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Every year, when we evaluate our library programs according to the Standards and Guidelines for Texas School Libraries, one of our lowest areas is typically Standard V – Connections to the Community. It takes a lot of planning and effort to reach out and bring the community into the school library, but if you invite them, they will come!

Case in point: Right before Spring Break, Margaret Beasley, librarian at Cannaday Elementary hosted a Library Expo. This evening event featuring the library attracted over 200 students, parents and siblings! Attendees were treated to demonstrations of technology that is used in the library, including a Promethean interactive white board lesson

and podcasts created by 3rd and 6th graders.

They were also given a hands-on lesson in the computer lab on how to access the library’s online resources from home.

This year’s event was so successful that Margaret is already making plans to do it again next year!

The benefits of a program like this are many. Not only does it make stakeholders aware of what their kids are doing when they come to the library and of the resources that are available, it increases the likelihood that those stakeholders will advocate to keep the library program, if there should ever be a possibility of letting it go.

What are you doing to get parents into your library?

The NETS (National Educational Technology Standards) for Teachers have been revised. The new standards were introduced a couple of weeks ago at NECC 2008. Known as NETS-T, they call for educators in the 21st century to do the following:

1. Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity by:

• promoting, supporting and modeling innovative thinking
• teaching student to solve real-world problems using digital resources
• using collaborative tools to promote student reflection and clarify students’ thinking, planning and creative processes
• modeling collaboration by engaging in learning with students, colleagues and others

2. Design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments by:

• designing learning experiences that focus on student creativity and use digital tools and resources
• developing a technology-rich learning environment where students become active participants in learning by managing their own educational goals
• using digital tools and resources to differentiate instruction for individual students
• using a variety of assessments aligned with content and technology standards

3. Model digital-age work and learning by:

• demonstrating fluency in technology and transferring current knowledge to new technologies
• collaborating with students, peers, parents and others using digital tools
• communicating effectively using a variety of digital media and formats
• modeling and facilitating the effective use of digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate and use information sources for research and learning

4. Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility by:

• modeling and teaching safe, legal and ethical use of digital information (copyright, intellectual property, documentation of sources)
• providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources
• modeling digital etiquette as it relates to the use of technology and information
• modeling and teaching global awareness by using digital communication tools to engage colleagues and students of other cultures

5. Engage in professional growth and leadership by:

• exploring creative applications of technology through local and global learning communities
• exhibiting leadership by demonstrating a vision for technology and developing the technology skills of others
• reflecting on current research and practice in order to make effective use of digital tools and resources
• contributing to the effectiveness of the teaching profession, the school and the community

This is my own abridged version of the NETS-T. For the official version, click here.

In reviewing them, I was struck by how well they align with AASL’s new Standards for the 21st Century Learner and noticed that several of the indicators fall into an area of instruction typically claimed by school librarians – using technology to locate, analyze, evaluate and use information, for one.

How many of us are ready and willing to meet these standards? In my district, we have initiated some professional development to help teachers and librarians learn about the ideas behind web 2.0, library 2.0, school 2.0 and how to use many of the digital tools that are available to us free of charge. I’m proud to say that most of our librarians and some teachers are on the path to meeting NETS-T.

What about you? Where do you stand? Are you ready?