In early February, Ann Marie Speicher (Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School) contacted MSLA Executive Director, Kathy Lowe with a plea for increased advocacy by MSLA. Ann Marie’s letter and Kathy’s response are reprinted with permission and reflect the continuing concerns we are facing in school libraries today.

                                                                                                                        2/3/2010
Dear Kathy,
            I participated in the Westborough, librarian group workshop in January, where you presented the Standards for the 21st century learner.  I enjoyed your presentation and discussion.    
            I had already downloaded the standards when they came out in the fall.  I gave copies to all my supervisors, academic dean, principle and superintendent with a note to please talk with me about them once they had been reviewed. I was also in a meeting with the principle where I referred to them in a discussion about my school librarian role and our school needing to integrate these standards. I don’t think he had read them since I got no immediate call for action or change.
            I know MSLA and AASL have put together excellent tool kits for advocacy. But these are print materials and I don’t think they get read by many administrators. I was wondering if it would be possible for either or both organizations to put together a slide show showcasing the best of our state libraries, i.e. those libraries with learning commons.   Perhaps a list with annotations could also be compiled of best practices that librarians teach/do according to grade levels. (elementary/middle/high school) I feel I am alone in my advocacy.
            With the recent stimulus money, my administrators purchased computers for two new computer labs. (I was out of that loop) They are talking about putting one of the proposed new labs in the library where there is already one lab.  This will take away a space which has been used for small classes, tutoring, individual reading and virtual high school because it is the quietest part of the library. Books also line the walls of this space and will have to somehow be squeezed into other bookcases. I have suggested buying more laptops instead of stand alone computers or grouping computers around the library in smaller configurations. (the problem is these computers have already been bought so they have to find a place to put them!)
            Since my administrators have not seen other school libraries and libraries that have been turned into learning commons or any updated transformations, they have nothing to compare this library with.
             Also, since this is a high school, I have repeatedly discussed the need to prepare out students for college with adequate library/research skills. Do you know if there has ever been a study done, a survey or article written by academic librarians on what prior knowledge or prior library skills a high school graduate should have to be successful in an academic library setting? What skills do the academic librarians wish high school students came in with when they use an academic library? This data might support our cause for exemplary library programs in high schools.
            I know middle school librarians and high school librarians always notice the difference between library prepared students and those students whose school did not have a librarian. Since many of use fear for our jobs when schools look for areas to cut, perhaps we need more visual show and tell aides to support what we say and that we can present to administrators and school committees.

            I welcome your comments and ideas. Thank you for hearing me out.
            Ann Marie Speicher,
            School Librarian @Assabet Valley Regional Tech. H.S.

P.S. I was told in the first week in January last year that my library position would be cut 25% due to financial issues in the school. Last October I was told that my position might possibly be reinstated to full time for the following year if there was money. As of this date, I have not been told there would be any change in my position next year and I know they have worked on the budget.

Kathy Lowe’s email response to Ann Marie:

Hi Ann Marie,

Thanks for your letter. I shared it with Gerri Fegan, MSLA president. To answer your question about what MSLA is doing/has done regarding getting the word out about what we do - we're currently collecting photos from members that portray "a day in the life" of a school library program that will become a slide show to use for PR purposes. We're also revising the MSLA model school library program rubrics to align with Empowering Learners, the new AASL school library program guidelines.  We've had members, including myself, present at the joint MassCUE/MA Superintendent's conference and some presentations about school libraries are being planned for the MTA convention this summer. We've made contact with the MA PTA and shared our "What Parents Should Know About School Libraries" brochure with them. We plan to exhibit at their conference in April. We're meeting this month with members of the executive board of the MA Reading Association to discuss ways of working together more effectively, and plan to exhibit at their conference too. We've met with the Commissioner of Education about the new AASL Standards and the lack of leadership for school libraries in the DESE, resulting in the DESE sharing data with us about school library staffing that is the first step in determining the status of school libraries in the state and hopefully developing a long-range plan for improvement. And of course,we have an ongoing partnership with MLA, most notably our annual joint Legislation Day, where we demonstrate the value of school libraries through our bookmark awards and display and our in-person meetings with legislators.

So, we're doing or very best on many fronts to get our message across and to form coalitions with other organizations. I hope this answers your questions. Please let me know if you'd like more information about any of these initiatives.

Kathy Lowe
MSLA Executive Director