In recent times there has been quite a bit of controversy in other states as well as parts of North Carolina about the role of Media Centers in Public Schools. I was recently at a DPI hosted event where they shared this article about Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools: Are School Librarians going the way of the Milkman? As you might imagine most in the room (as are most of you) were already working on their advocacy plan and implementation of changes in order to meet the needs of their students, teachers, parents and community. Media Centers are important and you are vital to the media center's success! I recently found the ALA toolkit for Advocacy, I copied this tidbit from the preface to give you a sense of what the document includes and I have added it to the Media folder for you to reference when you can, I think there are some great ideas in it and I hope you find them helpful.
The American Library Association (ALA) in partnership
with the American Association of School Librarians
(AASL) has developed a national campaign to support
school library media specialists in delivering a strong and
clear message. This campaign addresses several key
issues.
These include how to:
- Increase awareness of and support for the role of school library media programs;
- Build understanding and appreciation for the value of school librarians;
- Help school librarians to market their programs;
- Position school librarianship as a dynamic career opportunity.