Leading from the Library : Help Your School Community Thrive in the Digital Age

Written by a seasoned librarian and an education leader, this book guides librarians in becoming leaders in their school communities, with strategies on developing partnerships, empowering students and more.

The modern school library supports education in a variety of ways. One essential role librarians play is that of a leader who works collaboratively to build relationships, mold culture and climate, and advocate for the needs of students and the community.

In this book, a librarian and an education leader team up to reflect on the librarian’s ability to build connections in two ways. First, they discuss the benefits of bringing the outside world into the library through the use of social media, videoconferencing and other tools that allow librarians to partner with others. Then they expand upon these connections by addressing how librarians can lead in the greater educational community by sharing resources and strategies, and partnering with school leaders to tell the story of the school community.

This book will:

• Highlight the potential of librarians to empower their students, their schools and their communities, and be learning leaders in the digital age.
• Include stories of partnerships – from librarians and administrators – illustrating how they can collaborate to create change by harnessing the influence of the school library program to enhance the educational experience.
• Explore how librarians serve as mentors to their students, delving into many topics that define digital age literacy, including the librarian’s role in reading advocacy, information validity, digital citizenship and research.
• Make direct connections to the ISTE Standards for Students, Educators and Education Leaders in each chapter.

Through this book, librarians will discover the influence they can have on the school community as the library becomes the heart of the school, a place where problems are solved, content is explored, connections are made and discovery happens.

Audience: K-12 school librarians/media specialists, education leaders

William Bass is the innovation coordinator for instructional technology, information and library media for the Parkway School District in St. Louis, Missouri. He holds a master’s degree in instructional technology and a certificate of online learning from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Throughout his more than 20-year career in education, he has held positions as a middle and high school English teacher, technology integration specialist, instructional coach and educational consultant. He has served as co-president of the Educational Technology Association of Greater St. Louis and is president-elect of the ISTE Board of Directors. Shannon McClintock Miller is the K-12 district teacher librarian at Van Meter Community School District in Iowa. In 2013, she was named one of the Faces of Innovation by Broadband for America, was one of 50 people featured in the 2013 Center for Digital Education Yearbook and was a featured Connected Educator with the Connected Educators projects in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education. In 2014, she was named a Library Journal Mover and Shaker, and in 2016, she was awarded the ISTE Making IT Happen Award. She enjoys blogging and recently published her first four children’s books about library skills with Cantata Learning.