GEN: Clueless administrators and a challenge to LM_NET

[Johanna Halbeisen <johanna@MASSED.NET>]

Dear LM_NETters,

This letter is prompted by the current thread about clueless principals and
their outrageous behavior.  Sounds like an old song for many of us.  I have
a challenge for all of us, particularly ones who have been in the field for
some time.  I am recalling an article in School Library Journal in Nov. 97
titled "The Invisible School Librarian".  The author, Gary Hartzell, is a
former principal who does understand what school libraries are about and is
proposing how we could be better understood.  One of his suggestions is to
write articles about school libraries not for School Library Journal and
other librarian publications, but for magazines for administrators, school
boards and classroom teachers.

So let's get cracking and support one another in writing some articles for
these audiences.  Wouldn't hurt to write articles for parenting magazines
too.  You know, this incredible community that we are could make the task
of writing an article a lot easier.  Anyone who starts an article can ask
for help with any problem and get lots of suggestions.

Here is a list of possible article titles that Gary Hartzell suggested:

        Can Your Librarian Help Make You a Better Administrator?

        School Librarians: A Valuable Resource for Staff Developers

        Real Partners: How a School Librarian and a History Teacher Brought
[fill in subject of your choice] Alive.

        How Your School Librarian Can Increase Your Chances of Winning That
Grant

        Using the School Library to Build a Better Image of Your School in
the Community

        Computer Night in Our Library Captured Parent Support for Our School

        Getting the Library Adopted: The First Step in Building
Business/School Partnerships

Hartzell points out that we sell the ideas best if we write about how
school libraries can help our chosen audience do their job better, not how
they can help us (sometimes known as the WIIFM principle: What's In It For
Me?)  He suggests co-authoring the first article with a teacher or
administrator to improve the odds that your work will be printed.

If you can't write an article, can you think of a way you help teachers and
administrators do their jobs?  Share that with us.  We have lots of success
stories, big and little.  Do you have a suggestion for a title?  What is
something you want administrators to know and how could an article show
them it is in their interest?   What support would you need to write such
an article?  Do you know of an article like this that has been written?
Hartzell says "It would be ironic if school libraries failed due to lack of
information about them."

Are we going to continue to complain to each other about how no one knows
what we do, or are we going to help each other DO        SOMETHING ABOUT IT
ON A LARGE SCALE??





---------------------
Johanna Halbeisen
Woodland Elementary School (preK-4)
80 Powder Mill Rd.
Southwick, MA 01077
johanna@massed.net

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