Power to the Media Center (And to the People, Too)
Thinking of strengthening your school library media program? Library Power has shown that strong positive responses to the following questions can lead to success in creating a vibrant library media program.
Dianne M. Hopkins & Douglas L. Zweizig -- School Library Journal, 5/1/1999
Illustration by Brian Raszka
Dianne McAfee Hopkins and Douglas L. Zweizig are professors at the University of Wisconsin's School of Library and Information Studies and co-principal investigators of the National Library Power Program evaluation, 1994-1999. They are also the editors of the summer 1999 theme issue of School Libraries Worldwide, the journal of the International Association of School Librarians, which will feature more information on the Library Power evaluation.
Why do some school library media programs play an important role in the lives of their students and teachers, while others are overlooked, not making much of a difference? What have effective library media centers done that others may not be doing? Why is flexible scheduling a boom in some schools and a bust in others? These are some of the questions we considered as we looked back on the national Library Power initiative, a $45-million, decade-long school-improvement program sponsored by the DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund.
As Library Power researchers, we conducted surveys of library media specialists, principals, and teachers. We also conducted multiple case studies in eight Library Power communities. What did we discover? We found that more fully adapted school library media programs -- those that received more acceptance from teachers -- had seven characteristics: a shared vision, professional development programs, ample planning opportunities, leadership from the school's principal, a support staff, complementary school reforms, and community and district advocates. Collectively, these attributes form the basis of a strong library media center program.
Shared Vision
Many library media specialists have classroom teaching experience and extensive knowledge of curricula. Yet few principals and teachers seem to understand the important role a library media specialist can play in promoting better teaching and learning. Not surprisingly, media specialists, teachers, and principals often have very different ideas of what the library media center can contribute.
A significant difference between those schools that took part in the Library Power program and those not participating was that schools whose programs were more effective concentrated on creating a shared vision of the library media center. When library media specialists, teachers, and principals of Library Power schools were surveyed after the program had begun, there was a strong consensus that Library Power's key components -- such as on-demand use of the school library, new materials, collaborative planning sessions, and the retention of a full-time library media specialist -- would continue beyond the program's formal funding period.
How was this shared vision achieved? The answer lies mostly in professional development. By participating in ongoing professional development programs, library media specialists and other educators came to share a common vision of the value of school libraries, and they also learned how to make that vision a lasting reality.
Professional Development
Professional development has long been known to be essential to encouraging change and professional growth. Research has also shown that when change occurs, it happens gradually. Individuals require many opportunities to learn and practice new behaviors.
School districts used Library Power funds to set up annual summer institutes, as well as in-service programs and workshops during the school year, to show teachers and principals how the library media program can improve student learning. Some of the professional development topics included collaboration between teachers and library media specialists, flexible scheduling, information literacy, and designing facilities to promote learning in school libraries.
Library media specialists, principals, and teachers were also encouraged to visit other schools (both in and out of the school district) and to attend state and national conferences. (Eventual- ly, some of the Library Power participants ended up as presenters at these conferences.) As part of many Library Power schools' professional development programs, there were also library media-specialist staff facilitators, who modeled recommended practices and served as on-site consultants.
Planning Opportunities
Regular planning sessions between library media specialists and teachers are critical to integrating the library media program into the curriculum. As a result of Library Power, more than a third of library media specialists reported significant increases in collaborative planning. As for teachers, 50 percent indicated they met with library media specialists when planning instruction, and a third of the teachers also team taught with library media specialists. Library media specialists, teachers, and principals expected this collaborative trend to continue.
Even before Library Power began in the schools, there was collaborative planning at the community level. Each Library Power site invited community leaders (including public librarians) to help plan the local Library Power program. Once Library Power was under way, community advisory groups and school advisory teams (usually consisting of the principal, the library media specialist, and teachers) helped monitor and evaluate each school's progress.
Leadership from the Principal
An involved principal is often the key to whether an innovative program like Library Power will become a schoolwide priority or merely an afterthought. We found that principals often encouraged teachers to make Library Power a significant part of their instruction. And many principals, when evaluating teacher performance, factored in how well a teacher integrated the library media center's resources into their teaching. Principals also played major roles in urging their teachers to attend Library PowerA±related professional development sessions and in making sure that library media specialists and teachers had ample planning opportunities. Principals were also instrumental in hiring teachers who supported Library Power's goals.
Support Staff
In Library Power schools, the library media center often has a wide range of activities occurring simultaneously: for example, some students may be reading aloud, while others are quietly doing research; teachers may be instructing small groups or even an entire class; and library media specialists may be working with students, teachers, or parents. Most Library Power schools had support staff and volunteers in the library media center (which, for many schools, represented an increase in staffing). Without the presence of a support staff, it is unlikely that an active library media center program will occur.
Support staff enable the library media specialist to devote more time to helping students learn and to improving the quality of classroom instruction. And during those times when the library media specialist is away from the library, say, team teaching in a classroom, the presence of a support staff member assures that the library can remain open with adult supervision. The presence of support staff was also an important predictor of whether flexible scheduling would succeed.
Complementary School Reforms
Today many schools embrace the findings presented in A Nation at Risk (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983), a landmark report that warned of a rising tide of mediocrity in KA±12 schools and sounded the alarm for educational reform. But not all educational reforms are consistent with Library Power's student-centered approach to learning.
What types of reforms work well with Library Power? Those that emphasize student inquiry, in-depth understanding, critical thinking, and a collaborative approach between library media specialists and teachers. Two examples of educational reforms that are consistent with Library Power are Literacy League (a collaborative, research-based approach to teaching literature and improving literacy skills) and Padeia schools (which are based on the principles of Mortimer J. Adler and encourage student inquiry).
On the other hand, school-improvement initiatives that are heavily weighted toward increasing student scores on standardized tests or that emphasize learning through rote memory are less compatible with the inquiry-based approach that characterizes Library Power.
Community and District Advocacy
Library Power schools received support from Local Education Funds (LEFs), which are tax-exempt, nonprofit agencies that work to build community support for quality public education. LEFs are often made up of community volunteers and business leaders who support education. (The Library Power grants were made directly to LEFs, rather than to the participating schools.) Library Power schools also received ongoing district-level support from the local school board and the school district's library media coordinator and director of curriculum.
Making a Difference
There is much that can be learned from the experiences of the 19 communities that participated in Library Power. All too often, school library media specialists are on their own when it comes to creating and "selling" a successful library media program. Library Power provided allies -- community members, district administrators, principals, teachers, and parents -- who were committed to making the library media program a significant part of the curriculum.
We believe that the degree to which the seven Library Power components are present can predict a program's ultimate success.
What is Library Power?From 1988 through 1998, Library Power operated in 19 communities (which each received three-year grants) and affected nearly 700 public elementary and middle schools and more than 400,000 students nationwide. The schools that took part in Library Power agreed to provide a full-time library media specialist; keep the library open and accessible to users throughout the day; increase spending for books, software, and other educational materials; and provide library media specialists and teachers with planning time. These emphases were based, in large part, on the library media center guidelines featured in the then-current Information Power (ALA, 1988). Library Power, in turn, provided participating schools with additional funding, feedback, and consultants (including technical assistance from the American Association of School Librarians and the Public Education Network). The goal of Library Power was to show how the library media program can contribute to learning when it's integrated fully into the school's curriculum. |
Important Questions to Ask
Thinking of strengthening your school library media program? Library Power has shown that strong positive responses to the following questions can lead to success in creating a vibrant library media program.
Common Vision
1. To what degree is there a common vision of the role of the library media program in promoting student learning among the library media specialist, the school principal, teachers, parents, and community leaders?
2. How can district and school planning focus on promoting the use of the library media center in ways that best support learning?
Professional Development
3. What professional development activities relating to the library media program are available to the school library media specialist, principals and/or teachers?
4. How does district-level professional development planning promote a common school vision of library media center support for the curriculum?
Planning Opportunities
5. How can collaboration between library media specialists and teachers be made a natural part of the school's approach to instruction?
Leadership of Principals
6. What leadership or support is offered by the principal for the library media program?
Support Staff
7. To what degree does library media staffing support multiple activities for individual, small group, and class use?
8. To what degree can the library media specialist be engaged in professional rather than clerical responsibilities?
School Reforms
9. Do the educational initiatives promoted in the district and in the school emphasize areas that are compatible with the desired library media program, e.g., resource-based learning, inquiry-based learning, authentic learning, higher-order thinking?
Community and District Advocacy
10. What community groups are currently or are likely to be interested in the school library media program's role in promoting student learning (e.g., parent-teacher organizations, public library, university, civic groups) and how can their interest be activated?
11. How can district-level leadership for the library media program be encouraged and/or maintained?
