2.
Your Mission, should you choose to accept it, is
to assist 30 children and 1 teacher find
appropriate materials in 15 minutes.
You will have to have your wits about you
because you will also have 23 kids returning
materials, 5 kids renewing materials, and 2 more
who forgot their materials.
On top of that, the teacher will want to talk to
you about an upcoming project.
No one said being a School Library Media
Specialist was an easy job. Often, it is a Mission
Impossible.
3. “…the act of putting people together with the
books they love." - Diana Tixier Herald, author
of Genreflecting
“Advis(ing) patrons on all
kinds of materials, from
fiction and nonfiction to
audiobooks, graphic novels,
and even reference.” – The
Readers’ Advisory Handbook
4.
AASL Mission Statement: “The Mission of the
school library program is to ensure that
students and staff are effective users of ideas
and information. The school librarian
empowers students to be critical thinkers,
enthusiastic readers, skillful researchers, and
ethical users of information…” Empowering
Learners; Guidelines for School Library
Programs
6.
Assist students to make appropriate
selections
Allowing students to choose own books
helps instill a life-long love of reading
Being read to and reading to others
provides opportunities for social
interaction
Sharing a mutual love of books brings
people together
7.
Know your collection
Review the shelves often
Read, Read, Read
USE your collection
Create pathfinders including LibGuides,
handouts, and Google Sites
◦ Displays
◦ Run reports
◦ Inventory
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9.
Know your patrons (students and staff)
◦ Questionnaires asking students and staff about
favorite (and least favorite) genres
◦ Questionnaires asking teachers which topics they
will be covering
◦ Reference Interview, informal questions, and
polling a group
◦ Circulation statistics
10. HOW NOT to perform a reference interview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Niac-sIGd8g
Performing a Proper Reference Interview You must have TIME to perform the following:
Paraphrase
Ask open-ended questions
Clarify
Verify
Follow up
End the interview
In studies completed in the United States and Canada, 33% of boys read at an advanced level while 65% of girls read at an advanced level; around 60% of boys read at a proficient level whereas over 70% of girls read at a proficient level
Websites – Your website with links or databases, suggestions, etc.; Other websites to link to.Suggestions – from teachers and students put on cards or in displays.Displays of types of books, most popular, suggested, genre, etc.Pathfinders including LibGuides, Google Sites, Handouts.Databases including NoveList and What Do I Read Next?
