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My #goals this year seem modest, even to me. I am so excited to be back as a part of Cohort 21, coaching for the second time, but to be honest my goal for the start of the school year has been finding the new normal. I’m back from maternity leave and settling into a newly-renovated library with new colleagues. There has been quite a lot of change in my life. The great part about that is the opportunity for new perspective that change brings.
Unpacking every book in the library into its new home on the shelf has really helped me to see the collection in a new way. It’s been stirring up some big ideas…
- How might we engage further in library advocacy? How can I help staff, students and admin be aware of the library and its resources, and the value we bring to the school community? How can I leverage the experts on our staff to help improve the library’s collection and program?
- How might we improve the experience of using the library? What are the staff, student and admin expectations of the library and how are we meeting them? How do we make sure stakeholders in our community know what we do? How do we best manage the library’s resources, from staff and space to tech and time, to make accessing the library as frictionless as possible? How can we gather information about this to inform decision-making?
Big questions, indeed, and I see more than a few avenues to explore to inform a possible Action Plan. I’m so looking forward our next Face 2 Face at the York School on November 18 to continue to explore, question, and think. (I’ve learned to give myself over to the design thinking process!) In the mean time, please let me know if you have any feedback on some of my big ideas.
@lmustard I love these HMW questions and how they speak to the mission and vision of the library “culture” you are so passionately trying to foster and create. I look forward to getting all the librarians together in the room to help you tackle it.
@lmustard I really like the style and content of your blog post, particularly that you asked so many questions to invite dialogue. The quote you chose at the end certainly challenges us to follow our heart. Thanks for your post!
@jmedved Thank you, Justin! You make an excellent point about mission and vision. Maybe time to revisit some of my library’s policy and procedure documents to reflect these concerns.
@lmustard sounds like lots of new and exciting change!
RE: library advocacy- perhaps create a two fold scavenger hunt for students, to a) find 10 books in the library based on given clues, and b) find an expert/staff member in the school to discuss concepts or resources the book offers (document this meeting/discussion somehow). This would allow students to actually search through all the resources in the library, as well as practice open communication and collaboration with staff.
I’m always an advocate of mass scavenger hunts 🙂
@hpalmer Amazing! Have used scavenger hunts in the library before, but I love the second tier for connecting with experts in the building. Thanks for the great suggestion!