Editorial: Back to Basics
Behind every great library, there’s a great librarian
By Brian Kenney, Editor-in-Chief -- School Library Journal, 5/1/2007
To be completely honest, when I was a young librarian, I had a love/hate relationship with School Library Journal and Library Journal.
I loved the reviews and the continual challenge of using my typically small budget to buy the very best materials for my community. Even when my budget was “frozen,” which happened quite a few times, I still kept a list of titles that would be just perfect for some of our readers, someday.
And I appreciated the news. Those stories would break through my feelings of isolation, reminding me that while my work might be local, I was connected to a larger profession with a mission—creating and sustaining great library services—that was national, even global.
As for the features, my reaction was often mixed. Yes, I learned about new attitudes or practices that sometimes changed the way I worked. But too often, I would look at those librarians on the cover and think, “Great, someone who’s doing their job far better than I ever could.” Or I’d just see new technologies or services that I couldn’t afford or had no time to try out.
I know we’re constantly bombarding you with helpful new ideas and suggestions: How’s your blog going? Check out the 10 top ways to make your wiki work. Create a virtual author program. Make sure teens have a voice in your YA programs. And why not hold your next book discussion in Teen Second Life? Take some time to learn about graphic novels. Develop a literacy initiative for the whole family. How about giving e-books a shot? Or using instant messaging for reference? Then, you can implement a downloadable audio program—or finally get that gaming night off the ground.
Overwhelmed yet?
It took me a while to figure out what, no doubt, many of you already know. That innovation is important, but that it’s up to us to pick and choose—adding the new, eliminating the old—while keeping our eyes on the prize: what’s working with your students and patrons.
The other lesson I’ve learned is that great library service is rooted in some basic tenets that have little to do with what’s new, or even budgets, for that matter. It’s all about understanding and respecting your students and users, believing that libraries have the power to change both individuals and communities, and knowing that it’s the human element—the library staff’s attitude and actions—that is most often responsible for making a library successful.
Which is why our Giant Step Awards, sponsored by Thomson Gale, are so important. They celebrate libraries that have gone from nothing, or very little, to something very special. And while improved budgets, new facilities, or innovations in service may have helped, they are only part of the story.
At Far Rockaway High School in New York, media specialist Geri Ellner has transformed students’ lives because she wanted to give something back to the public school system. And on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, Library Director Robin Levin and her crew have touched the lives of an entire community by creating a library that respects its patrons.
When you look at this month’s cover, I hope you’ll think of the power of libraries—and the great librarians behind them.
