Transitioning from Kindergarten Teacher to Librarian takes Planning and Advocacy

 ... as well as a new planner!

I was creating a year-long master/reference calendar for my school's kindergarten team when FedEx rang the doorbell, and presented me with a box from Erin Condren!

The reference calendar has all sorts of info in it, the result of an intentional brain dump of at least thirteen years' worth of thematic units, curricular guidance, assessments and special events that take place in the district and in our building. Out of six kindergarten teachers on our team, only two are slated to return, neither of whom have taught kindergarten for a quarter of a century like, uh, I have. Whether they choose to refer to the calendar is up to them, but as I'll be busy welcoming back students and staff to our library while simultaneously working toward developing my own new groove and schedule at the beginning of the year, I feel better knowing that I've shared what I know for easy reference.  I hope they find it helpful in some way.

I've had EC teacher planners for six... seven years now? I tend to pencil-plan in them ahead of time, and then plan monthly and weekly onto a digital template that is then printed off and glued into the pages when the plans are finalized. My process may seem redundant, but it's how my brain works, and it keeps everything all in one spiral planner. As I won't be grade-level planning and likely won't have to adhere to a strict pacing guide for my library lessons, I'll be rethinking my template over the summer, and asking my new librarian team (two elementary, one middle school) for input.

Tearing open the tissue paper is always exciting:

Isn't she a beaut?

My very first "library lady" planner!  I can't pencil much into it yet, except for our district's schedule, book fairs, and tentative music programs.  Each grade level will miss either half or a full week of library due to rehearsals that I will likely have to help with instead of taking care of library administration and maintenance, not to mention I'll have to find a way to reschedule each grade level so that they can still check out books that they need and want which might eat into my own lunch or prep times.  Having fixed-schedule library times that provide teacher preps along with "specials" such as Art, Music, and PE (last year Science TEAMS was included), instead of having the library separate from specials with flexible open hours can negatively impact all that a library program can offer, whereas an open schedule would do the opposite. Open scheduling would make it possible for grade levels and/or individual classes to sign up for lessons, read alouds, and research projects as needed, while I effectively maintain and grow the collection and collaborate with teachers and staff during their preps as needed or wanted.  The library could even be a great cooling-off location for students who need some time away from the classroom without it escalating into being a disciplinary situation. A student can walk to the library, peruse the new arrivals or a special display, work on a collaborative puzzle, take some deep breaths, fill out a book review for others to read, and then return to class.  How many times have we all appreciated a peaceful alternative to an uncomfortable scene, and the opportunity to self-regulate, turning our day around after having some time in a safe space to breathe? 

Inadvertently suggesting to students that they are only allowed into a library during a scheduled time once or twice a week doesn't seem to be the best way to support their intellectual freedom, reading appetites, curiosity or social-emotional needs, nor does it allow opportunities for flexibility for colleagues who could bring their classes into the library for their own lesson instruction or co-teaching with my help.  This practice, even if unintentional, does little to establish the welcoming, democratic, available, and fair atmosphere that is supposed to exist within libraries, and continued compartmentalization fails to reinforce the idea that lifelong learning and understanding can happen anywhere, at any time, with texts chosen as well as assigned.  Denying students and staff that very environment also makes it easy to shutter libraries when subs are hard to come by, funding issues arise, or when a pandemic hits and librarians aren't included on the team of decision-makers. Librarians want safety for their patrons, too. 

After the rearranging and renovation that I, the custodians, and the maintenance and tech crews took care of at the beginning of summer, there is space for a class to visit and work with their own teacher while I help others at the circulation desk, or read to other students, or shelve books, etc., which wouldn't require a library assistant, a staff member that I already don't have.  Depending on the latest variant(s) and immunization requirements, I may not even be able to invite parent volunteers to help me in the library this year either, so it's all me, for four-hundred-plus students and a full staff, which is not made easier by the library's inclusion the current specials rotation. I may have to wait to in-process new books and materials until early-release Fridays, of which there are only eleven for the year, and I'll be unable to get books checked back in and either returned to shelves or put into the hands of students or staff who are waiting for them in as timely a manner as would be possible.  Book cleaning and repairs will have to wait (at this time, many books are dirty, and others are already in need of a visit to the book hospital), too, all because of an aged lens that remains in place despite the need for adjustment and creative thinking, and (perhaps) an unwillingness to evolve from the "we've always done it this way/all of the schools have to do it the same way" one-size-fits-all comfort zone.  

The library isn't the music room, while the music room isn't the gym.  The gym isn't the science lab, and the science lab isn't the art room.  In my district, specials exist separately from gen. ed. classrooms, though an open, flexible schedule could certainly make the library available to expand teaching spaces and broaden learning experiences significantly for teachers other than myself.  A librarian's role and responsibilities within the school can be recognized, acknowledged, respected, and accommodated without the implication that we somehow devalue other specials.  Allowing libraries to evolve into true learning commons requires that we stop forcing them and their administrators as square pegs into a round scheduling hole. 

At my school, a librarian without an aide or volunteer will teach a lesson, facilitate book check-out, and then need to check-in and reshelve books from one-hundred students daily, with half of those students returning two, rather than one book. While an art teacher can ask a student to help repair a project, it will take longer for a librarian to repair a set of books, since students cannot help.  While a coach can teach students how to help organize and put away PE equipment with minor adjustments needed, a librarian must shelf-read and check the stacks daily because volunteers and student helpers have rarely mastered Dewey Decimal and bay maintenance at the elementary level. Science teachers can loan equipment, but they don't tend to provide it for all grades, all classes, and all teachers for the whole year, unlike librarians. Music teachers can train their students to appropriately clean and store their instruments, while librarians must clean, dry, and shelve books on their own. Teachers tend to have grade-level money to spend once or twice each year, while librarians fundraise, make purchases and develop the collection throughout the year, keeping records of it all. Librarians, like the office, receive phone calls regularly throughout the day asking for assistance, while classroom teachers and specialists will have their instructional times kept as uninterrupted as possible.   No matter how good a teacher-librarian's classroom management skills might be, the beast that is the library will always need tending, feeding, grooming, wrangling,  weeding, growing, and adapting in order to effectively and efficiently meet the needs of its patrons on a daily basis.

I remember when teachers and staff used to "pilot" programs.  Here, at the start of my LMS career, how I wish I could pilot a flexible, open schedule. 

*****

Looks like my advocacy for young learners and kindergarten is quickly broadening to include all students and colleagues now that I'm a school librarian.  And it also looks like ranty-me is still present and kicking with my new role in education. Good thing.  I'm going to need her.

We can always do better.

*****

And in the same vein:

What if We Were "Just" Book Slingers by Steve Tetreault