"Oh, the Places You'll Go!"

"Congratulations!

Today is your day.

You're off to Great Places!

You're off and away!"

- Dr. Seuss




No more famous words could be spoken after reading the articles in the School Libraries Worldwide Journal vol.14 or after hearing (and reading) the empowering and motivational Manifesto of the 21st Century Librarian created by Joyce Valenza. I can honestly say I'm not sure what made me think of the book, "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" by Dr. Seuss... but all of the sudden I found myself sifting through my 7 year old's extensive and (unorganized) collection of picture books stored under her bed, just to locate it. I opened its pages and began reading through the inspirational words and intriguing snippets of advice Seuss weaves into rhyme, all the while thinking about the role of the 21st century librarian. You have to read it, again! It was amazing how parallel the whole story and theme fits with the challenges and "exciting times" that lay ahead for a teacher-librarian; a TL who is ready to engage the newly identified learner of the Net Generation, accept the new literacies of today's students and begin to teach these students with a whole new arsenal of tools and techniques! (That was a mouthful!)


At the risk of sounding too corny and bit "over the top", I have to say I was truly moved by Joyce Valenza's podcast of her manifesto. As a 15 year teacher who has finally come to the realization that I want to play more of a leadership role as an educator (but not as an administrator) and I have always loved the environment and ideals of the library as a "learning commons", I couldn't be more excited about the prospect of becoming a "teacher-librarian of the 21st century"! That being said, I couldn't help thinking..."Can I do all this? Can I make Valenza's manifesto a reality in my school and in my career as a new TL?" Like the young lady in the podcast who had just graduated Library School, I could definitely relate to her question, "What should I be doing?" Whether Joyce's Manifesto of a 21st Century Librarian is used as a checklist, an instruction manual or a set of guiding principles, I found it an amazing springboard from which to launch myself in the right direction towards being an effective and indispensible teacher-librarian for my school and most importantly the students of the Net Generation.

After reading the articles in the School Libraries Worldwide Journal vol.14, I seemed to hear the same underlying message being stated but in a variety of different ways and under a myriad of statistics and research documentations...students of the 21st century have changed and we as educators need to keep up with these changes in order to make school and specifically the library a useful and relevant place for learning in their digitally carved lives! That being said (very simplistically I might add), these articles tackled many diverse aspects of the 21st century learners; from defining their characteristics as in Doiron and Asselin's article to analyzing the validity and usefulness of Web 2.0, videogames, popular culture media and open source journals as the "new literacy" in our traditional school libraries.

So what did this all mean to me as I read through these articles?
The good-ole fashion student that I am, I had printed off each of the articles, pulled out my handy-dandy highlighter and pen to take notes as I read. It all seemed quite ironic as I read about the Open Source Journal Systems where Kopak shares the reading tools of the OJS with hypertext linking and an annotation area to store your ideas as you read...hmmmm! (I'm definitely still a work in progress in the 21st century learning department.)

As I look back on all the keypoints I had highlighted from the various articles, they all seemed to be the "action phrases"; the sentences and statements that were urging educators and librarians on to what they needed to do to "keep up" and be effective for our students of today!

I learned SO MUCH in reading these articles, it was almost a bit overwhelming and intimidating. So I thought I'd attempt to construct a list of the ideas and 21st century learning principles that I'd like to (someday) incorporate into my libratory or "learning commons" and make it part of my own little manifesto (not surprisingly similar to Joyce's I'm sure!):

• "develop students competencies in a variety of print and digital technologies to communicate and learn" (Doiron and Asselin)
• educate students on how to properly use a search engine instead of the "click and grab"
• help students to develop their critical literacy skills to evaluate information and not take it at face value
• make research projects in school more meaningful opportunities for inquiry, creativity and collaboration
• help our Net Generation with their quest for "social transformation" by assisting them with the tools they will need to accomplish this such as using Web 2.0 technologies
• foster the respect and values that our students require when working in an open source environment ensuring they know they have responsibilties when working in the Internet
• stay current myself in such things as popular culture media, video games, social networking, etc.(not hard with 3 daughters aged 4 through 15!) in order to create the "literacy of fusion" (Doiron and Asselin) in my school library program
• make the library an "interactive learning community" for students to "develop their own personal knowledge and understanding of the curriculum" (Todd)
• be a leader in the educational field to share the amazing potential as a learning tool that Web 2.0 and other media-rich literacies can play in our schools and libraries to keep our 21st century students engaged...

I know my list will grow and continue on as my experiences as a teacher-librarian become more real and my knowledge in this field expands in the coursework and personal professional developoment that I pursue. For now, I see a lot of challenges that lay ahead for teacher-librarians. The educators/authors of these articles are sending the "library world" a clear and urgent message; the needs and interests of our 21st century learners are constantly changing as their digital world continually evolves and pulls them further and further away from the idea of school being a fun and important learning environment. It is now one of the most integral parts of our job...to keep our students engaged, challenged and feeling that their school is "listening to them" and providing them with the tools they need in order to survive in the 21st century world. I loved the analogy by Doiron and Asselin, to "make school libraries the bridge between in-school and out-of-school literacies".

"So...

be your name Joanne or Christine, Carol or Kathy

or Chris, Danielle, Shiela, Rhonda, Jes, April or Joanie

you're off to Great Places!

Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting.

So...get on your way!"

-Dr. Seuss