SLJ Summit: Librarians as Leaders of 21st Century Learning

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By SLJ Staff -- School Library Journal, 10/6/2009

“Librarians as Leaders of 21st Century Learning” explored the powerful relationship between media specialists and 21st century skills, including information and communications skills; critical thinking; interpersonal and collaborative skills; global awareness; and financial, business, and civic literacy.

Sponsored by Capstone Publishers, Rosen Publishing, Gale Cengage Learning, Follett Library Resources, Follet Software Company, Safari Montage, and Scholastic Library Publishing, the two-day event on October 2-3 brought keynote

Keynote speaker Bernie Trilling told attendees, “And as educators, you’re in the right business.”  Photo: Buffy Hamilton

“It’s time to take that rearview mirror and toss it away,” said Trilling, coauthor of 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times (Jossey-Bass, 2009). “Look to the future and think about what kids need to be successful.”

Indeed, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills has reinforced the need that all children must now have new knowledge and skills to succeed as effective citizens, workers, and leaders—and what better time for school librarians to show how they help students succeed along the information highway?

With widespread advances in technology and communications, increased global competition, and everything from financial meltdowns to global warming, Trilling outlined a world 20 years from now and pinpointed the basic skills that students would need to thrive. They include creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, and communication and collaboration, as well as digital literacy, information literacy, and career and life skills.

“And as educators, you’re in the right business,” he said, emphasizing that one-third of our nation’s children fail to graduate. Even though this marks the first time in history that kids will know more than adults, they still “need guidance on how to use the learning tools in front of them,” Trilling said. He ended by asking librarians to “promise to do all [they] can to keep that spark” of curiosity, creativity, and learning alive in every child.

Lisa Layera Brunkan, one of the three Washington moms.

In May, Governor Chris Gregoire signed a historic education reform bill, which for the first time included school library materials and media specialists as part of Washington’s definition of “basic education” for prototype schools.

To show her appreciation, especially to Representative Skip Priest (R-Federal Way) and his legislative assistant Steven Caine, both of whom helped the three moms navigate the complicated legislative process, Brunkan stood at the podium and placed a call to their office using her iPhone. She and the audience then gave a big shout-out to thank them for their support.

Why did the three moms do it? They felt there was a sense of injustice that some kids were developing a broad range of 21st century skills while others weren’t.

“We never regretted for a minute joining this fight so that you guys didn’t drift into extinction in the history books,” said Brunkan.

As part of her advocacy advice, Brunkan said she strongly believes that every state can achieve the same goal by “keeping the library in the public eye” and collecting data to showcase what kids are learning with 21st century skills—and by recruiting as many nonlibrarians as possible to lobby on their behalf.

Brunkan also called on the profession to share their success stories and valuable tips on various social media such as Twitter, blogs, and Nings. And for those who fear retribution or the possibility of losing their jobs by being too vocal, “It will come to pass,” Brunkan said. “No one has lost their job yet.”

Tweet and Shout!
 

Sara Kelly Johns and David Loertscher Photo: Buffy Hamilton

“These are my peeps,” said Johns, a former president of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), to a cheering crowd. “It’s time we had a school librarian at the head of ALA so that our message can be top down.”

Johns told the audience that media specialists needed to demonstrate that they “own 21st century skills” in order to be treated as leaders.

This is further illustrated by the fact that President Obama declared October 2009 National Information Literacy Awareness Month, yet there’s no mention of school librarians. “Go to your administrators and provide them with answers, not problems,” said Johns, who suggested getting the message out through traditional print media, press releases, and various online outlets, including Facebook and state library email lists. “It’s time to Tweet and shout!,” she added.

And for those media specialists whose access to social networking sites is blocked by their school, Johns said be persistent. “Ask 10 times! You have to ask to be respected and treated like a leader.”

“We have a new role that this [SLJ] summit echoes—and that is we are leaders,” she went on to say. “We have to be leaders in our buildings. So go home and make sure you are treated as a leader! How? You act as a leader!”

Panels drill deeper

Librarians proved just how tech-savvy they were by tweeting, blogging, videotaping, and ninging throughout the conference. During David Loertscher’s breakout session “Learning Commons as a Physical Space,” for instance, the professor at California’s San Jose University used Skype, a software that allows users to make telephone calls over the Internet, to patch in virtual panelist Greg Carroll, a principal in New Zealand who, along with panelists Robin Cicchetti, head librarian at Concord-Carlisle Regional High School, and Valerie Diggs, director of libraries for the Chelmsford Public Schools, spoke about how he  transformed the library into an open commons and experimental learning center.

Meanwhile, in “Database 2.0—How Smart Will It Be and How Will We Be Able to Afford It?” librarians got a chance to speak directly to their vendors. Andrew Schlessinger of Library Video Company, Roger Rosen of Rosen Publishing, Michael Campbell of Follett Software, Gail Lewis of Capstone, and Jay Flynn of Gale spoke about the future of digital content and how they plan to support 21st century learning through seamless interface, widgets, adding more geographical relevance, making databases more interactive, and appealing to emergent readers. Both panelists and attendees agreed that databases were the “new textbook,” and moderator Joyce Kasman Valenza, a librarian at Springfield Township High School in Pennsylvania, called on the need for an industry-wide public service announcement to “show how sexy databases are.”

From left: Sara Kelly Johns, Lisa Layera Brunkan, Joyce Valenza, Buffy Hamilton, Ross Todd, Cathy Jo Nelson

Moderated by David Schroeter, vice president of Gale’s K–12 division, “Workers of the Future: Can U.S. Schools Really Prepare Students to Help U.S. Businesses Compete in a Global Economy?” focused on the skills that businesses look for in their employees in this global economy. George Cigale of Tutor.com; Domenic Giandomenico, of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Competitive Workforce; and Tom Watkins, of the business and education consulting firm TDW and Associates provided librarians with a business perspective on how they can prepare students for a career.

In “What Box? More Opportunities Than Obstacles,” Rick Hasenyager, Diane Chen, Ernie Cox, Gail Formanack, and Chris Harris, five people who work in school libraries in various capacities, talked about implementing the AASL standards as they relate to 21st century skills, staff development, and gaming. And Julie Walker, AASL’s executive director, moderated a discussion with leaders in the field of education, libraries, and publishing to explore “21st Century Skills, a Modern Day Elephant?,” while Marcia Mardis, assistant professor at the College of Communication and Information at Florida State University, examined what it means to be a 21st century learner and media specialist and how to use resources to energize teaching and learning in science. 

To view the live discussions, keynote speakers, and other events, visit sljsummit.ning.com/page/coveritlive-1.