HIT>Librarian evaluation tools

[Joy Branham <TNL_JBRANHAM@PSTCC.CC.TN.US>]

Greetings, LM_Netters!
        I promised I would post a hit as soon as I could possibly wade out
from under the avalanche of librarian evaluation form that I received.  The
response was astounding, and my credit with my principal has gone sky-high.
I received 21 forms, all several pages long.  I had originally thought I
could post them to LM_NET for anyone to take advantage of, but the volume is
simply too great.  I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who
sent me forms.  I won't list everybody's name because I would be bound to
leave someone out, but you're all on my good angel list.
        In going through the forms, I found some things I found interesting
enough to comment on.  The different forms generally said the same things in
slightly different ways, but the emphasis could be very different.  On some
of them, much attention was given to _personal_ attributes of the librarian,
rather than to what s/he actually does in the library.  On others, the
teaching/curriculum consultant aspect was given a lot of weight.  One form
divided the librarian's job into 3 aspects:  Information specialist, Teacher
and instructional consultant, and Library manager.  I felt that might be as
good a way of looking at it as any.
        I tried to consolidate and summarize the different categories of
responsibility from all of the forms.  This is a list of the major ones, not
in any particular order:

Teaching skills
Promoting use of the library
Interacting with others, with good personal traits
Professional development
Organization and management of the library
Managing and coordinating the library program
Curriculum development
Selection of resources
Providing services and coordinating resources
Providing technical services

        As I read through all of these, I felt more and more as if I were
being expected to be all things to all people--a sort of SuperLibrarian!
Folks, it isn't possible.  I found some of the responsibilities unrealistic,
and many more that were fine, if we just had a little more time, a little
more help, a little more...    You get my drift.
        Pat Lewis from Courtenay School District in British Columbia had a
Preamble to her evaluation which I thought should be added to everybody's.
"A teacher-librarian in the Courtenay School District is evaluated on the
basis of the following criteria:
        1.  Management
        2.  Instruction and Curriculum Development
        3.  Selection of Learning Resources
        4.  Program Advocacy
        5.  Professional Growth and Currency.

However, implementation of an effective School Library Program is dependent
upon a number of fractors including shared ownership and commitment among
each member of the school community, the demands of individual learning
programs, deployment of library staff, and organization of the school.

Factors affecting a teacher-librarian's ability to implement the School
Library Program include:
        Library Personnel
                Support Staff
        Time
                Amount of assigned teacher-librarian time
                Other Responsibilities
                Size of School
                Amount of library assistant time
        Budget
                Resources to respond to the unique needs, abilities, and
                        interests of individual learners
                Resources to provide for the learning programs in the school
        Facility
                Accommodation and furniture for a variety of groupings of
                        learners
        Support
                Understanding of, and support for, the teacher-librarian
                        and the School Library Program

Administrators and teacher-librarians should discuss these factors at the
beginning of the evaluative process and how they impact the teacher-librarian
and, most significantly, WHO--THE TEACHER-LIBRARIAN OR THE PRINCIPAL--HAS
CONTROL OVER THE FACTORS."

        Anyone who would like copies of the complete forms that I have, just
let me know and I will send them to you snail mail.  I already have a couple
of requests that I will get in the mail in a few days.  You're a wonderful
bunch.  By the nature of our jobs, librarians tend to be isolated from others
who speak the same language.  LM_NET is a wonderful connection.  We are not
alone!


Joy Branham                   tnl_jbranham@pstcc.cc.tn.us
Kennedy Elementary School
Kingsport, TN 37665