June 1999

Staff -- School Library Journal, 6/1/1999

It Takes More Than (Experience)
Donna Beales ("To Be [or Not to Be] a Librarian," April 1999) feels confident that her experience alone should qualify her as a professional children's librarian. She intimates that the MLS courses at the ALA-accredited institution she's condescending to take won't teach her much. She's probably right.

Fifteen years ago, I was a teacher who had taken undergraduate library courses and worked as a children's librarian. My experience, however, only made me realize just how much more I needed to learn.

I began a four-year commute that would total more than 30,000 miles to obtain an MLS. My graduate studies were truly inspiring and so were my fellow students, many of whom were sacrificing far more than I to obtain their library degrees. I'm grateful that my knowledgeable professors, leaders in the library field, hadn't done a cost-benefit analysis before deciding to pursue their Ph.Ds.

Are professional librarians underpaid? Of course. Will the hiring of uncredentialed librarians help raise salaries? Not likely. The teaching profession (another underpaid profession beset by "small-minded credentialism") is striving to raise its status (and salaries) by raising standards.

National certification requirements have been established and many teachers are volunteering to be evaluated on subject knowledge, teaching techniques, classroom management, and community relations. The process is rigorous and expensive. Yet many are willing, because it raises the level of the profession. School districts and state legislatures are responding by offering salary bonuses for successful candidates. Schools of education are increasing their requirements and developing proficiency tests to make sure their graduates are qualified and competent.

Library education is in turmoil, but we should not relax our standards or credentials. We should make our requirements vigorous, promote our profession, and seek to raise its status and, hopefully, its pay.

Eileen Hansen
Library/Media Specialist
Roosevelt High School
Des Moines, IA

Don't Ban Toys
I read with much surprise the article entitled "Look, Ma! No Toys" (January 1999). Our circulation at the Cuyahoga County Public Library skyrocketed in part because of our toy library; we had several first-time library users visit because of the interest in our toy collection.

Since "play is a child's work," we have utilized every opportunity for our patrons to help their young ones develop their creative potential. As I'm sure the author herself has learned, children don't learn just from books, they learn best through play (especially young children who can't yet read). Would you eliminate videos, cassettes, and even your computers from your library as well?

As president of the USA/Toy Library Association, an active advocate of play, former teacher, and mother of two grown adults, I have gained many insights into the facets of child development. I agree with M. Kimberly Bears's closing comment that supports developing lifelong readers, but would like to enlighten her on how puzzles can be a tremendous tool to develop pre-reading skills. The puzzles and toys we have in our play area are chosen with much discretion.

At Cuyahoga County Public Library we strive for quality customer service, and it is with much gratitude that our patrons are still (eight years later) using and appreciating our toy library and play area. We often package our books with the realia we have available to circulate, and thereby offer the children a total learning experience, where they can see, hear, and "do" their "work."

We would love to invite Bears to explore for herself "toy library-land." I have an abundance of resources, including literature and professionals who can encourage and enhance knowledge of toys and play. Let's strive to develop lifelong readers, but give them every and all opportunities to learn and grow.

Donna Giannantonio
Public Services Assistant
Cuyahoga County Public Library
Brooklyn, OH

School Corps Works Wonders
Walter Minkel's article ("Five Librarians, One 50-Foot Phone Cord, and a Whole Lot of Chutzpah," March 1999) about Multnomah County Library's innovative School Corps program prompted me to write extolling the virtues of the program. As a library media specialist in a school served by Multnomah County Library, my staff, students, and their families are utilizing the library's resources more than ever. The School Corps' presentations to students ranging in age from 5 to 14 are impressive. They convinced 100 percent of our staff and student body to sign up for a library card. They spoke eloquently about the complex issues pertaining to censorship during Banned Books Week. They met with our staff to plan for the academic year, brainstorming, volunteering to create bibliographies, and locating Web resources pertinent to many subjects and grade levels.

The School Corps and our staff collaboratively planned and taught effective search strategies to classes in our computer lab. We have had the pleasure of working with all of the members of this team, and we are in awe of their talents and efforts. Consequently, students search the library's catalog online from either school or home; they place holds on books and have them delivered to their nearest branch, they frequently turn to the library's Web page for help with their assignments, and they participate in the summer reading program.

Our school and many other K-12 schools served by Multnomah County Library are grateful to School Corps. They truly understand the vision of Information Power: "The school media program operates within a collaborative learning community, to provide students with the information skills essential to becoming lifelong, independent learners."

Libraries looking to forge partnerships with school library media programs and boost circulation and support for their institutions would do well to study this model program.

Marian Creamer
Library Media Specialist
Riverdale School District
Portland, OR

Banish Books That Do Damage
I find it rather odd that the editors of SLJ are still receiving mail five months after my original letter (December, 1998, "Truth and Consequences,"). Yet, not one response from anyone in the country who favors some degree of oversight in our public school libraries.

Again, I am not talking about the ridiculous classic censorship battles about trying to get Huck Finn off the shelves. I am referring to books and materials that, while informative for an appropriately directed, mature student, might be damaging, to some degree, in the hands of the same age student who takes the materials' message out of context. Given the fact that most of the atrocities committed by today's kids usually are somewhat linked to overexposure to materials that they could not handle, I do not think that it is out of line to suggest we need some heightened awareness.

Frank J. Indriso III
Library/Media Specialist
Orchard Valley Middle School
Sewell, NJ

Thanks for Fleischman
Thank you for the inspiring article by Paul Fleischman ("The Serendipity Kid,"). As a bicyclist, letterpress printer, and writer, I found the piece to be a continuing inspiration and have filed it away to keep with me in the future. I am not a school librarian, but after reading the article, I wish I had the opportunity that so many school librarians must have to use the article as a touchstone to spur youngsters' own passions about their own avocations.

Jonathan Rabinowitz
Managing Editor
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