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Guardian of the books, professional development leader, collaborator, and information specialist are some of the phrases used to describe media specialists. Although school librarians fit the description for all these roles, there is one role that really defines what they do. Their role in a school community is to provide children access to a wide range of reading materials. In addition, school librarians need to partner with classroom teachers to provide rich literacy experiences with the students. Donna M. Shannon, author of Chapter 3, Literacy Learning in the Elementary School: Implications for School Media Specialists in Curriculum Connections Through the Library, has done a superb job getting to the heart of the roles and responsibilities that school librarians play in literacy education. This chapter focuses on several issues that are hot topics of debate in my current district. The first

issue Sharron discussed focused on the use of basal textbook series or childrens books for t he foundation of a reading program. This past year my district has developed its own program called, Literacy in Reading and Language Arts. Our districts reading program has moved away from basal textbooks. Students are experience reading and writing in authentic contents, and selecting books of their choice to read and write about. Classrooms are building their library collections so children can choose from a wide range of quality literature, both fiction and nonfiction. Reading skills such as comprehension, inference, and main idea are being taught to children through daily mini lessons. Guided reading groups, literature study groups, independent reading and conferencing are ongoing. Through a workshop approach, students have the opportunity to think about and use the strategies they are being taught. Many of the teachers I work with have been slow to move away from the basal for fear that their students will no longer get exposed to necessary reading skills that basal textbooks incorporate. Although I do not work with the students much in this area, I am not sure how this program will work. If teachers are teaching reading skills through mini lessons and continuously building on those skills throughout the year I think it may be successful. If teachers are using the silent reading time to get caught up on their own paper work and not being consistent in their approach to these necessary skills the children most likely will show limited growth in reading development. This has been an ongoing debate all year long. Teachers are afraid that their ISAT scores will drop and those students will not develop the early reading skills necessary for

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success. On the flip side, I have teachers staying that their students are more excited this year about reading and they look forward to the daily IDR time set aside each day during the reading block. As I was reading and reflecting on the information provided in this chapter, I began to consider that maybe my district chose a good program after all. Hopefully, after using the program for a year, more teachers will come to see the benefit of this approach to reading instruction. As librarians, where do we fit into this picture? This chapter offers a variety a ways that school librarians support reading beyond the four walls of a classroom. Developing a library setting that is inviting to children, with a wide selection of reading materials in terms of genre, format and text complexity is by far one of the best ways to draw students into the library. Books need to be culturally appropriate, have characters that boys and girls find likable, and provide books at all levels for all readers. If a dominant minority population is in your district have books in their native language. We also must promote books for reading as well. Introducing books through read alouds, formal and informal book talks, the use of multimedia for book sharing, and having monthly thematic displays will create an intense interest among students and motive them to read. Others areas we as librarians can promote in our role is fluency and oral presentation skills. These two areas are crucial to thoughtful literacy as well. Shannon recognized the impact that storytelling and readers theater had on reading development. Storytelling and readers theater provide children another way to interact with stories. They foster confidence in children and allow them to develop social and cognitive skills. Currently my colleagues and I have introduced script writing to the children in the gifted cluster classrooms and have been very successful. The students are developing scripts from stories they have written throughout the year in their writing program. Students are responsible to write, edit, and eventually act out their stories. Their classroom teachers have told us that the students havent been this excited to write for a while. I have seen a few final presentations and have been impressed by the outcomes. Classroom teachers have found this beneficial as well. Librarians must also consider the way families can contribute to the learning environment of the library. Parents need to feel welcome in the library and can offer up their talents in many unexpected ways. Working with the students in a school setting although important, is not as crucial as working with the teachers in the school community. Librarians must also collaborate with teachers so they can provide the tools
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and skills necessary to support what is being taught in the classroom. Providing professional development and becoming a leader in the school community benefits everyone; students, faculty, and school families. Staying abreast of important issues in the profession gives us a chance to reflect on our ongoing practice as a professional. References Cicero School District 99 Literacy: Reading and Language Arts: A Workshop Approach to Literacy Adopted for the 2010-2011 school year Shannon. D.M. (2003) Curriculum Connections through the Library. In B. Stripling & S. Hughes-Hassell (Eds), Empowering Learning; Fostering Thinking Across the Curriculum (p. 67-85). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

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