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Well said Shonda, One subtle way of doing this is to offer information specialist 
services to our adminsitrators - something we rarely do in schools, ie. reference 
and research services. TLs are actually first and foremost, specialist support 
professionals for teachers and staff, what we do with the kids is secondary to our 
rpimary role which should beone of collaborative ciurriculum design based on 
independent research based learning where IL and literacy skills are embeded in the 
curriculum. We are also in a primary position to offer specialist information 
services to our admin - not a role we do very often, but very politically strategic.
:)
BC


Vice President, Advocacy & Promotion, IASL: www.iasl-online.org
The GiggleIT Project: www.iasl-online.org/sla/giggleIT/index.htm
LIS@ECU: www.chs.ecu.edu.au/portals/LIS/index.php
Australian School Library Research Project: www.chs.ecu.edu.au/portals/ASLRP/
Barbara Combes, Lecturer
School of Computer and Security Science Edith Cowan University, Perth Western 
Australia
Ph: (08) 9370 6072
Email: b.combes@ecu.edu.au

"Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an 
ignorant nation." Walter Cronkite

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-----Original Message-----
From: School Library Media & Network Communications 
[mailto:LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Shonda Brisco
Sent: Thursday, 31 December 2009 2:09 AM
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: [LM_NET] What next?

When I worked in a private school a few years ago, I had a headmaster with the same 
uneducated thought process--- in fact, he even gave me a newspaper article one day 
with a bold headline that read..."We Don't Need Libraries With Google."  His 
arogance in reminding me that the Internet contained everything that our 
college-prep students would need for academic success in the classroom made me 
decide to keep the newspaper only to remind myself of how misinformed many of our 
decision-makers are about libraries and librarians.

While he did not eliminate the library, his attitude toward it was always one of 
contempt. In fact, once when I was teaching a class in how to use the online 
databases, he stopped by to watch.  One of the students had a problem finding 
information on his topic-- Timothy McVeigh. When the headmaster began helping the 
student, he also discovered that he was unable to locate any  information.  It was 
at the point that he decided to make a public statement to the class about how 
libraries and databases were obsolete and that Google would be a better choice for 
this type of research. When I stepped over to see how they were constructing their 
search, I discovered that BOTH the student and the headmaster had spelled Timothy 
McVeigh's last name as McVAY.  When I changed the spelling, the student discovered 
hundreds of resources, primary source documents, and even streaming videos---all 
appropriate for his research.

It was at that time that I stated aloud to the class..."In order to perform any 
type of research, it is helpful if you have the ability to spell correctly."  In a 
class filled with high school boys, this was probably one of the most disrespectful 
comments that I could have made.  However, the credibility of the library (and 
librarians) was won at that moment and I discovered that most of the young men 
visited the library later to ask me for assistance with other assignments or to 
locate the information that they needed.  The headmaster continued to make bad 
choices for the school and was asked to resign a year later.  Later when I moved on 
to other opportunities...I found that this particular administrator had made 
similar "bad decisions" in other schools within the area.

The lesson learned from this (in my opinion) is to educate those pre-service 
administrators as to what libraries and librarians can do for their students and 
their academic programs.  This continues to be the "missing link" within many 
schools and until we address this disconnect between the most valuable asset to the 
educational program and how administrators (and educators) see school libraries, we 
will continue to see these crazy ideas of removing "the heart" in order to save a 
dying education program.

Just a few thoughts...and personal experiences from the field.

~Shonda


--
Shonda Brisco
Assistant Professor / Curriculum Materials Librarian Mary L. Williams Curriculum 
Materials Library
001 Willard Hall
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK 74078
http://www.library.okstate.edu/cml/index.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://osulibrarian.wordpress.com/
http://www.osu-cml.wikispaces.com
sbrisco@gmail.com

http://okschoollibrarians.wikispaces.com
http://okschoollibrarians.ning.com/

"Digital Resources" columnist
School Library Journal

"Libraries will get you through times of no money better than money will get you 
through times of no libraries." ~ Library Poster

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