School Librarians Making a Difference

Share on Facebook

School librarians play a key role in the education process.

And many, like Buffy Hamilton, are going the extra mile in bringing innovative approaches to their work.

Hamilton runs the Creekview High School media center in Canton, Ga., otherwise known as the "Unquiet Library."

"Everybody hears that and they go, 'The library is noisy and crazy.' And sometimes I feel like it is. It is kind of loud in here. And not in a negative way."

She said she wanted the library to be more than a media center, have a brand, as it were, that would make it easier for the children to keep the library in mind.

When she was a graduate student, she read a book called "Library: An Unquiet History," by Matthew Battles, which chronicles the role of libraries in shaping culture, she said.

"The connotation of positive, constructive noise and how libraries can be agents of change for the better in people's lives, I really like that concept," she said.

The brand has given the Creekside library a social media identity: the library has a strong presence on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr.

Visionary teaching techniques are the library's signature.

This year, the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) selected Creekside as one of the four winners of the association’s second contest to honor cutting-edge technologies in library services.

“This year’s winners represent thoughtful and creative engagement with technology trends, including smartphone applications, user-centered Web design, cloud-computing and digital repositories,” said Christine Lind Hage, director, Rochester Hills Public Library, who chaired the selection committee.

In an article in American Libraries magazine, Brian Mathews offered a fly-on-the-wall view of her library.

"The students are skeptical when the librarian says, 'I want everyone to take out their cell phones and check to see if you can get reception in the library.' The young scholars hesitantly pull out their mobile devices unsure of what to make of this request. 'Your assignment is to charge up your phones for class on Friday.' This wasn’t like any librarian they had met before."

Later, he describes how the students are directed to a Smart board and taught how to text to it.

Mathews portrays the 9,000-square-foot media center as "the largest classroom on campus. The space is carved out into distinct zones: places for lounging, reflection, teaching, and casual conversations. The library offers 60 desktop computers and a variety of furniture that can accommodate over 70 students. Food and drinks are allowed; in fact, two teachers host a coffee shop there every morning. The space also accommodates a variety of encounters such as trivia contests, musical performances, poetry readings, art exhibits, and gaming."

But the accent is on instruction, as Mathews notes, saying, "Last year librarians taught 1,533 class sessions, having over 45,000 student interactions."

"We like to facilitate passion-based learning," Hamilton said. She is sponsor of the creative writing club and also hosts a new club that focuses on roots music. "They meet in here after school once a month, and we have live instruments and loud music and every thing."

The noise, she stresses, is purposeful. "The kids are learning about different genres of music."

Hamilton is careful to point out that the library isn't only about noise. There are quiet spaces for students who desire it. "We do want to be respectful of what every student needs," she said.

She said the school community supports her concept.

"The teachers here are very accepting of the kind of environment we try to create. I think for some it's almost like a relief. My kids can come in here, and they're going to be flexible."

To learn more about Hamilton's work, visit her blog. You can also follow her Twitter feed, as well as visit a site containing her presentations.

Hamilton is just one example of school librarians who are charting new territory in transforming school libraries.

Andy Plemmons and his library media center at the David C. Barrow Elementary School in Athens, Ga. were honored with the state's award for Exemplary Elementary Library Media Program in 2010. 

Plemmons' school is located in a small county that also contains the University of Georgia. The school district contains 14 elementary schools, four middle schools and two high schools.

His school serves around 500 students, a considerable number of whom live in poverty, but many who are at the other end of the economic spectrum. It is a diverse student population located near family housing for the University of Georgia, so a lot of the students are children of graduate students.

"I try to find ways of connecting the public with our students," he said. "I try to pull in the community as much as possible to projects that students are working on or events that host at the school."

The school library, for example, brings in guest readers throughout the year.

The library is right across the street from the south end of the university, so a lot of university students work as mentors. Professors also offer resources to students.

"We have a great community that has a lot of arts. We have musicians who come in and work with students too," he said.

In addition, the school's teachers are heavily involved with the school library. "Some of our gifted education teachers have been doing a lot of work with bringing in personal mentors. So if a student is working on a project about zoology, they might connect over the phone or through Skype."

Plemmons said he sees his role as developing students' 21st-Century learning skills, encouraging them to create content rather than just consuming in.

"So the library isn't a place just to come and get books and get on the computer to look up information. It's also a place to create," he said.

Often, he is a pioneer, "willing to kind of jump off that cliff and try something people haven't tried. A lot of times that is what teachers are really seeking, somebody who is willing to help them move into uncharted waters and work with their students to do something that they might been unsure of how to do on their own."

Last year, a 5th-grade teacher approached him with a research project focusing on the turn of the century. Her intention was to use more paper-oriented methods that had worked in the past, using such materials as posters.

Plemmons said he showed her other possibilities that would give students control over something that would reach a larger audience.

"We put kids in collaborative groups, and they came and did research in the library through multiple resources, print and electronic," he said.

They ended up making Glogsters, online, interactive posters that incorporated video and audio.

He said mistakes were made along the way, but lessons were learned in the process.

Some of the fruits of Barrow's labors can be seen on its books blog.

And here is the media center's blog.

In the following video, Plemmons explains some of his methods.