Week 1: School Standards & More

The readings for this week discuss some of the standards that school librarians need to be aware of to be successful in their work. In particular, these readings focus on the importance of literacy and technology in the lives of young people, and how integral a role librarians can play in improving these skill sets.

Overall, the American Association of School Libraries standards appear uneven. The AASL Common Beliefs are solid, presenting a clear case for how significant literacy is for young people. These beliefs argue that reading is fundamental to learning, information literacy is a crucial skill, and technology skills must be taught to prepare students for life after graduation. The individual standards (and there are plenty of them) are less solid, mostly because they are less clear. Some of them make sense and seem reasonable in terms of purpose and practice (“Collaborate with others to exchange ideas, develop new understandings, make decisions, and solve problems”). Many, though, seem overly vague and are probably covered by other standards. While most of the individual standards probably have worthwhile intentions, the unclear language makes it difficult to expect that library professionals can follow them at all times. The AASL standards are commendable, however, for laying out expectations of access and equality for all students.

Meanwhile, the other readings this week discuss standards, history and legislation as they relate to schools, and particularly, school libraries. Learning more about the legislative standards that dictate what students learn when, it certainly becomes clear why school librarians need to be current on what forces are driving the learning in their schools. Because school librarians can be leaders in so many aspects of their school—technology adoption, improving reading comprehension, etc.—the challenge may be how to deliver services that not only support reading and math standards but also encourage other types of continuing learning.

With the mixed professional makeup of school library staff (paraprofessionals, certified teachers, librarians with graduate degrees, etc.), it is still a question how these standards can be uniformly and best applied to the profession as a whole. Overall, the important take-home message from reading about standards seems to be that school librarians contribute to the success of learners, regardless of how this is mandated. As supporters of school curriculum, it is critical that librarians not only know what students are learning, but understand why. One particular challenge may be how to incorporate government-mandated standards with professional objectives.