My reflective practice project focused on determining the underutilized areas of the school library program and

finding ways on promoting those areas. In addition, I wanted to discover administrations view of the school
library as they are the key to the success of the school library program. Through observation and surveying
students, teachers, and administration, I discovered a number of interesting facts regarding each of these
stakeholders and the school library and have outlined them below.
After analyzing the results of the surveys and through my own observations at the school library there were three
major areas I found that were underutilized by the students regarding the school library. They include: (1) reading
for pleasure; (2) asking the teacher librarian for help when searching for information; and (3) going to and using
the library in general.
For the most part students are not taking books out of the school library to read for pleasure unless they are
forced to by their teachers for independent reading. The question is, Why? I believe many students dont have
the time to read because of their heavy course load, they think reading is boring and would rather do something
else, and the collection in the library is old and outdated. I strongly believe that the teacher librarian should
develop a love for reading in the students, whether fiction or non-fiction. As stated in the Statement of Purpose for
Ontarios School Library Information Centres (Ontario School Library Association, OSLA), the School Library
Information Centre program continues to promote print literacy and the love of reading as integral parts of
information literacy.1 In addition, the School Library Guidelines by the IFLA/UNESCO states that, the librarian
should lead reading campaigns and the promotion of child literature, media and culture. 2 How can a teacher
librarian get students to read for pleasure? First of all, as teacher librarian, I would read in front of the students
(modeling). I would also put out lists of what other students and teachers are reading throughout the school.
Furthermore, I would use some of the following suggestions from @ your library , a promotional campaign for
school libraries developed by the American Library Association and the American Association of School Libraries
(Toolkit for school library media programs. ALA, American Library Association. (2002). www.ala.org/@yourlibrary/)
Pictures should be taken of staff and students reading with a caption and hung on the walls at the entrance of the
library and in the library. The teacher librarian should make reading fun and exciting. Some ideas include holding
an after-school book club and periodically have themed book parties, creating monthly or themed book displays
(e.g. horror books surrounded by pumpkins, ghosts, etc. in October), and holding contests during morning
announcements to identify a line or two in a novel. Correct entries are placed in a box and the winner gets a prize
(e.g. cafeteria money). In addition to the above, I would also make sure that students have the opportunity to
choose reading material from the library. For this to happen, I, as a future teacher librarian, would make sure that
at least once a week the library would be open an hour before and an hour after school, a sort of extra-curricular
activity on my part. Finally, the teacher librarian must get the support from administration, namely funding, to buy
a variety of books that interest students so they may become motivated to read.
Another area that students tend to shy away from, at least in my school, is asking the teacher librarian for help
when researching. When asked to further comment on why they do not ask the teacher librarian at my school,
students basically said they were afraid of her and wished she was nicer, more helpful, and less strict. Even if this
is not true, the perception is out there. I am disappointed with this fact as I feel that assisting students is one of the
main duties of a teacher librarian. As stated in the School Library Guidelines by the IFLA/UNESCO, The librarian
should create an environment for leisure and learning which is attractive, welcoming and accessible for everyone
without fear or prejudice. Everyone who works in the school library should have a good rapport with children,
young people and adults.3 In addition, my mentor says, the teacher librarian should make themselves
accessible, approachable the library must be seen as welcoming. This piece of information made me think
about my own personality and characteristics and how my own students perceive me in the classroom? I believe

1 Statement of purpose for Ontario's school library information centres. OSLA, Ontario School Library Association.
http://www.accessola.com/osla/advocacy/statement_policy.htm#statement
2 School Library Guidelines. IFLA/UNESCO Released by IFLA in August 2002 as a document to accompany the
IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto.
http://www.ifla.org/VII/s11/pubs/sguide02.pdf
3 School Library Guidelines. IFLA/UNESCO Released by IFLA in August 2002 as a document to accompany the
IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto.
http://www.ifla.org/VII/s11/pubs/sguide02.pdf

and always try to remember that school is a place of learning where the teacher motivates the students towards
excellence but that learning must also be enjoyable and the teacher approachable. As stated in the Content
section of Module 4 of the course, The promotion of the school library starts with the teacher-librarian. Teacherlibrarians must be visible, helpful, [and] approachable. Therefore, as teacher librarian I will always try to be
visible, helpful and approachable. To help me remember and do this as teacher librarian, I will create a feedback
sheet/survey regarding the school library and the teacher librarian and put it in the library next to a suggestion
box. Here students can fill it out anonymously. These feedback sheets will allow me to reflect and make changes
if necessary and where possible.
The last major area of concern regarding students and the use of the school library is going to and using the
school library in general. I found out in the surveys that many students did not go to the school library unless they
went with their classes. Basically, the same students tend to go to the school library. As stated in the Content
section of Module 4, No matter how wonderful the teacher-librarian envisages the school library to be, it will not
fulfill its mandate if the students are not aware of its existence, are not drawn to it, and do not want to return.
Many of the students felt the library was not inviting, that the books and the resources needed to be updated, and
that the school library should offer activities for the students. I truly believe that in order for students to want to
come in to the library it must have an aesthetic appearance and a welcoming feel. To make the library more
inviting students suggested adding colour and pictures. I would definitely take these suggestions into
consideration, thus providing the students with a sense of ownership. If money is an issue, the teacher librarian
could talk to the art and technology teachers and have students work placed on the library walls, changing them
from year to year to reflect the student body and to provide change. I also feel that putting up colourful signage to
help students find and do things in the library provides a welcoming feel for students. Adding flowers and plants,
as suggested by the course instructor, would also add colour and life to the library.
In order to update the books and resources, as suggested by the students, the teacher librarian would need the
support of administration. I would first have administration fill out a survey concerning the school library program.
This survey would determine their degree of support. Then I would write up a budget proposal to the
administration at the beginning of the year which would include their thoughts from the survey if it helps in the
teacher librarians proposal.
In order to get students to come into the library and use its resources fun activities throughout the year should be
implemented. Some activities that I found interesting and worthwhile to look into came from @ your library .
(Toolkit for school library media programs. ALA, American Library Association. (2002). www.ala.org/@yourlibrary/)
For example, it suggested having the same brand with a new slogan on the activities implemented by the school
library. I thought it was an innovative and catchy/hip way to get students on board (e.g. Get the score (slogan) @
your library (brand) would promote a number of workshops to coach students on preparing for tests, cite sources,
etc). Thus, every time an @ your library brand appears, students would know there is a new activity going on in
the school library. @ your library provides numerous suggestions used by other schools. Another idea includes
hosting a Multicultural Day in the library where students set up displays from their countries including food,
artifacts, and books. I like this idea as the student population at my school is very diverse. I also like the idea of
having a Karaoke Day for example before the Christmas break. This allows students to see the teacher librarian
in a different way. The school library could also hold contests like poetry or essay writing contests, where the
teachers are the judges. It could also take part in various ready-made observances like International or National
School Library Day. All activities could be listed on a calendar in the library section of the school web page, on a
bulletin board in the library, and on bookmarks, and announced during the morning announcements as they come
up. From reading all the suggestions provided by @ your library , I realized that the possibilities are endless and
youre only limited by your own imagination.
In addition, the survey results showed two major areas that were underutilized by the teachers regarding the
school library. They include: (1) the educational resource section for teachers; and (2) teacher collaboration.
After analyzing the surveys, I found out that many teachers did not use the educational resource section for
teachers and that a number of teachers did not know that one had existed. The research from @ your library
School Library Campaign found that, Principals and teachers are most likely to see the value in school libraries

and librarians for students. They tend to turn elsewhere for their own needs. 4 I feel that it is important to let the
teachers know about these resources and encourage them to use them, especially the new teachers, as there is a
wealth of information at their fingertips that may go to waste just because they do not know it is there for their use.
As stated in the School Library Guidelines by the IFLA/UNESCO, the teacher librarian should, assist students
and teachers in the use of library resources and information technology. 5 To let teachers know the section exists
and what is in the section, I would, as the teacher librarian, create an interesting display section with colourful
signage that can be clearly seen by teachers as they enter the library. At staff meetings I would remind teachers
that the resource section is available to them and what it includes. On a regular basis I would send out e-mail to
teachers highlighting new books, resources, and Web sites that could be of help to them. I know in my previous
school, the teacher librarian did this and I appreciated the information immensely. I would also hold in-service
sessions at lunch or after school for teachers, especially new ones, on how to use and/or take out the resources.
As mentioned above, another area of the school library program that is underutilized by teachers is collaboration
with the teacher librarian. Teacher collaboration is so important since, It has been demonstrated that, when
librarians and teachers work together, students achieve higher levels of literacy, reading, problem-solving and
information and communication technology skills. 6 In my research, I learned that many teachers felt there was no
need for collaboration; some didnt want to bother the teacher librarian; while others didnt know it was part of a
teacher librarians role. I admit that I did not collaborate with the teacher librarian in the past because I didnt want
to bother them and I also did not know the extent of their role until I took this course. I feel that teacher librarians
must do a better job in promoting their role. The teacher librarian could promote themselves by providing
brochures to teachers outlining their role and by putting out little reminders regarding collaboration on the school
intranet conference and at staff meetings. I think that the teacher librarian must be proactive when it comes to
collaboration. S/he should approach teachers and ask them if they need help with lesson planning or even offer
them suggestions. Thus in the future, teachers would be more incline to collaborate with the teacher librarian.
Once the message is out there, other teachers may follow suit.
Finally, I needed to discover administrations view of the school library as success of the school library program
depends on them. I never really thought about it but its so obvious, in order to have a successful school library
program the teacher librarian must first have the support of administration. Through the surveys I found out that
administration, at least on paper, said they supported the school library and felt that it was very important to
student success. However, what I concluded was what they said and what they did were two very different things.
Now the question is, How can administration support the school library so that it leads to student success? The
most obvious answer is money, of course. Through the class discussions I was very surprised at the school library
budgets at some schools compared to my school and my mentors school, namely, the school that the course
instructor is teaching at. As she says, I have had 4 principals in the past 2 1/2 years. When they ask, How can I
support the library? my answer is, Give me moneyMoney does make a huge differenceI feel good about
having money to make a real impact on student success in this school. There is just no comparison when one
school has a budget of $50000 plus (instructors budget) and another has a budget of $2500 plus (mentors
budget). How can one achieve student success when the budget is only enough to cover supplies, if that, and not
learning materials?
Another way that administration could support the school library is to provide support staff to help the teacher
librarian with the clerical tasks so that s/he could have time to teach and collaborate with other teachers. I found
out that this type of support was provided in one school but not in another in my board. The positive side to this is
that there is money that can be put aside for such help even though it is not done consistently throughout the
board.

4 Toolkit for school library media programs. ALA, American Library Association. (2002).
www.ala.org/@yourlibrary/
5 School Library Guidelines. IFLA/UNESCO Released by IFLA in August 2002 as a document to accompany the
IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto.
http://www.ifla.org/VII/s11/pubs/sguide02.pdf
6 Anonymous. (2001). The school library in teaching and learning for all: The UNESCO school library manifesto.
School Libraries in Canada. Retrieved from ELibrary database.

As documented in Teacher Librarian by Gary Hartzell, in order to obtain student achievement the school library
program should have, among other things, large, varied, and up-to-date collections; one or more full-time
qualified librarians; library support staff large enough and skilled enough to free certified librarians from routine
clerical duties and to allow them time to teach, to collaborate with teachers and to engage in leadership activities
outside of the library; [and a] budget adequate to support the previous items. 7
Thus, it is up to the teacher librarian to convince administration to put the money where their mouth is. The
teacher librarian should create a mission statement for the school library that is consistent with the schools goals.
When this is done, the teacher librarian needs to get administration to buy into it. Once they are onboard, I feel it
would be easier to get the funding necessary to build a successful library program.
As a teacher taking the Librarianship course and completing this reflective project, I think it is worth my while to
put the wheel in motion by informing the current teacher librarian at my school with my findings and research in a
tactful way. Hopefully she could put some of this information to use in order to correct the underutilized areas of
the school library.
Throughout this process, I have learned that the task of promoting the school library program is a huge
undertaking but one that must be done in order for staff and students to take advantage of the teacher librarians
knowledge and expertise and obtain student achievement. The teacher librarian must recognize that s/he does
not have to implement everything all at once and feel overwhelmed but rather slowly and consistently until what
s/he has envisioned as the ideal library has come to fruition. As stated in The IFLA/UNESCO School Library
Guidelines under Chapter 5: Promotion of the Library and Learning, The services and facilities provided by the
school library must be actively promoted so that the target groups are always aware of its essential role as a
partner in learning and as a gateway to all kinds of information resources. 8 Furthermore, I have also learned that
promoting the school library is an ongoing process that never ends, reflecting the student body and the times.
Teacher librarians must continually advocate, communicate, and promote their true role to the various
stakeholders (administration, teachers, and students) in order to create and sustain a successful school library
program which will lead to the ultimate goal of helping students achieve success.

7 Hartzell, G. (2003). Why should principals support school libraries? Teacher Librarian. Retrieved from ELibrary database.
8 School Library Guidelines. IFLA/UNESCO Released by IFLA in August 2002 as a document to accompany the
IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto.
http://www.ifla.org/VII/s11/pubs/sguide02.pdf