What I Have Learned So Far With Distance Librarianship

As schools are closed and everyone is figuring out this "online" thing, I have learned a few things that do not shock, but, rather, sadden me. I have also learned a few positives.

The Sad:
1. Despite participating daily in several librarian Facebook groups, there are a lot of librarians who JUST DON'T READ. They don't read posts of questions that have been asked and answered ad nauseam. Whether it's "How do I video a story-time without breaking copyright?" or "Have you heard of the National Emergency Library Archive?" or even "I don't know what to do to reach my students?" librarians are not doing what we always recommend to our students and staff: READ and you shall find the answer!
     (Answers to these questions:
     1. All Australian publishers are allowing read alouds so long as it is password protected and    
        deleted by the end of the school  year. Every American publishing house that has given
        permission for public performances of their picture books -almost all- has the same basic
       guidelines: give credit with title, author, and publisher at beginning of video, delete within 30
       days or by end of school year, use password protected sites. 
     2. The NELA is an archive of illegally copied books so it should not be used in any way, shape, or
       form. Basically they digitally photocopied books. We all know that's wrong so STOP ASKING
       ABOUT IT!
     3. Use Google Classroom if a Google school; create a Seesaw account; use the platform teachers
       are using or ask teachers to assist in posting. Lastly, DON'T WORRY if students are more
       worried about online math assignments than library activities. Post optional things for those who
       want something different to do! Unless, of course, you must give grades. Then do easy things,
       like have students draw a picture of their favorite scene in a book. Don't expect full-blown
       research projects like they would have done at school in the library!)

2. Some librarians are not as helpful as our profession calls for. They ridicule librarians who ask "How do we sanitize the books when we reopen?" "How will we get the books back if we don't restart school until the fall?" Literally ridiculing. This is extremely depressing to read online. Everyone's situation is different and administrators have different expectations regarding the caretaking of the library collection. If a librarian doesn't have a constructive answer, then they should not respond with "I'm just glad the students have books, even if they keep them forever." "You shouldn't be worried about that. Good librarians wouldn't care?" -and yes, I have seen that type of response accusing worried librarians about being less than "good" because they are wondering about the collection in our custodianship.

3. The head of one department responded to my email regarding being available with assisting them in online learning, including suggestions to ways I could help, with "I think the library should only be about reading books." This will take addressing when we are all back together to explain why libraries are about research, writing, exploring, and discovering, as well as reading.

The Positives:
1. A different team is wanting to work with the library on some different activities once our spring break ends.

2. We have a lot of children enjoying our online activities and stories through a variety of platforms. Some have even sent video answers to questions I ask at the end of storytimes. We have also received numerous thank yous and some questions back.

3. My library team (I saved the best for last) have stepped up marvelously to online platforms. I already knew they were hard-workers with a lot of skills and creativity. This unusual situation has given the opportunity to shine even more with all they are doing. What are they doing, you might wonder? Well, we have multiple platforms in use to reach all levels of the school. We also have our regular social media outlets. Through all of these, one English and one Thai storytime have been posted daily. A video on a fun, creative craft is posted daily. We have weekly breakout boxes as well. This is in addition to the online activities I have created with Screencastify and poetry (for Poetry Month) and a GooseChase for the older students.

So, what will we do when our "break" from online teaching ends and we are back at distance learning? We will continue working hard. I can only hope that the librarians around the world who are working online will remember to be more positive towards one another.