Deeth Ellis is the Head Librarian at Boston Latin School in Boston, MA, and a Doctoral Student, School of Library Science, Simmons University

“Voices of Decision Makers,” the qualitative portion of Project S.L.I.D.E. and the final phase of a three-year national study funded by the Institute of Museum & Library Services will be published this summer. Lead researchers Deb Kachel and Keith Curry Lance will provide an analysis of the data from 50 interviews conducted with school and district leaders in 39 states on their decision making processes related to the staffing of school libraries (Steere & Ellis, 2023).

Deeth Ellis is the Head Librarian at Boston Latin School in Boston, MA, and a Doctoral Student, School of Library Science, Simmons University

Project S.L.I.D.E. is a three-year national study led by researchers Deb Kachel, Antioch University, and Keith Curry Lance, Ph.D, RSL Research Group. The study is funded by the Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS), an independent federal agency that offers grants to museums and libraries for research and policy and program development. Lance and Kachel are examining the decrease in librarian positions across the United States by using school staffing data from 2010 to 2019 provided by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The data tracks libraries at district, state, and national levels. Project S.L.I.D.E.'s output, a document called “Perspectives”, only uses data to 2019, but 2020-2021 data has been added to the Project’s tools and is considered in recent reports.

Deeth Ellis is the Head Librarian at Boston Latin School in Boston, MA, and a Doctoral Student, School of Library Science, Simmons University

Early indications from the data collected during my study, Principals’ Perceptions of the Role of School Librarians, suggest principals rely heavily on their own school librarian to learn about school librarianship. While not a surprise to many school librarians, this over-reliance on school librarians may be one of the factors that impact staffing in schools and districts. According to Gordon & Cicchetti (2018), Massachusetts’ “​​school administrators were reported by participants [librarians] as the primary enablers of equitable access to the school library program (instruction, resources, access to the library)” (p.106). Without the principal's understanding, attention, and care, the role of the school librarian can diminish, become obsolete, and even be eliminated.

Deeth Ellis is the Head Librarian at Boston Latin School in Boston, MA, and a Doctoral Student, School of Library Science, Simmons University

The next step in my doctoral program is to conduct a research study about Massachusetts principals’ knowledge and perceptions of the role of school librarians and school libraries. I have chosen to focus on the librarian’s shared leadership with the principal, one of the four points of leverage outlined in the February 2022 Forum article. Points of leverage are areas of action that require attention from administrators and librarians. Those four points are: school libraries as places of active learning, building capacity for collaboration, role of the principal (revised as “shared leadership with the principal”), and state agencies. Through advocacy, promotion, and an evidence-based approach to decision making at the school, the role of school librarian and school library can be clarified and strengthened through evaluation of these four areas.

Deeth Ellis is the Head Librarian at Boston Latin School in Boston, MA, and a Doctoral Student, School of Library Science, Simmons University. 

When school library studies began to emerge more than 50 years ago, they focused on the establishment of libraries in the school environment. Over time there was a shift from studying the physical space to measuring the library’s impact on student learning. Our roles have changed dramatically with the growth of the Internet, an increased access to information, and educational trends toward accountability and evidence-based practices. Beginning in the 1990s a number of states conducted quantitative research studies to explore the impact of school libraries on student achievement, often measured as performance on state standardized reading tests. Simmons University professor James Baughman presented his paper School libraries and MCAS scores (2000) sharing his findings of research in this area, and, after 2003, more qualitative methods were used to capture a more holistic picture of student learning from interactions with and instruction by the school librarian. Most recently, Gordon & Cicchetti (2018) documented the inequitable access to a fully functioning library with certified librarians in The Massachusetts School Library Study:Equity and Access for Students in the Commonwealth.

Deeth Ellis is the Head Librarian at Boston Latin School in Boston, MA, and a Doctoral Student, School of Library Science, Simmons University.

Introduction

As a doctoral student at Simmons University, my teachers and advisors stress the importance of choosing courses and  topics for assignments that will eventually guide you toward a dissertation topic.  One such assignment last year was a conceptual framework, or a visual representation of an information phenomenon underpinned by theory.

Dr. Georgina Trebbe is the Information Specialist/Librarian at the Minnechaug Regional High School.

Whether engaged in full or hybrid online teaching and learning, Massachusetts school districts pivoted to emergency online learning during COVID-19. Emergency online teaching and learning required all-hands-on-deck. The emergency nature of online teaching and learning lead to the challenging of traditional educational practices and perceptions as educators needed to determine what works. During COVID-19 school library teachers were especially challenged with threatened position cuts and reassignments (Witteveen, 2020). Through these challenges, school library teachers creatively determined safe methods for providing traditional services, utilized their technology expertise for instructing K-12 educators and students how to use and apply new online tools (AASL, 2020; Witteveen, 2020).

Georgina Trebbe is the Information Specialist/Librarian at the Minnechaug Regional High School.

The buzz word surrounding Massachusetts educators is “Pivot.” Expressed originally by Commissioner Riley, the term “pivot” has been used to describe the changes Massachusetts educators have done as they shifted to remote learning in March, returned to either full-online or hybrid learning, and plan for the possibility of future changes (Riley, 2020). One thing is for certain, benefits from online teaching and learning will continue to be incorporated into the education practices long after Covid-19 has been mitigated and schools return to face-to-face teaching and learning. Online teaching and learning have allowed educators to take a serious look at their role in this new online ecosystem. Similarly, school library teachers will have to consider necessary changes to their profession that will meet the needs of a new emerging education outlook that engages online even when face-to-face learning is once again the method.

Dr. Robin Cicchetti is the Librarian at Concord-Carlisle Regional High School.

It was just before December vacation and the students in my AP Capstone Seminar class were pasted. Just wiped out and listless. Instead of high school juniors, they appeared more like exhausted, stressed, and disillusioned characters from an Arthur Miller play. The grind of junior year was wearing them down. Most of them were sick with the same miserable cold that was making its way through the building. They had no interest in reviewing feedback on the latest drafts of their research essays.
​
One of the students opened one of his bags and pulled out a ukulele. He explained that it belonged to his sister and they had stayed up late the night before while she taught him some basic chords. He strummed something that was unrecognizable but that didn’t matter because the  music was like a magic spell. They all lit up and asked for turns on the ukulele. By the end of the class, this battered band of stressed out teens were singing songs, laughing, and joyous. At that moment I knew I would be writing a grant.

Dr. Robin Cicchetti is the Librarian at Concord-Carlisle Regional High School.

School librarians are already among the busiest people in the school. Teaching classes, prepping lessons, providing reader’s advisory services for their students and oftentimes faculty, reading review journals, ordering books, supplies and materials, and keeping the library up and running every single day. Many work without library aides and parent volunteers just aren’t the same. It’s a lot.

We have a research-based understanding of what good library programs look like; deep integration into the curriculum, collaborative planning to deliver instruction in inquiry-based learning, information and media literacy skills, technology integration, digital citizenship, fostering a love for reading and reading incentive programs, participation in school leadership activities, and many other aspects of teaching and learning. It’s a lot.

Dr. Robin Cicchetti is the librarian at Concord-Carlisle Regional High SchooL

Last summer I was able to tick something off my librarian bucket list by attending the Teaching with Primary Sources Program at the Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/teachers/tps/). The short version of the experience is that I loved it!

Our district Director of Teaching and Learning forwarded a promotional email she had received and we noticed that there was a new STEM program. She was supportive of my recruiting a team which was surprisingly easy. I attended a week for generalists and librarians, along with a physics teacher. The STEM week was attending by a biology and a chemistry teacher. This was truly a unique opportunity to work with disciplines that don’t typically have a lot of overlap at the high school level.

​​This is a time of great potential for school libraries in Massachusetts, which may sound implausible given that there continue to be school districts that are squeezing the life out of their libraries and librarians. There are two reasons for this optimism: the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and Massachusetts School Library Study. Phase I of the study is currently under analysis at CISSL, Rutgers University. When concluded, the Massachusetts Study will take a unique place among the previous school library impact studies.

Dr. Robin Cicchetti is the librarian at Concord-Carlisle Regional High School
​and a winner of a 2016 MSLA Service Award

Dr. Robin Cicchetti is the librarian at Concord-Carlisle Regional High School

In July, 2013 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Senate passed the legislation that established a special commission on school library services (Bill S.1906). The charge of the commission was to conduct a research study that investigates equity and access to school libraries across eleven specific domains:

(i) how school library programs can be further developed to ensure that the programs reflect changing technology and best serve the students; (ii) how many schools in each district have a school library and a credentialed school librarian and in how many schools is the librarian a full-time position; (iii) the ratio of students per credentialed school librarian; (iv) what other support staff work in the school library program; (v) how employees are scheduled to work in school libraries; (vi) the hours school libraries are open each week for students and faculty to use; (vii) how many hours each week school librarians provide direct library-related instruction to students; (viii) the number of computers in school libraries for students to access; (ix) the size and age of the collection in each school library and the extent to which electronic and digital materials are available for students to access; (x) the extent to which electronic and digital materials are available for students to access remotely; and (xi) current funding per student for school library materials and services (The 189th General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts).

MSLA members Kendall Boninti (MSLA Legislative Chair) and Judi Paradis (MSLA Past-President) serve on the Commission. The research study is being developed by Drs. Carol Gordon and Robin Cicchetti (MSLA members).

On Saturday, September 12th, sixteen MSLA members met in the Westborough High School Library to participate in a pilot of the S.1906 survey. The school librarians who participated came from across the state, and represented schools and students from pre-K to postgraduate years. The rich and thoughtful feedback generated during the pilot will be invaluable to the revisions and the power of the final survey. The pilot study participants were Leigh Barnes, Maya Bery, Kendall Boninti, Anita Cellucci, Laura D’Elia, Maria D’Orsi, Kristin Foti, Barbara Gogan, Keri Johnson, Connie Long, Claudia Palframan, Judi Paradis, Chris Steinhauser, Nancy Stenberg, Carrie Tucker, and Jennifer Varney.

The state studies from New Jersey (2010), Pennsylvania (2012), and Washington State (2014) have all confirmed findings of previous state studies that the presence of an effective school library program positively impacts student achievement regardless of economic disparities. The Massachusetts pilot study was generated using the eleven domains outlined in the legislation. Ultimately, the study will provide a snapshot of school libraries across the state, and will generate conclusions around issues of equitable access to the instruction and resources available to students, the factors that enable a successful school library program, and the barriers to equitable access for all students.

The study is designed in two phases. Phase I is a quantitative survey that will provide hard data in the form of a “snapshot” of school libraries in the state. For example, currently we do not know what percentage of schools have library programs, or how many programs are being run by licensed school librarians. Other hard data from domains such as instruction, collection information, funding sources, staffing ratios, technology, and hours of access, will help generate conclusions about the equity and access to the instruction and resources available through the school library for Massachusetts students.  Phase I is designed to obtain crucial baseline data from every school from all 351 districts and scheduled for launch in mid-October, and preliminary analysis is scheduled to be delivered in March, 2016.

Phase II of the survey will be comprised of a series of focus groups and will generate qualitative data. During this phase school librarians will be asked to share their experiences and insights across the eleven domains listed in the legislation, providing feedback and richer context on the Phase I data. The result of the Massachusetts study will be “formal guidelines for school library facilities, budget, staffing, collection development and curriculum standards for school library programs” (The 189th General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts).

An Act Resolve creating a special commission on school library services in the Commonwealth, S. S.1906, 1906 Gen.  
         
          Court (Mass. 2014). Retrieved from https://malegislature.gov/Bills/188/Senate/S1906 ​

PA School Library Project (Ed.). (2015, July 14). Pennsylvania School Library Study: Findings and Conclusions. Retrieved

          September 13, 2015, from PA School Library Project website: http://paschoollibraryproject.org/home​

Todd, R. J., Gordon, C. A., & Lu, Y.-L. (2010, July). Report of findings and  recommendations of the New Jersey School Library

          Survey. Retrieved from http://cissl.rutgers.edu/images/stories/docs/njasl_phase_1.pdf​

The Washington State School Library Impact Study (Washington Library Media Association, Comp.). (2015, April).

          Retrieved from https://wala.memberclicks.net/assets/WLMA/Advocacy/wsslit%20exec%20summary%204.7.15.pdf 

Robin Cicchetti is the librarian at Concord-Carlisle Regional High School

Thank you to the MSLA Awards Committee for recognizing with a research grant the work done in the course of writing my dissertation Transitioning a high school library to a learning commons: Avoiding the tragedy of the commons. The ongoing support of MSLA colleagues has been deeply appreciated.

RESEARCH: A QUEST AND A QUESTION

In July of 2012 I began a doctoral program with Northeastern University. If I had known how difficult it was going to be I never would have started, and now that I am finished I encourage everyone to consider pursuing a doctorate. If I can do it, so can you. It is a three-year quest that consumes all free time, forces the brain to work harder and establish new pathways of learning, and most valuable for me, renewed my appreciation of how demanding it is to be a student. This quest experience has directly impacted how I teach my high school students, how I organize online materials, how I conduct both formative and summative assessments, and the value of clear communication on everything from rubrics to due dates.

The Doctor of Education process consists of course work designed to teach research skills as well as critical content on topics ranging from educational pedagogy to organizational structures. Throughout the process the researcher is building a literature review, and iterating the research question(s) that will ultimately determine the topic of the dissertation and the direction of the research. Each course requires research and writing that informs the research question with a new lens.

The research conducted for the dissertation focused on the process of transitioning a traditional high school library to the learning commons service model, identified the requirements of the model, and the factors that either promoted or undermined the success of the transition.

A general inductive approach based on a qualitative methodology was used to collect and analyze data obtained from three Massachusetts high school librarians who self-identified as having successfully transitioned a high school library to a learning commons, were all members of the MSLA, and worked in public high schools. The two research questions for the study were:

(1) What factors determine a successful transition?

(2) What factors undermine or threaten the transition?

Data was collected through multiple methods including: field notes from site visits, review of participant created websites, as well as interviews conducted in person, by telephone, and by video conference. Coding was used to sort and evaluate data that identified categories and themes that influenced the success of the transition.

The transition to a learning commons was analyzed in the context of the tragedy of the commons scenario (Hardin, 1968). The tragedy scenario has its roots in pre-Roman England when farmers grazed their livestock in communally held fields. The growth in demand for the common fields led to increasing herd sizes with no corresponding incentive to maintain the shared resource, leading ultimately to overuse, depletion, herd starvation, and collapse. The tragedy scenario has been applied to analogous issues such as over-fishing, deforestation, and in this study, the highly demanded resources of a modern learning commons.

Through analysis of the transition experiences of the three participants, the trust of the building principal was identified as the primary hallmark of success. The attributes of the school librarian that positively influence the trust of principals are identified as vision and an implementation plan, data-driven practice, communication, and consensus building skills.

Based on research relating to the learning commons service model, a successful transition includes a reduction and reorganization of the book collection to increase space for collaborative activities. An integral part of the shift in the mission of the library collection is a de-emphasis on print reference and a transition to e-books to replace print reference, with priority placed on purchasing high interest young adult fiction and narrative nonfiction to promote curriculum and pleasure reading for students.

The revitalization of the former school library to a learning commons requires diverse seating, working, and production options for students, as well as access to technology for equity, learning, creation, and sharing. The virtual learning commons is a space that promotes curated access to curriculum content as well as communication and scheduling for students and faculty.

In conclusion, the learning commons is a model designed to support student learning and achievement in a period of evolving and dynamic change in curriculum and digital information and presentation technologies. This study situates the learning commons as central to school change, and identifies the factors that promote a successful transition. The tragedy of the commons scenario represents a transition process that is undermined by lack of support in key domains.  Without the trust of the building principal, the school librarian faces challenges in implementing the model, and positioning the learning commons at the heart of student and faculty work within the school. With trust, the learning commons can play a central role in school goals, school change, and student achievement.

The experience of conducting authentic research on school librarianship was both challenging and invigorating. I am filled with gratitude for the generosity of the three participants in sharing their time, work, and expertise. My third reader, Dr. Mary Frances Zilonis, was extraordinary in identifying gaps in the research, as well as highlighting the opportunities for advocacy for the profession. Dr. Zilonis was truly a transformational partner, and immeasurably improved the caliber of the research and findings. Deeply engaging in various aspects and domains of school librarianship through research has been deeply rewarding. I look forward to future opportunities to work with data from our profession in order to continue advocating and contributing towards greater understanding and appreciation for the substantial benefits school librarians bring to student learning.


Work Cited

Hardin, G. (1968). The tragedy of the commons. Science, 162(3859), 1243-1248.

Northeastern University. (2015). Doctor of Education. Retrieved March 29, 2015,
from Northeastern University College of Professional Studies website:
http://www.cps.neu.edu/degree-programs/graduate/doctoral/education/


Robin Cicchetti is the librarian at Concord-Carlisle Regional High School