Interview with a Librarian- Part 2: Explore

This is the second post in a series of blog posts on the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) standards and shared foundations. In each post I will be reflecting on an interview with a school librarian about one of the shared foundations. Although all six AASL standards and shared foundations are essential to the success of a library, I have chosen four to focus on in my blog series.

Curate- Make meaning for oneself and others by collecting, organizing, and sharing resources of personal relevance.

Explore- Discover and innovate in a growth mindset developed through experience and reflection.

Inquire- Build new knowledge by inquiring, thinking critically, identifying problems, and developing strategies for solving problems

Include- Demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to inclusiveness and respect for diversity in the learning community.

For my second post I interviewed Jamie Gaines about the shared foundation of Explore. Mrs. Gaines is the librarian at Townville Elementary where I currently teach. Jamie has been in education for 37 years and been a librarian for 21 of those 35 years. Jamie currently has a fixed schedule in the library and says that time constraints are one of the biggest challenges to meet all the standards and skills that should be taught in the library. Due to the fact that she is in the related arts rotation for some grade levels it is difficult to make herself and the library available.  Mrs. Gaines strives for the collection to contain a wide variety of genres and levels that will appeal to all readers. She believes that having variety encourages students to find something that appeals to them.  She also uses current events to lead discussions and debates within the library. The library also contains a variety of STEAM related makers space activities that students can interact with. Mrs. Gaines uses resources such as print books, MyON daily news, Scholastic News, hands on materials and problem solving activities to encourage students’ curiosity and exploration of topics. Often these are topics that are suggested by classroom teachers that connect with the current curriculum standards.

              I have been observing Jamie run her library for many years.  I have seen her maximize her fixed schedule and make the most of the time that she has with students. She incorporates as many of the Explore competencies as she can with the schedule she has, and has provided me with a great skeleton of how I can effectively operate a fixed schedule elementary library. Exploration is important for developing student minds. It is essential that they have a variety experiences and experience learning through a variety of ways: print books, digital books, magazines, hands on exploration and makers space activities. One important factor will be working with classroom teachers to coordinate activities that support the classroom curriculum to further students’ learning. 

References

American Association for School Librarians. (2018). AASL standards framework for learners. AASL. https://standards.aasl.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/AASL- standards-Framework-for-Learners-pamphlet.pd