Antioch University Seattle School Library Certification Program: Advocacy Workshop

Communicating the Value of the School Library Program to Key Stakeholders

Learn key communication and leadership skills and strategies that highlight the school library program as a critical academic learning resource for students and staff. Through the presenters’ material as well as collegial collaboration, participants will learn strategies for articulating key messaging. In large and small group activities, attendees will learn how to identify their advocacy challenge and influential stakeholders as they create a plan for communicating the critical role the school library plays in students’ academic success. Using research that includes library impact studies and school data, participants will develop an action plan to leverage the strengths of the library program and create messaging to communicate the unique contributions the library program brings to the learning environment.

Workshop Objectives: Participants will

1. Create a school library program action plan that aligns the library’s vision and agenda with the school’s mission and initiatives.
2. Articulate messaging (position statements, branding, critical talking points) to communicate the school library program’s impact on learning, addressing what influential stakeholders care about most.
3. Build leadership and advocacy skills as they collaborate and share ideas with colleagues.

BIO:  Deb Kachel is an Affiliate Faculty for Antioch University Seattle’s K-12 Library Media Endorsement program and also teaches online school library courses for McDaniel College, Westminster, MD. She was a high school librarian and library department supervisor for over 30 years in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She is the advocacy columnist for Teacher Librarian: The Journal for School Library Professionals. She is the Pennsylvania’s School Librarian Association’s Legislative Liaison and received the 2014 AASL Distinguished Service Award for her school library advocacy work.

BIO: Before joining Antioch University Seattle as a Core Faculty member Christie Kaaland was an elementary school librarian in Tacoma SD for 14 years. She is the director of Antioch’s Library Endorsement program. Christie is author of the associate editor of Teacher Librarian: The Journal for School Library Professionals, the only scholarly, peer-reviewed journal solely published for school librarians. 

Kachel and Kaaland are lead authors of the only school library advocacy book, Activism and the School Library: An Advocacy Toolkit, published by Libraries Unlimited; Kaaland is also the author of Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Recovery in School Libraries: Creating a Safe Haven.

From Craig:

School library and information technology programs are a vital resource for student learning. This video to highlight the essential role teacher librarians play in information and technology literacy instruction, reading advocacy, and information management. Published 1/9/13