Why librarians should be more like Lady Gaga

By Valerie Strauss

School libraries around the country are being dramatically cut as government officials look for places to cut their budgets — even though research shows that the country’s highest-performing students come from schools with good library centers.

This is a version of a post written by The Daring Librarian, otherwise known as, Gwyneth Anne Jones, who works as a teacher-librarian in Laurel, Md., and who writes The Daring Librarian blog. She was named a “mover and shaker” of 2011 by the Library Journal, and is on the board of directors of the International Society for Technology in Education.

By Gwyneth Anne Jones

Times are tough all over for education. Superintendents and administrators are making some hard financial decisions. Any position that does not have constant student interaction, testing expectations and direct grading is vulnerable. Librarians and school libraries are at a crossroads.

This is one of the most exciting times to be a teacher-librarian in our country and is also the scariest. A revolution is at hand, and we need to be nimble, daring, digital and shift both our practice and the way the world thinks of school librarians and libraries.

Source: www.WashingtonPost.com

Read the Complete Story