Promoting Belonging through Jeffco Libraries

By Heidi Floyd, Library Services Coordinator & Camille Ryckman, Ed Tech Specialist, Libraries

​Over the past few years schools have connected with their school libraries in ways we never imagined. School libraries have always been the hub of the school - continually connecting all students, families, staff, and community to one another. The keystone to school libraries are our Digital Teacher Librarians (DTLs), who lead in the work of engaging students in critical thinking 

skills, collaborating and co-teaching to promote authentic technology integration and providing access to information.   This has evolved with our needs, from remote learning and the need for 1:1 access for all students and staff to being in schools and supporting technology integration as teachers and students return to classrooms.    DTLs continue to support technology integration, as we roll out of this pandemic and beyond the 21st century.  And although technology use is strong, promoting a love of reading is still one of the core values of all libraries, providing avenues for students to explore new ideas, dream and create and get lost in books.  As students return to school, library book check out has soared and our DTLs are working diligently to curate a collection that ensures students find their “just right” fit.

Partnerships

Cultivating Equitable Libraries with Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Through focused professional learning, Digital Teacher Librarians have embarked on a path to Cultivating Equitable Libraries.  Jeffco Library Services, in collaboration with Jeffco’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion team, have partnered over the past few years to create a rich and meaningful plan to curate collections that have the “just right” books for each student.  

Our goal is for each school library collection to provide window, mirrors and sliding glass doors for our students.  Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, elevated this call to action over three decades ago when “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors” originally appeared in Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom, Vol. 6, no. 3, Summer 1990.  

Title I: Promoting Belonging Through Literature
Jeffco Library  partnerships expanded into the Title I team as they learned about our library work with Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.  This school year, the Title I team has been able to support Title I school libraries financially, taking our work into action and providing $5000 for each school library to Promote Belonging through Literature.  Title I, Jeffco Libraries, along with Social Emotional Learning Specialists (SELS) and FELS (Family Engagement Liaisons) have strived to bring this work to fruition.  This is an amazing opportunity for so many of our schools that will have lasting impacts on many of our students and staff, far beyond this school year.   ​

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Jeffco Public Libraries
This work was supported by another community partner, Jefferson County Public Libraries.  The Title I DTLs requested time to research and evaluate books, thinking critically about each of their communities and collections.  JCPL provided the space and hundreds of titles for DTLs to read and review.  Our partners at JCPL provided the books we requested and offered us so many more.  DTLs who participated said that this was a game changer, that they filled their buckets professionally and were able to use their expertise to knowledgeably curate their schools collection. 

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Follett Library Solutions
As Covid was on the rise, our plans to meet in person were put on hold. Jeffco’s library book vendor, Follett, stepped in and provided full preview access to books on our purchasing platform.  Follett spent countless hours in coordination with various publishers to provide DTLs with full access to preview titles digitally. This increased access allowed DTLs to continue their work.  Follett has also  partnered closely in the work the Title I DTLs have done, working to ensure the books ordred will arrive before the end of the school year.

Connections

Example of success
A recent post on the Jeffco Ed Tech blog , An Accidental Love Letter,  highlighted a few examples of how this work is directly impacting students.  There are many more untold stories that reflect the impact of the work that DTLs are doing.  Our students face a variety of seen and unseen  challenges; the need to have mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors is essential for all learners.  These stories share glimpses into the heart of our work.

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Where do we go next?
As we begin to wrap up this year’s professional learning, we are far from finished.  DTLs will continuously seek opportunities to promote belonging through literature; including building lists of books to add to library collections, finding ways to build a budget that can sustain equity in our school library collections and as equity leaders in our buildings. DTLs will also continue to create shared and collaborative opportunities for students to thrive as learners, readers and thinkers using technology, information, and literature.  We are committed to being the hub of our learning community, serving all learners.

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