By Ann Perham
AASL Region 1 Director
MSLA Executive Board and School Librarian at Needham High School

HOW DID THIS COME ABOUT? Here is “The Rest of the Story…”

AASL President’s Experience: “We were lobbying on Capitol Hill, and the legislator asked me what a Media Specialist did.” This revelation by Ann Martin, then-President of AASL, assured me that that I was right; the title of “Library Media Specialist” was a self-imposed handicap.

Denver: January 2009   Hesitantly, I raised my hand to speak…it was the strategic planning meeting for the AASL Board and I was a Director-elect. Normally, as a Director-elect, I would be expected to observe and learn (without speaking), but this strategic planning meeting was a unique opportunity for me to actually speak….and speak I did. “We need to move away from using the term ‘media’ in our job description. We’ve become 21st century, and this is the time to think about at least putting a ‘teacher-librarian’ in our description. We are teachers with a specialized degree and with today’s budget crunch, a lot of people do not understand that we are teachers; that’s what we do.” I felt like a skunk at a picnic, but I was not apologizing; I had said it and I was glad. In the end, the AASL strategic plan still used “school library media specialist”, but I knew that I had made a start. It was reported in Cognotes, the ALA daily conference newspaper. I was not identified by name, but the discussion of our job title was on the record.

Chicago: July 2009    It had been a long day of meetings for the first day of the ALA Annual conference.  I was questioning my sanity as I explained to the Affiliate Assembly Executive committee the Region I concern, “What’s in a Name?”: 

As I prepared to submit the concerns and commendation from Region I, I came very close to not submitting the name issue; who would know? Did I really want the spotlight as an instigator? Then, I remembered the strategic planning session of the previous January when I had asked the question that seemed so basic to me: “Why are we using the term ‘media’?”  At that point, I had vowed that the issue was a muddy one that needed to be resolved. To me, “media” was such a confusing term that was detrimental to our profession.

As it turned out, it was fortunate that I had the courage of my convictions. The concern struck a chord with directors from other regions and I began to breathe more easily.  When AASL President Ann Martin related her experience lobbying in Washington and then announced that the “name question” would be the Mega Issue for our January 2010 Midwinter meeting in Boston, I was dumfounded.

Boston: January 15, 2010   How can 23 AASL Board members discuss a single question for 4.5 hours? Perhaps the better question is, “How can 23 diverse individuals debate an issue that has haunted our profession for over 30 years, arrive at consensus, and not spill any blood?”

The month before the conference, we downloaded our board documents in preparation for the meetings. The Mega Issue file jumped out at me; it was 37 pages long! We Librarians are thorough in our work, but this was over the top.

The Mega Question:
What name should we use to help us achieve universal recognition and be considered indispensable?

Sub questions:

1.   What do we know about members’ and stakeholders’ wants, needs and preferences related to this issue? The AASL survey of November and December 2009 yielded 882 responses about present and preferred job titles.

2.   What do we know about the current realities and evolving dynamics of our environment that is relevant to this decision?  The history of our professional title within AASL revealed some interesting changes.

• In 1969, the Standards for School Media Programs were developed by AASL and the Department of Audiovisual Instruction of the National Education Association. The terms “media program,” “media specialist,” and “media center” were used.

• In 1975, Standards for Media Programs and Schools was developed by AASL and AECT. They used the same terminology as the 1969 standards, but left out a statement that the standards did not intend to mandate any particular title or terminology.
• The 1988 Information Power: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs jointly developed again by AASL and AECT first used the terms, “library media specialist,” “library media program,” and “library media center.”
• Our 2009 Standards for the 21st-Century Learner in Action and Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs uses the terms, “school library media programs,” and “school library media specialists.”

3.    What do we know about the “capacity” and “strategic position” of our organization relevant to this decision?

• AASL is the only national membership association focused solely on school librarianship
• After 8 years of consistent growth, AASL membership is trending down
• Participation for non-members in open surveys consistently exceeds 50%
• There is competition for membership dollars: NEA, AFT, ISTE, IRA etc
• School library media specialists have many non-association options for information and community (blogs, discussion lists, trade magazines, social networking).
• Vendors are competing in “association space” for time, attention, revenue, scholarship dollars
• The implementation of the Standards for 21st-Century Learner and Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs is a vehicle to stress the critical role SLMS play in teaching 21st –century skills
• AASL belongs to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, a coalition that has developed a framework for 21st century learning.
• As a member of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, AASL has the means to bring SLM organizations in to the state leadership application process.

4.    What are the ethical implications?

• As decisions are made about allocation of resources, who will be left out?
• AASL is in a unique position to advocate for members in the library profession
• With such diverse references to the title of a school library media specialist and variations from state to state should AASL put resources towards this effort?

Discussion, Debate and Decision:

Boston ALA Midwinter, January 15, 2010

This Mega Issue discussion and debate would have had a much different tone and outcome if it had not been for the strategic planner who facilitated the discussion.  Paul Meyer may have missed his calling as a marriage counselor or diplomatic guru; he may be nominated for the Noel Peace Prize for his masterful guidance of the planning and execution of this discussion.

I went into the session with a firm belief that we needed the word, “teacher” in our job title. In Massachusetts, I have pushed the use of the term “Library Teacher” to underline our integral role in the curriculum and student achievement. It was a momentous decision for MSLA to drop “media” from our name in 2005. Other New England state associations followed our lead: Vermont, Maine, Connecticut and New England School Library Association. For sure, I was determined that at the very least, the word “media” should be dropped from our job title on the national level. As a member of the American Association of School Librarians, I believed that it was time to align our job title with the association’s name. Although we have media literacy as a strand of our Massachusetts ELA frameworks, the use of “media” in our name has masked our role as librarians. I am proud to be a librarian and do not identify myself as a media specialist. Somewhere back in the Seventies, we started to think that school libraries needed to be made modern by using “media”.  Have the lawyers and doctors changed their professional title with changes in their jobs?

Paul Meyer was masterful as he lead us through the process of looking at all sides of the issue, examining the questions, and listening to options. At the heart of our agreement was the idea that no matter what we call ourselves, it’s what we DO that matters.

It came down to three options: 1) Use of the term “media” – all varieties, such as School Library Media Specialist, Library Media Specialist, Media Specialist   2) Teacher-Librarian 3) School Librarian. When we considered all the angles from the different states, “School Librarian” was an overwhelming favorite. It was not a unanimous vote, but we were harmonious in the agreement to stand together.  The Board of Directors agreed that AASL would promote the job title, “School Librarian” in future PR and publications.

It took another 3 hours for a small group of us to hammer out the resolution which was approved by the AASL Board of Directors in our formal meeting the next day. I’m very proud to have been a part of this seemingly simple decision that will set the stage for positive growth of our profession and gives us an image that is clear to all our stakeholders.