Bringing in the Masses: Making Your Library Essential
1. Bringing in the Masses:
Making Your Library
Essential
Rachel Grover
Librarian
Fairfax County Public Schools
2. Advocacy: What It Is
and Why It’s Important
• Speaking up for you, your programs,
resources, and abilities
• Requires deliberate, consistent
relationship building
• Kirkland (2012) warns if the school
librarian cannot demonstrate the
program’s worth, it is impossible to
expect others to understand.
• We teach everyone (including staff)!
3. What Drives It All
• Focus Question: How do we further
our mission of patrons becoming
effective users of ideas and
information?
• An advocacy program/plan based on
your students’ and staff’s needs
• PLAN: Craft messages around
students and learning, NOT the
school library itself.
4. Building Awareness
for Library Programs
• Back to School nights
• Social media/Website
• Morning announcements
• Show off student work using your resources
• Public library/Cross promotion
• Parent volunteers
• Contests – 12 Days, Bookmarks, Guess the
Book
• What do YOU do?
5. Promoting Yourself as an
Instructional Partner
• New teacher orientation
• Ask for pacing guides @ beg. of
year
• Using the physical space of the
library
• Follow up with teachers you work
with
• Be seen in other places of the school
besides the library!
6. Promoting Yourself as an
Instructional Partner
• Displays for current units
• Calendar with big projects per subject
• After-school trainings
• Visit department meetings for subject-
specific staff development & just being
friendly.
• Highlight instruction & reading
guidance, not just collections and
computers
• What do YOU do?
7. Being a Leader
• “Library Minute” at staff meetings
• Serve on school leadership teams
• School & District Curriculum Committees
• Be a mentor!
• Conduct professional development at the
school and/or district level
• Pilot technology projects
• What do YOU do?
8. Proving the Impact of Your Work
• Monthly newsletters shared with administration,
staff, parents, & students
• Collect data!
• Logins, purposes for students coming to the
library, no. of collaborations with each teacher or
subject area
• Pre- & Post- Advocacy data around year goals,
initiatives, or programs
• Back up stats from your own library with district,
state & national stats
• Student input: What do they like? Not like?
• Frequent fliers, reluctants, and average readers
• Random classes survey vs. posting on your
website
9. Proving the Impact of Your Work
• Be thankful to “investors”!
• Do a “Year in Review” for your staff – and
yourself!
• Follow up with SOL data that you
collaborated on with teachers
• Why is it worth it for others to invest in
what you do?
• What do YOU do?
10. Questions to Ask Yourself…
• Do you have an Advocacy Plan for
your library? (and who knows about
it?)
• What does your library do to support
personal & academic student growth?
• How often does your school – and
community – hear about the great
things going on in your library?
• How could a student “Library
Advisory Group” further your plan?
11. Questions to Ask Yourself…
• Do you document the happenings in
your library? How do you disseminate
that documentation?
• Is your library welcoming 100% of the
time?
– Is it ready to be the inspiration for a new
program or teacher collaborative
opportunity?
• Does your print (and online) collection
currently reflect every subject area’s
standards?
12. If you don’t advocate for your
programs, instructional abilities,
and the impact of your work…
WHO WILL?
