New Librarian? Start Here!

As with any job, starting as a brand new school librarian is exciting, challenging, and often overwhelming. Truly, the most important thing to do is breathe--in my humble opinion, you now have the best job in the school. Then, after you take a few breaths, you have to get to work.

Throw your library doors open wide and get these four things done.

1) Get to know your staff.

Go to them. The week before students return is usually full of meetings--department meetings, collaborative team meetings, grade level meetings. Go to all the meetings you can--introduce yourself, listen, find out what they want from a library program, learn the culture of the school, listen. Did I say listen already?

Invite them to your place. Host an open house in the library--serve coffee and muffins in the morning or lemonade, iced tea, and cookies in the afternoon. Opening your doors with a welcome smile really sets the tone for the school year.

Connect with the newbies. The new teachers in your building are just as nervous as you are, whether they are brand new to teaching or just new to your school. Stop by their classrooms as they are setting up to check in. You are a great building resource for new teachers.

2) Share resources.

Update your web site, build a new one, and add your content to whatever learning management system your school uses.

Make sure you post your contact info and where to find your library on social media (no presence on social media? Set it up!), Also post FAQs, links and passwords for subscription databases, and other resources that might be helpful to your staff. This will grow and change with time--but you can start with some basics.

Tell your teachers where to find this info in a way that makes the most sense to your school--again, we're back on culture. Maybe you can send an all staff email, maybe you have a spot for electronic posting, perhaps you want to stuff mailboxes with your site on a bookmark with a piece of candy. I absolutely love this crowdsourced infographic "Top 10 Things Your Librarian Can do For You," collected and curated by librarian Tiffany Whithead (@librarian_tiff)--print or send to your staff and include your information as well. Your messaging should be open and welcoming and feel natural to you.

3) Focus on students.

You've met your teachers, next up your students are going to walk through the door. If you are on a fixed schedule, you'll meet them all. Plan an orientation activity to introduce yourself and to find out what your students want and need from the library 

If you are on a flexible schedule, you will need to do a bit of PR and scheduling with teachers. At the middle school level, I like to bring in all of my English classes for orientation within the first few weeks of school. I am in the process of crafting an orientation post -- stay tuned. In the meantime, I like to think about orientation in four components:

• Intro to the Basics (simple, no lecturing allowed);
  
• Exploration of the Space (get them up and moving);
  
• Making & Creating (have students tinker & play);​
  
• Sharing (learn more about your students).

4) Connect and find support.

Some school districts are large and offer a huge amount of support to new teachers and librarians. If yours does, that's awesome. Make use of it. Reach out to your mentor with questions big and small, stay in touch with the other new librarians who began at the same time as you did, participate in the district's Google community, try to visit other libraries in your district to see how they do things.

However, even in large supportive districts, it's important to look beyond your library walls, beyond your district boundaries for a more expansive view on our practice. This becomes even more important if you are a solo librarian without a huge amount of support. You may already be on Twitter, but if not, get there. Follow educators and librarians, participate in chats and learn from others. Join a Facebook group or a Google Community. Start with something familiar and lurk for a bit as you get comfortable. We have a Take5 post with some specific ideas to help you connect with other school librarians.

* * *

There will be those inevitable down times, especially at the beginning when you aren't sure WHAT you should be doing. These are good times to accomplish some of those other tasks:

• Browse your own collection--figure out where things are and decide if you like them there or not
• Sort through bins of junk mail that arrived over the summer
• Shelve books that may have been used for summer programs
• Process new books that the previous librarian ordered
• Decide how you want to do scheduling--a Google calendar? A calendar tied in with your school's email system? A spreadsheet program?. Consider what will work best for your staff.
• Stand in the middle of your library and spin around, arms out, channeling your inner Julie Andrews. Relax. Breathe. You have the best job in the school.

You've got this,
Gretchen

(PS- I would love to hear how your year has begun! Tell me the best advice that you have received for staring as a new school librarian! What questions do you still have? What support do you need? Share below!)

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You might also like:

• Genrefication, or, Making our Library More Reader Friendly (November 22, 2016)
• You think you know what librarians do? Sorry, but chances are...you're wrong. (October 22, 2016)
• New Teacher? Start Here! (August 16, 2016)
• BubbleUp Take5: Connecting with Other School Librarians (August 12, 2016)