LM_NET: Library Media Networking
- Subject: HIT:Principal/Media Specialist Communications (Part 1 of 2)
- From: Tolley <tolley@palmnet.net>
- Date: Tue, 2 Jun 1998 20:58:19 -0400
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Here is what fellow LM Netters thought about the communication process
between media specialists and principals. Thanks to all who responded,
your comments are both interesting and valuable!
Hi, Congratulations as you enter the wonderful world of media
specialists-it is a
very rewarding job. One good way to communicate with the principal and
other
administration is to give him/her a copy of all correspondence you do
with
faculty and parents. Whenever I send out a newletter, announcement,
reminder,
etc. to parents and /or staff, I place a copy in the principal's mailbox
also.
Of course, I clear dates with the administration whenever I am
scheduling book
fairs, special events, etc. I inform the principal verbally before I
type up
any finalized plans concerning National Library Week, Children's Book
Week,
and any other promotional events. When I run reports such as
Accelerated
Reader Points, I give her a copy. I have asked on several occassions if
she
wants to see circulation or inventory reports, but she always says
"no". She
is very visible around the school and pops in the media center often so
she is
very aware of our daily events. Whenever we have local newspaper
coverage, I
post it on a bulletin board and make sure the administration is aware of
the
coverage. Good luck with your class.
Julie Stephens
Media Specialist
CAlhoun, GA
JECS57@aol.com
706-629-7130
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I try to let my principal know what is going on in the library and
invite him to every special thing we have, I also understand that
he
is busy and cannot always attend. We have cc mail and it is
wonderful, so when I have a question or something to tell him I can
send it on that-and he can read it whenever there is time. Also,
whenever I read something about reading or the library in a prof.
journal that I feel he might be interested in, I make a copy and
give
it to him. I also see him and talk to him in his office at times,
not
fixed-just when needed. He is a great guy and very supportative! I
feel it is important to let him know what is going on. He sticks
his
head in here every once in a while and juset looks around. In Tx.
teachers have formal evaluations PDAS but librarians don't. We do
have a check list eval. and a place for comments. If you have
further
questions-please
ask.gmartin@mail.wichita-falls.isd.tenet.edu-Crockett
Elem. Wichita Falls, TX
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The high school that I work is, like many high schools, large. This
one has
1300 students which is not terribly large by high school standards but
it is
when compared with the intimacy of smaller elementary schools. I talk
to the
principal when I need to, I send him copies of articles, mailings that
I think
will interest him. He is also a very approachable person. He does not
really
know what does on in the LMC I believe. He has a vague idea, but if
pushed to
give our job description, I don't think he could do it.
Jamie McKenzie from the Bellingham , Washington school district
believes that
the principal and the media specialist should be the leaders together
pushing
the school toward the future. He has a newsletter on the Internet www.
fromnowon.org and I am sure you will find something about that there.
Gary
Hartzell, a former pri ncipal, had a very good article in the November,
1997
School Library Journal called "The invisible school librarian" which is
a condensed version
of a book he has out. I sent a copy of this article to every pri
ncipal in our district and not
one commented on it. I also sent it to the major adinistrators.
It is essential that the library media specialist be on school
committees
particularly those that the principal in on. This is one way to get to
know
him/her and to get his/her ear.
Do I think that we at the high school are as effective as we could
be? No,
and that is because collaboration is not pushed in our building. Every
teacher
goes in their room and shuts the door. I think that they think talking
to us is just another
burden on their time. they do their students a disservice as they are
not
familiar with what the best resources are for their students and what we
have that is new.
For several years, I really tried, but I have gotten very tired and it
is too bad. This
could be helped with principal support. I've digressed a bit, but I hope
that some of this will be helpful.
Michele Missner
Program Leader, Library Media Services
Appleton Area School District
Appleton, Wisconsin
Tel: (920) 832-4899
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've had no luck at all dealing with principals. I've tried many
approaches but with no luck & often a backlash from other staff or my
dept.
head. The ones I've had just don't want to be bothered, despite all the
rhetoric.
I cover teacher planning time & work between 2 schools. When on
that
rare occassion I've had some luck & gotten through, it doesn't last
long.
Budgetary matters always come first.
Unless your state dept. of ed. backs you up somehow or some
national
mandate comes out of the Dept. of Edc., we just seem to be auxillary
personnel
covering planning time for the IMPORTANT STAFF - the classroom teacher,
the
Reading Specialist, etc.
As you may be able to tell, I've been working on this for years &
have
made some progress - libraries remodelled, an aide, a dept. head, &
recent
automation. However, other working conditions have gotten worse, not
better.
Lots of criticism, low budgets, more classes, & no real direction or
interest
in fully integrating the el. programs.
Yours,
Eileen Spillane
Library/Media Specialist
Middletown El. Schools
Middletown, RI
Spookys6@aol.com
--------------1FA05014BCDDF03704112B4C
Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
<HTML>
<I>Here is what fellow LM Netters thought about the communication process
between media specialists and principals. Thanks to all who responded,
your comments are both interesting and valuable!</I>
<P>Hi, Congratulations as you enter the wonderful world of media
specialists-it is a
<BR>very rewarding job. One good way to communicate with the principal
and other
<BR>administration is to give him/her a copy of all correspondence you
do with
<BR>faculty and parents. Whenever I send out a newletter, announcement,
reminder,
<BR>etc. to parents and /or staff, I place a copy in the principal's mailbox
also.
<BR>Of course, I clear dates with the administration whenever I am scheduling
book
<BR>fairs, special events, etc. I inform the principal verbally before
I type up
<BR>any finalized plans concerning National Library Week, Children's Book
Week,
<BR>and any other promotional events. When I run reports such as
Accelerated
<BR>Reader Points, I give her a copy. I have asked on several occassions
if she
<BR>wants to see circulation or inventory reports, but she always says
"no". She
<BR>is very visible around the school and pops in the media center often
so she is
<BR>very aware of our daily events. Whenever we have local newspaper coverage,
I
<BR>post it on a bulletin board and make sure the administration is aware
of the
<BR>coverage. Good luck with your class.
<P>Julie Stephens
<BR>Media Specialist
<BR>CAlhoun, GA
<BR>JECS57@aol.com
<BR>706-629-7130
<BR>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<BR> I try to let my principal know what is going
on in the library and
<BR> invite him to every special thing we have,
I also understand that he
<BR> is busy and cannot always attend. We
have cc mail and it is
<BR> wonderful, so when I have a question or something
to tell him I can
<BR> send it on that-and he can read it whenever
there is time. Also,
<BR> whenever I read something about reading or
the library in a prof.
<BR> journal that I feel he might be interested
in, I make a copy and give
<BR> it to him. I also see him and talk to
him in his office at times, not
<BR> fixed-just when needed. He is a great guy
and very supportative! I
<BR> feel it is important to let him know what
is going on. He sticks his
<BR> head in here every once in a while and juset
looks around. In Tx.
<BR> teachers have formal evaluations PDAS but
librarians don't. We do
<BR> have a check list eval. and a place for comments.
If you have further
<BR> questions-please
ask.gmartin@mail.wichita-falls.isd.tenet.edu-Crockett
<BR> Elem. Wichita Falls, TX
<BR>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<BR> The high school that I work is, like many high schools,
large. This one has
<BR>1300 students which is not terribly large by high school standards
but it is
<BR>when compared with the intimacy of smaller elementary schools.
I talk to the
<BR>principal when I need to, I send him copies of articles, mailings
that I think
<BR>will interest him. He is also a very approachable person.
He does not really
<BR>know what does on in the LMC I believe. He has a vague idea,
but if pushed to
<BR>give our job description, I don't think he could do it.
<BR> Jamie McKenzie from the Bellingham ,
Washington school district believes that
<BR>the principal and the media specialist should be the leaders together
pushing
<BR>the school toward the future. He has a newsletter on the Internet
www.
<BR>fromnowon.org and I am sure you will find something about that there.
Gary
<BR>Hartzell, a former pri ncipal, had a very good article in the
November, 1997
<BR>School Library Journal called "The invisible school librarian"
which is a condensed version
<BR>of a book he has out. I sent a copy of this article to every
pri ncipal in our district and not
<BR>one commented on it. I also sent it to the major adinistrators.
<BR> It is essential that the library media specialist
be on school committees
<BR>particularly those that the principal in on. This is one way
to get to know
<BR>him/her and to get his/her ear.
<BR> Do I think that we at the high school are
as effective as we could be? No,
<BR>and that is because collaboration is not pushed in our building.
Every teacher
<BR>goes in their room and shuts the door. I think that they think
talking to us is just another
<BR>burden on their time. they do their students a disservice
as they are not
<BR>familiar with what the best resources are for their students and what
we have that is new.
<BR>For several years, I really tried, but I have gotten very tired and
it is too bad. This
<BR>could be helped with principal support. I've digressed a bit, but I
hope that some of this will be helpful.
<P>Michele Missner
<BR>Program Leader, Library Media Services
<BR>Appleton Area School District
<BR>Appleton, Wisconsin
<BR>Tel: (920) 832-4899
<BR>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<BR>I've had no luck at all dealing with principals. I've tried many
<BR>approaches but with no luck & often a backlash from other staff
or my dept.
<BR>head. The ones I've had just don't want to be bothered, despite
all the
<BR>rhetoric.
<BR> I cover teacher planning time &
work between 2 schools. When on that
<BR>rare occassion I've had some luck & gotten through, it doesn't
last long.
<BR>Budgetary matters always come first.
<BR> Unless your state dept. of ed. backs
you up somehow or some national
<BR>mandate comes out of the Dept. of Edc., we just seem to be auxillary
personnel
<BR>covering planning time for the IMPORTANT STAFF - the classroom teacher,
the
<BR>Reading Specialist, etc.
<BR> As you may be able to tell, I've been
working on this for years & have
<BR>made some progress - libraries remodelled, an aide, a dept. head, &
recent
<BR>automation. However, other working conditions have gotten worse,
not better.
<BR>Lots of criticism, low budgets, more classes, & no real direction
or interest
<BR>in fully integrating the el. programs.
<P>Yours,
<BR>Eileen Spillane
<BR>Library/Media Specialist
<BR>Middletown El. Schools
<BR>Middletown, RI
<BR>Spookys6@aol.com</HTML>
--------------1FA05014BCDDF03704112B4C--
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