School Library Summit Symposium- virtual discussion of Library Advocacy
In conjunction with Simmons University and University of South Carolina, San Jose State iSchool hosted the first in a series of webinars focused on school library advocacy on Tuesday, September 20, 2022. Drs. Anthony Chow and Sanda Erdelez introduced the event by sharing how they got involved with school library advocacy, focusing the discussion on equity for students and the changing expectations for school librarians.
Keynote Speaker Keith Curry-Lance shared resources and data from his research study, SLIDE, which showed incredible gaps in library staffing that leave 30% of schools with no teacher librarian, impacting 7.5 million students nationwide. While often lack of funding is given as a reason for not staffing libraries, Lance reports that it is not a funding issue, but the ways districts prioritize other staff positions that leave schools without librarians. Keynote Speaker Kathy Lester, past AASL president, continued the focus on equity and the importance of sustained advocacy efforts.
Throughout the summit, the chat was active with library leaders from across the United States and around the world, as people posed questions about the changing role of school librarians, partnerships with public and school libraries, library standards, and many other topics, as well as shared resources and their own experiences.
The first panel discussion featured Karen Gavigan, Cynthia Richardson Johnson, and Jonathan Hunt addressing the question of how to empower school librarians to create excellent library programs. Hunt asked advocates to focus on universal outcomes of strong library programs: literacy, learning, and leadership, that anyone in education can agree with. Johnson emphasized how relationships with teachers, administrators, and the community can change perceptions about what school librarians are and what a library can be.
The second panel included Lessa Pelayo-Lozada, Kathy Lester, and Kathy Carroll discussing specific, achievable actions that advocates can take to improve equity in library funding and staffing at all levels. In the course of this discussion, panelists addressed long held stereotypes and perceptions of school librarians and how communicating the value librarians bring to school culture is also advocacy work. While the event was held to two hours, the engaging speakers and active audience created a sense that there is much more to say.
The entire summit will be posted to the iSchool’s youtube channel, and invitations to future events in this series will be posted to this blog.
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