An Interview on Collaboration

In this interview, I spoke with a school librarian from Georgetown High School in Georgetown County, South Carolina. The high school contains 917 students. It serves grades nine through twelve. I spoke with the librarian about the ways in which she implements the AASL’s standards, along with the strategies she finds to work the best for her. In this interview, I decided to ask questions that had an emphasis on collaboration, which is one of the six shared foundations from the AASL’s standards framework. Here are the questions that were asked, and details from the conversations that came of them.

    1. What are some examples of the ways in which you are implementing collaboration in         your library program?

I asked this question to gain insight on whether collaboration was actually being used or not within her library. The response proved to be positive, as she explained that she is collaborating with teachers and students through activities including book tastings, escape rooms, and research sessions. I was intrigued specifically by the escape rooms, as I have never seen one of those used, and we were able to have a great conversation about the content areas she uses them to teach!

2. What are some of the resources in your library program that you are using to incorporate collaboration in the library?

This question built off of the first one. The librarian went on to list tools that she uses to collaborate with teachers. Some of these tools include Breakout EDU, DISCUS, Canva, and Google Apps. She uses these apps to reach out to teachers and work on creating lessons together. I thought these were some great ideas to use to work on lessons alongside teachers.

3. When you implement instruction surrounding collaboration, do you include classroom teachers?  If so, please provide examples.

When asked this question, the librarian expressed her belief in the importance of meeting with the teacher before the lesson to establish a plan and make sure she addresses the standards in the curriculum. She also expressed that sometimes, she and the teachers divide parts of a lesson, and sometimes they coteach at the same time with groups. She stated that she always wants the teacher involved. I loved when she stated, “two people can accomplish more together. The library is not a place to use in isolation from the teacher. When students see their teachers collaborating, then they are more apt to come to the library for help”. It was so interesting to think about the teachers modeling how to use the library for the students! I had never thought about it that way. 

4. What are some of the challenges that you face when trying to implement collaboration in the library?

The school librarian claimed that time seems to be the biggest challenge when it comes to implementing collaboration in the library. She also claimed that teachers do not want to give up instructional time. The schedule is fixed for many teachers at her school, so they struggle to push into the library. Unfortunately, she stated that she struggles to gain support from her school’s administration. This opened my eyes to just how important it is to gain support from not only the teachers at the school, but also the administration. Administration can inspire and drive teachers to want to use the library. 

5. Are there any other comments that you would like to make regarding the implementation of collaboration in your library program?

Overall, the librarian stated that collaboration is an ongoing struggle in the high school. She stated that teachers are under so much pressure regarding academic expectations and teaching all of their standards, plus extra testing. Even when they know she can help, they are reluctant to give over control.

            

Through this interview, I learned there is a direct connection between teacher/administration support and implementing collaboration in the library. Without support, collaboration is almost unattainable. For collaboration to be consistent, there has to be relationships built between the staff and the librarian.