 It may be year 9, but I’ll never forget my first day in the library. In my mind, I would have time to introduce myself to my para, explore my space, & get my office set up. However, teachers streamed into our library immediately needing resources. It was electric. Thank goodness for my para who knew where everything was stored. It was that moment that I knew this job was for me, but it was going to be a big change. I thrive on the excitement, joy, and let’s be honest, chaos of the people in my building. I love meeting the students when they come in, and giving huge hugs to those who are returning.
I had previously worked as a teacher in social studies. This job was going to be a big transition, but I was so excited to learn. While my previous job embedded routines and procedures throughout the day, the library would be different. I needed to learn how to be a school leader, provide professional development, and build programs. I’d done the work in school. I was thrilled to put it to the test. Here is my best advice and resources for a new librarian. Live in Your Space I was so lucky when I started that the librarian before me, had everything organized, and built an already amazing collection. I’d also worked in the school the year before. I knew the school culture. However, this isn’t always the case. Take time to live in your space. You may be tempted to immediately begin weeding, re-organizing, and meeting with your admin to discuss changes you want to make. Give yourself a few months. Learn the school culture and the needs of your stakeholders (parents, students, teachers, admin, counselors, & and everyone else you serve). Give yourself time to really learn what roles, collaborations, teaching, and afterschool programs will be expected of you. Learn to set boundaries (I still struggle with this!). Think about you value, your school values, & your teacher and admin value. By doing all this you will learn how to best support everyone. You learn the real needs of everyone. After that, you’ll find that setting goals and developing programming will become easier. You’ll get WAY more buy-in and positive result when you know the school culture and needs. It’s okay if this takes several months. I know veteran librarians who even give it a year before they start making changes. It’s okay to take the time to really learn the school and space, but don’t forget to make it your own. Buy your favorite pens and desk chair. Get yourself that dollar spot cute item to put in your space. I buy myself a few plants as a back to school gift every year. Buy yourself the dang flowers and that new coffee pot. Develop Your Library Vision and Goals: Once you’ve lived in your space and gotten to know the school, it’s time to develop your goals and vision. My vision usually stays the same , but my goals change each year. I think about what my focus is and how I can achieve that. Keep in mind that your vision and goals should match what your admin and school want to accomplish. I had a library district leader who always asked “What’s Your Value Added”. Unfortunately, we live in a world where we need to advocate for ourselves. Think about how you can add value to the school. How will your vision and goals align with this? Feel free to use this template to develop your yearly vision and goals. For monthly, and everyday planning purposes, I absolutely LOVE my Demco planner that was created by Kristina Holzweiss. There isn’t anything like it. It’s designed with you in mind and includes monthly and daily programming ideas and events. BONUS: there are tips in the back and ideas from librarians across the US. Standards to Align: When developing my goals, I align to national standards. This is a way for me to advocate for what I do. Many state organizations have standards as well. I’ve added the Georgia ones here. Georgia Library Media Association SLEI American Association of School Libraries (AASL) Framework Future Ready Librarians ISTE Standards Now We Get to Do the Things I feel like this is a bit like painting a room. You get the paint samples and live with them to see what works. Then you have to do all the prep work. Finally, the moment comes to paint the walls and see the space transform. This is that transformation part. We get to change things up and really make the library/ media center/learning commons our own. We have a trajectory and mission to accomplish. Is your goal to increase checkout, let’s weed and genrefy the collection. Do you want to increase community engagement? What fun programs can we plan to bring parents and the community into our space? Build out a menu of services. Advertise to the teachers what you can offer them. Here are a few templates. I always give goodies with them that go with the theme of the menu. My 2024 Space themed Menu My 2023 Do extra without being extra Menu I know so many people that plan everything out a semester at a time, but I’m gonna be honest. I’m a type B person. I’m usually planning a month at a time. As you plan programs, decide how those align with your vision and goals. DON’T take on too much. I usually have two passive programs and one active program a month, and this is year 9 for me. I build up my programs every year. Some things will work and you’ll keep them for the next year. Others will be an epic flop and that’s okay. I also want to remind you that it’s okay to have time where you are doing nothing, but surviving. Not every single day is going to be the most epic thing you’ve ever done. Some days all I can manage is to check out books and troubleshoot laptops. That’s okay too. Every month I email our entire staff a newsletter to advocate for what I do. Here is my newsletter template. Here are some of my favorite programs and literacy promotions: Climate Action Project (this is 9 weeks long) Build the Change - This is for elementary and middle, but who doesn’t love legos One Word Bracelets County Wide World Read Aloud Day Book Trailers Global Maker Day- In Collaboration with Martha Bongiorno You Aren’t Alone Okay, so you’ve made it this far. Phew, that’s a lot to think about and process. I hope you know that you are not alone. You may be the only one in your building doing your job, but there are so many people there to assist you. I highly encourage you to join your state organization. This is the first stop for the biggest support group you will find. Many of my best friends I met through my state organization. Join the Georgia Library Media Association. All are welcome. You don’t have to even be in Georgia. Follow people on social media. You’ll be amazed at the resources and ideas people share. So many of us are open books. Here is a list of my favorite librarians on Instagram. I’m kind of moving away from X. Mrsbongiornoedu Praytelllibrarian Tpreplibrary Cuethelibrarian Thenextgenlibrarian Rachaelreads MobleyIntheMix Melissacorey Alliethelibrarian Mskeown_reads Meredithfelton Z_librarain Lhslibrarylori Beaverreadsbhs Mrs.martino_in_the_library Boss_librarian ShannonMMiller Bookwrangler Additional Resources Awesome Podcasts School Libraries United Library on Lock Great Websites for Resources Shannon Miller Discovering the Remarkable Don’t Shush Me Renovated Learning The Library Voice
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