Background

The Pennsylvania School Librarians Association (PSLA) Executive Committee agreed to fund a Focus Group of high level education decision makers in the state in order to find out how school libraries and librarians were perceived, how the work of members related to education reform efforts in the state, and how best to communicate the importance of the role of a professional School Library Media Specialist (SLMS). The idea for the focus group came from the PSLA Professional Standards Group, who spearheaded the entire effort after the Executive Committee agreed to the plan. The writer of this report, Leslie F. Hergert, was hired to help design the Focus Group, convene and facilitate the group, and summarize the conversation and its recommendations and implications. Dr. Hergert had previously facilitated a planning retreat of the national board of American Association of School Libraries.

Participants

Participants were recruited from strategic education and government decision-making positions that affect the work of the school librarian. This was an attempt to "stop talking to ourselves" and hear what people outside the profession think about the role of the school library and the role of the school library media specialist. As President Peggy Benjamin said in her newsletter, the board wanted the focus group to be "composed of clear thinking leaders from areas outside o PSLA who can help us to see our role in implementing the (State's Proposed Academic) Standards." She went on to identify four outcomes for the day:

• A more clearly defined set of suggested competencies for school librarians;
• A more desirable image as essential educators;
• The ammunition to strengthen our advocacy for the new national AASL/AECT standards; and
• A revitalized agenda for PSLA and a sharpened focus for the work of the Professional Standards Committee.

The Professional Standards Committee and the consultant shaped plans for the Focus Group, including who should be invited, how to recruit participants, and what topics the group would discuss. Twenty-five people were invited, and fifteen responded affirmatively, a very high rate of response. Respondents were sent three documents as background to the discussion. These documents are:

• Information Power Update: Principles of the Three Essentials
• Information Literacy Standards for Student Learning (from AASL/AECT)
• PSLA Recommended Standards for Pennsylvania Library Certification and Practice.

Ultimately, the Focus Group included fourteen influential people from a variety of organizations and positions who participated in a structured two-hour conversation. The full group, which is listed in the Appendix, included:

• Three state and local policy makers - staff to both the State Board of Education and the Senate Education Committee, as well as a local school board member;
• Three local school district superintendents and administrators - from rural, suburban, and urban districts in many parts of the state;
• Two intermediate unit staff;
• Two senior state education department staff (the Commissioner of Basic Education and the Deputy Secretary of Education in charge of Commonwealth libraries); and four others, including Vice President of a teachers association, President of a local foundation, Director of a university School of Education, and Youth Services Chair of the Pennsylvania Library Association.

Summary of the Focus Group Discussion

The Focus Group was organized around a series of open-ended questions and prompts to allow participants to share their experiences and ideas around issues of concern to PSLA and its members. Questions emphasized two main themes: the role of the School Library Media Specialist, as participants perceive it now and as they think it should be, and the relationship of school librarians to Pennsylvania's Education Reform efforts.

The conversation was lively, thoughtful, and wide ranging. All participants seemed engaged and one said later that she was "delighted that the discussion was so interesting." The following summary of the conversation is organized around the topics identified by the PSLA president, and will be presented in the following order:

• Images of School Librarians and School Libraries
• AASL/AECT Standards and Pennsylvania Education Reform
• Competencies Needed by School Library Media Specialists
• Recommendations for a Revitalized PSLA Agenda

Images of School Librarians and School Libraries

Images come in part from experience. Because Focus Group participants had a wide range of experience with school libraries and school librarians, a wide range of images surfaced in the discussion. Several, especially school district administrators and library professionals, have regular experience with school libraries and librarians and a deep knowledge of their role in education. Others, especially policy makers (legislative aide, staff to state board of education, local school director), know very little about the actual work of school librarians. These non-educators are rarely in school libraries, and usually for ceremonial purposes, such as hearings, or events honoring students.

One participant advocated not using libraries for these "ceremonial" purposes, I order to stress the link between school libraries and academics. However, being in the library allows people, especially those outside of education, to see the space, equipment and books available and needed, as well as the various uses of the school library.

People described seeing students and teachers conducting information searches, including use of the Internet, storytellers and host authors presenting to students, students reading books they had written, as well as public hearings for proposed legislation, a lunch for National Merit finalists, teacher workshops, and membership meetings.

Thinking about the "ideal" school library media center caused most participants to focus more on the role of the library media specialist than the physical plant. As one participant said, "I am less interested in the facility than the staff." Everyone agreed that the role of the school librarian is more important than the hardware and materials in the SLMC.

All participants agreed that the central function to stress was the "librarian as teacher." Two functions are equally important: the librarian's work directly with students to teach information and research skills, and the librarian's work with teachers to extend lessons and enhance learning. The best examples involved the librarian and teacher as partners to develop and teach lessons.

• In one community, the public library worked with the school library to bring in author's students had been reading class.
• In another school, "a marvelous storyteller was working with middle school students in the library, engaging them in acting out stories they had written."
• In another, "Students were in the library reading aloud books then had written; the librarian had worked with the teacher to make reading and writing interesting to students."

There was general agreement that school libraries differ widely across the state, that there are, in the words of several participants, "have's and have not's". Some attributed the differences to the librarians themselves; "libraries take on the personality of the librarian." Some attributed the differences to the support or lack of it of school administrators. And to some extent, the differences are the result of different amounts of community resources."

Focus Group participants were generally positive about their experience with school librarians, and considered themselves "fans of libraries." As one person said, "I like libraries. They're neat to be in. I like books." The conversation recounted many positive contributions of school librarians and the centrality of the school library as the "hub of the school."

Nevertheless, some negative images came up spontaneously, even though no question asked directly for negative experiences. The following negative images, stories, and situations were shared:

• School librarians who are "overwhelmed by the information revolution." Three participants mentioned knowing people like this, with one adding that the librarian was not supported by her school administration.
• The librarian whose attitude is "these are my books, don't mess them up;" and who see "losing a book as more fundamentally wrong than losing productive time with teachers and students."
• Librarians who fear change and job loss.
• Librarians who are invisible except in the library. "Librarians don't blow their own horn enough." "Librarians are not good at getting the message out about their changing role."
• Librarians who are more concerned with the logistics of media use than with teaching children: "I was appalled that these librarians were talking about wiring schools, about the custodial aspects of technology. They were not talking about the teaching and learning aspects of technology."

Participants admitted that there is "confusion" about what the role of the library and librarian should be, since we live in a time of constant and major changes, partially due to technology. "The librarian was always the font of all knowledge; they always knew where to go and get it. In some ways that function must remain, but now the librarian must be the guide to all the knowledge available through all of these new media." They look to the PSLA and the field to educate them about this, to identify and share their expectations and needs. The image of the SLMS as "essential educators" requires being seen as a valuable, even essential, resource for students reaching Pennsylvania's proposed Academic Standards.

AASL/AECT Standards and Pennsylvania Education Reform

Pennsylvania's education reform movement aims to increase standards for both student outcomes and teacher competencies. Of particular importance to the SLMS are proposals for new Academic Standards; especially reading and research skills, certification requirements, teacher preparation, and professional development. New standards and requirements will emphasize "content-rich classrooms" at the secondary level, new assessment and accountability measures. For the foreseeable future, districts and educators in them will be feeling considerable pressure to meet new demands for more and better teaching and learning. To be considered "essential educators," librarians will need to participate in school district efforts to meet the new standards, and to demonstrate the ways in which they are important resources for helping students reach higher standards of academic excellence. As on participant said, "Attached to each standard should be a connection to our library and ho it can help students succeed, the resources available in and through the library.

The three documents provided by PSLA to participants all emphasize learning and teaching. The Information Power Update is organized into three essential categories: Learning and Teaching, Information Access and Delivery, and Program Administration, which include staffing, strategic planning, and staff development}. The Information Standards for Student Learning is categorized into three broad areas: Information Literacy, Independent Learning, and Social Responsibility. PSLA's recommended certification standards, which will be dealt with more extensively below, also begin with instructional collaboration. Participants praised this emphasis in the documents and urged PSLA to make sure that the emphasis on learning is widely known and enacted.

While education reform emphasizes higher standards, policy makers also continue to be concerned about funding and how to make the best use of funds provided to school districts. One legislative staffer said, "Policy makers (need to know) where money can make a difference and how they can provide assistance. They do not think much about school libraries; they think about school districts and how to get an adequate number of dollars out there." A local policy maker said, "We have limited resources and we need to balance how we spend them. Before we had to have libraries, or some place to put books. Now we can put a whole encyclopedia on one CD-ROM. What can we do instead of a library?" This last comment demonstrates the need to show why and how school libraries are still an essential part of education and how they have and must continue to change.

Competencies Needed by School Library Media Specialists

Most off the focus Group discussion centered on the job of the SLMA and the competencies needed to do that job. Participants placed primary emphasis on the role of the "librarian as teacher" and the need for the SLMS to collaborate with teachers as partners. In order to effectively fulfill this role, some said that librarians needed to knowledgeable about instructional practices and learning strategies. Some pointed to the role of the librarian as a source of information, and of information about how to access information. In order for librarians to work effectively with teachers and others, one participant identified the need for them to have or develop interpersonal skills for collaboration.

The PSLA Recommended Standards for Pennsylvania Library Certification and Practice identify six functional areas of competence:

• Instructional collaboration
• Technology
• Resources and collections
• Management and administration
• Information Literacy
• Professional and continuing education.

Focus Group participants essentially confirmed and stressed the importance of PSLA's first standard on Instructional Collaboration. "Librarians cannot exist by themselves. They have to be working with the staff, be an integral part of that staff. They have to be involved in curriculum development; they have to be involved in teaching. The library has to be seen as a learning place, not a show-off place." One participant expressed concern about the phrase "delivery of instruction" included in this standard. She urged PSLA to move away from delivering information toward creating learning environments so that the learner, pre-k to 95, can engage in learning."

Professional Development, another important skill emphasized by participants, was recommended to include both professional development for the SLMS engaging continually in her own professional growth, and professional development by the SLMS helping other educators learn and grow. One educator pointed to the need for all educators to continue to learn so that they really understand the process of learning. Topics identified for librarians, professional growth included instructional strategies and uses of technology for student learning.

Several participants pointed to a need to add skills in change advocacy to the role of the SLMS. If school librarians are to be successful in shaping their role as essential educators, they need to understand the role and skills of an advocate. This includes interpersonal skills, skills, in strategic thinking and planning, and understanding of the educational system. Change advocacy is not mentioned or implied in any of the standards identified in the documents.

Recommendations for a Revitalized PSLA Agenda

Participants provided clear and strong recommendations for PSLA in four areas, which are summarized below:

• Link your work to academic standards and outcomes.
  
  Participants stressed again and again that school librarians have to show how their work assists students in learning more and better. In Pennsylvania, as legislators and educators identify new and stronger academic standards, school librarians must show how they contribute to students reaching those standards. There is an obvious link with required reading and research skills and other linkages as well. There should be strong emphasis on the librarian as teacher and the impact of the school librarian as an important resource for students and teachers as they strive for increased student outcomes.
  
  One state level policy maker suggested funding studies to demonstrate the link between the work of the SLMS and student achievement.
  
  
• Provide and encourage continuous professional development for your members.
  
  Professional development is especially needed in the following areas:
  
  
  • Instructional strategies
  • New roles, new technologies
  • Collaboration and interpersonal skills
  • Change advocacy, understanding and working through systems
  
  
  
• Collaborate actively with other parts of the educational and library systems.
  
  Collaboration was identified as essential to extend and optimize resources for learning, as well as helpful for involving school librarians in the work of education reform. Participants pointed to collaborations between and among
  • School libraries with teachers
  • School libraries with public libraries
  • PSLA with other state associations and organizations
• Become actively involved in working to influence education reform legislation.
  
  Several participants stressed that now is an opportune time for PSLA and its members to influence education reform efforts. One educator suggested that PSLA develop recommendations about "their role n Chapter 4, their role in strategic planning, and in the system." A policy maker said "there is still time to comment on the Regulations and your take on them." Another warned, "This is a opportunity and there is the possibility of the SLMS getting lost on the radar screen." In order to be heard, PSLA must focus on the primary motivators for educators and public officials, which include accountability for student learning and funding, and educate decision makers about school librarians' work.