Power to the Librarian

Don't tell Betsy Barnett it's impossible to turn a run-down library into the focal point of a school. In just one year, the library media specialist at the K–12 Eads School in eastern Colorado went from being a frustrated librarian with a sparse book collection and little financial support to someone who teachers collaborate with on all research projects. The same goes for Tammy Langeberg, a media specialist at Zerger Elementary, a suburb outside Denver, who felt unappreciated and left out. Now she's the person her colleagues turn to when they need advice on student learning.

Barnett and Langeberg are among 133 media specialists across Colorado who have been transformed by the Power Libraries project, the only statewide program in the nation that pairs promising school librarians with scant resources with those that have successfully integrated information literacy skills into the classroom. Call it the Big Sister mentoring program for school librarians.

With 1,683 K–12 public schools serving 724,500 students, Colorado ranks 31st in the nation in educational funding. This dismal ranking, coupled with the fact that certified librarians are not mandated by the state, means administrators need to understand the importance of funding certified librarians.

Power Libraries teaches media specialists how to turn their school libraries into vital learning centers that seamlessly weave resources into classroom lessons. And it teaches them how to collaborate with teachers to ensure kids learn the right research skills. With these accomplishments, the project's creators say, librarians will eventually gain the trust and support of their principals, and soon enough, the badly needed funds will start flowing their way.

That's what happened when Barnett's school was accepted into the Power Libraries project in 1999. The media specialist was given a $5,000 grant to improve her school's book collection and received about 45 hours of intensive information literacy training from Becky Roesch at nearby McClave High School. As Barnett began adding more resources and books to the Eads school library, she also began using her newly acquired skills to convince teachers that the media center was essential to student learning. "Then the principal saw the need to give more money to the library," says Joy Van Meter, Power Libraries' project coordinator.

Within a year, Barnett earned the distinction of becoming a mentor to other developing schools in the area and, eventually, her students' test scores improved. Third graders who scored in the 75th percentile on the national Terra Nova reading test in 2000, scored in the 84.5 percentile two years later. Soon enough, Barnett's annual school library budget jumped from $800 to $6,000, and former principal Mike Miller, who later became the principal of nearby Las Animas High School, felt so strongly about the project that he's asked Barnett to mentor his current school librarian.

To date, there are 45 mentoring libraries scattered throughout the state, making it possible for any promising librarian in Colorado to find a mentor within a two-hour drive. In short, the project has created a statewide network of excellent media centers from which any developing school librarian can learn. That's great news, considering recent studies by Colorado-based researcher Keith Lance have shown that strong library media programs are linked to student standardized test scores that are 10 percent to 18 percent higher than schools without strong library programs (see "Dick and Jane Go to the Head of the Class , April 2000, pp. 44–47).

Power Libraries was launched in 1997, when the Central Colorado Library System—a state-supported library agency—and the Colorado State Library gathered 45 educators, librarians, and community leaders in Breckinridge, CO, for a summit on the condition of the state's school libraries. The volunteer committee they formed concluded that information literacy standards had fallen shamelessly behind the state's standards. A decision was made to create a library mentoring program for state-endorsed librarians and the name "Power Libraries" was extracted from Library Power and Information Power, both information literacy programs created by the American Association of School Librarians. State endorsement requires that librarians have a teaching certificate and one year of classroom experience, as well as some coursework in a graduate-level library media program.

Colorado school libraries were initially attracted mainly to the project's money—Gene Hainer, a school library consultant for the state library, secured a three-year $500,000 grant from the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), making it possible to get the project off the ground. The LSTA grant allowed Power Libraries to dole out $2,000 individual honorariums to mentoring school libraries and $5,000 to each developing library to help build book collections and buy other necessary materials. But money is no longer a driving factor—although all of the LSTA grant has been spent, the number of participants this year has more than tripled to 73. Now funded by the Central Colorado Library System—which funds the project at one-third of the LSTA grant—Power Libraries has become synonymous with quality learning. "It means you are a library that's part of the school curriculum," Van Meter says. "It means you work with teachers to raise student achievement, and you are on the cutting edge of what school libraries ought to be."

Langeberg, the media specialist at Zerger Elementary just north of Denver, credits her mentor Jennifer Drotar at Skyview Elementary in nearby Thornton, for giving her the hands-on organizational and instructional skills necessary to build a strong information literacy program. In the last few months, Langeberg has taught all of her school's kindergartners to second graders about book care, and played educational games with the entire third-grade class. Now she's in the process of developing a fourth grade reading activity. "The staff truly sees me as a leader and supporter," Langeberg says. "A school can have a wonderful, enthusiastic librarian, but it's very difficult to power up without the principal 'buying in' and being a supporter of what she does."

The main reason for Power Libraries' success is its focus on collaboration among the library media specialist, teachers, and the principal. When surveyed last year, 100 percent of responding principals in developing schools said their library programs improved. But the real surprise came when 100 percent of the principals at mentoring schools also said their library programs improved. The program's intense screening process has also contributed to its success. Mentoring schools must have at least one full-time certified librarian who regularly collaborates with teachers. She must also be a leader in her own school and be committed to professional growth.

The requirements for librarians-in-training are just as stringent. Like all applicants, Penny LoFaro, a media specialist at Berry Creek Middle School near Vail, had to have state endorsement, a willingness to assume a leadership role, and show a proven commitment to creating a collaborative school program. She also had to convince teachers and the principal to travel to a mentoring school to observe its teaching methods. All Power Libraries participants are also required to meet during the school year at the state professional conference hosted by the Colorado Association of Libraries.

To ensure success, up to 50 percent of developing library applicants are rejected each year for not meeting all of the requirements—for instance, failing to gain state endorsement. But that doesn't mean they're abandoned. The Colorado State Library has a state-funded school library consultant who offers free advice and workshops to school librarians, and the Colorado universities and the Colorado Library Association offer workshops. Power Libraries also offers workshops called "Create Your Own Power Library," designed to help schools learn some of the major components of integrating information literacy skills in the classroom.

Despite its success, the project has had its bumps. Some schools have dropped out after just one year, and others find the grant requirements too restrictive or the record keeping too cumbersome. Some librarians object to the long drive and having to spend their own money to attend the annual state library conference. Others drop out because they have to focus on other school or district initiatives, leaving no time to mentor developing schools. And some simply find the timing not right for them. A few fail to graduate from developing to high-performance status. In one school, the librarian couldn't convince her teachers to collaborate.

Still, there's lots of interest from other states, including Alaska and South Carolina, to replicate the program on a district, regional, or statewide level. Three educators from the Kalamazoo Public Schools in Michigan visited Colorado to see the project in action, and they've decided to pilot the identical program in their school district. Their results have been similar to Colorado's. "I wouldn't have gotten where I am without being involved in the Power Libraries program," Barnett says. "It's a wonderful concept that gets you involved with mentors who make your library have an impact."