PROJECT

By Lynda Muller and Wendy Nelson
 * Library Collaboration Mini-Case Study **

Collaboration is an important aspect of every educator’s job and educators regularly collaborate amongst each other both informally and formally, however they may not always know the benefits of collaborating with the librarian. “As learning specialists, library media specialists help to forge partnerships that include all stakeholders in the educational process, including principals, teachers, and students” (Zmuda 39). When collaboration happens between the librarian and teachers; students, teachers, librarians, and administrators all benefit.

There are many benefits to students when teachers and librarians collaborate including “more individualized attention.” (Kindergarten Teacher). Experience has shown me that students crave attention and whenever I am able to increase small group or individualized attention, they always do better academically and socially. This individualized attention also allows the students to “effectively evaluate sites when they’re doing research instead of just copying all the information” (Principal). This is an essential skill for every student to obtain as all educators are trying to increase students’ critical thinking skills. Do rubrics help students when they are working? Diane teaches high school art and spoke of her use of rubrics while she was collaborating with the librarian to help her integrate research and writing into her curriculum. The collaboration helped her to “better use rubrics to guide students’ written work as well as their art work and the self-evaluation aspect of the rubric has really been helpful to the students” (High School Art Teacher). How can collaboration give students more access to technology? Pat a 7th grade social studies teacher learned along with her students how to use PowerPoint while collaborating with the librarian (7th Grade Social Studies Teacher). This example leads me to believe that those students may not have had that exposure to PowerPoint had Pat not been collaborating with the librarian because Pat was not comfortable with the technology. Another example of the use of technology is how Sherri, a high school teacher, collaborated with the librarian to use digital storytelling to come up with a project for the students to complete (High School Teacher).

In addition to student benefits, teachers also benefit from collaboration with the librarian. “When educators collaborate for instruction, they not only teach these skills, they model them as well, and in the process both students and educators learn” (Moreillon 9). As an educator, I know the importance of modeling for my students, but it is sometimes forgotten that teachers can also benefit from seeing other educators model lessons for them. I have personally improved my teaching by watching other educators model lessons for me. Teachers benefit from collaboration with librarians as librarians have “access to a range of resources beyond what the classroom teachers can provide for both themselves and their students” (Zmuda 38). This is an important benefit because nobody can have knowledge of every tool available to help meet student’s needs, but utilizing the resources and knowledge available from the librarian will give that teacher access to something new to help students. Collaboration with the librarian has “expanded” the instruction for Tracy, an elementary art teacher (Elementary Art Instructor). Librarians “demonstrate strategies (especially those that are new) for teachers, observe, and provide feedback” (Zmuda 25).

Administrators also benefit from collaborative efforts from librarians and other staff members. Librarians “work closely with the principal in setting a schedule and making decisions about professional development” (Zmuda, 25). They can provide the programs for staff development that are usually mandatory perks in a professional position such as teaching, an area which administrators have traditionally developed and conducted (Zmuda, 25). Zmuda also points out that since librarians fill a special niche between teacher and administrator, they are referred to as ‘“informal leaders” in a “distributed leadership model [and in this role] create an additional layer of leadership within the school” (Zmuda, 24). Collaborative efforts also assist the administrator in many other ways described in Zmuda (various). Since administrators are probably just as overworked as any other educational staff member, this relieves some of the burden of the administrator, especially in the more routine or less specialized duties of the administrator, such as training, communication, schedules, student teacher and new teacher orientation, etc., leaving the administrator available for the administrative responsibilities that require his/her advanced training (Zmuda, various). Finally, when collaboration is successful, everybody wins: the students, the teachers, the librarians, and the administrators. This can only improve school morale, and lead to even more positive changes (Zmuda, 30). But we have to ask here whether the same model holds true of collaboration between administration and librarian, as with teachers and librarians – do some administrators view librarians as in the example given in Zmuda? – “Since gaining that additional education, experience, and job title, I now am regarded by the same colleagues as little more than an administrative assistant, who is responsible for the shelving of books, not the "meaning making" from them“ (40). If so, what are the implications for private school librarians who may not necessarily have certified teaching experience to develop that link between teachers and librarian – like me, Lynda? In order for collaboration to succeed, it is imperative for administrators to “determine how to support the individual efforts of learning specialists so that they can effectively work with students and staff” (Zmuda, 24).

Last, but certainly not least, the librarians themselves benefit from effective collaboration. As a trained school media specialist, the school librarian plays a unique role. High school principal, Paula, states “There is no one else who impacts the academic achievement of every single child in the building…There is no one else besides a principal… who has that global perspective… other than the teacher librarian. //There is other position that impacts achievement to the extent that the teacher librarian does”// (emphasis added)//.// That fact alone must contribute to very high job satisfaction for the school librarian. The school librarian is in a position that can impact everybody involved with and in the school. Through collaboration with parents, students, other learning specialists, teachers, allied professionals, and administrators, the school librarian can create partnerships between various departments, programs, and people, for the enrichment of all (Zmuda, 25 & 39). As an informal leader, the school librarian also is utilized by the administrator to assess the day-to-day activities of the teachers, on a level more closely affiliated with the teachers than that of the administrator (Zmuda, 31). This enables teachers to relax and not feel ‘evaluated’ by the administrators, but just observed by a peer. And school librarians still are involved in teaching. Not only do they teach students, but they teach teachers by modeling new methods, they can teach new and student teachers how to include collaboration in their daily lesson planning and in so doing, show them ‘a better way than they might have been (not) taught in college.

Sources "7th-Grade Language Arts Teacher." (Mary Ann). Interview by Judi Moreillon. Web. 11 Feb. 2010 .__ [] __>. "7th-Grade Social Studies Teacher." (Pat). Interview by Judi Moreillon. Web. 11 Feb. 2010. <[]>. "8th-Grade Language Arts Teacher." (Diane). Interview by Judi Moreillon. Web. 11 Feb. 2010. <[]>. "Elementary Art Instructor." (Tracy). Interview by Judi Moreillon. Web. 9 Feb. 2010. <[]>. "High School Art Teacher." Interview by Judi Moreillon. Web. 11 Feb. 2010. <[]>. "High School Student Teacher." (Kelly). Interview by Judi Moreillon. Web. 11 Feb. 2010. <[]>. "High School Teacher."(Sherri). Interview by Judi Moreillon. Web. 11 Feb. 2010. <[]>. "Kindergarten Teacher." (Peg). Interview by Judi Moreillon. Web. 9 Feb. 2010. <[]>. Moreillon, Judi. //Collaborative Strategies for Teaching Reading Comprehension Maximizing Your Impact//. New York: American Library Association, 2007. Print. "Principal." (Paula). Interview by Judi Moreillon. Web. 9 Feb. 2010. <[]>. Zmuda, A., and V. H. Harada. The Learning Specialist: Clarifying the Role of Library Media Specialists. In //Librarians as Learning Specialists: Meeting the Learning Imperative for the 21st Century.// 2008. 23-43.