Who Really Runs My Library?

This past weekend, my friend Kim Davidson attended the burial of her mother back in Jamaica where her mom was born and grew up. Kim's mom, Pat McNaughton, was my "library mom"; she worked as an adult volunteer at the Agnes Macphail Public School library for many years. Often, the children would suggest (or outright state) that Mrs. McNaughton ran the library and wonder what my role was exactly. I attended Pat's Canadian funeral two weeks ago (on November 16) and had the honour of giving a tribute during the service with another dear friend, Moyah Walker. Pat's internment, as well as some more joyous events from this past week, inspire me to ask, "Who really runs 'my' library?"

Every year, as part of our Library Helpers Team, we hold elections for the positions of president and vice-president. Eligible nominees must have had at least one year of experience working in our school library. They give an impromptu speech, and the rest of the library helpers make their selection by closing their eyes and raising their hands to vote. The person with the most votes is president and the runner-up is vice-president. The president and vice-president monitor the attendance of the helpers and choose who attends the coveted library helper shopping field trips. Their privileges include going on all library-related trips and having permission to enter the library during any recess. This year, N from Grade 8 is our president and A from Grade 7 is our vice-president. They met with me a number of weeks back to discuss plans for improving our school library. I took notes and didn't think much about it. Last Monday after school, I entered the library and found N and A hard at work. They took it upon themselves to begin some of the revitalization projects they had suggested. They were restoring the labels on the shelving carts and relabeling the everybody book shelves.

In the pivotal Canadian school library documents Together for Learning: School Libraries and the Emergence of the Learning Commons as well as Leading Learning: Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada, there is a big push for creating a team approach to managing the school library. T4L says "It requires leadership to success, and that leadership can only come through the willing co-operation and collaboration of everyone participating in the school learning process." (page 40). In Leading Learning, the practical "younger spiritual sister" of T4L, it's more explicit: "The Library Learning Commons Leadership Team represents the learning needs of the entire school community. Working together with classroom teachers, students and community, the vision and action plan for developing and sustaining each school Library Learning Commons will evolve." (page 22) I was so impressed with the initiative and dedication that our current student leaders possess. Leading Learning lives in this school library!

A few days later, on Wednesday, November 27, twelve library helpers, a parent supervisor, and I took the GO Train to the GTA Resource Fair to purchase new books for our school collection. As is typical of my practice (and you can see my Treasure Mountain Canada 6 paper about these actions), I provided my students with a copy of the abbreviated TDSB Guide to Selecting Learning Resources, told them my budget limit for the day, and let them loose. The students were fantastic, as usual. They chose wisely, kept track of their purchases (a great lesson in financial literacy!) and actually stayed under budget!

It warmed my heart to see students from two other schools at the GTA Resource Fair with their teacher-librarians, knowing that they were inspired to bring young readers by seeing me and my students shopping together in the past. I estimated that I've made this trip with students about 35 times, so the young people's presence is no longer a shock but a welcome addition to the event. The students even helped barcode the bought books, thanks to the patient guidance of TDSB's Library Technical Service Team, including a former elementary student of mine, Jessica Ho!

I have a new adult library volunteer who comes in a half-day each week. She's shy and doesn't want her efforts to be publicized much, although her children are always delighted when they see their mother helping out in the school. My new helper won't be able to replace Pat, but she shares the same devotion and determination that Pat possessed. She refuses to leave until the entire shelving cart has been emptied and put away. As she left on Thursday afternoon, she asked me about ordering special book glue, so that the repaired books can last longer. 

So I conclude with the same question I began: Who really runs 'my' library? It's a trick question, because technically, it's not my library. It's our library. It belongs to all the staff, students, and community members that care about it and use it. Even though I've been in it for over twenty years, it will continue to exist long after I am retired. (One student asked me recently who the teacher-librarian was before I came, and I know who it was, because she recruited me for the job - Lorna Embrey, thank you for encouraging me back in 2004 to apply for the position!) My job is to facilitate, build relationships, and set the conditions for success.