Improving teacher-librarian collaboration: what can we do?

Elizabeth Hutchinson explains how writing her dissertation led to improvements in collaboration between schools and the Schools’ Library Service in Guernsey.

HAVING worked for the Schools’ Library Service (SLS) in Guernsey for the last 13 years, with a couple of years out as a school librarian, I came back to take on the role as Head of Services in 2014. The SLS has evolved over the years. It began by providing two different service areas; firstly, the book loans to teachers, based on the curriculum, to increase access to resources in the classroom. Secondly, the service was to provide qualified librarians to support libraries in schools and to also teach collaboratively within the classroom. Unfortunately it has not always been pos-sible to employ the right quota of qualified librarians and, because of this, the role of the SLS librarian has often been difficult to promote. At one stage there was only one qualified librarian for all the schools in Bailiwick of Guernsey and therefore what was on offer was very minimal. We now have the equivalent of three full time librarians whose role is to provide support to all the schools. I also look after two schools myself which results in the offer being far more substantial.

Working with teachersWhen I first started my job as an SLS librarian it was clear that I needed to build relationships with the teachers but with no introduction it was up to me to ascertain how I could do this. The role of collaborat-ing with teachers in promoting research skills was always a difficult one. Teachers understood the SLS librarians’ role to sup-port the school library but not all teachers envisaged how the SLS librarian could support them in the classroom. It became apparent that we needed to adapt and change the perception of our role to suit the understanding and needs of our schools.

Vital role in information literacyLibrarians, especially school librarians, have such an important role to play in teaching information literacy and using

Feature

Elizabeth Hutchinson (ehutchinson@library.gg) is Head of Schools’ Library Service, Guernsey.

online technology that it is essential we continue to promote what we do. We are ex-perts in using social media and online data-bases; and also in encouraging reading and literacy through good resource collections, e-books and so much more. My research highlighted the fact that if school librarians and teachers collaborate, student academic attainment goes up. This is why we need to ensure that all teachers understand the role of the SLS librarian.

When I started my research for my Masters in Management of Library and Information Services (in which my dissertation looked at How School Management Teams and Teachers Perceive the Role of the SLS Librarian within Primary Schools in Guernsey), I have to admit that I believed that teachers were just not prepared to open their doors to SLS librarians, and it was their fault that collaboration was not happening. I felt frustrated because even after I managed to engage a teacher who was delighted with the evidence that our collaboration had made a difference in their student outcomes, they would still fail to remember to ask me for support again the next year. Why was this? Bad planning? Or was it something else?

Breaking down barriersAs I researched further however, I came to two conclusions. Maybe the barriers to collaborating with librarians from an external service were not just caused by problems generated by the schools and teachers? Perhaps it was possible that we,

My research highlighted the fact that if school librarians and teachers collaborate, student academic attainment goes up.

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the librarians, had a role to play beyond our day-to-day support of school libraries and teachers, to make sure schools under-stood what our service provides? Secondly, schools needed to start engaging at a more senior level to ensure the librarian was fully supported and could therefore encourage collaboration.

Lack of understandingAnother area that came to light was a lack of understanding on my part that some teachers wanted to engage but have not been able to, as they have no knowledge or understanding of what we do. I had assumed that teachers were not interested but the more I spoke to them I began to realise that just wasn’t the case. Talking to teachers about what we could do for them, the more they got excited about the possi-bilities of collaboration. I could see as we talked that they began to understand that what we offer could have a real impact on their students. There are two ways to look at this; you could say that it is our respon-sibility to ensure that all those who use our services are aware of what we offer but if senior management and teachers are happy to have an SLS librarian in school, surely they should also explore what their com-petencies and abilities are in order to ensure they are using them to full capacity. Many teachers that I spoke to genuinely believed

that ‘libraries are a good thing’ and they help with independent learning; however many were not sure how the SLS librarian could support this.

Embedding ILDuring one of my interviews it was suggested to me, by a headteacher, that if information literacy was embedded at policy level then the use of the school library and the librarian would increase. This was an eye-opener for me. I began to understand that embedding information literacy within a school meant that I had to have the ear of the headteacher. If some-thing is not part of the school policy it does not really matter how good it is; it is never going to play an essential role in the school.

This has led me to think that even if a school has the library at its heart and a qualified librarian to run it, the need for the headteacher and the senior leadership team to understand its role is essential. Alongside this, the school librarian has to take respon-sibility in advocating their role within the school in order to engage the teachers.

We are experts tooThis becomes even more apparent if your librarians are from an outside service. Visi-tors to any school are often seen as experts who will give talks to the children on many subjects from the fire service to the environ-

mental agency who visit once a year. The other types of visitor are people who have expertise such as the school nurse or the music teacher. These experts are welcomed into the school and do not have to fight for their place because they are seen as essen-tial and teachers understand what they are there to do. SLS librarians don’t fit into the ‘expert’ category, they are seen as a nice thing to have but whether they are essential or have a role in the classroom is a different matter.

My research shows that in order for a librarian to work effectively within a school, whether they are employed directly or through an SLS, three strategies need to be put in place. Firstly, the need for information literacy to be embedded within the school policy is essential in ensuring that the senior management team under-stand the role of the school library and the librarian’s role in teaching and learning. Secondly, senior management teams need to ensure that the role of the librarian is fully understood throughout the school. Thirdly, the librarian has to take responsibility to ensure that all staff understand their role through running professional development sessions for teachers, attending heads of departments meetings and promoting their skills and expertise wherever they can.

My research changed my focus when promoting my service. It empowered me

to start talking to headteachers. It was important to understand that potentially every school has different needs and ensure they understand what services we provide, so I have spent the last couple of months arranging meetings with all the headteach-ers in the Bailiwick, raising awareness and building connections.

Bearing fruitThis has not been an easy process but it is

essential. Most headteachers were happy to talk to me, which has led to many new col-laborations and relationships. For example, we are now working closely with St Anne’s in Alderney to upgrade their library and to embed information literacy within their curriculum. Les Beaucamps High has invit-ed us to talk to their heads of departments to highlight the support we offer. St Mary and St Michael Primary invited us to talk to parents and staff about on-line resources.

We have engaged and supported teachers in using new technologies such as Google hangouts, collaborating with teachers and librarians across the world. My motivated and enthusiastic staff are now more able to use their expertise to support students and teachers than ever before and I was rec-ognised by coming runner up in the Lilac Information Literacy Award this year – all based on improvements we have made over the last couple of years.

Start the conversationIt would be unrealistic to think that this was going to have an immediate effect on every school and I have already found that some have been far more challenging than others. What I have learnt though is that starting the conversation will move us forward even if it is not as far as I would have wished. I can’t expect every school to engage immediately but if I keep the door open to those schools hopefully they will see what we are achieving elsewhere and want to be a part of it.

So what next? More of the same: promotion, collaboration, innovation and engagement are all in our future. I intend to continue meeting with the headteachers on an annual basis, we will look at our marketing strate-gies and ensure we take full advantage of promoting our service as much as we can. If we don’t shout about the essential profes-sional service we provide no one else will. It is time to stop being shy and be proud of what we do. My dearest wish is to see a link to SLS on every teacher’s planning and for them to know and understand the support they can get. nU

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Teaching staff.

SLS Guernsey website.