Class 7: Field Trip, Again!

After tackling readings about collaboration, we were able to spend some time at the library of SI alum and current middle school librarian, Rachel. One of her strategies for managing collaboration is to use a matrix that includes information about the various levels of cooperation, collaboration, etc. for teachers. I like this idea because it stresses collaboration as a process--while current relationships may not involve a lot of working together, there is always the option of scaling up. Not only does Rachel collaborate with teachers to create lesson plans, but she is an active collaborator in the community as well, taking charge of programs like Girls on the Run or the school's computer club. It is quite impressive how many things she tackles at once, and it certainly demonstrates her commitment to her students.

After meeting with Rachel, I read her article, Book Fairs 2.0 in School Libraries: What's Next, What's Yet to Come. I found her piece to be really interesting and inspiring. I had never given much thought before to how exclusive book fairs can really be, and I never understood all the commercial, negative aspects--makes me see Scholastic in a different light! I appreciated Rachel's new take on the book fair--take more control and get the community involved. Having worked at an independent bookstore in the past, I know they loved doing events like these because it allowed them to promote themselves and integrate into the community more, which is important in the Amazon-age.

A fellow classmate commented on how vast the nonfiction section was at Rachel's library, and this struck me too. It also seemed incredibly diverse in its offerings, from more recent publications to quite old. Thinking back upon some school library visits I made last year, I remember how "numbers"-driven the librarians were when talking about their collections. The librarians commented on the average age of their collections, the number of books, and the physical size of the library itself. I wonder what the "age" of Rachel's library is, and how these statistics actually factor into student learning.