4/4 3:49pm   I think I have hit a nerve.
HB - Let me start my saying that I in NO way insinuated that the current library staff are not gifted teachers. My mentioning that school librarians are teachers was to point out that according to the MA Department of Education, they are licensed as teachers, but in Norfolk, they are not considered teachers, as they are employed by the public library. Please don't put words in my mouth.
What I am proposing is an examination of a program that I'm sure was done with the best of intentions 14 years ago. I think that in any venture a reexamination is a worthwhile endeavor.
I would like to know how many other districts in the state have adopted a library program similar to Norfolk's. If this is the ideal program, I would think at least half of the towns in our state would have followed suit. In many districts, there are personnel who will go to another town to examine a program they are interested in and take their knowledge back to their own town and institute it - how many times has that happened in Norfolk? How many districts have come here and then changed their own libraries? I don't think the "guild" of school librarians is so strong as to fight off a blending of library programs in hundreds of towns if that, in fact, was the will of the people.
Of course the public and school library should work together. I don't know a quality school librarian who doesn't believe that. My point is that the current system does not appear to benefit the schools as much as it does the pubic library. According to HM's posting, the benefits our students receive are access to the SAILS catalog and materials. I suggest that any student in any town has access to a regional library network, albeit not in the school. If the majority of the materials a student needs are not readily available in the school, then the collection in the school is not adequate to meet the needs of the school community. Yes, at times, there is overlap between a school and public library collection, but even a public library purchases duplicate copies of books that will be in high demand.
I wonder if you feel the same way about credentials for all fields? Medicine? Law? (I certainly would feel more comfortable seeing a doctor who has credentials - and I don't think that is a bad thing.) Your attacking my statement that school libraries and public libraries are different entities showcases your lack of understanding of the difference between various libraries - not just school and public, but academic and archives as well. They are not interchangeable - that is why there are different courses of study for each discipline. Would you also recommend that the Franklin Public library take over the Dean College library? Should the Boston Public Library take over the Boston school libraries, Museum of Fine Arts library and Boston Ballet School libraries? You obviously have very strong opinions and attachments to this program - and I can appreciate that - just please understand that there are others in the library field who feel strong attachments to their beliefs as well - and they may not be so "fatuous." There is no wall of credentials - it is simply a different area of study in a field - just as a pediatrician is not a ophthalmologist. Yes, they are both doctors, but I think we can agree they have very different experiences in the field of medicine.
HM - I commend you on your instruction - that is what our students need. And the more the sooner, the better. I appreciate that you have your work cut out for you. From your post it seems that you are building a library program that includes information literacy, but my concern is that the program is just being built - is this the case or has the Norfolk system been teaching information problem solving in collaboration within each grade for the past 14 years? If so, I stand corrected - but I still have issues with a district that does not recognize their librarians as members of the school faculty, where collaboration is the key. And of course I do not want to see anyone lose their job, I think if you reread my post you will see that I never came close to saying that.
CI - Again, I think you missed my point if you think that I said firing our librarians is improving the system. I am merely raising questions about the setup of our program and the district-wide curriculum that is being taught. The Norfolk system is not a widely used model for libraries and I think we should question why.
My comments on this topic are not meant to be taken as a personal attack, as you can see from my first post, I talked about the program - not the people in the program - and the model that has been established. $145K is a lot of money for our school libraries and I don't think there is anything wrong with raising questions and starting a discussion in these lean economic times. If we can come up with a way to save money and improve our program I think it is a legitimate discussion to have. My point in discussing teaching information skills is to highlight that the purpose of a school library is to impart these vital skills to our students, and that many people think the library is just a place to check out a book - just as it was when they were in school. And of course - I repeat - that the library IS a place to do that - but it is also so much more.

- AB

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