“Learning is the making of meaning.” – Robert Kegan

The role of librarian offers the opportunity to connect with students and teachers in a pivotal way. As librarians, we can create meaning-making opportunities in the full span of learning styles.  With a passion for learning, reading and exploring new ideas, school librarians can offer new experiences to students in a positive learning environment that can inspire. As stated in the AASL standards, school libraries are a “unique and essential part of the learning community” (2018), and school librarians are thereby in a position to inspire and impact learners through programming, the collection and supporting their reading and exploration of ideas.  By supporting and encouraging their learning, school librarians can encourage learners in their journey “preparing for college, career, and life” (AASL, 2018).

As a museum educator, I supported children and adults in their museum learning experiences by providing guided inquiry, supportive self-directed experiences and inspiring connections to artists, inventors, historical characters, and scientists.  Families were engaged and eager for more information and a deeper connection.  I believe that, in a similar way, librarians are in the role to create those connections.

As a heartbeat and hub of a school community, I believe librarians stand in the role of connecting teachers to content and literature to enhance their classroom experiences.  Librarians stand in the role of connecting students and classrooms to one another through programs and lessons.  As a collaborator, I believe librarians are an advocate for new ideas and resources to create new connections to meaningful experiences.  In turn, I believe librarians can be a part of school environments as thoughtful agents of change, open to collaboration and encouraging wonder.

Finally, I believe that librarians as leaders are beholden to reach all students, at all levels, and to be a flexible resource to their fellow teachers.  In turn, students and staff generate new points of connection.  In the collaborative unit, flexibility, well articulated objects, clear alignment to the standards and good communication were key to working with a teacher and librarian.  

By reaching out and encouraging collaborations, I believe that reflective practice is a key to this success.  Which students could benefit from a library program directed to them?  How can the library create cross-connections within the school?  How can the library inspire more?

At the end of the day, I believe librarians are called to innovation and flexibility.  Embracing the opportunities of online collections and services, creating new entry points to the library collections and resources, and being a part of “increased outreach and engagement (Rubin, 2016).”

Susan Orlean in The Library Book says: “The publicness of the library is an increasingly rare commodity.  It becomes harder all the time to think of places that welcome everyone and don’t charge any money for that warm embrace” (Orlean, 2018). It is that welcoming, that embrace in school libraries that opens the opportunity for new experiences, for deep meaning-making.  I believe that the library provides the opportunity for students to take their classroom learning to a stronger and more personal level, and for teachers to connect and collaborate in new and dynamic ways.  The community creates, in turn, the synergy to pause, reflect, and ask questions.

AASL. (2018) The national school library standards for learners, school librarians, and school libraries. Chicago, IL: ALA.

Orlean, S.  (2018). The library book. London: Atlantic Books.

Rubin, R. (2016). Foundations of library and information science. (4th ed.). Chicago, IL: ALA, Neal-Schuman.