Get political!

Become a school leader. Meet regularly with school administrators, serve on curriculum and other school committees, work with teachers at schoolwide staff meetings, and meet with librarians beyond the district at conferences and through the DLC Gemcats.

Form strategic alliances with your principal, teachers, district curriculum specialists, and others who can help you advocate for your library program. Read "Wild about Harry" for an example of an outstanding school librarian/principal relationship and "What's It Take?" for insight into how school administrators may be perceiving your library program. (See below for citations.)

Start a library advisory committee at your school and include key administrators and classroom teachers. This increases awareness and reinforces the idea that the school library media program belongs to everyone in the school.

As you succeed in increasing student and teacher use of DLC Library resources, schedule a meeting with your principal to go over the DLC Library usage statistic report the DLC sends to your school periodically. Contact Karl Nelson at karln@learningcommons.org for more information.

What Works

I'm organizing an educational program in the library called 'Living Voices.' An acting company comes to the library and does an educational performance on a variety of topics, like the Gold Rush or the Holocaust. I also put together book displays, pathfinders, etc., to correspond with the performance. Yesterday I sent a program update to the teachers and cc'd the principal. It is very important to find ways to let the principal know what I'm doing and how I'm spending the money in my budget.

— Eileen Ray, Toppenish High School

I have a position on the instructional council alongside the school principal and each of the academic department heads. This has been a great way to ensure the school leaders know who I am and understand the value of the library resources in the school.

— Janet Woodard, Garfield High School

I learn what my principal is passionate about and then provide him with articles and research on those topics. When my principal has to report to the district, I make sure he has the latest educational statistics or other materials needed to make him look good. I want my principal to think of the library as a place that makes his job easier.

— Eve Datisman, Port Angeles High School

Articles & Resources

"This Man Wants to Change Your Job"
Michael B Eisenberg. School Library Journal. New York: Sep 2002.Vol.48, Iss. 9; pg. 46, 6 pgs (Proquest)

"Wild about Harry"
Brian Kenney. School Library Journal. New York: Oct 2005.Vol.51, Iss. 10; pg. 40, 3 pgs (Proquest)

"What's It Take?"
Gary Hartzell. Teacher Librarian. Seattle: Oct 2002.Vol.30, Iss. 1; pg. 81, 6 pgs (Proquest)