Jessica Morris

Current Trend Paper Collaboration between Librarians and Teachers

8-31-2015

Back when Oklahoma was becoming a state, a group of people came together with a
shared goal of their love of learning and thus began the first of public libraries.
In this complex world, Collaboration has become a necessity in education. to
accomplish any tasks. (Schrack 2015) Librarians and teachers both share a common goal to
educate and inform the ones in their communities. These two professionals have a history of
collaborating with each other to help accomplish their shared goal. A community-based
organization such as the Metropolitan Library System Downtown public library and the John
Rex School is a perfect partnership. The AIM Center shows how collaborating with a library can
be a fast and easy way to obtain resources teachers would not have on their own for the school
year. Lastly, libraries can provide outreach programs and after school programs with the help of
teacher volunteers as demonstrated with the Iowa Tribal Library. All the examples here show us
librarians and teachers share similar interests and goals, which creates a crossover of resources.
On my recent tour of the Metropolitan Library System Downtown Library, the Oklahoma
Library for the Blind and Physically Handicap, and the Iowa Tribal Library, I witnessed the
present workings of librarians working with teachers in their communities sharing resources and
information. Collaboration benefits both parties by saving time, money, and workload. Here are
my discoveries of the trend of librarians and teachers in collaboration with each other.
My observations of these facilities just hit the surface of the current trend of collaborating
between librarians and teachers within a community. While I was unable to collect specific data,
I was able to learn about how they collaborate. I will expand on my findings throughout this
paper. Nonetheless, I did find a similar summary of a survey conducted in Ohio with data related
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to the collaborations between librarians and teachers. The article, Talking bout Collaboration
by Janet Ingraham Dwyer, the State Library of Ohio and Cherie Pandora, incorporates responses
from librarians of Ohio on their experiences of collaborations with other professionals. The
results show that a majority of librarians do some form of collaboration and that there is a need
for it. The positive benefits are proven in the outcomes from working together on projects such
as after schoolbook talk programs, loaning out books, and having digital features available.
Strategic collaboration among school and public librariansItll get you tag-teaming,
designing programs that take advantage of what each library does best. (Dwyer and
Pandora 2014, 8)
The Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library is one of 19 branches that is part of the
Oklahoma County library system. This librarys location is downtown Oklahoma City where its
primary community of customers are in the adult range until August 2014 when the John Rex
Elementary school opened. The school consists of grade levels pre-kindergarten to 3rd grade, has
16 full time teachers, and has approximately 300-500 students as of this year. The Downtown
library became the official school library of John Rex. This opened up a beneficial opportunity
for both the library and the schoolteachers to collaborate with each other and combine resources.
Jessica Gonzalez, the Downtown childrens librarian collaborates with the 16 schoolteachers
working along helping with issuing library cards, coordinating book collections around the
teachers curriculum, and having story time for the students. In turn, the library benefits from the
rise in customers, and boost in circulation in their children book section. In addition, because of
the rise in customers, specifically children, Jessica Gonzalez commented that she is able to open
up library program events such as Maker Mondays, Lego Club and Minecraft days.

A news posting by Jennifer Jones in January 2015, Volunteers Need for Come Read with
Me Program is another of many examples of collaborations between the library system and the
John Rex School. The Metropolitan Library System set up a volunteer opportunity to help
develop a lifelong love of reading with the students of John Rex and others. This is a combine
collaboration of the library, school, and the community.
The Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (OLBPH) provides free
access to information the residents of Oklahoma with reading disabilities. In the 1930s,
Congress completed an Act establishing that there will be a free library service in every state
providing materials for their residents. In the 1950s this act was expanded to include children.
The Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM) Center is a department within the OLBPH that
maintains a depository of braille and large print textbooks materials that they loan out to the
students across Oklahoma. They are also the main resource for teachers who have handicap
students with access to learning materials, educational aids, and developmental toys and games
to enhance learning. In 2014 annual report, the AIM Center served 969 children, 20,609 total in
items in the collection, and 2,755 instructional aids such as talking globes and maps available for
teachers for the school year. A current project for the center this year is purchasing and
implementing iPads into their collections for promoting ongoing learning to the schoolchildren.
The AIM Center works with the Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVIs) that handle
blind or physically handicap students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade that attend public
and private schools. Materials can be checked out for the entire school year and the AIM Center
has consumable materials available for students free. Once a year the center holds a meeting with
the teachers to show new products the library is acquiring and to receive feedback from teachers

concerning materials the center supply. Collaboration is the key method to overcoming
educations toughest challenges. We are all in this together. (Schrack)
The Iowa Tribal Library is located in a small town of Perkins, Oklahoma. Sandy Tharp,
the tribal librarian, relies on the collaborations with teachers and donations to maintain the
library materials and facility. From my tour visit, I learned that the librarian worked with the
Oklahoma Department of Libraries (ODL) to have books donated that help build half the tribal
collection. The librarian began to realize that her customers were without high school diplomas
and students needed help with schoolwork. Sandy working with ODL and the Oklahoma City
Community Foundation found a way to provide GED Connection Resources for the teachers and
students. Along with the GED program, Tutor.com, a database is available for tutoring online.
Sandy informed me that the local school has the tribal library link on their website for their
teachers and students to use the database for tutor/homework help. The Iowa Tribal Library also
helps to improve family literacy and offer traditional cultural activities throughout the year.
By establishing partnerships, a school librarian can conquer mountains! (Wong 2014)
Partnerships with librarians and teachers can be an effective working relationship to accomplish
those similar goals of helping your community. We are so consumed with information every
minute of the day I am surprised we get anything done. In our communities, it has become
expected for individuals to work together. As mentioned in the article by author Janet Dwyer,
Pew Research Center study Library Services in the Digital age found a majority of the public
stated that libraries should definitely coordinate services more closely with local schools. And
I agree. Librarians and teachers are here to help our community learn and grow.
If you are new to the collaborative game as I am, here are a few pointers I have learned
during my Oklahoma Library tours and research. The first thing for a librarian is to be informed.

Be aware of the objectives or responsibilities your teacher(s) you are teaming up with have for
the school year. Start to learn the lingo and make connections with your teacher(s). There are so
many opportunities ahead of you and making the right connection can help. Start setting up
meetings with the teacher to learn what their needs will be but being flexible, and always be
prepared. All of these helps you both save time and shows respect. Lastly, you need trust.
Working with another individual, you are depending on them to hold up their end of the deal.
Before my class visits to Oklahoma libraries, I did not know collaboration was a trend
among librarians or something we needed to know. I realize now that developing those
collaborative relationships is a key element to a successful career. I have shown a little of the
past with the experiences of librarians with collaborations with teachers. I have described the
present workings of librarians currently working along with teachers to encourage that lifelong
learning. Now we can only look towards the future, armed with the knowledge of the key
elements of collaboration.

Bibliography:
Dwyer, Janet Ingraham, and Cherie Pandora. 2014. "Talking 'bout Collaboration." Ohio Media
Spectrum 66, no. 1: 5-15. Library Literature & Information Science Full Text (H.W.
Wilson), EBSCOhost (accessed August 25, 2015)
Johnson, Mary J., 2012. "Every Student's Reading Teacher: The School Librarian." School
Library Monthly 28, no. 5: 27-28. Library Literature & Information Science Full Text
(H.W. Wilson), EBSCOhost (accessed August 26, 2015).
Jones, Jennifer. 2015. Volunteers Needed for Come Read with Me Program. Metropolitan
News. January 29. Accessed August 27, 2015. http://www.metrolibrary.org/news/01-292015/volunteers-needed-come-read-me-program
Meeks, Mary Virginia, and Maria Cahill. 2013. "Dream Big: Empowering Middle School
Students. Library Media Connection 31, no. 4: 30. MasterFILE Premier, EBSCOhost
(accessed August 25, 2015).
OLBPH. 2015. Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicap. Last Modified
January 2015. http://olbph.org/dir/faq-page
Schrack, Robin. 2015. "Creating a Culture for Collaboration: Connecting with New Teachers."
School Library Monthly 31, no. 6: 35-36. Library Literature & Information Science Full
Text (H.W. Wilson), EBSCOhost (accessed August 26, 2015).
Wong, Tracey. 2014. "Powerful Partnerships." Library Media Connection 33, no. 3: 26.
MasterFILE Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed August 25, 2015).