My Philosophy of School Librarianship

My philosophy of School Librarianship aligns with the beliefs of the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction's Vision for School Library Media Coordinators, and Wake County Public School System's Instructional Technology and Library Media Services.

My core beliefs are that School Library Media Coordinators...

• should demonstrate leadership. 
• should build a learning environment that meets the instructional needs of a diverse population of students. 
• should implement a comprehensive 21st library media program.
• should demonstrate knowledge of learners and learning and promote effective instructional practices. 
• should reflect on their practices. 

Further, I fully share NCDPI's Vision for School Library Media Coordinators:

The demands of providing a 21st century education dictate new roles for School Library Media Coordinators. School Library Media Coordinators are called on to have a larger role in their schools and school communities. School leadership is distributed among the staff and administration in order to bring consensus, common understandings, and shared ownership of the vision and purpose of the school. School Library Media Coordinators are valued for their leadership abilities throughout the school as well as in the media center. 

School Library Media Coordinators help make the content engaging and meaningful to students’ lives as they support teachers and facilitate the integration of curriculum and related projects across disciplines. In the school and the media center, School Library Media Coordinators facilitate instruction, encouraging all students to use 21st century skills to discover how to learn, innovate, collaborate, and communicate their ideas. They serve as facilitators of information skills development through the provision of professional development, coaching, mentoring, and co-teaching activities. Their work includes supporting the development of authentic and structured assessment strategies to assure that students demonstrate understanding of the content taught and ability to apply the skills they have learned. School Library Media Coordinators demonstrate the value of lifelong learning and instill a love of reading and learning in the students with whom they come into contact.

I share WCPSS's Instructional Technology and Library Media Services team's work philosophy:

We build supportive relationships by guiding students and educators in using the right resources and tools for the right learners at the right times.

I believe that my job is to build relationships with my staff, students, and community so that I can guide them in using the right resources and tools for the right learners at the right time.