Posted on by hildaweisburg

ON LIBRARIES: PLN’s and Advocacy during COVID-19

We are approaching two weeks into most of the school closures with the likelihood of at least another month.  From the first, librarians have been doing what we do best, getting information for ourselves and then out to our communities.  Many of you quickly tapped into your PLNs and began asking for and exchanging information, but this influx of resources has created an information overload that is adding to already existing stress. What can we do to meet the needs of our teachers and students without becoming more overwhelmed?

A good place to start, if you haven’t done so already, is to make a list of your priorities. Stop and think:

  • Are you doing any teaching? If so, you need resources for that.
  • What types of help do your teachers need? How can you be a resource?
  • Are your providing parent support?
  • How are you communicating with your administration and beyond?

In a Google doc, or whatever format you prefer, keep separate files/folders for the different topics. Go for quality rather than quantity. Even before this crisis, teachers frequently ignored what you showed them if you offered too much information. Now they are more overwhelmed. Keep things focused and brief. Add (and delete) to your lists as necessary.

Besides what you create for teachers, keep a separate file with the highlights of what you are doing. Every so often, send this to your administrator, website, and consider posting to the appropriate places on social media. This can be an important opportunity for advocacy.

Advocacy is about building partnerships with others who support you since you helped them. By showing your contribution, others will recognize that the library program is invaluable to the school system, even with the students can’t go to the library. You are the lifeline teachers and students need.  Parents and administrators need to see this as well.

And don’t forget to make time for yourself. I saw one meme showing a librarian working on her computer and saying, “I have this feeling that if I just curate everything, I can stop the virus.” While we are working hard to serve, we cannot forget the rule about taking care of ourselves first so we can do our best.

To practice what I preach, I am keeping this blog shorter than usual.  Less for you to read and me to write.  And since I have been sitting for an hour, and it’s too rainy for me to go out, I am going to walk 250 steps in my house.

Stay healthy and stay connected.

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Posted on by hildaweisburg

How Large is Your PLN?

pln wordleYour PLN.

This acronym has two versions and both are important.  PLN can be either a Professional Learning Network or a Personal Learning Network. While it may seem to have arisen along with social networks, the concept has been in use long before the Internet, although the term didn’t exist.

Connecting with colleagues to seek their advice or help on a professional issue has always existed. At first it was within an office or school.  I can remember reaching out to a school librarian when I was planning to automate my library in 1993.  The telephone was my link.  I had already begun building a large Professional Learning Network by becoming an active member first in my state’s school library association and soon after in AASL.

Social networks have made extended these connections. Numerous library associations have Facebook pages.  National and state organizations also have listservs, and, of course, there’s LM_NET which has been a vital listserv for many school librarians who know how to manage the large amount of email messages.  Have a problem? A question? Just put it out on one or more of these and advice and help from experience practitioners will soon help you resolve it.

Sometimes you aren’t looking for anything, but a post gives you an idea.  I was just on the NYLA/SSL Facebook page and there was an illustration of Barbara Stripling’s inquiry model.  I will be teaching a course in the fall which will discuss inquiry-based learning.  I asked the person who posted, if she would send it to me for this purpose. She did, and I will be using it with attribution to her and Barbara Stripling.pln types

Members of Google+ TL Chat share what they are doing with software and other resources you may not have heard of.  Just click on the post and find out more. If necessary, post a question.  Twitter and LinkedIn groups offer other sources of information to grow your PLN.

Personal Learning Networks are a mix.  The greatest number of people in my personal learning network are fellow librarians who are also my friends.  I know them well even if I only see many of them at conferences.  We are always available for each other.  They are my friends on Facebook so I am always keeping up with their lives—professional and personal.

In person and online, we can get involved in discussions about issues arising in the profession.  Occasionally this leads to developing a project together or creating a workshop or presentation for a conference.  We know each other well enough to make drawing on each other’s specific area of expertise a natural part of the collaboration.

The remainder of the people in my Personal Learning Network are non-librarian friends.  Recently, I became interested in yoga for people with limited mobility.  I am a good librarian and researcher.  I could have spent time investigating this on my own.  Instead, I reached out to a friend who has been attending yoga classes for years.  She loved exploring this.  Soon she was sending me information about programs on television and chair yoga classes at a local Y and through the local park service.

yogaBecause she had a yoga PLN, she was able to let me know which had good teachers and the pros and cons of each option.  She also sent me illustrated directions for doing chair yoga at home. I now have a number of options without expending much of my own time.

Knowledge and information keep expanding at a rapid pace. You can’t do it all by yourself. Remember this is a two-way street.  Often you are able to respond to someone else’s query.  You are continually getting and giving in our participatory culture. Being a school librarian today requires you to keep up with the constantly changing technology landscape. PLNs – both professional and personal, are the way you can do it without feeling lost.  How big is your PLN?  How are you going to make it bigger?