Letters

CORRECTION: The August news article "Making Strides at a Subdued ALA" (p. 19) stated incorrectly that many council meetings failed to meet their quorums. All of the American Library Association's council meetings achieved quorums and conducted official business. Two membership meetings, however, failed to achieve quorums.

CALL FOR REVIEWERS: School Library Journal is recruiting volunteers to review videos, DVDs, audiobooks, and CD-ROMs for students in preschool through 12th grade. We are looking for practicing librarians/media specialists, middle school/high school department chairpersons, subject specialists, and professors in schools of education/library science to volunteer their expertise in reviewing multimedia programs. If you are interested, please contact SLJ's multimedia review editor, Phyllis Levy Mandell, at School Library Journal, 360 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010; phone (646) 746-6763; e-mail pmandell@reedbusiness.com.

School Library Journal welcomes letters up to 300 words. They may be edited for clarity and length. Please include a daytime telephone number. Write to the Editor, School Library Journal, 360 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010; fax (646) 746-6689; or e-mail slj@reedbusiness.com.

A male librarian fends off the gender stereotype

I really enjoyed Debra Lau Whelan's article on "The Only Young School Librarian " (May 2003, pp. 52–55). I, like many of my fellow graduates, am a part of this new breed of librarian. I loved the stereotypes that she touched on—the bun in the hair and the glasses on the tip of the nose. But there was a major stereotype that was not discussed—gender.

I am a man in a woman's field. Whenever I tell people I am an elementary school librarian, they laugh and then laugh some more, then they notice that I don't. That is when they quickly fumble around and say, "Oh, that is great… I love books… I love to read…" They stammer like a jack hammer.

I really enjoy what I do. Like many others, I did not want to be tied down to one classroom, I would rather see the whole school. I think it is great that more and more people are becoming interested in the media specialist field. I am returning back to school this summer to acquire my MLS, and I know many of those classes are filling up very quickly.

Thank you for helping us break the mold! Keep the great articles coming.
—Mike Maley, Librarian, East Penn School District, Emmaus, PA

Your article on Weston Woods ("The Wizard of Weston Woods ," May 2003, pp. 56–58) brought back fond memories of a professional field trip I took to their studios in the early 1970s. Along with about 25 other school and public librarians, I was given a guided tour, served a scrumptious luncheon, and entertained with sneak previews and a showing of hilarious outtakes from their live-action film adaptation of Isaac Singer's Zlateh the Goat.

Over many years as an elementary school library media specialist, I have enjoyed countless hours sharing Weston Woods' filmstrips and movies with my students. It is reassuring to learn that this company, while no longer independent, is still producing quality media.
—Joe Light, Library Media Specialist, Westerly High School, Westerly, RI

After reading the letter by Jimmy Allen (April 2003, p. 15) on ending teacher certification for school librarians, I felt compelled to reply to the assertion that teacher certification is not necessary to be a school librarian.

I often work with classes or groups of students. I need to be able to catch their attention and hold their interest as I conduct my lesson. I learned these teaching skills in teacher education courses. I currently co-teach two multimedia classes in which we work with students on creating movies. I have taught classes in journalism, speech making, and debate, as well as classes on great books in which I also had to create related materials. I have devised class projects (including Internet ones) and lectured on a number of subjects unrelated to "library" topics.

I would like to know which library science class teaches the skills needed to write curriculum and teach it. I hope I do not hear the argument that anyone can teach. Let's save that one for another day.

The reality of a school librarian's job is not simply performing such "library" tasks as budgeting, evaluating materials, and cataloging. I do less cataloging than meeting with students and helping them with their work. School librarians, for whatever reason, often have to teach classes, whether it is on "library" topics or not. If all teachers who work with students need teaching credentials, then so do librarians.

Since I do not have an ALA-accredited master's degree in library science (an absolute necessity, according to Allen) and don't need to be a certified teacher, I'd like to know why I have been successful as a school librarian for more than 20 years.
—Janice Weiner, Librarian, Aptakisic Junior High School, Buffalo Grove, IL

I am truly surprised that as a professional librarian from an ALA-accredited university program, I should "know" that I didn't need any education classes to do my job. I wonder how many classes Mr. Allen has taught? Would he be able to handle a roomful of rambunctious fourth graders in a library classroom setting? Has he collaborated with teachers on lesson plans, chosen materials for teachers to use, or written curriculum? These are all important aspects of the library media specialist's job. I would not be able to do these tasks well without an education background. I think if Mr. Allen shadowed a school librarian for a week, he may change his mind.
—Betci Weldon, Library Media Specialist, Elmwood and Hopkins Schools, Hopkinton, MA

Rather than presenting "an honest and intellectually well-founded polemic," your letter from Jimmy Allen, business library consultant from Seattle, WA, puts forth some generally held misconceptions based on a lack of knowledge and understanding regarding professional librarianship.

I hold a master's degree in library and information science from Louisiana State University. I also hold a BS in education (with a double English major) from Louisiana State University. Both are critical to success in my job as library director/technology administrator for Wishkah Valley School in Aberdeen, WA.

Besides "bibliographic instruction," my library duties include preparing daily academic lesson plans for one period each day. These plans are highly structured to meet state-mandated EALRs [Essential Academic Learning Requirements] and are aligned to the curriculum requirements of each particular grade level.

I have never been pulled out of the classroom to be a substitute as I have made certain that my library duties are seen as essential to the success of both staff and students. I suppose I could complain that I serve as the planning period for elementary grades 1–4, but I choose to look at my time with the students as valuable instruction time, following the mission of school librarians as outlined in Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning. The time I spend with students helps form the foundation of our library program. And I was well prepared to teach students—in some ways, this is the best part of my job.

I cannot speak for all library schools, but the School of Library and Information Science at Louisiana State University does an excellent job of preparing library professionals. Each library specialty—from special and public libraries to academic and school libraries—has its own focused mission and objectives. A comprehensive master's program is, indeed, essential to understanding the role of a school librarian, but so is my degree and experience in education.

In my experience, most successful academic librarians hold multiple advanced degrees within their various specialties. Why should school librarians be any different? Possessing an ALA-accredited master's degree is only the first step to becoming a professional school librarian. Without a degree in education, as well, you are selling yourself and your patrons short.
—Rebecca Day Petheram, Library Director/Technology Administrator, Wishkah Valley School District Aberdeen, WA

I was pleased to see the review of my recent children's biography, Freedom Seeker: A Story about William Penn in the June 2003 issue of School Library Journal (p. 173). SLJ does an important service to librarians and teachers in giving full reviews to series biographies.

Unfortunately, the publisher's guidelines for the series to which Freedom Seeker belongs do not allow for footnoting of quoted materials. It's also unfortunate that my author's note (indicating that for ease of reading I changed spelling and punctuation in quoted materials) did not specifically state that all quotations in Freedom Seeker are from primary sources. A selected bibliography gives readers more information about sources used. I hope, with my publisher's help, to make it clearer in subsequent printings of the book that all quotations are from primary sources.

When I teach writing biographies for children, I tell my students about the importance of avoiding fictionalization and of using as many quotations from primary source materials as possible in order to engage young readers and enliven the text. In Freedom Seeker, I quoted extensively from contemporary sources, particularly those documenting William Penn's famous trial for illegal preaching in 1670 (and I would encourage anyone interested in the history of civil liberties to read these sources and share them with children). I also used Penn's own autobiographical writings as the basis for the scene quoted in the review. Should any reader wish to know the sources used for specific passages in the book, I would be happy to provide them. I can be reached at gwenyths@aol.com.
—Gwenyth Swain, St. Paul, MN