Easy Like Sunday Morning: A Calling To Serve

     I'm attending the last day of the School Library Journal Leadership Summit today in Brooklyn, New York.   Having that change of scenery surrounded by loved colleagues and new friends can force one to stop and really reflect deeply about things that normally you wouldn't because you are so busy.  It is times like this when I think about how libraries have impacted me as a child and now drives my deep desire to serve.  

I love libraries.  This love began when I was in pre-school and continues to this day.  When I visit new towns/cities, I always like to see what the library looks like...sometimes to the sheer aggravation of my family and friends.  My love of listening and reading stories dates back to my early childhood. Libraries sparked my curiosity and imagination so much that I would beg my teacher to get a pass to the school library during class every day.  I enjoyed reading the stories of Virginia Hamilton, Judy Blume and anything that had a Disney stamp on it. This love of books was also extended to the University Park Public Library in my small hometown in the south suburbs where I was raised.

My parents were born and raised in Jim Crow Louisiana.  They along with other relatives before them were a part of the great migration of African/Americans who escaped the Deep South for the promise of northern better life and jobs during the 60’s in Chicago. They were ecstatic that I had a well stocked school library and public library. They were relieved that I would not be discriminated against to enter and check out books of my choice because of the color of my skin. So essentially, my joy every 1-2 days was visiting the library to check out unlimited books, magazines. You see, the library was a place of solace for me,

- the introvert,
- the shy girl
- the loner

Libraries gave me the voice that I didn't have and the bravely I didn't know existed within me.

Now I’m going to speak solely for myself here, being the child of two science teachers turned me completely off from working in education. I had a front seat view of year round preparation for lessons.,...(we know that just because teachers get the summer off does not mean we turn off our radars as educators!) I also had a front seat view of hearing and observing the stress teachers have of dealing with lack of funding to support programming, dealing with challenging students and parents and a host of other things that teachers must deal with. When I was 18 I knew I didn’t want to deal with that type of stress, I wanted to do something different. I majored in Mass Communications with an emphasis in broadcasting for television. I actually worked in the field for a couple of years prior to working in education for a local origination satellite company, then moved onto corporate America.

      When I had had enough, it was my late father who sat me down and made me realize that I was not working in a field that I was passionate about. I wasn’t working in a field that God called me to
work in. When he suggested school libraries, it clicked - it made sense, but I didn’t want to go back to school. But my father assured me that because I was passionate about reading, I would breeze My Dad through….he was right. God had to show me that when I did things my way, it didn’t work out so well, but when I did it HIS way, things just fell into place naturally. But I quickly learned, sometimes the path taken is filled with challenges, confusion, events that make you stronger.

      So it is through my faith in God, I was redirected to serve in Libraries. Through this service...
 -Libraries helped me overcome shyness,
- Libraries helped me find my voice,
- Libraries helped me crawl out of my introverted shell
- Libraries helped me be less afraid of my opponent,
- and yes from time to time, libraries have gotten me into as Congressman John Lewis has famously named, #GoodTrouble

 Congressman, John Lewis 

     I have served children, teachers/staff and communities for over twenty years through school libraries. My experience spans:
 - Three school districts
- Two District Library Managerial Positions
- Five Schools
- Two Directors
- 13 principals (and yes I had to adjust, bend and comply!)
- All of these schools but one were Title I schools.  In all of these schools, I had to clean up and re-build the library.

     At each school, I was the lone voice that defended:
- Student choice
- The right to read
- Student access to technology

Did I experience struggles...YES LORD! Sometimes in my school library, I would jump for joy for the victories or simply stare at a blank wall and ask God, “Why are you using me as this painful example?’ Once I stopped fussing/venting/complaining and calmed down, God would reveal the WHY, bless me with the sustained energy to keep moving forward and fighting for my students.

      Working in school libraries is not easy. It's a roller coaster of events and emotions that are not for the weak, but more so for committed warrior librarians who all possess the same love: A deep and abiding love for libraries. Service to others is the driving force of what we do as school librarians and
providing a safe, warm and inviting library haven for all students is what we fight for every day. I want all of my students to have the same, if not better feeling and experience, than I did each time they walk through the door of my school library. I see small pieces of myself in each one of my students who attend Jefferson Academy in Washington, D.C. A smile, enthusiasm, laughter, love of hip-hop music, or sometimes a side-eye when they learn that copies of, "The Hate U Give," "Dear Martin," or "Long Way Down," is still checked out! I love my job serving as a school librarian because it is simply the best job on the planet! Getting into #GoodTrouble is worth it because my students deserve the very best. I am a school library media specialist and I'm proud to serve.

#KC_SaidIt: The Lexile Drama

I’ve been arguing this point for several years with teachers, reading specialists and principals. But let’s take a deeper dive.

Many school districts use a popular reading leveling system called Lexile. When you enter the name of a popular book in this case that contain black characters, the Lexile scoring is consistently very low. For example, here are three very popular books at my school:

- 'The Hate U Give' - HL590L

- 'Long Way Down' - HL770L

- 'Dear Martin' - HL720L

***The average Lexile for 6th-7th-8th graders is 855L-1295L

If one of my students had a Lexile range greatly above or below the ranges listed above, their teachers would discourage them from reading the book. There’s no wiggle room with this as some  schools are very insistent on using this system and rely on it to improve data/reading scores. In addition, some schools now rely on test scores and data as a means of image, promotion and sometimes survival against other competitive schools.

The other main issue is familiarity.  When those who are in the driver's seat of making decisions regarding what children read are constantly recommending the same books over and over again because of familiarity, rather than expanse of knowledge, we get the same end result.  My question is where is the teacher and student input in the selection of these books?  I often think about this and use myself as an example.  'The Color Purple,' is one of my personal favorites, but for this generation, it doesn't resonate with them.  I can't continue to recommend this book.  I would have to read the current literature to identify what is popular then merge the literature into the curriculum then maybe circle back to the classics once the book is read.

In years past, I’ve had many not too pleasant encounters with teachers who felt as the school librarian I should support their students identify books in the collection by Lexile. I instead listened to them and showed them books that were of interest to them. Principals wanted to write my tail up for being difficult but didn’t for fear of a grievance.  This continues to be a struggle.  

At the end of the day...in my opinion, reading is reading and leveling is just plain wrong and discourages reading at any level.  If we continue to use this system, we can and will discourage readers and frustrate them.

Sources:

Typical Lexile Reader Measures by Grade for English Text

#MyCoWorkerIsBetterThanYours

I love it when my co-workers TOTALLY understand me and my madness.  My co-worker Kelly created this cool advisory period pass for her students to use when they visit the library.

Easy Like Sunday Morning: #JAVillaLife

This post is long overdue!  Life has been hectic and time is often not on my side.

Jefferson Academy

My school, Jefferson Academy is currently under modernization.  Jefferson Academy is located in Washington D.C. - southwest and is next to the popular District Wharf.  The teachers, staff and I moved out of the 78 year old building at the end of the 2017-2018 school year and moved into 'villas.' during the two year project. 

During my 20 year career working in school libraries, I've experienced allot of things.  Working in a villa was a definite first.  In the beginning, it was a little hectic setting up the library.  Boxes of books were all over the place and shelf clips were missing for three days.  I can laugh at this now but then I was ready to roll but couldn't and was frustrated.

In time, I was able to get the library set up to my liking with the help of my students and a staff member who moved the bookshelves into place for me.  After struggling to get my decorations and supplies out of storage, I began making the library a home away from home for the children.

Then the children began visiting and checking out books...

Playing games and making origami...

It was a slow start but the #JALibrary is up and operational, ready to serve #JAReaders.  

That's all for now!

Easy Like Sunday Morning: School Libraries vs Classroom Libraries

It's Sunday morning and I'm scrolling through my messages I missed the previous day...a day that was a busy one.  I ran across a post that forced me reflect back to a time when I first felt disrespected as a certified school librarian.   The memory was so jarring, I thought that maybe it may be good to write about it and finally release my internal frustration.My friend Susan Polos tagged me on Facebook post about a recent EdWeek article called, Why School Librarians Are the Literacy Leaders We Need  The author Ariel Sacks discussed how school librarians can make an

indelible impact on student achievement.   Through her personal experience, she also discusses the classroom library vs. central school library debate.  Manageability, equity, consistency and space are just a couple of points also raised by Sacks where she is spot on.  Many people commented on the post but one person still didn't understand the resistance to having both libraries exist in the school setting given that research has proven access to literacy is a must.  Below is the response to those who don't understand why classroom libraries can serve as a threat to school libraries and school librarians.

Using Chicago as a example, classroom libraries were first introduced to Chicago Public Schools through the Chicago Reading Initiative.  Created in 2001, it was the district's attempt to improve reading scores at Chicago's lowest performing elementary schools.  Tim Shanahan, University of Chicago professor, led the program during it's early years of existence.  School librarians throughout the district were instructed to provide training to teachers on how to develop their classroom libraries.  We were given a powerpoint and instructed to complete full training by a date set on the district calendar.  We then had to oversee the organizing and checkout system along with collection of books at the end of the year. Throughout this process, Librarians received ‘ZERO' funds for the central library collection.   Librarians in Chicago were enraged that they were expected to provide leadership around an initiative that they were excluded from professionally and financially.   They were further insulted by Shanahan as we had to provide 'Library Science 101 Training,' to teachers in our buildings.  (If you are a librarian reading this you know how this practice forced on librarians by their principals angers us to the core!)

As the classroom library program grew each year, principals were expected to 'fund' their school's classroom libraries to replace lost books and add more to the collections.  Librarians were again requested to provide leadership on the selection of books that students would read and were aligned to the curriculum. To the librarians dismay, principals diverted those funds earmarked for the library to classroom libraries.   Why?  Vibrant classroom libraries now appeared on the principal's 'walk-thru' where district leadership visited the school with a checklist of expectations, list of things that needed to be improved and praise for observable practices/things that took place in the school.  The teachers at my school complained because this was yet another responsibility they were expected to oversee. They further argued that they were not Librarians and that they should be concentrating on teaching and not developing a genre rich classroom library.   

What Shanahan did was create a resentful culture in Chicago Public Schools:   Angry Librarians who saw their yearly library budgets disappear and angry teachers who were forced to serve as ‘Librarians’ after receiving 'Library Science Training 101.'  You can read the summation of the program as outlined by education reporter, Maureen Kelleher - Citywide Reading Initiative:  Bold Start, Weak Finish.   Reading Specialists were then added and celebrated as the 'Literacy Specialist' in the building.  I've always laughed at this labeling because the reading specialists I've worked with throughout my career either openly asked for my support in the selection of books kids would read or quietly studied my practice and applied/used it when presenting to the staff and principal.  Sadly, this was the beginning of Chicago’s plan to slowly phase Librarians out of the schools. I am of the belief that one program should NEVER cancel out another in a school just to exist.  We are seeing this in Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods to affluent schools in the district.  Now many people may talk about Chicago Public Schools negatively, but the district is an an influencer for urban districts across the country.   Having been employed in two districts since leaving CPS, their programming, curriculum and practice is often seen in districts that have similar demographics and challenges.  I wish my younger, novice, school librarian self would have asked the following questions:

1. To be ‘innovative’ in the re-design of the school library program/position, does that mean to district leadership will cut programs to save money?  
2. Do we save money at the expense of providing an equitable education for all children?  
3. Describe the scholarly research that was used by district leadership in making the decision to create classroom libraries?   
4. Does that research include the impact of school libraries and certified school librarians on student achievement?
5. If school librarians are included in the training of teachers, why didn't they receive funding for their collections and some type of recognition for 'job well done?'

Chicago (and many other school districts across the country) is now

experiencing a steep decline in reading scores and they are scratching their heads wondering how has this happened when we have classroom libraries. When you take a child’s ability to have free choice in the selection of a book, kids get turned off from reading. When you remove the school's literacy specialist - the school librarian out of the library, children lack that expert that can connect them to the books they are interested in.  When you have just a classroom library and no school library/librarian, the collection is often leveled and limits personal choice which is the essential key for children when selecting a book. School Libraries, Certified School Librarians and well stocked libraries are the key to academic success. If this viewpoint is shocking/surprising to you, I recommend that you read Dr. Keith Curry Lance SECOND study on the Impact of School Libraries and Librarians - https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED445698 and view Dr. Stephen Krashen’s video on the Importance of a well stocked library for Free Voluntary Reading - https://youtu.be/JAui0OGfHQY  Here's to the trip down painful memory lane:  I feel better.  Shoot me a email if you are interesting in reading about more studies on this subject - kcboyd1@gmail.com  

E-Book Review: Lenny Gray

I listened to this epic e-book during my commute in DMV traffic over a period of 10 days. I immediately got hooked on the rich character performances (all narrated by author Earl Sewell!) and the lush historical descriptions of life in rural Mississippi.  This says allot mainly because I’m not a ebook enthusiast.  The story and performances captured my attention so much so that I was enjoying my hour commute to/from work because I could escape into this story and characters. 

I don’t want to give away too many parts of the story because there are so many events that take place and you will definitely be surprised.   The story’s protagonist, Lenny Gray is pregnant and trapped in a loveless marriage while trying to learn who she is as a person and woman. Sewell describes vividly Lenny Gray’s struggle with her husband Curly and her, survival during disease, famine and devastating poverty.  As described by the book’s synopsis, Lenny Gray has known from an early age that she is meant to live a better life, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women and particularly African-American women. Lenny Gray is a survivor and represents the resilient African-American women of that time who were tough and determined individuals who withstood the unspeakable.  It is these rich character traits that are often overlooked in historical fiction where African-American drive the story.  

Working in K-12 education as a school librarian for over 20 years, Lenny Gray is a book that I would recommend as a class novel read for my grades 8th-12th classes.   This book would be best used in ELA/English and U.S. History classes.   I would also recommend this book for collegiate African-American Studies or History courses because it provides an alternative view of life during this time but through the unique lens of an African-American.  

My hope is that publishing houses will recognize that African-Americans do want to read historical fiction books that feature their life experiences.   Hopefully this book, ‘Lenny Gray,’ will be the catalyst in advocating for change. 

Conversations at the Circulation Desk #5

The Audacious Librarian Blogspot

Conversations at the Circulation Desk #5 

My student Christine reviews, ‘Sideline’ by Jay C. Rehak.  She finished reading the book in two days, thumbs up!

National School Librarian Day

Happy National School Librarian Day to all my fellow #schoollibrarians in the struggle!  

Questions For Parents

Parents today marks the beginning of SCHOOL LIBRARY MONTH and I have a couple of questions for you:

- Is there a circulating school library collection AND certified school librarian at your child’s school?   

- Is that school librarian certified in Library Information Science?   

- How many books were circulated for student check out during the last three months?

- How much free access are student given each week to visit the library and check out books?

- Does the library collection reflect the diverse social, emotional interest and needs of the students?

I’m going to keep it as the kids say, ‘totally 100’ with you.   You will probably receive one of these excuses:

1.  Budget challenges, the librarian and or program is ‘too expensive,’ 

2. We have classroom libraries/accelerated reader, we don’t need a library,

3.  Computers are the future, we want our students to be computer savvy,

4.  We use popular lists, the books the staff members read that were popular will be good for these students we are teaching now!,

5.  We have someone in the library (teacher aides/clerks), the kids can go in there....(I always give the side-eye to this one....🤔)

Studies by Dr. Keith Curry Lance and Dr. Stephen Krashen will argue that schools with certified librarians and well stocked libraries have students who possess heightened life skills and perform better academically on standardized tests.  Moreover, students understand that libraries are a valuable resource and will continue to utilize throughout their collegiate and post-collegiate experience.  

So I ask you this question, do you want a ‘filler’ or a skilled professional instructing  your child?  When you attend that next LSC, PTA or current budget hearing held at your child’s school district board meeting, ask these questions and watch those administrators squirm.   Demand answers.....these are YOUR tax dollars! Transparency and justification should be a professional courtesy provided by the school district.  

....and tell’em Boss Librarian (K.C. Boyd) sent you! #kc_saidit

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IN THE STANDARDS remodeling process, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) reviewed Common Beliefs from earlier AASL Standards and official AASL position statements. These documents, and feedback collected from more than 1,300 school librarians and stakeholders nationally, provided AASL with a clear expression of the qualities of well-prepared learners, effective school librarians, and dynamic school libraries. The following Common Beliefs and summary descriptions were identified as central to the profession.

1. The school library is a unique and essential part of a learning community.

2. Qualified school librarians lead effective school libraries.

3. Learners should be prepared for college, career, and life.

4. Reading is the core of personal and academic competency.

5. Intellectual freedom is every learner’s right.

6. Information technologies must be appropriately integrated and equitably available.

Black History Month, 2018

Black History Month 2018 has kicked off with a bang at Jefferson Academy in Washington D.C. - SW. The link below will re-direct you to a list of people and their interesting accomplishments across the African Diaspora. We omitted Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Harriet Tubman, Malcolm X etc. because they are often 'over researched,' during this month. We wanted our students to explore and learn about people that they have never read about.

Also included in the link is a kick off to our 8th grade community meeting where the staff discussed all of the events that would be taking place at the school. All resources shared are in public folders/social media pages.

Jefferson Academy Black History Month, 2018 - http://www.kcboyd.com/teacher-resources.html

My NEW Website!

Happy New Year!

My new website is finally up and running.  Check out my labor of love at KCBoyd.com.