Sharing some very early morning musings I shared on Twitter recently. The following is a collection of frustrations school librarians often experience. While some reflect first hand experiences, others are those from some of my peers within the field. School librarians are still logging onto Twitter, viewing the thread and have been in 'amen corner.' It's amazing how simple musings can spark discussion.
School librarians often take these frustrations on the chin and work around these challenges. It is when we convene together in meetings or private forums online do we share some of our inner most feelings. Keep in mind, we are the only people within our buildings that have this unique experience and do not have a co-teacher who would totally understand what we are experiencing. No one's challenges supersedes another within K-12 education, ALL OF US STRUGGLE! The goal of my tweets and this post is to provide a little window into the life of a school librarian. #SchoolLibrarianStruggleBus
You know this week is going challenging on many levels. The holidays can be tough for some of us and the stress from the job can be very difficult for others. This week, take a moment to check in with a friend or online colleague to see how they are doing. Someone can benefit from a kind word or even virtual hug. Together, we can do this!
As much as it seems like I have it all together, honestly I don’t. When one visits my library media center/Makerspace you will see books placed neatly in order on the shelves, displays, and a burst of colors that are pleasing to the eye. What you don’t see is the frustration in developing a program, display, activity or de-escalating stereotypes or major ‘asks,’ from the principal/staff.
If there’s one thing I am is a very creative person. I come up with my best ideas in the morning and jot them down in the notes section of my iPhone. This area of my phone is filled with tons of ideas. Some I’ve implemented, others I’m still developing. I can also create something on the fly and run with it. Sometimes it’s very successful and sometimes not. Despite this, I continue to push the envelope of on-the-fly/creativity because those are usually examples of my best work.
Yesterday morning, I saw a Twitter post from someone I follow that expressed their frustration with a patron that used a piece of gum in the book as a bookmark and left it in the book for the circulation desk librarian to remove....eeeew right??? I started thinking, school librarians have some pretty unique and funny things that we experience. Some are highly relatable and represent a unique struggle that public, academic and special librarians don’t experience.
I created the hashtag #SchoolLibrarianStruggleBus on the fly yesterday morning and posted ten examples of it on Twitter. The responses and DM’s I received were hilarious. That said, I want to share them here along with a couple more that really describe our pain and downright funny situations we find ourselves in as school librarians. Remember this is all in good fun, the posts are based on my current and past experiences (I have to say that because my co-workers follow me online) so enjoy and comment.
How I look when visitors in my library media center say to my face, ‘Well, you don’t look like a librarian!’....*sigh #SchoolLibrarianStruggleBus
Eating way too much of your parent give-away candy for SLC Night. - #SchoolLibrarianStruggleBus
When my students are having an ‘off behavior’ day and you have to say this phrase after making an example out of one of them. #SchoolLibrarianStruggleBus
When your darling cat named Daisy Lee insists on destroying your Golden Pathos propagation project. - #SchoolLibrarianStruggleBus
When you are asked to watch students during your lunch break and the person asking clearly sees that you are eating and says, ‘Well they can sit over here on the side and they won’t bother you.😤 - #SchoolLibrarianStruggleBus
When a staff member is clearly trying to ‘unload’ students from their watch and they bring them to you stating, ‘The students can help you shelve books and do anything during the period!’ -
