INCLUDE Interview

For this interview, I talked to a middle school librarian in a community near Lake Murray that has grown increasingly suburban in the past decade or so. Ms. T works at a school that teaches about one thousand 7th and 8th graders. She has been a librarian since 2001 and worked in both elementary and middle schools, including this one for fifteen years.  

The following questions guided our discussion: 

1.  What are some of the ways that you implement the “include” foundation into your         library program?  

a. How do you create an atmosphere in which your students feel                             empowered?   

        2. What are some of the resources you use to help implement the competencies for this                 foundation? (Can be with students or for yourself) 

a. Specifically: using a discerning stance; finding counter viewpoints 

        3. Do you ever collaborate with teachers to implement these competencies? Can you give                 me some examples?  

        4. What are some of the challenges you face when trying to implement the competencies of             this foundation?  

a. How do you encourage students to consider perspectives other than their own, especially on topics that may be controversial, or students may be passionate about?  

        5. Is there anything else you would like to tell me about your experience or general                         thoughts about the “include” foundation and its competencies? 

        

    Ms. T implements the inquire foundation primarily through collection building. She notes that she buys books that reflect the kids she serves, but also provides texts that go beyond their lived experiences. Her student body is almost 80% white, so she makes it a priority to ensure that the collection in the library is full of cultures, backgrounds, and viewpoints that may be different than what many of the students are used to. When she purchases nonfiction books, she considers what perspective the book may take, and does her best to ensure that there are additional resources that show different sides of the story or issue. One example she gave is that of a parent who wanted her to include more books about Christianity in the library. While she granted the request, she also purchased books about other religions and several Christian denominations, so the section would not be dominated by one perspective.  

The underlying theme of the Include foundation is exposing students to different viewpoints and perspectives. One of her collaborations with teachers is when the eighth grade does a “leading issues” unit. Students pick a topic from the list provided, pick a side, and then research to create an argument. The culminating project is a debate. Ms. T ensures there are enough print sources to help, but has also spent a good bit of time curating eBooks for these purposes. One of the reasons she has chosen to lean more heavily on electronic resources is because of the fleeting nature of curriculum and standards. Her biggest challenge is not knowing from year to year if resources will continue to be used in the way they may have been previously. 

I purposely picked this school to focus on for the Include foundation because I was pretty familiar with the demographics and know that the community, as a whole, is conservative leaning. This is something I think about when looking toward a future job. How do I balance the collection between those “windows and mirrors” we frequently hear about? It appears that Ms. T relies heavily on library journals and Follett to help her make decisions about what to purchase. Those are both great tools that can help with finding quality selections. However, I think it will also be important to consistently audit my collection for diversity.  

Just because a school has a certain demographic, does not mean the library collection should only contain books about that demographic. Ms. T’s religion example of making sure the section was representative for all really stood out to me. That is the kind of inclusion I want to take with me into my future library. Kids need to be able to see multiple representations of people and topics. They should see themselves, their classmates who might be different from them, or a perspective of someone they have never considered before. Everyone should be included in the library, no matter their story.