A Joint Worth Visiting

ALA posts cooperative school/public library programs online

By Kathy Ishizuka -- School Library Journal, 7/1/2005

Successful partnerships between organizations require planning—along with a good dose of esprit de corps—and cooperative ventures between school and public libraries are no different. To make the most of these efforts, a joint task

force of the American Library Association (ALA) has launched a Web resource detailing nearly 200 school and public library programs from across the country (www.ala.org/ala/alsc/alscresources/forlibrarians/SchPLCoopActivities.htm).

From community reading projects and library card campaigns to battle of the books and summer reading initiatives, the programs are described by the librarians who run them, with practical details that might inform those planning to hold similar activities at their sites. There are also a few cautionary tales on programs that didn’t work, along with a bibliography on school/public library partnerships and related Web resources. And visitors to the site who’ve been involved in their own exemplary school/public library venture can submit it to the collection via an online form.

The project was created by ALA’s Joint Task Force on School/Public Library Cooperative Activities, which is comprised of representatives from the Association of Library Service to Children (ALSC), the American Association of School Librarians, and the Young Adult Library Services Association. Formed in 2004, the task force is the first working committee to span three divisions within ALA, according to Kate Todd, who heads the ALSC public library discussion group.

Todd, a former librarian with the New York Public Library, says, “It’s always good to get some ideas and [the task force site] is a good way to look at other programs. One of the hardest things in working on a cooperative project is the planning, and the lack of planning is the reason a lot of projects fail.” So the summer is an ideal time to consider programs and access related resources before launching an initiative, she says.

Of particular interest are programs that introduce kids to online databases and other library resources, says Todd. Among them is SWIFT (Student Web Instruction for Teachers), a partnership between Hennepin County Library and local secondary schools that’s dedicated to improving online research skills among 6th to 12th-grade students and their teachers. Through SWIFT, the library conducts classroom visits and staff development workshops to help the school community learn about Hennepin’s online resources. SWIFT has also spawned a Web site, Toolbox for Teachers (www.hclib.org/ToolboxForTeachers), designed specifically for educators, “who have [more] special needs than other patrons,” says youth services librarian Cyndi Webster, SWIFT’s project manager.

As for those cautionary tales, there are only about three or four, says Todd. “And I’m sorry we didn’t get more, they are very instructive.” They mainly demonstrate that what worked in one place may not work in another, she says, adding that you really need to know your community when planning a library project. Many libraries, for example, conduct a book delivery service to schools. Such a program would not be practical in Manhattan, given the horrendous traffic. And in Colorado, some librarians put on a skit and dressed up as armadillos, recalls Todd. “That’s something I would never do,” she says. Because it wouldn’t fly in New York? No, says Todd, “It’s just a personal choice.”