I miss the good ol'
days. You remember the days when students and librarians across the state of Texas
enjoyed the bounty of TLC and the databases. Those were the days when
librarians across the state knew they could call on Mary Lankford at the
Texas Education Agency (TEA) for the answers to their questions. It seems
like only a few semesters ago that libraries actually received a little
funding from the state for books and there was a librarian in many of
the regional service centers.
So here we are in
the year 2004 facing a critical juncture in the future of school
libraries.
We can
commiserate with each other about how we are unappreciated, or we can
start to empower the school library community across the state to bring
about changes.
TLA and the Texas
Association of School Librarians (TASL) have banded together to form a
joint task force for school library development and study. The committee's
membership includes members of the TASL Legislative and Advocacy
Committees, members of the Texas Association of School Library
Administrators (TASLA), and members of the TLA Legislative Committee. The
co-chairs are Barry Bishop, director of library services for Spring Branch
ISD, and Deborah Bashaw, director of library services at Huntington ISD.
The charge to
this joint task force is twofold:
- Create a list
of critical, time-sensitive needs for Texas school libraries including
but not limited to:
- Surveying
Texas ESCs to identify support and resources for school librarians
(center area, regional area, and statewide)
- Developing
a marketing plan for school library issues
- Preparing
a Web environment with FAQs for school librarians
- Devising a
flow chart of "who to call" for school library needs
- Creating a
guide to implementing Commissioners' Rules for Facilities for
school libraries
- Developing
and supporting curriculum connections, including lists of content,
experts on making connections between school library resources and
TEKS standards
- Organizing
online resources for school librarians
- Developing
an evaluation model for librarians
- Recommend to
TLA, TASLA, and TSLAC recommendations for priorities for
implementation and timeline for critical documents and activities.
Critical issues
were discussed at the annual conference in San Antonio. A consensus seemed
to form around the following issues. School librarians need to find a home
under some executive agency either the Texas Education Agency or Texas
State Library and Archives Commission. School librarians need to urge the
collection of school data that will help us show the relationship between
student success and a vital library program.
We must develop
curriculum correlations between library skills and test objectives, and we
much teach librarians how to use them. Our mantra must continue to be
"advocacy, advocacy, advocacy" within our school buildings,
communities, state, and, most of all, within ourselves.
The Task Force
will meet at Annual Assembly in Austin. We will post information about the
group's activities and details on how to participate on the TLA website.
Now, all of this
looks good on paper. The real secret of success is statewide investment.
In other words, we need you, the local school librarian, to join in this
process. Rather than mourning for the good ol' days, we must become
empowered to make the case for today's school libraries. Join us as we
make things change for our students and our profession in the state of
Texas.
Deborah
Bashaw is director of library services at Huntington ISD.
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