Re: GEN: Clueless administrators and a challenge to LM_NET

[Pamela Berberich <pberberich@HOME.COM>]

Johanna Halbeisen wrote:
>
> 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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Dear Johanna, et al,

Might I also suggest something that I find informs your immediate
peoples:

We have a school newspaper, which I'm sure most of you do and/or a
newsletter that staff, students and parents read.  I include articles
OFTEN
about what's happening in the library.  Reports on contests, what you're
focusing on for reading, what hours you're open, new books that have
arrived, what children's stories, art work, etc. that's posted in the
library that parents, etch might want to stop in and see....

This is a subtle way of letting EVERYONE know that the library is a main
hub of activities and learning at school.  That you are always involved
in the children's educational process.

Try it!

Pam
--
Pam Berberich; Library Media Technician
Anza Elementary School, El Cajon, CA
pberberich@home.com

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