Each morning, I walk to school through a series of semi-suburban neighborhoods in northern California. Over the past winter, I spent the 3 miles with my iPod and school librarians, legislators, administrators, school library clerks, students and many others who had participated in audio journal interviews led by Joe McHugh, author and storyteller. Each day I listened to their stories, and each storyteller brought a unique voice to the larger story of what happens in a school library.
The stories were morphed into listenable sound bytes that Joe and I put together into one CD. The purpose? To tell the bigger story of what’s happening to school libraries nationwide.
The result was an audio journal called “Circulate This: Stories from the School Library”.
Over the past few years, we library folks have been bemoaning the fact that parents, school board members, administrators and legislators who make education decisions do not really know what goes on in the school library.
Despite the multitude of research linking well staffed school libraries and student achievement, I’ve come to believe that what decision makers need are the stories – our stories. Technology, reading, library issues, authors, teachers and students all intertwine into wonderful stories that move us to action, to thinking deeply about ideas. And how we, as educators can create learning environments that help our students not only succeed, but thrive.
So what do you do every day to impact your students? I want to hear your story!
Be sure to check out our stories and listen to the music performed and played by Martin Simpson and Joe Weed. And then, send me some of your own.
Connie Williams is an advocate for school libraries and believes strongly in the power of ‘story’. As a high school teacher librarian, she loves hanging out with the big kids. This is her first blog post, but most likely not her last. Connie loves comments; you can also contact her via email.
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