Flying Solo (So Alone) coping strategies for the sole charge librarian. Presentation for the SLANZA 2013 conference. Some images have not transferred over. Sorry about that.
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The document provides coping strategies and advice for sole charge librarians who manage the entire school library alone. It discusses both the thrills of having autonomy over how to spend one's day and choose resources, as well as the challenges of lack of support, interruptions, damages, and poor pay. The document recommends prioritizing tasks that students and teachers value most by focusing on engaging teachers and students rather than unnecessary administrative tasks. It also suggests advocating for the library's value and getting involved in the wider school community.
Flying Solo (So Alone) coping strategies for the sole charge librarian. Presentation for the SLANZA 2013 conference. Some images have not transferred over. Sorry about that.
- 1. So AloneFlying Solo! Coping strategies for the sole charge librarian. The issues and challenges and joys of being all alone in the library with added coping strategies
- 2. Who should be a school librarian?
- 3. At the Otago SLANZA AGM in June I asked, what are the thrills and the challenges of being a solo school librarian? A little survey
- 4. You run the entire library Variety in work Pick and choose how to spend your day Set the tone for your own workplace The relationships with students Working with younger students is a joy Interaction with great learners Spending the $$ Choosing and buying the resources The thrills
- 5. Time to spend the $$ No lunch or tea breaks Hard to liaise with staff Lack of support from SMT No non-contact Interruptions Damages (stuff gets broken) Budget - lack thereof Poor pay Constant mess Students lack of library skills Naughty kids The Challenges
- 6. I often get comments from new staff at our school that they are surprised that I am with their classes. They say that usually in schools the staff are in the office. Or shelving! What do the staff see?
- 8. We need some coping strategies I believe!
- 9. Please Stop doing work that nobody values Stop doing tasks just because you've always done them Make your work service focussed - be the librarian your users need I'm about to upset the purists
- 10. Claim back your time
- 11. AND GET YOUR SANITY BACK!
- 12. Because the only way we are going to get done what needs to be done is to prioritise. Lets talk priorities
- 13. If you have little budget to spend - then you have heaps of time to learn new skills. If you have dropping usage of your library then you are less busy so can develop new programmes If you don't have lots of teacher contact - then you have lots of time to go and get some! Getting real
- 14. WORK WITH TEACHERS NOT FOR TEACHERS
- 15. Why would you do any of these: Cataloguing magazines Covering magazines Individual subs to magazines Covering non-fiction which will not be used frequently Pulling all the books to the front of the shelf Putting dots all over the books Having layers of restrictions Covering adult fiction/crime Things I think you can stop doing
- 16. Information files - ditch them now! Clipping newspapers of any kind Bookmarks in your browser - move on people Mending badly damaged books Double handling of anything Endless filing of paper - use google docs and you'll always find your docs/masters/anything Recording accession numbers But wait there's more
- 17. Examine the whys of what you do!
- 18. If you can't actually see students using something you do then stop doing it. If your students are ahead of you in ICT then ask them about it and learn new tricks now Stop putting pressure on yourself to keep up pointless admin. Commit to learning to use one new tool a month Advice
- 19. What would they miss if you left for three months? Lets write these down Starting point
- 20. What wouldn't they miss if you left for three months? Lets write these down (remember they don't care if you don't do this stuff) Another starting point
- 21. Then do the other stuff. Nobody knows all this secret library business And they don't really want to know Therefore stop doing it. Do the stuff the people need first
- 23. Get involved Be connected at school Make powerful friends Don't whine for no reason Talk about what you do Talk about why you do what you do Get students talking Show off your stuff in assemblies and syndicate meetings Above all get out of your office and look busy. Advocate for yourself as well as your library
- 24. And mess up your workspaces a bit
- 25. Diigo! Never have to search through a billion bookmarks again. Timesaving tool of awesome!
- 26. Best tool ever for choosing books Best tool ever for gauging opinion on books Best tool ever for connecting with other readers Best tool ever for recommending books Best tool ever for family reading Best tool ever Just best tool ever if you are a reader. IMNSHO! Goodreads
- 27. I love these (and 100 more) So many blogs of awesome but The adventures of library girl@jenniferlagarde WT
- 29. Slanza has made you a bundle of good stuff