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Parternering with schools in a small community is a wonderful mechanism for extending service. In Mathews, we have created a partnership with the elementary school that includes regular class visits to the public library even though the school has its own library and a trained professional in charge. By introducing children to the public library we reinforce the concept that libraries are a lifetime experience. The children participate in reading activities and check out books. A wonderful, unexpected benefit is that it promotes parent trips to the library as well.

Hello to all gathered here,

My name is Conja Wright and I am a Children's Librarian recently seperated from a small south eastern Michigan school district. I applaud your ideas around partnering with schools because my seven year experience demonstrated that what we are and do professionally as librarians is greek to more than our youngest patrons.

Upon arrival I found that I spend a large amount of time connecting with teachers in an attempt to support and aid in classroom learning. The teacher's lack of knowledge of what library time could offer and how it would benefit the students amazed me. There seemed to be a disconnect from what many of these novice teacher's understood about the library in their own academic journey and how it would begin in the elementary media center for their young students.

They unfortunately saw the time appointed for library likened to recess and my time collection developing as time off task. As some would tell me how lucky I was that t had time to do nothing because studenst were not always present in the library. Eventually, I arranged through the technology team to present once a month workshops on the media center. I made them aware of what resources were availbe as well as did some bibliographic traning allowing them to access materials for planned lessons. This activity began to show progress in the way library time was used and appointments honored.

For those teachers who often felt that library time was something extra for them to attend the need to demonsrate how the library could support learning in the classroom was a big seller. In a time when most professional feel that they are under appreciated and under paid the position of being extra work did not make me popular. Through education I was able to win a large majority of teachers over to regularly visiting the library with their classes. Contacting the local public library for field trips and application parties was another big winner at my former elementary school.

I too used PTO meetings to present and showcase students who had improved and or excelled in literacy.