Why Isn't Information Literacy Catching On?

Many school librarians can relate to Hoth's ongoing battle to weave the media center and information literacy into the school curriculum. In fact, School Library Journal has found that 68 percent of media specialists encounter similar barriers to teaching information literacy, with the number-one obstacle being no support by teachers, closely followed by little knowledge about what information literacy actually is.

In the first comprehensive study of its kind, SLJ surveyed 783 school librarians nationwide to determine the extent to which information literacy is being taught in K–12 schools. While it's heartening that 88 percent of respondents have information literacy standards in place at the school or district level, only 30 percent of teachers and 14 percent of students actually know what those skills entail. This ignorance is precisely why librarians are struggling to gain the support they need, says Jo Ellen Priest Misakian, director of the school library media program at Fresno Pacific University in California. "Unless [teachers and administrators] understand what we're saying, they're not going to understand our role," she adds.

Why is information literacy having such a hard time catching on? Apart from the fact that many people consider the term jargon and often mistake it for information access, it's an amorphous phrase that's difficult to grasp. "Information literacy is constantly changing before our eyes," says Bill Derry, a media specialist at Green's Farms Elementary School in Westport, CT, who says his colleagues respond well to the literacy steps laid out in the American Library Association's (ALA) Information Power (ALA Editions, 1998) (www.ala.org/aasl/ip_nine.html) or the Big6 (www.big6.com/index.php), a popular problem-solving approach. "There's technological literacy, multicultural literacy, media literacy—we need to include them all, but they muddy the waters."

Even media specialists don't always agree that information literacy is a top priority. When asked to rate the tasks they found most important, planning and teaching information literacy lagged behind three longtime staples—developing a collection, recommending materials, and providing students and teachers with source materials. Why is that? Many say it's because all of these tasks are interrelated and are hard to separate. Nevertheless, Pamela Cameron, a school librarian at Mattawan Middle School in Michigan, knows the responsibility to spread information literacy is hers alone. "It's been a failure on my part not to use the term 'information literacy' with my staff and students," says Cameron, who vows to start using it in her daily lessons starting this fall. Although she's spent the past two years instructing students—both in the library and in classrooms—on how to access, evaluate, and use information, Cameron has never specifically labeled what she does. "Defining information literacy legitimizes the role of the school librarian and identifies those skills as something teachers and students should master not only in school, but throughout life," she says. "It focuses on what the media center can do for you."

With little awareness among educators about information literacy, it's no wonder that only 15 percent of elementary school teachers and 21 percent of junior high school and high school teachers collaborate with media specialists on teaching these skills. Of librarians who collaborate, only 11 percent say they often design and teach information literacy units with teachers, while 51 percent say they sometimes do, and 35 percent say they rarely do. Frances Roscello, president of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), says this kind of collaboration might be difficult in elementary schools because some teachers tend to view the librarian as a baby-sitter and others are too preoccupied teaching their young students how to read.

But what's the excuse for not collaborating in higher grades? Secondary school teachers tend to take ownership of what they do to the exclusion of the librarian, says Linda Sipes, a media specialist at Greeley Central High School in Colorado. And that means she's only called in to help locate materials at the beginning of the research process. While new state-mandated tests should have opened the doors to wider collaboration for Susan Brandt, a media specialist at Elmont Memorial High School in New York, they've actually hampered her efforts. "Some teachers used to be frequent users of the library," she says. "But they no longer come because they're pressed for time to get kids ready for the Regents." Ironically, Brandt must now convince her colleagues that she plays a pivotal role in teaching the exact skills that are needed to pass these demanding exams. "It's an adjustment period," adds Brandt, who has already collected previous exams to develop lessons that demonstrate what she has to offer. "Teachers need to get comfortable with the idea that I can help them before they feel they can give their time to the library." Another essential component is gaining the support of your principal, "If your principal isn't a supporter of collaboration, you can try your hardest, but you won't succeed," Derry says.

Although most librarians agree that evaluating students would certainly reinforce the profession's relevance, more than 80 percent of respondents say they have no formal benchmarks in place to prove that students have mastered information literacy skills. A big part of the problem for Hoth, who teaches in the Florida Keys, is that there are no state-mandated benchmarks, programs, or a central office for library services to support school librarians. With 700 students to serve and no aide, she says it's simply impossible to build a comprehensive information literacy program and an evaluative process on her own. "There's no telling how much we can do and how much of an impact we could have on student achievement if we had that support system in place," she says.

But media specialists shouldn't go it alone when assessing students because it will only perpetuate "the myth that the library program is isolated," cautions Derry, who suggests that librarians help teachers create rubrics for evaluating students and then collaborate on a lesson. For instance, when a second grade teacher recently asked Derry to create an innovative approach to studying the human body, he came up with a scripted, library-based talk show in which a host interviewed classmates dressed up as a heart, brain, lung, or stomach. Students were asked to research individual organs, take notes, create graphs, and come up with 10 questions and answers. Then the project was evaluated based on previously established benchmarks.

Indeed, the stereotype of the media specialist as an inconsequential part of the school makes collaboration inherently difficult. "There's a flaw because librarians don't grade students," Derry says. "That's why you need to create a curriculum that's owned by the classroom [teacher], but that the media specialist can share in the outcomes." Derry has taken that advice one step further, having just finished helping his district create an elementary school curriculum that links the library to all subject areas. And Big6 authors Mike Eisenberg and Bob Berkowitz were able to play an important role in the effort, thanks to a state grant.

Spreading the value of information literacy also requires diligence. Cameron reaches up to 100 students at a time by assembling classes by subject. And Brandt holds biweekly meetings with all of the department chairs as a way to "get plugged" into the schoolwide curriculum. "If you're not connecting with the teachers, nothing happens," she says. A hands-on approach is the best way for media specialists to market themselves, says Derry, who collaborates by showing teachers, not telling them, what he does. "I show them that we're not a separate part of the school, but a learning lab where lots of different things take place," he adds. "[I] show [them] the power of the library, how kids are engaged and excited, and how much they know in the end."

In a perfect world, every educator would be trained in information literacy. Short of that, a good place for librarians to start is by seeking out just one responsive teacher and building from there, says Misakian, who is on a committee to develop California school library standards with formal benchmarks. But expect to find resistance. "Collaboration is a struggle, that's why so many people run away from it," Derry adds. "It's only when you get the fruit of it that you'll do it again, so starting small is important." A series of focus groups last year by ALA and AASL showed that although teachers and administrators felt media specialists were underutilized, collaboration was still lacking. "It's not an indication that they didn't value collaboration, it's just that they don't take the time to do it," says Julie Walker, AASL's executive director. Once you've secured supporters, the next step is gaining exposure at local or regional professional organizations for superintendents, principals, and teachers. "Don't just talk to yourselves," advises AASL's Roscello. "They need to know what added value school librarians bring to the picture—and information literacy is one of them."

Debra Lau Whelan is School Library Journal's senior editor for news and features.