Two and a half school years has led to the culmination of the school library media specialist endorsement on my license.  Okay, officially it will happen once I graduate in December and take the Praxis exam a few weeks later, but this course and conclusion of my practicum hours marks a humongous milestone for sure.  I am thrilled to achieve this after 24 years of teaching – and now I plan to be a teacher librarian for the rest of my career.

            While spending hours in a high school library, I’ve observed and helped with so much that goes on behind the scenes.  Working on the collection, weeding, cataloging, collaborating, training, teaching, mentoring… a school librarian wears many hats.  Many things they do may go unnoticed by the school population.

I was so lucky to work with an outstanding HS librarian at Oak Ridge HS in Oak Ridge, TN.  She really took me under her wing and trained me on cataloging new books and the student management system they use for study hall and lunch to track kids’ whereabouts.  I learned how to check books in and out, and of course shelved a bit – which I really had to be careful about because she has 100% genrefied the entire library.  I worked with her on a lesson she had with a special needs class.  We read a book and wrote thank you notes to teachers, made a pie craft, and then checked out books.  I enjoyed my time working and learning from her.  She even gave me her login information for Titlewave and the school’s catalog admin page to dabble in.  I’ve started a list in Titlewave – she wanted any new book ideas I had, but to my delight almost everything I wanted to add she already had.

She took me to visit/tour a middle school library close by and I met the librarian there.  Come to find out, he is retiring in December.  She told me about this new position opening in their district (a very coveted one) and that I should apply.  I didn’t want to seem as elated as I was, so I casually responded with a, “Yes, I’d love to apply!”  Over coming visits she trained me on numerous things in her library and asked each visit if I’d like to apply and stated that I should, and “if you get hired, I’d love to help you any way I can…”  And that she is friends with the HR woman… And how fortunate that I already have my background check done with them…

So, I will apply with the school district once they post the opening and hope to land there.  It will most likely be an interim position that could lead to an official spot in the fall of next school year.  I am so fortunate to have had this experience even if I don’t land in this district.  I know I will find a new “home” soon in a school library.  Endings always bring new beginnings.  This could be mine!

                Everyone knows what it is like to feel other.  Gender identification, skin color, and financial status make no difference in how people can feel in any given situation or stage of life.  Why then, are students assigned to read literature from predominately old white men, asks my mentor librarian. Equity in classroom reading assignments is important, and if it is just not possible, the school library should be a place where students can see themselves reflected in novels or see others in situations that are new to them.

                I’d like to list several authors and book titles (in no particular order) to consider adding to high school ELA classes when appropriate.  These can be excellent mirrors and windows for students.

The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls

The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros

The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri

I am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, Erika Sanchez

The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan

White Teeth, Zadie Smith

Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neal Hurston

The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd

Bless Me, Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya

The Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead

A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry

Night, Elie Wiesel

My Name is Asher, Chaim Potok

Dear Martin, Nic Stone

Rocket Boys, Homer H. Hickam, Jr.

            I recently spent several hours in another elementary library.  What I experienced was vastly different than my first visit a few weeks ago in Ohio. 

            The Librarian taught 3 classes in the 5 hours I was there – Kindergarten, first, and second grades.  She had a prepared lesson about bats, including a story, google slides of grade-appropriate bat information, and a listening activity where they heard a 30-second audio clip of bat sounds.  The kids even got to try out their own arm bat-flapping exercise for a bit. Then in Kindergarten they drew bats while in 1^st and 2^nd grade they completed a worksheet about bat information.  I enjoyed observing, circulating, and then helping the littles with their drawings or worksheets.  I was looking forward to seeing them browse around the library to choose their book(s) for the week and helping where I could.

            But then the librarian directed each grade to a different cart where she had previously selected books for them.  The kids were to choose a book from the cart that she had placed up front by her.

            Disbelief.  Sad heart.  They only had 2-3 minutes to select a book(s) from the cart and then get it checked out, then it was line-up time and out the door they went.

            The majority of their library time was spent having a lesson with very minimal time to look at any books – and then they only looked at books pre-selected by her.

            She later explained her process when selecting books for each grade level. Basically, she selected about 40-45 books per grade level, and used those books for each grade-level class and as they were returned, she put them back on the cart for the next class.  She said that this way, a batch of books were used for several weeks before she swapped them out for new ones.

            I kept my poker face on.  I plastered a smile on my face.  I empathized with her situation.  She explained that since she is evaluated (harshly, in her opinion) on a teaching rubric, that it is expected she teach lessons for each class, each time they come in.  She says the lessons take most of her time with each class, leaving little time for book exploration.

            I tentatively asked if the kids ever get to browse the [small] library to choose their own books in case something on the cart does not interest them.  Do they get to use the online catalog to search for authors or books they enjoy?  She stated no.  She is the only librarian at this 350-student school and does not have volunteers or any aides to help keep the library organized and picked up and shelved.  Tuesday – Thursday she has full days with classes/lessons.  Mondays and Fridays are her “flex” days where she prepares lessons, shelves, swaps cart books if needed, and helps around the school as needed. She does not collaborate with teachers. She is an island.

            I am not judging.  This librarian is doing the best she can.  The expectations placed on her has her compromising her own desire to have kids browse and explore books.

            I think if I were in her situation I would try to have shorter lessons and allow more time to explore books.  Can’t browsing books be an activity on that evaluation rubric?  I feel like it would be hard to encourage a love of reading with such harsh limitations.

            Note to self: do not apply for an elementary school library position in this district.

An elementary library can be an exciting place to be!  And the librarians working there have the opportunity to help instill the love of reading into young minds, collaborate with teachers, teach lessons, read books aloud, and help students find the perfect book for that week.  But what happens when you are in charge of three elementary school libraries?  The duties drastically change and students’ library time looks very different.

One elementary librarian I had the chance to observe is in my former Ohio school district.  This district is one that I thought does everything right and cares so much about students … has three elementary schools and one elementary librarian.  One.  For three schools.  It didn’t used to be like this, but here we are with budget cuts affecting school libraries.

What I saw was an overworked, stressed out, fully endorsed and experienced school librarian who is not really a librarian in this district.  She is basically a manager of volunteers and splits her 5-day week amongst three schools.  One day here, one day there, and the other three days are half-and-half days.  She is new this year so she does not know any students by name, and hardly knows the teachers.

She desperately wants to do the things she used to be able to do in another district but there just is not time.  She acquires volunteers, trains them, arranges a monthly schedule for each school library, and then travels among the three schools sometimes able to read a story to the kids, but mostly spends her 30-minute time with each class helping them find their two books to check out.  While in the library I observed the two volunteers shelving, straightening, helping the kids find books, and checking out those books at the circulation desk.  She showed me how she makes the schedules at each school and what happens when volunteers do not show up or call off. 

The volunteers run the libraries every day for free.  It breaks my heart that my beloved school district seems to be on the verge of not having an elementary librarian at all and just utilizing parent/grandparent volunteers.  The kids are really missing out on what a school library experience can be.  The kids and teachers are missing out on great collaborative lessons and activities.  The librarian feels like she could be doing so much more but is trying to keep the libraries open all day and staffed by volunteers.

Next week I go to a different elementary library where I live – it will be interesting to see the differences in the kids’ and teachers’ experiences there since it is fully librarian – led.

                I had an interesting discussion during my observation in Oak Ridge.  The librarian is very concerned that the English 12 classes are studying British Literature, as they have for the past several decades.  She is actively talking to ELA teachers and admin trying to convince them to do away with British Literature as a course.   As an English teacher myself, I have just accepted that this is how the curriculum goes… 9^th grade, Coming of Age; 10^th grade, Multicultural Literature; 11^th grade, American Literature; 12^th grade, British Literature.  I see it as essential as studying any other core subject having a logical order of learning and discovery.  I have pondered her idea but am not entirely on board with throwing out the British Literature course just because the literature is old.  I do think it can be revamped and packaged differently, and I will discuss that in a bit.

                She expressed these concerns:

• One concern is why students are still studying British literature at all, especially at this late year of 2023.  Is it just tradition?
• Another is that studying British literature offers no equity of books in the classroom, no diversity in authors’ color or gender.  They are mostly reading work written by white men.
• A third reason is that she believes the novel choices should be a mirror or window where students can see themselves now or in the future. 

She presented her claims to me and tried to win me to her position.  I’m just the observer here so I tried to keep my poker face.  I do think it is important for English classes to read novels that are mirrors/windows for students but sometimes I think this is not possible at all times in all grades in all curriculums.  Isn’t this why school libraries should offer mirrors and windows for the student population?  Isn’t this why teachers, librarians, and admin should promote utilizing the school library for their reading and discovery pleasure?

This librarian has never been a classroom teacher and I bet this is why she is so willing to propose certain courses be thrown by the wayside.  She admitted that only a few ELA department members were on board with her idea.  I am wondering if school librarians should be able to wield such power to suggest it in the first place.  But as an aspiring school librarian I do think librarians should be able to offer suggestions for reading in the classroom, and offer collaboration to be sure the library has what classrooms may be missing.  But to help decide what is taught?  I am not ready to say yes or no; however, you may sense my position at the current moment.

So – she put me on a mission and gave me an assignment.  What titles and authors could replace the current British Literature course?  What could the class be about?   I decided that units of study utilizing essential questions over themes might be a solution.  Maybe a refocus of how the country or world is now instead of how it was decades ago.  Not only could this offer a range of literature choices in the mirror/window department, but also create a flipped classroom for more individual ownership and learning. For example, instead of studying themes in Golding’s Lord of the Flies, why not study Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games essential questions?  Which could easily lead to Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun comparisons about happiness and equality?  Or if you’re trying to get away from rich white men and the American dream, (not British Lit, obviously…) how about swap out The Great Gatsby for Jeanette Walls’ The Glass Castle, or Erika L. Sanchez’s I am not your Perfect Mexican Daughter?

So let’s put this on pause for awhile, and watch for some recommendations for equity and mirrors/windows in the classroom in another post!

          Let me tell you about the high school library I am fortunate to be interning in this semester.  It is big.  Seriously, this could be the largest school library I have seen in my career.  It spans two VERY large rooms/sections, and has an office area, back room for storage and small group work, two enclosed classrooms, and a large front desk area where the book checkouts happen.  (All for a school population of 1600 students!)  It is brightly lit, with windows where students can look down from the third floor, and has skylights bringing in extra natural light.  Displays, cozy corners, and tables and chairs are scattered throughout both rooms.

          What caught my eye right away, besides the framed art from students’ class projects hanging on the walls, and the student print station with four office copier/printers, were the large black steel word signs set atop the chest-high shelves.  Words like THRIVE, FANTASY, LBGTQ+, MYSTERY, SPORTS, BUSINESS, and CAREER, to name a few.  I was in awe!  And does the librarian of twelve years even know how lucky she is, with this amazing space, an assistant, and a budget that could be the envy of school librarians in the surrounding counties?  Yes, she knows.

          So, my first visit began with a 2-hour tour and explanation of the library and the signs.  The librarian has genrefied the entire place.  Fiction and nonfiction.  Dewey be danged.  While so many school librarians have learned of this system of shelving fiction into genres that would help voracious and reluctant readers alike find something of interest to read, rarely have I personally heard of genrefying the nonfiction section.  (GASP, how will the kids ever find what they need if the call numbers are not actually the DDS?!)  I needed a lot of information here.  I tried to tamp down my panic.  How does one shelve nonfiction if not for the Dewey decimal system?  I might have had a hot flash.  Did my distress show on my face?  I think it did, because the librarian took about 1.5 hours explaining her methods and reasoning as we walked from 100 to 200 to 300 sections and more.

          Her means of categorizing the nonfiction section now made complete sense, and why don’t all libraries do this?  Instead of following darling Dewey blindly, she categorizes nonfiction by topic and loosely follows the numbers – making up her own numbers as needed.  (I did not choke, at least not out loud.)  While I could never do her system justice by trying to remember every detail to type here, her reasoning made complete sense.  And do HS students need to use their time going from shelf to shelf looking for books on a topic, hunting numbers like a hunting dog whose pheasant has run away, or can they spend their time researching a topic and having all of those books in one place?  She has organized by topic.  She has chronologically shelved the history section instead of following the 900s DDS section.  I listened intently, trying to change my thinking.  I worked in a public library for a while, so I am pretty comfortable with how books should be shelved.  BUT.  This librarian’s Covid-era and beyond project to reorganize her library to help students find what they need more efficiently made sense to me.  And she has the autonomy to do what she thinks is best for the students. 

          So. Dewey or don’t we?  This aspiring librarian thinks there are pros and cons to both, and I see that this semester will challenge my opinions and open my eyes to new and modern things, and how things can be, in a high school library.

Hello, I am Cinnamon Bacue, and I teach HS ELA (juniors) and AP Language and Composition at Tennessee Connections Academy, an entirely virtual school.   I am in my 24^th year as an educator and 16 of those years were spent in Bowling Green, Ohio, where I was able to have a wonderful library/classroom collaboration on a regular basis – something that was missing in the first TN school I taught in, thus igniting my desire to become a school librarian. I have 2 grown daughters and my (youngest) 21 year-old is officially fully moving out in October.  Empty nest, here I come.

This semester I am finishing my School Library Media Specialist endorsement and will be interning for several hours at a near-by high school. I plan to share my ideas, inspirations, shortcomings, epiphanies, etc., here as I navigate my intern experience. I am open to outside ideas and opinions on all things school library.

I am so excited to begin this experience, get into my internship, and finish this semester! This endorsement has been something I have wanted to do for a long time. Thank you to the wonderful professors at Marshall University who have guided me on my way!