Advocacy

I don't know that the title of this entry should be advocacy, but I have several topics I want to write about today and it seems there is an underlying theme of advocacy. This is one area where I feel that I am just beginning to develop my skills. While very candid about many things, hence the name Candid Librarian, advocacy is not one of them. Or is it? While I may not come out and use the word "advocacy" on a regular basis, I do encourage others to improve their practice, to be more than someone who just checks out books, to be someone who impacts learning. But is that really advocacy? I think it is, because I tend to believe that if you have a program that others in your school see as valuable, then you are advocating for yourself. Your program should speak for itself. If it doesn't, what are you advocating for anyway?

On Monday I will be presenting to the media coordinators in our district about my experiences at the NCTIES 2012 Conference. I actually don't have a tremendous amount I want to share with them at this time, because there are many tools that I have not explored thoroughly. However, one tool that I learned about from Ken Shelton will be front and center. That is Google Search Story. I absolutely love the possibilities of this very simple tool. Of course, it has been a love/hate relationship due to a technology snafu. When it comes time to upload to YouTube it indicates that you can login with your Google account. Yea, that didn't work. I could login to YouTube but not from the Google Search Story. I created a YouTube username and logged in with my Google password after trying ever other possible solution. So you have now read this paragraph about Google Search Story and are wondering how this relates to advocacy. Well, take a look at my first story.

As I mentioned, I will be sharing this with others on Monday and I really want to make a point. We need to be involved at all levels and ensure that we are a key part of Common Core implementation. We need to be collaborating with teachers and showing that we make difference. Hmmm, advocacy, maybe I am headed in the right direction.

So now we have the support of those within our building, what do we do to let others in our community know about our services and programs? How do we reach beyond the walls of our own schools? I don't know that there is one certain right way. We all have areas we are more comfortable and to be honest this is not mine, but I value our profession and know that we do impact student learning. While at AASL in October, the Follett Challenge winners were interviewed. These interviews were released this past week. Here is what I had to say about libraries and advocacy.

To be honest, I debated adding my interview here. It seems so self-promoting, but as my wonderful husband pointed out our profession requires us to show others what we are doing. Promoting my profession is not self-promoting but advocating for what I value. Wow, he is so much wiser than I knew. :)

So, there it is, the evolution of advocacy.

**Please note my school is actually in East Flat Rock, NC not Winston-Salem as mentioned in the video. There was some confusion as there is a Flat Rock Middle School there as well.