Librarians Head Back to School

As schools are back in session, so, too, are the media centers, where librarians stand by all geared up for the school year, some with specific plans for engaging kids—and teachers—with technology.

With three sons of her own, Barb Jizba knows firsthand how quickly students adapt to new technology. The media specialist wants the same thing to happen in her library at Underwood Hills Focus School, a new institution opening this fall in Omaha, NE. “The coolest thing is when the kids come in and teach you,” she says. “We pick it up where they are and also teach them about how to be safe when using some tools.”

Each of Underwood’s six classrooms will have SMART interactive whiteboards, and the 120 third to fifth grade students will have the software installed on their individual MacBooks, making presentations as easy as plug and play. Students will also produce a daily video news show, set to run on the school’s Web site. “So parents can watch what their children are doing every day,” says Jizba. While she will teach students in the library, Jizba plans to spend the bulk of her time working with teachers in the classroom.

Collaboration was also a major theme at the annual Kansas Summer Institute for School Librarians. The annual two-day conference, held in June at Emporia State University in Emporia, KS, attracted school librarians from Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and La Paz, Bolivia, who learned about integrating technology into the classroom.

The event also addressed the need to foster literacy in schools, with authors Jane Kurtz and Toni Buzzeo discussing how connecting kids to authors and illustrators can nurture a love of reading. Another session demonstrated how electronic gaming can support another kind of literacy.

While Underwood Hills will feature some of the newest technologies, Jizba is aware that not every teacher—or student—will be technologically proficient. “So I want to see what’s happening in one classroom, and help infuse that in the other classroom,” she says. Despite the technological strengths of the school, Jizba says its primary focus will be to ensure students are learning. “The technology should be seamless,” she says. “You should never see it. Our leadership, commitment, and curriculum come first, although we do believe it’s a best practice to use technology.”