Professional+Development


 * Artifact #10: Plan for Professional Development **

Librarians in the school library media center have the opportunity to play a crucial role in the literacy development of children every day. They provide the reading materials, instruction, and information tools that children need to develop a love for reading and appreciation for information. In order to complete these tasks with a level of excellence, a school librarian must continuously engage in professional development, long after their formal education ends. To that end, as a future school librarian, I intend to maintain an active membership in professional organizations, be aware of and utilize the latest technology and maintain an appropriate plan for collection development.

In order to function as an excellent children’s librarian, an individual must “plan for personal and professional growth and career development through active participation in professional associations and continuing education” (YALSA, 2003). The beginning for myself, as well as any potential librarian, should be the American Library Association (ALA). The ALA offers members such benefits as discounts on products, journal subscriptions, invitations to conferences and opportunities to serve on ALA committees. A subset of the ALA, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) also offers membership, which includes invitations to AASL conferences, email news and discussion lists, journal subscriptions and access to numerous grants and award opportunities. Through these professional organizations, I will be well informed about happenings in the youth services and library fields and will be better prepared to serve my students.

In addition to membership in professional organizations, staying abreast of current technological advances is crucial for continued professional development. As an information specialist, the school librarian must “both master sophisticated electronic resources and maintain a constant focus on the nature, quality, and ethical use of information available in these and in more traditional tools” (AASL, 2007). For a busy librarian, staying informed of the latest technologies can be a difficult task. However, numerous blogs, journals, and discussion groups serve to maintain a discourse among librarians and to introduce new forms of technology. One such example is the ALA TechSource page at http://www.techsource.ala.org/. There, an active blog offers ideas for integrating technology in libraries, including school libraries, and provides newsletters to help librarians keep abreast. Journals such as //Teacher Librarian//, which offer columns intended to introduce readers to current technologies, will also be helpful in my future career. School librarians often must serve as the sole “technology guru” in the school. Only through reading others’ work and mutual discussion, therefore, can I stay up to date on the most recent technological developments.

Finally, it is important to stay informed on the latest publications in children’s and young adult books to create an excellent young people’s collection. Only through an appropriate collection can a school librarian “encourage young adults to become lifelong library users by helping them to discover what libraries offer,” (YALSA, 2003). An excellent collection includes not just recent fiction and non-fiction age-appropriate books and multimedia, but bilingual, diverse and alternative offerings as well. In order to develop such a collection, and continually maintain it, I will refer to such resources as the //Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books// and //The Horn Book//. Both of these publications present exemplary children’s literature and would facilitate my collection development. Additionally, I’ll remain a member of discussion groups such as the Child_Lit listserv to stay up-to-date with what my colleagues are reading and recommending for their libraries. Through these resources, I will be equipped to “collaborate with students and other members of the learning community to analyze learning and information needs, to locate and use resources that will meet those needs, and to understand and communicate the information the resources provide” (AASL, 2007).

Through professional organizations, staying abreast of technology, and maintaining a current and appropriate collection, I intend to further my professional development throughout my career. Without learning, understanding, and changing, librarianship as a whole will become stagnant. It is therefore crucial that the current generation of future librarians make a plan for professional development and pledge to stick with it. Only in this way can librarians adapt to changing times and continue to impact the lives of children and young adults in their schools.

AASL. (2007.) “Roles and Responsibilities of the School Library Media Specialist.” Retrieved December 1, 2008 from http://tinyurl.com/25z4x. YALSA. (2003.) "Competencies for Serving Young Adults." Retrieved December 1, 2008 from http://tinyurl.com/moggg.
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