The Librarian Influencer of the Week is Courtney Pentland who is from Nebraska and has had a variety of amazing library experiences. You can listen to her interview at: http://laurasheneman.libsyn.com/school-librarians-are-incredibly-valuable-instructional-partners-and-leaders-with-courtney-pentland.
Here are a couple of Librarian Influencer strategies Courtney shared:
Visit other school libraries.
Work to be seen as an instructor who can create and craft lessons.
Weeding was something she needed to do her first semester due to the size of her high school collection. It helped her know her collection better.
Be sure to ask the basic questions you need to function in your new role. Since you don’t have a team, you may have no one to tell you what to do when you are going to be absent, need to make copies, etc.
Be an instructional partner. Collaborate with teachers even if you don’t have a flexible schedule where you can co-plan with them. Send out emails sharing the skills you will be working on with their students. Tell them what you taught when they pick up their classes. Ask the teachers what they are working on in the classroom.
Our instruction should support what is happening in the classroom. Library skills are more powerful when they are not taught in isolation.
Librarianship is a marathon and not a sprint. You can’t do everything in your first year.
You can follow Librarian Influencer Courtney Pentland at:
Twitter: @livluvlibrary https://twitter.com/livluvlibrary
Instagram: @livluvlibrary https://www.instagram.com/livluvlibrary/
Search the databases for articles she has written.