Exemplary School Libraries in Ontario

EXEMPLARY SCHOOL LIBRARIES IN ONTARIO

The Ontario Library Association

a study by Queen's University and People for Education

2009

notice of copyright and intellectual property

Exemplary School Libraries in Ontario The Ontario Library Association a study by Queen's University and People for Education

Document Citation

This report should be cited in the following manner:

“Exemplary School Libraries in Ontario.” Klinger, D.A.; Lee, E.A.; Stephenson, G.; Deluca, C.; Luu, K.; 2009

@ your library®

ii The Ontario Library Association Exemplary School Libraries in Ontario

CONTENTS

Introduction 3

Libraries and literacy 4

Libraries as hubs 6

Principals and libraries 8

Teachers and libraries 10

The teacher-librarian 13

The continuum of exemplary school library practice 18

Continuum chart 21

Level 1 school library programs 22

Level 2 school library programs 24

Level 3 school library programs 26

Level 4 school library programs 28

The student’s perspectives 30

Ongoing challenges 34

Conclusion 36

Methodology 38

Appendix “A”: School Library Profiles 40

Appendix “B”: Student Survey 44

iii

acknowledgements

We would like to thank all of the principals, teachers, teacher-librarians and students who participated in this study. They not only gave freely of their time, but they provided us with many insights about school libraries, teacher-librarians and education policy. We would also like to thank the students and parents in the elementary school who allowed us to take photographs of them in the school library.

authors

Don A. Klinger, Lead Researcher Elizabeth Lee Gay Stephenson Christopher Deluca King Luu

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exemplary school libraries

Exemplary School Libraries in Ontario The Ontario Library Association

the schools in the study

The elementary schools in this study were drawn from a diverse set of communities in Southern Ontario, including large urban and more rural settings. The school communities represented various levels of socioeconomic status and served both immigrant and non-immigrant students. Each of the schools had at least 200 students, although the average school population was larger.

The study involved 8 elementary school libraries selected by the Ontario School Library Association based on input from regional contacts in the association. These libraries were chosen because they had been previously identified as having exemplary library programs.

In order to obtain rich information about these programs and identify the stories, relationships, policies, and practices surrounding a exemplary library program, we obtained:

relevant school and library documents related to literacy initiatives that involve the school library a summary of extra-curricular library practices and procedures as well as those that are integrated with classroom activities and programs; interviews with the school administration, teachers, and librarians; student and teacher surveys, and observations of the operation of the elementary school library and teacher librarian.

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introduction

Exemplary School libraries are a central school library and teacher-librarian are hub of the school. They are prominently recognized as playing a critical role in placed and a centre of activity and supporting the educational outcomes of the learning. The teacher librarians in such school, the term “exemplary” can be programs commonly collaborate with attached to the school library. other teachers in the school, and they This work is a continuation of a study find ways to engage the community to funded by the Ontario Library Association. best support children’s learning. It was conducted in a unique partnership between researchers from Queen’s University and the non-profit organization, People for Education. “The best thing about our school library is the librarian. She is kind and helpful. We wanted to begin to understand the Without her there is no library.” characteristics and procedures that enable a school library to be an integral part of a A student in one of the case studies school’s literacy initiatives and overall success. What we found will provide a foundation The purpose of this project was to identify for identifying the procedures and practices the characteristics of an exemplary that are most associated with exemplary elementary school library. We asked the library programs. We believe this questions: What are the characteristics that information will be of value for the broader exemplary libraries have in common? and community of teacher librarians, classroom What are the things that make them teachers, and administrators responsible for unique? increasing and/or maintaining student What we discovered is that the vision of literacy achievement, as well as parents who the library as a classroom and a welcoming share the role of supporting children’s place of learning are the key facets of literacy development. exemplary school libraries. When the

The school library, located beside the school entrance and kitty corner from the school office, colourfully reflects the energy and enthusiasm with which Ms. V. embraces her role as a teacher librarian. The front window looks onto the school’s courtyard entrance, and beside one of the many “cozy corners,” complete with comfortable chairs and a round table, stands Sir Bob, a knight in full armour. At least ten big stuffed animals can be found flopped out on top of shelves filled with books – at an easy to reach height for those tempted to read them. Walls are plastered with posters of the latest publications for the Forest of Reading. There is a computer lab, a piano, and, of course, a nice bit of floor space furnished with a cushioned wooden rocking chair.

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libraries and literacy School libraries and fiscal restraint Research has shown that a well- stocked library, staffed by a Interestingly, these wide-ranging credentialed library media specialist, accountability initiatives are being has a positive impact on student implemented at a time when financial achievement, regardless of the constraints require the majority of student’s socio-economic status. schools to find ways to reduce operational costs. Due to the fixed costs Accountability, data and education polity associated with classroom teachers and “Accountability” and “data driven building operations, the most common decision making” have become method to address issues of cost operational mantras in public education. reduction has been through student support services. School libraries have been particularly Our findings identified an association between vulnerable to such funding cuts, and school library staffing and student achievement on declines in educational funding directed large-scale measures of reading achievement. Of toward the school library have been well even more interest was the finding of associations documented throughout North America between school library staffing and students’ attitudes towards reading. Children in schools with (American Library Association, 2005; a professionally staffed teacher librarian had more Coish, 2005; Learning Resources Council, positive attitudes towards reading. 2005). Deteriorating collections and declining levels of staffing in Canadian Blackett/Klinger, OLA report 2006 and American schools are common (American Library Association, 2005; Literacy Coalition of New Brunswick, In Ontario, literacy has been the most 2005; People for Education, 2005, prevalent issue raised in this Statistics Canada, 2005). It is not unusual accountability framework, with the goal to see school libraries staffed by parent to have a greater proportion of students volunteers or students, with limited hours obtaining expected standards. of operation. Data driven decision-making is used not Are such cuts undermining our attempts only to ascertain whether students and to meet the increasingly stringent schools are meeting achievement expectations for student achievement in standards, but also to find ways to literacy? The Expert Panel on Early address issues and concerns. Curriculum Reading in Ontario (2004) identified reform, changing educational practices, several supports shown or believed to be and program implementation have been important for student literacy success. the dominant mechanisms by which these Along with school leadership, teaching “accountability” issues have been and classroom activities, and home addressed. literacy environment, school resources and support were identified as being

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important to student achievement. In library and students’ literacy outcomes, we particular, “a well-equipped and were unable to identify specific practices professionally staffed school library” (p. or aspects of the school library that could 38) was identified as an invaluable school- account for these differences in students’ wide resource for promoting literacy. literacy achievement. Hence the present Research dating back to the 1960’s study used a qualitative approach to obtain supports the link between school libraries a deeper understanding of the functioning (School Literacy and Media Centre, of the school library. Further, we focused SLMC) and increased student achievement on school library programs that had been (e.g., Haycock, 1989; Lance, 2002, 2005). identified as being exemplary, since such Research on student success and libraries programs would best illustrate those aspects of the school library that support Since 1999, over a dozen studies student literacy achievement. conducted in the United States have demonstrated the importance of school Given our previous findings and the libraries to students’ education (e.g. Lance, general lack of such school library research 2002, 2004). in Canada, we believe this research is both timely and important. More recently, the results of our research in Ontario (Blackett & Klinger, 2006) examined the relationship between school library resources, support and staffing, and student literacy achievement and student attitudes towards reading. Our findings identified an association between school library staffing and student achievement on large-scale measures of reading achievement. Of even more interest was the finding of associations between school library staffing and students’ attitudes towards reading. Children in schools with a professionally staffed teacher librarian had more positive attitudes towards reading. While our initial findings detected significant associations between the school

It has been demonstrated that when librarians and teachers work together, students achieve higher levels of literacy, reading, learning, problem-solving and information and communication technology skills. FLA / UNESCO School Library Manifesto3

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libraries as “hubs”

Key to an exemplary library program is Similarly, principals in the schools the teacher-librarian’s ability to be an considered the school library as the core effective teacher, providing place for the school for the success of learning and educational support and leadership teaching. They recognized the critical role through partnering and collaboration, they played in supporting the teacher- librarian as a key teaching member of while finding opportunities for their staff. integration and cross-curricular connections. In part because of the leadership of the principals, classroom teachers in the schools took every opportunity they could to work collaboratively with the teacher- librarians, often sharing in lesson planning and delivery. Student satisfaction Students reported high levels of satisfaction and engagement with the school library. They were active readers and the majority also wanted to have more opportunities to use the school library Libraries with multiple roles Clearly, we found both of these programs Staff attitudes key for exemplary school to be exemplary in the practices of the libraries teacher librarian and the educational In the two schools in the initial case support provided by the school library. studies, the teacher-librarians, classroom We also found that even within these two teachers and the school administrators all schools, the library has multiple roles, considered the library as a classroom and extending beyond those of book an important place for learning. selection, or as a place for reading and The teacher-librarians in the two initial research. case studies endeavoured to create a The teacher-librarians went far beyond school library that was welcoming to both simply managing books and resources or teachers and students. They believed their providing preparation time coverage. primary role was the promotion of student learning and saw the library as the There was a qualitative difference centre of the school. These librarians between the two schools in terms of made the library the heart of the school activities within the libraries. These and seized on every opportunity to teach activities varied in terms of the amount of in an engaging fashion, bringing an teacher collaboration, library use, and enthusiasm that drew students and staff ongoing library programs. into the library.

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Students in the first school library case These findings help to frame the study reported a much wider variety of subsequent results and the continuum of activities. As an example, there was a exemplary practice that we have created. substantial difference between schools The student survey results from these with respect to the impact of the “Forest two schools will be reported later along of Reading” program. with the students’ survey results from the other school library programs we studied. The Forest of Reading program had a relatively strong impact on students in These findings were critical in developing one of the schools, where the school the Continuum of Exemplary School administration and many of the teachers Library Programs, especially as related to in the school supported it, while it had a Level 3 on the continuum. relatively weak impact in the other school. These preliminary results suggested there might be different stages or levels, based on school context, that exist along a continuum of exemplary school library programs. Given the detailed focus on the two initial school library programs, the following results highlight the key findings of our interviews and observations in both of these schools.

“The best thing about our library is that it always has interesting books on display and the librarian is always helping us with stuff we need to do.” “You can feel like you’re in a magical place when you read. Since the library is covered with fairy tales.” students from one of the case studies

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principals and libraries

The support of the elementary school from delivering excessive amounts of principal was found to be vital to both preparation time and, perhaps most the existence of the exemplary school significantly, by clearly acknowledging the library and to its continued success. teacher-librarian’s leadership role among the teachers in the school. As one principal put it, “we consider the Libraries and teacher-librarians—leaders library as the core place for the school for the and partners success of learning and teaching”. This notion of the library as central to teaching and The notion of the library as an alternate learning within schools was a key classroom, a welcoming place of learning, perception held by both principals. is a driving force which enables the exemplary library to both flourish and thrive. Supporting this belief, principals said “the library is the biggest room in the “If you come to my school, you will see every recess school, the largest budget in the school” and “the or after school, kids are in the library. They are in the librarian has a bigger view of the school – what library and they don’t want to leave.” “It’s important for me to have a staff who have expertise in that the needs are, what the strengths are”. area, who like to promote a joy of reading”. Further, the principals viewed the “I do all the work for the general partnership teacher-librarian as a key teacher or lead timetable, but then I give the teacher-librarian a teacher in the school. A priority was blank timetable and leave it up to her. She knows placed on ensuring a high proportion of best how to organize herself. Next year I will also the teacher-librarian’s time was allocated give her one period of admin on top of her prep.” to partnering/collaboration with other Principals of schools with exemplary school libraries teachers on staff, shared teaching, integration and cross-curricular support. In one school the teacher-librarian had an Principal role critical to success additional responsibility as chairperson of the primary division, providing guidance Principals recognized their own role: “I to the staff in her division, and to the rest have a critical role to play too—it is to be of the school. supportive in whatever way I can.” In one school, the school-wide focus on In one school, the principal, having literacy and the arts was strengthened by recognized the teacher-librarian wanted the integration of literacy and arts taking to have more partnerships with other place in the library. Principals were also staff., told the staff at the first meeting of willing to delegate responsibilities to their the year, that she expected each of them teacher-librarians. to undertake at least one partnership per year. In general, principal support was Both schools were also working towards demonstrated by dedicating sufficient greater consistency of assessments and operating, maintenance and renewal evaluation for students. This work was funds to the library, allotting supported and sometimes led by the teaching/partnership time to the teacher- teacher-librarian. librarian, protecting the teacher-librarian

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Staff and funding issues library program. One of the principals In both schools, funding the library was of noted that she “believes very strongly in a primary importance. Each allocated the parent partnership because I think we can only do full school board allotment for books, half of the job”. Further, she “encourages where possible taking advantage of parents who want their children to do well to take additional grants (e.g., Quest for them to the library and read with them daily.” Excellence). One school doubled their The other principal asked her teacher- library budget one year to fund librarian to be part of the Junior renovations, re-organization of space and Kindergarten Orientation in an effort to shelving, because the physical space itself connect parents with the school library, was recognized as needing to be “well “the teacher-librarian will be doing a ten minute organized, very comfortable and inviting”. presentation to encourage the new parents to start Managing human resources is also a reading to their children at a young age and to challenge for principals. Labour show them how to handle book talk.” agreements with elementary teachers have In her hopes for the future, one principal included increasing amounts of said “I think parents, especially immigrant preparation time each year over three parents should be able to come to the school library years, and both principals identified the even just one evening, as just one of the places they use of the teacher-librarian to cover can go after school, instead of, you know, only preparation time as an increasing pressure. during parent interview time.” Another human resources issue was the Valuing the school library as these allocation of a full-time teacher librarian. principals do carries over to all aspects of Boards tend to base their teacher-librarian their students’ lives. Their support of the allocations on the funding provided by the teacher-librarian as a key teaching member province; as a result a school of of their staff, the allocation of adequate approximately 400 students would receive resources, and the protection from only a .6 teacher-librarian staff allocation. excessive preparation time coverage are all One school principal felt she was not likely important components. to apportion a full-time teacher-librarian to This administrative support is vital to both the library next year. She had made up the the existence of the exemplary school difference in funding this year by “taking it library and its continued success. out of different programs” acknowledging that it is a very hard decision and that it would be impossible for a half time position to “I’d really like to use the library as the library, but because of do all the work currently accomplished by the way the collective agreement works, I use the library for the full-time teacher-librarian. prep time. But as much as possible I’m slotting more partnership time to the teacher librarian.” Parents as a library resource “She does prep coverage because we have to have prep The principals concurred on the covered, and I also have her work with teachers. Partnership importance of engaging parents within the time takes up a big chunk of the library time which is very expensive, but we managed to do it this year.” Principals of schools with exemplary school libraries

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teachers and libraries

Key to a truly exemplary library in one school. This appeared to be due program was that the teacher-librarian largely to time constraints outside of the took on a broader educational role control of the teacher librarian, “students within the school, providing support mainly use the school library for book exchange. Fifteen minutes is all we are allocated as a class, for classroom teachers through so strictly, the librarian is not there, because it’s partnering and collaboration, during her prep time. Kids very quickly flock to supporting all students through return their books and sign another one out.” shared teaching and cross-curricular support or integration of curriculum. Difference in both expectations and availability for partnering time existed. In one school, the principal expected every “The other Grade 6 teacher, myself and the teacher- teacher to partner with the teacher- librarian, use the pronoun ‘we’ when we talk so the librarian at least once per year. students know we are a team. It’s not her library, it’s Partnerships appeared to happen on a our library.” first come, first served basis in the other “We sit together and we decide where in the school. “There are so many other teachers in the curriculum there are holes in terms of time restraints school, and she (the teacher-librarian) has just a for a classroom teacher, and how she (the teacher- librarian) can be there to help us. One of the things very limited amount of partner’s time, so I’m we did was we planned a program where she [the lucky to get this block because I spoke up first.” teacher-librarian] could take half my class and do a hands-on activity while I take half my class and do an Partnerships often involved shared activity on the computer during computer lab.” planning and teaching, where the classroom teacher and the teacher- Teachers in schools with exemplary libraries librarian planned the lessons and activities to meet the curriculum together. The traditional use of the school library One teacher described a science unit on for book selection and exchange soils: “We had the curriculum guidelines and we remained a core component of the library looked at the expectations, and which program, but the teachers we interviewed expectations were on the report card for this term, clearly articulated the other qualities of an and then we thought about the things that we exemplary library program. What could do to meet those expectations.” emerged from the interviews were the discernable stages or levels that define Reaching beyond expectations exemplary. Partnering incorporated a vast range The exemplary library is a classroom and of activities, many not traditionally a welcoming place of learning for associated with libraries, primarily in the students in the school, in sharp contrast Arts, Social Sciences, and Sciences. to a separate place to “visit.” Examples of collaborations included Developing partnerships drama, including a formal dramatic presentation, a variety of field trips Teachers in the school did book initiated by the teacher-librarian (in one partnering time with their teacher- school only), a visit from a politician for librarian, though the students’ primary classes studying levels and roles of use of the library was still book exchange

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government, and the creation of a film both the students’ criteria and the board criteria from the novel Charlotte’s Web where for selecting books. It was amazing. They loved it. students made models, wrote the script, In the front it looked like a mini bookstore, but in and directed and videotaped the story. the back it was just like a warehouse. Their eyes Benefits for other teachers nearly popped out of their heads - all these books!” Exemplary library programs possess a One of the benefits of partnering cited by range of qualities the teachers was that each teacher could bring his or her own strengths to the When teachers were asked to describe the partnership. Similarly, teachers assisted most important features of an exemplary each other in building skills in areas where library program, apparent differences they themselves may be less knowledgeable. emerged, supporting the premise there are a number of stages or levels in the The teacher-librarian was considered a key continuum of what can be identified as teacher who was knowledgeable in many exemplary. In one school partnering and fields, could see the big picture and was collaboration were acknowledged as capable of tapping into many resources important features, along with adequate inside and outside the school. resources in the library, open In one case, a classroom-teacher explained communication, an organized teacher- how partnering with the teacher-librarian librarian, and even the benefit of simply had taught her how to tackle teaching having a teacher-librarian. In the other drama, a subject she was not comfortable school, partnering seemed to be the key with. feature. It was the first thing the teachers From field trips to projects—multiple uses mentioned and they continually referred to for libraries and librarians it throughout their interviews. Flexibility was an important and All teachers valued a well-stocked library appreciated quality. which included plenty of current and regularly updated books and materials as “When we’re doing an inquiry-based project where well as computers or a computer lab. They we want to have all the teachers and students felt the physical space was important, that involved together in groups once a week, we were it should be comfortable, big and able to find one period here and there and the welcoming. teacher-librarian would change around her prep periods to accommodate us.” The teacher-librarians in the case studies seemed to consistently go above and “Something else I’ve done with the teacher-librarian, and I’m beyond expectations. working on right now, is drama. She is strong in drama and I’m not comfortable with it, so she offered to assist me by One teacher described a field trip to a working out different activities that we could do. She gave me book warehouse organized by the teacher- a big binder with lots of activities. I always do the warm up, librarian using funding from the Boys’ and then she has been doing the other activities so that I can Literacy Project. “We took the junior classes observe and see how they work so I’ll be more comfortable and each student had a set amount to spend, using when I go to do them on my own.” Teacher in case study

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Challenges “Time. Time is everything. Money. We don’t Teachers identified a number of barriers have the money [for a teacher-librarian] we don’t inhibiting the use of these libraries. Lack get the money from the board. We don’t get the of time and scheduling issues were the money from the government. Every school should foremost concerns. In particular, have a librarian, a library, a full-day librarian to insufficient time with the teacher-librarian work with the kids.” was an issue, both currently and Clearly, the teacher-librarians in these potentially in the future. schools did much more than managing books and resources or providing prep coverage from classroom teachers. Key to an exemplary library program is the “Ideally the partner’s time is incorporated into the teacher-librarian’s ability to be an schedule and is blocked off solid, just like it is effective teacher, providing educational untouchable so to speak. I wish that we could multiply our teacher-librarian because she’s support and leadership through involved in so many things so that sometimes she partnering and collaboration, while has to be away for conferences and whatnot, and finding opportunities for integration and the day that she’s away you can’t do partnering”. cross-curricular connections. A classroom teacher in one of the case studies Classroom teachers described these teacher-librarians as competent, knowledgeable, reliable, enthusiastic, talented, incredibly organized and “If we go down to a .5 staffing allocation for our professional. The teacher-librarians were Teacher-Librarian, partners’ time will be leaders in the school and outstanding decreased 50-70%.” teachers. “Time and scheduling, even though we have quite a few partnering periods, there is not always a lot of room open.” “Not having enough adults in the library to cater to the students. It would be great to have a reward system where if the kids are finished their work early they can walk down to the library knowing that there is an adult there who will supervise them.”

12 The Ontario Library Association Exemplary School Libraries in Ontario the teacher-librarian

An exemplary library program is a hub This striving for improvement was em- from which learning branches out into ployed as a deliberate strategy. The all areas of the school. teacher-librarians individually modeled life-long learning by seeking out learn- This vision of the library as a place for ing opportunities in areas that were learning and teaching emerged again and new to them and then transferred it again in response to a range of questions. back to the library to enhance their Innovation and challenge program. The librarians in the case studies continu- Engaged and enthusiastic ally worked to move beyond their current success, challenging themselves and their The teacher-librarians in these school li- program, rather than simply repeating braries were enthusiastic about their jobs, what they had done. This is in contrast to with one stating “I tell everybody I have the a more traditional approach where, once a best job in the entire school…because you get to see lesson, an activity, or an event is success- it all.” ful, it is repeated, becoming a routine. The Although they had different personalities repetition is understandable, but it does and expressed this enthusiasm with dis- not address important nuances that require tinct styles, there was a high level of en- adaptation. gagement in the job. This was apparent These teacher-librarians did not turn suc- from the range of programs each had de- cesses into routines. For example, one de- veloped for their libraries and their wider scribed a successful parent initiative that in involvement in their schools, serving on many good library programs would be re- grade level and administrative teams. peated again; however, in her program she They each had a positive outlook towards consciously changed it every year "staff, and the staff and spoke with real appreciation students and parents all come together, and every of the students. They recognized the chal- year we change it to keep it fresh but still support- lenges faced by their schools but inter- ing the whole theme of literacy." It was not preted these as opportunities; they weren't change for novelty's sake but rather the discouraged but relished the challenges. outcome of reflection and evaluation. “Forest of Reading” From partner collaboration, linking to school initiatives, parent programs and In two of the initial case studies, the book exchange the librarians set them- teacher-librarians not only ran very suc- selves high expectations, and sought out cessful Forest of Reading programs but challenges for themselves and for the program.

"I really enjoy my job, I enjoy the kids. It's We are “the centre of all action…where teachers and stu- never boring, always challenging. I'm always dents start their day and travel to the library during the day able to find a new creative twist that I didn't and end their day…all the resources are used endlessly.” know existed." A teacher-librarian in one of the case studies

13 TheExemplary Annual School Report Libraries on Ontario’s in Ontario Public Schools The OntarioPeople Library for Association Education

they had given them twists to infuse more And one ran a Tamagochi club after learning objectives. school for a defined block of time in which children were able to bring in their "I think that one of the important qualities that own Tamagochi and play with them in my school library program has that makes it the club. successful is that a lot of it is open flexible partner time. We all bring different strengths so that "I saw the educational potential of them, but in when we plan a unit, or when we are teaching it many schools they are banned. I spoke with my or marking it that we all bring different perspec- principal before forming this club. And we tives." worked out that we would have a baby-sitting office. My office was the Tamagochi day- care…And then we would play. …. the kids did not think they were learning anything. When I "I wanted to show the staff that there was some asked them, they said, “Oh, I learned some new value in my job and one of our school initiatives is cheat codes. Oh I learned how to play this game literacy so I coupled those two things together and really well and earn more points.” In terms of created a program that would support both, what I call a literacy based drama program. I took a full year content learning, it was as much about the learn- of drama training offered through the drama ing skills and the collaborative skills; that is department after school…previous to that I had no where I found the Tamagochi club made a bene- experience with drama. I taught lessons and I fit." reported on drama expectations that I gave to teachers for the report cards and that was a huge This librarian had turned a problem in the success. I was able to tie it to our school initiatives school into an opportunity for learning. and I was able to support our lower level students and engage them and I was giving teachers These exemplary librarians stressed the something of value to them, which is covering a importance of building relationships with piece of the curriculum." students and staff and they created op- A teacher-librarian in one of the case studies portunities for this to happen. Referring to the Tamagochi club, the teacher- librarian saw it as "a way to reach those kids that are really hard to reach. And a way that is Going beyond expectations not always manageable when it is only just curriculum, or just about learning. It is about build- Each of the teacher-librarians in the initial ing relationships." case studies had designed instructional units or extra clubs that were out of the They also recognized that they needed to ordinary. Moreover they were intended work with different staff members in a to address a variety of issues and had flexible manner to fit each teacher's com- learning objectives seamlessly embedded fort level. …[one teacher] "is not as comfort- within them. able with the collaborative piece. And when she and I tried partnering in one way it did not work To meet the language needs of English very well so we worked it out in slightly different language learners one teacher-librarian way." created a story telling club in the library

to provide extra language practice.

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Time makes all the difference is cut back to .5).” As this librarian con- Funding was named as the biggest chal- cluded “if I’m only deemed worthy of half time lenge as it determined the librarian's ap- partnering period that sends a pretty strong mes- pointment and thus the amount of time sage to the staff that it’s not a worthy enough pro- that could be devoted to teaching. In two gram.” of the case studies the teacher-librarians Volunteer support posed another chal- reported that their library had benefited lenge. When they were fortunate enough from their principals' support through ex- to have help, they utilized it to maximize tra funding. This took two forms: funding their teaching since these volunteers would additional librarian time beyond the mini- help with book fairs or library material mum prep allocation, and extra funding management. for library resources. Flexible time/flexible role In those cases, the librarians had a full The teacher-librarians recognized the im- time position though the size of the portance of flexibility within the program schools required only a .5 position. Both and in how they worked with teachers as librarians expressed the view that this addi- contributing factors to success. The flexi- tional time allowed them to teach rather bility of an open timetable allowed for col- than simply manage the collection and laborative teaching with depth. This was cover other teacher’s preparation time. attributed to the principal's support in the Working collaboratively with teachers in a assignment of load and through the extra substantive manner was not possible with funding for her position. only the amount of time available in a prep coverage allocation. The larger amount of time resulted in higher quality instruction for students because meaningful learning units that inte- “We get passports. The teachers read the titles as well. At the back of the library there are charts that show which grated knowledge and skills across the cur- teacher had read which book. The kids come to read the riculum were possible, with students bene- chart which helps them in terms of chart reading. And then fiting from more than one teacher. on their own time they chat with the teacher to earn a signa- Additional library funding from the princi- ture on their passport. The Red Maple group, have different pal helped to validate the important role of options as to how they can chat. They can do it individually, or as a group. So, because they are very social animals, they’ll the library program. But the teachers were decide they read the book or they share it among themselves concerned about the negative impact if and they say, “okay, there are 3 of us who want to do a group this funding was lost. chat” and they call it chocolate chat. We have these elec- "My value as a teacher librarian and the value of tronic buzzers, sit around and we quiz each other. For every the library will start to be diminished (if the time right answer they get they get a chocolate. The third option the Red Maple group has is to do it online. So they can go onto our teleconferences, and they can post a review."

A teacher-librarian in one of the case studies

15 Exemplary School Libraries in Ontario The Ontario Library Association

They also demonstrated an awareness of Initiatives such as these require a lot of the need to be flexible in their work with planning and organization if they are to staff. This allowed them to maximize the run successfully. The librarians saw this as teaching of students. In essence they saw part of their responsibility as they could both selling the benefits of the library squeeze it in more easily than a classroom program and teaching the staff through teacher. education and support as part of their Teacher-librarians as teacher role. They sought to provide ever- changing support to teachers that gradu- It was clear that one of the attributes that ally shifted the librarian's role in teaching contributed to the programs was the skill students in stages from independent these teacher-librarians had in teaching. teaching, to parallel teaching, cooperative They had excellent classroom manage- teaching to true collaborative teaching. ment techniques, with the consequence that not a moment was wasted; students were actively engaged in learning and the lessons flowed efficiently. The lessons "Because each classroom teacher approaches were a joy to watch. This was due in part partnering in a slightly different way. I always call to the careful planning that had gone into myself a role chameleon because I need to change the lessons and the advance preparation. or alter depending on the comfort level of the teacher and their expectations." The teachers cited the TLP from the Li- A teacher-librarian in one of the case studies brary Learning Resource Department as a support that has had an impact upon their teaching. "It is a fabulous program that really helps me Bringing the outside in keep myself organized, it uses a lot less paper- work which I like and having that hardcopy is a In exemplary school libraries, the teacher- fabulous asset for me." librarians also brought outside resources into the library to improve learning op- These librarians had made the library the portunities for the students. heart of the school through the activities and characteristics described above. They In one school there was a partnership seized on every opportunity to teach in an with the local theatre company that was engaging fashion and brought an enthusi- linked to the curriculum. Authors and asm to this that drew students and staff outside experts and professionals were into the library. brought in to provide additional resources.

16 PeopleThe Ontario for Education Library Association The AnnualExem Replaryport School on Ontario’s Libraries Public in Ontario Schools

“We practice our dance groups in the library and I go there to exchange books I took out from the library.” “In the school library, I would go on the computer for research and read Silver Birch books every single day to get my passport signed.” Students from the case studies

17 Exemplary School Libraries in Ontario The Ontario Library Association

the continuum of exemplary school library practice Prior experience affects current practice Our research has found the school context is a vital component to Unless teachers have had the opportunity understand the functioning of school to work in an active library context, their library programs. knowledge of the extent to which school library programs can contribute to Several contextual factors contribute teaching and learning may be limited. towards a successful school library program, including Board-level policies Staffing models and use