This time has been particularly tough on school librarians, who have worked to develop connections with students and teachers and leverage physical collections. With new variants of the virus emerging, the coming months and years may be more of a game of whack-a-mole as the country tries to conquer some versions of the virus and others pop up. Unfortunately, some experts predict that pandemic-era workarounds may be for years (Scudellari 2020). A school librarian's interactions with students, teachers, and administrators might be socially distanced off and on for some time, but there are still ripe opportunities to influence teaching and learning. Many librarians viewed their work performance over the last year and a half through what they did not accomplish and not what they did. This article's goal is to help them refocus and prioritize impactful activities.
After a year of turmoil and unsteadiness in people's lives, the country, and the world, taking steps to improve and increase self-care is one thing one can do to reach for better. Compassion fatigue, being overworked and underpaid, and the emotional stress that is added simply because educators care about each and every one of their students can take a toll on their capacity to care for themselves both physically and mentally. While there is an attempt to return to normal in 2021, Ashley Cooksey and Jennifer Luetkemeyer propose in this article, a better normal where people value their own mental and emotional well-being as much as their students. The authors provide some methods, such as mindfulness and visual journaling, to process and begin self-care.
After earning her second Master's degree, the author decided to leave her twenty-plus-year tenured English as a new language teaching career in the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) to become the director of middle school and upper school library services at a K-12 independent school in New York City. It was the first year she would serve as a full-time school librarian and it was the first time that she would have a majority white student body. In this article, the author shares her experience and details her student-centered approach to reinvigorating the school library through small policy changes and collection development decisions.
In Nov 2020, the School Library Systems Association of New York State partnered with the New York State Library to develop a presentation for the Advisory Council on Libraries highlighting the school librarian's role in remote and hybrid instruction The New York State School Library System Directors worked together to solicit examples of innovative practices and programming from a diverse cross-section of librarians during COVID school closures, and to collaboratively develop and coordinate the presentation School librarians and school library systems were showcased during the two-hour long Regents Advisory Council on Libraries Convening: The Role of School Librarians in Remote and Hybrid Instruction presentation
Stewart talks about the transformation of Bell High School library in Washington DC Post-COVID, the Bell Library would enjoy 50+ students for lunch Popcorn, films, with discussions and deep-diving conversations in the Peace & Love Room, a dedicated room in the library created to give students, parents, and educators a space to have respite, where they could read, meditate, cry, laugh, and practice restorative justice, when the heart is bruised This space also has a clothing closet Classroom virtual pop-ins and mailing books and snacks are just a few of the activities that he started during hybrid learning
Branyon and Dawkins discuss why intellectual freedom and equitable access are even more important A balanced collection that provides access to all points of view empowers a community to use information responsibly and make decisions independently Intellectual freedom and equity of access are still important issues today, especially as we confront uncertain times with the COVID-19 virus and distance education School librarians should be protectors of intellectual freedom for minors just as public libraries protect the rights of all citizens regardless of age
