Get teachers involved in your program. Teachers can be a great source of support because they will appreciate the ways that a strong library media program strengthens their own efforts. Actively recruiting teachers will be necessary whenever your collaborative teaching schedule gets too light, or whenever you begin a new program aspect or event. Talking at a staff meeting might be a way to keep everyone informed of events, but some people will need to be personally invited to participate in a flexibly scheduled program.

Protect your teaching time. Teachers and administrators need to know that you are a teacher and that your schedule affects others. When the principal asks if the LMC can be used for a last minute meeting, try to accommodate the ‘request,’ but politely mention lessons that will have to be cancelled because of the new event.

Plan events or lessons to coincide with administrative visits. If you know that a district meeting will be held in your school, plan an interesting lesson for the beginning/end of the meeting. Then invite the superintendent, district directors, etc. to stop in before/after the meeting to see the library media program in action.

Keep the PTO informed of your efforts. Prepare a simple display or presentation for PTO members to view at their meetings, including photos, student work, a calendar of events, and special activity highlights. This way you can be positively represented even if you can’t attend. Be sure to update the display for each meeting.

Keep the principal informed of your efforts. Keep a daily log of the services you provide to help account for your time, and use the information to prepare monthly reports for the principal. This log could be a tally sheet with spaces labeled “Planned Unit with Teacher” or “Gathered Resources to Support Instruction.” The daily log could be a list of staff names jotted down throughout the day (Herring), with details added later (Herring- set up data projector and speakers for lesson.) You might also want to record when and how students use the LMC. Whatever format you use, the daily log will help show administrators the myriad of ways you impact the school’s teaching and learning.
Advertise your program. Ask the public library to help you promote your library media program. Placing flyers on a Community Board at the public library will not only remind your students’ parents of activities, but will also strengthen support for your program with other taxpayers. Public libraries are sometimes willing to put announcements or links on their Web sites, informing patrons of services offered by other local libraries.

Use the model site rubrics to periodically evaluate your program. The model site rubrics will help you develop the library media program according to the state and national standards for school libraries. The state standards are outlined by the Massachusetts School Library Media Association, and the national principles are outlined in Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning.
Visit other flexibly scheduled programs. No matter how knowledgeable and effective you are, you will need time to collaborate with colleagues who understand your job and can offer support. Visiting other library media programs or having other library media specialists visit you can help strengthen the vision you have for your program, and can develop renewed enthusiasm, helping you cope with daily challenges.

This column has been created to provide a way for Media Forum Online readers to share successful ideas with their colleagues. In this issue, the column has been written with ideas gathered by the author and with ideas from Carol Cappadona, Sandy Kelly, Jane Urban, and Susan Wauchope. The topic “Integrating Information Literacy Skills” will be presented in the next issue. If you have successful ideas for this topic that you would like to share, send them to April Graziano at agraziano_pps@yahoo.com and let your colleagues know What Works.


This column has been created to provide a way for Media Forum Online readers to share successful ideas with their colleagues. In this issue, the column has been written with ideas gathered by the author and with ideas from Carol Cappadona, Sandy Kelly, Jane Urban, and Susan Wauchope. The topic “Integrating Information Literacy Skills” will be presented in the next issue. If you have successful ideas for this topic that you would like to share, send them to April Graziano at agraziano_pps@yahoo.com and let your colleagues know What Works.