School libraries are most successful when the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) standards are seamlessly incorporated into everyday practice. Although each of the AASL standards are vital to the success of a library, there are four competencies that I believe are especially important:
Inquire & Grow: Learners continually seek knowledge, engage in sustained inquiry, enact new understanding through real-world connection tools and resources, and use reflection to guide informed decisions.
Collaborate & Create: Learners use a variety of communication tools and resources, establish connections with other learners to build on their own prior knowledge and create new knowledge.
Include & Share: Learners engage in informed conversation and active debate and they contribute to discussions in which multiple viewpoints on a topic are expressed.
Curate & Grow: Learners perform ongoing analysis of and reflection on the quality, usefulness, and accuracy of curated resources, integrate and depict in a conceptual knowledge their understanding gained from resources, and openly communicate their curation process for others to use, interpret, and validate.
For my second interview, I chose Mrs. Jessica White from Airport High School. I first met Mrs. White when I did my additional internship day in Airport’s library. This is her first year as a school librarian, so I thought her experience would be insightful as an early-career librarian. (Additionally, Airport is the high school that my middle school feeds into, so it was especially valuable to talk to Fulmer’s librarian and one of Airport’s and consider the similarities and differences). Mrs. White works alongside another librarian at Airport, and in our interview, she often spoke about what she and Ms. Muller work on together.
Mrs. White said that to promote inquiry and growth, they support teachers using the library for activities like escape rooms, scavenger hunts, and other activities using the library's resources. (This includes print and digital materials). This allows students to engage with the library in a unique way beyond just when they’re browsing for books.
To promote collaboration and creation, tables around the library serve as mini makerspaces; different tables have different crafts and activities laid out. For example, there’s a bracelet-making station, a paper craft station, and games. This allows students to organically collaborate and create with their peers; while the facilitation of an adult is good, it’s also good for kids to collaborate solely with their peers. Airport’s library also has some neat tools like a Cricut and 3D printer that students can use in collaboration with a librarian.
Regarding the inclusion foundation, Mrs. White believes that she and Ms. Muller have worked hard to create an inclusive and safe space in the library where kids feel free to be themselves. Based on the one day I spent in Airport’s library, I can definitely attest to this. The two librarians have built strong relationships with students who come in to talk about their lives as well as books. I also got to witness students with special needs using the library, and Mrs. White was very welcoming and accommodating.
Lastly, for the curation domain, Mrs. White admitted that this is an area of growth for Airport’s library. They’ve had some classes come in and use materials, but they didn’t really have specific conversations about how they chose their information and decided to use it. I appreciated her honesty in this area; I am sure that I will also have areas of growth during my first few years as a school librarian.
Mrs. White mentioned that they are very lucky at Airport to have access to so many resources to help implement these competencies. In addition to tools like the 3D printer and Cricut, the library has a lot of square footage. There are lots of tables and even a couple of conference rooms that classes will often use for students to collaborate in. This space allows classes to participate in activities such as the ones already mentioned (scavenger hunts, etc.).
One of the biggest challenges Mrs. White and Ms. Muller face is the challenge of time. There are many times when one or both of them will get pulled from the library to facilitate testing, and this sometimes means the library is closed for entire days even though the two of them are physically in the building. This greatly impacts their ability to effectively implement these competencies. There are budget hindrances, too; they would love to purchase more books and materials for makerspaces, but there just isn’t the money.
Airport High School’s library has a lot of tools that I haven’t really seen in elementary or middle school libraries. It is interesting to hear about how these tools are used to implement the core competencies and how Mrs. White ensures the library is a welcoming and inclusive place for all students. Her passion for inclusivity is something I want to take with me in my own profession.
References
American Association for School Librarians. (2018). AASL standards framework for learners. AASL. https://standards.aasl.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/AASL- standards-Framework-for-Learners-pamphlet.pd
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