This blogpost ending 2019 will be a bit different. Instead of discussing my library and upcoming events, I want to send a message to my fellow librarians. If you disagree, that is fine. If you agree, that is fine. We all have the right to have and voice our own opinions.
I love being a school librarian. (I loved being a classroom teacher, too, until I was told my projects and activities - which are still remembered by my former students as being meaningful and relating even to the world today - did not prepare students for the mandated state reading tests and would no longer be allowed. After all, teaching students to read, research, and think critically in order to apply knowledge to solve global issues can't have real educational value, right? Please note the sarcasm in that last sentence.)
What I don't love is the "my way or the highway" attitude of some of my peers.
Librarians are VERY knowledgeable and opinionated professionals. Some, however, do not feel there is any other way to do things. Some will call out others for working with their clientele and the needs of that group if it means they don't have makerspaces, loads of e-books, or specific books on their shelves.
It's time for ALL of us to get off our high horses and stop looking down on others.
I belong to a multitude of online librarian groups in which I mainly lurk because of the type of feedback that is commonly given. These groups are filled with librarians from all over the world who work with a wide variety of students, parents, administrative teams, communities, and school boards. Yet the most vocal participants of these groups fail to see that different libraries need different programs and resources and policies. They publicly shame librarians (a.k.a. teacher-librarians, media coordinators, media specialists, and a host of other titles) who ask about "clean" books, graphic novels that do not contains certain images, the use of fines, and other topics relevant to their situation.
This needs to stop.
Example: At my last school, I had a small selection of books in Spanish. These were requested by a group of native Spanish speaking students, and did not circulate widely after those students graduated. There was no need to spend money building a larger collection to collect dust. My current school has huge Modern Foreign Language collections in the lower school and the upper school (Junior School and Senior School, elementary and middle/high). We have books in five main languages plus a small collection of a few other languages. I will spend a big percentage of my budget updating the most popular language's books in this section. Since I do not speak the language, I need the advice of different people to build this collection. Different clientele, different needs.
Therefore, I ask my colleagues around the world not to criticize a peer who needs information regarding the amount of overdue fines they should charge (if they are charging them, don't start hating on them for doing so when you don't like overdue fines!) or books with a specific type of protagonist (if you can't recommend a book in the category they've mentioned, don't comment!) or books that will encourage boys to read (don't argue about gender stereotypes when getting a student to read is the issue and you don't know the student, but the original poster does!). Answer if you have sound advice, but don't lambast, harass, or leave negative feedback. Remain silent if you have nothing but negativity to share. This is not the time to engage the original poster in a social issue argument. You don't know their clientele, their students, their situation. (And this, of course, should be your guidelines for any and all discussion groups.) Just be helpful!
That is, after all, what librarians are supposed to be.
