERYONE who can read..and picture books for those who cannot." (thank goodness more imaginative thoughts have come along)

4:  Socialization:  People use libraries for more than reading - they need spaces for meetings and other activities of groups

5.  Nationalization: Regulation and identity as a public fixture, like public schools, in the eye of the government.

Isn't this fascinating? Over 100 years ago these standards were philosophized upon.  These same factors pop up in many contemporary policies, and articles regarding needs assessments.  Becoming familiar with the library's heritage of great thinkers is a fantastic thing.  Thank you, JSTOR.

Arthur E.  Bostwick, ALA President 1907-1908

Reference:

Bostwick, A.E.  (1918).  The future of library work.  Bulletin of the American Library Association, 12(3), 50-57.

Photograph: 

From Lydenberg, H.M. (1917). History of the New York Public Library, Part V: The New York Free Circulating Library. Bulletin of the New York Public Library 21: 226-7

Weeding without worry: transparency and communication help ease weeding woes

Kate Lasky

INFO266 Spring 2019

Vnuk, R. (2016, May). Weeding without worry: transparency and communication help ease weeding woes. American Libraries, 47(5), 50+. Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A452496301/GPS?u=s9186272&sid=GPS&xid=2feffce8

In “Weeding without worry,” author Rebecca Vnuk reviews opportunities to improve communications and support transparent practices in the deselection of library material as a regular and proper process for all librarians.

Weeding is often negatively represented in the news. Damaging stories are most commonly generated by an employee or community member who is uninformed about the process of weeding and its necessity as part of collection development. Author Rebecca Vnuk advocates that librarians prepare public communications in advance of large weeding projects and promote transparency.

The article outlines several ways librarians can frame communications by focusing on making room for new materials, updating the offerings, opportunities for inter-library loan, and patron requests for purchase. The article offers a few examples of weeding “horror stories.”

Finally, the author advises librarians to find ways to reuse and recycle weeded material to help patrons understand the books will be used in the future.

The article, though brief, is a helpful reminder that effective communications requires thoughtful preparation in advance. Creating a list of frequently asked questions and answers and posting them on the library website can help employees, patrons, and board members better understand the finer points of deselection of materials.

Homeless and the Library

Diaz, Cristina

Ruhlmann, E. (2014). A home to the homeless. American Libraries, 45(11/12), 40–44. Retrieved from http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lls&AN=99206614&site=ehost-live&scope=site

The Article: “A Home to the Homeless,” by Ellyn Ruhlmann

This article is about how libraries are a home to the homeless, and how libraries can be more welcoming to the homeless population that visit the library.

This article starts off by discussing different types of homelessness. The article writes, “According to Partners Ending Homelessness, there are three patterns of homelessness. Situational homelessness can occur when someone loses a job, gets evicted, or suffers a particular financial or health crisis. Episodic homelessness differs in that it stems from patterns of behavior and can have multiple causes, including depression and domestic violence and is more common among women and families. A third group—chronically homeless people—comprises less than 18% of the total homeless population.” Chronic homelessness is described as an individual with a disability who has been homeless for more than a year or has had at least four episodes of homelessness in the last three years. It also discusses how the library has become their lifeline in keeping them caught up with the world outside and helps them get access to information on jobs and housing through use of computers.

The main library discussed in this article was Madison, Wisconsin’s Madison Public Library. They interviewed a chronically homeless woman who says she never visited the library before she became homeless. Now, she comes because it’s one of the few places that she can go in where it does not matter if she has money, or the way she’s dressed. She has the same access to services and treatment as any other person who visits the library.

The article also discusses how some of the library policies can make it hard on the homeless population, like prohibiting sleeping bags and large/multiple bags, loitering, offensive hygiene, etc. It goes on to describe ways we can be flexible in this, such as asking them to put their bags somewhere where it won’t get in the way. Some libraries prohibit sleeping in the library. This policy is harder to be flexible, because Librarians need to be sure there isn’t a health concern. So, the article goes on to say that if everything seems fine, allowing patrons to sleep should be fine, as long as they are not snoring, and disturbing other patrons.

The last bit that the article discusses is ways that the library can help the homeless population. Talking to community and churches who deal with the homeless, and finding out what they’d need, all the while looking for potential partnerships. How it used to be that librarians would have to send patrons seeking help to other places, but now, by bringing resources to the library, we can ensure that the “homeless patrons have access to services critical to their welfare.” The article discusses ways that other libraries have done this, like hiring a psychiatric social worker, or health and safety advocates (HASAs) that “help promote services to the poor, including a resource fair that the library hosts in partnership with Project Homeless Connect.”

All in all, I feel that this article does a great job in describing ways that the library has become a lifeline for the homeless patrons that visit the library, and what the library can do to become more welcoming to them. We are now more than just a source of information to those walking through our doors, but we are also, in many ways, their home.

INFO 266: Article on Homelessness and Public Libraries

Mello, J'Lillian

Wong, Y. (2009). Homelessness in public libraries. Journal of Access Services, 
6(3), 396-410 doi: 10.1080/15367960902908599 

Review on Homelessness in Public Libraries

This article focused on situations of homelessness and public libraries: 
“Homeless users are not problem patrons by default. They belong to one of the 
underserved user groups who deserve to be treated with respect. It is imperative that 
libraries should implement proactive steps to meet the needs of homeless users 
without compromising the needs of other users” (Wong, 2009, p.398). After reading
 this article, I thought of my experiences and how there is many public libraries 
trying to handle all different kinds of patrons; but the stereotype of homeless people
still exists within public libraries. Why? Unfortunately, other people within libraries
 judge and have a lack of sympathy. Wong points out that not all patrons and staff 
believe these stereotypes.“Homeless people are often persons with mental illness, 
persons suffering from addiction disorders, victims of domestic violence, or the 
unemployed. Homelessness comes in all shapes and sizes: children, families, 
men, women, and people from diverse ethnicities” (2009, p.400). These three 
issues: homelessness, mental illness, and substance abusers overlap. I’ve dealt 
with many patrons that have these issues, if not all. In the article, Wong discusses 
more in detail about these issues and the information needs of these
 people, for example “transportation”, “housing”, “health”, etc.

Becoming a Powerhouse Librarian How to Get Things Done Right the First Time by Jamie M Gray

Librarians and teachers working together and co-teaching is a great way to help students learn and get different perspectives. In the book Becoming a Powerhouse Librarian it talks about life long learning and cultivating the mindset of being curious. Keeping an open mind and learning to adjust to change. Be creative and evaluate relationships and cultivate communication. Working as a team and being a leader. One of the most important chapters which work with this class is building your skills and change with the times, not just work to fit your job description. I feel this is also relevant to the teachings in this class for teachers, who should be teaching for the students and how they learn. Not just to teach to get a passing grade from the students for the class. What would it look like to have a teacher teaching to the students learning ability and the librarian working with the students to provide the best services that will enhance the learning of the students? The combination of both is a win all around. At the library students can be mentors for other students each student can have the opportunity to be taught and to teach. Having the freedom and support to do a "Big Think" in the classroom and the library and compare and contrast what their findings are. 

The World's Strongest Librarian - by Josh Hanagarne

This is a perspective more of a student then the teacher. I was at a conference and I saw Josh Hanagarne speak. During this class we think how can we teach differently to help all the students? In his talk Josh talked about the people who helped him learn to learn with his disability. He went back to school and became a librarian. As teachers you get to know your students and wouldn't it be great if teachers were given the time and training to help identify challenges that their students face and offer alternative ways of learning? Finding what works for the most successful people with the same disabilities and teach them about those individuals and what worked for them and give them the latitude to experiment with the different learning techniques. Another point to help students with disabilities see successful people with the same or similar challenges help people see past their fears and disappointments and see a world of possibilities and to help get through tough times and work on their own successes. If you have people in your corner on the harder days it makes it a little less stressful.