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Interview IV

  For my final interview, I took things straight to the proverbial top, selecting Mrs. Tanksley, our county’s Lead Media Specialist .   This selection, I realize, does technically skirt some of the guidelines of this assignment- this year, Mrs. Tanksley is placed at the Board of Education, and thus is not currently operating a school libr ary- however, in every year previously, for nearly two decades, she has served as an exemplary Media Specialist, and has been appointed as the representative for all of us down at the BoE, advocating for our libraries and raising our concerns, while also helping to set and guide the policies that will shape our programming.  For these reasons, I felt there was no better choice to approach about the final standard I wished to discuss- Explore.   As one might guess, Mrs. Tanksley was keenly familiar with AASL standards .   Not only did she employ them in her own Media Center, but she had worked in tandem with our Teaching and ...
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Interview III

  For my third interview, I opted to speak again with Mrs. Vasquez, librarian at McBean Elementary, who had graciously hosted me for my final day of in-person internship .   Mrs. Vasquez has only been in her position for a few years, but carries with her over a decade of classroom experience, and is quickly distinguishing herself as a Media Specialist to watch in Richmond County.   As we began our interview, I once more decided to open by gauging her familiarity with AASL standards .   She was pensive for a moment, as if searching for the knowledge , before nodding affirmatively .   She explained that she was largely familiar with the standards, though she was having trouble recalling them directly- even so, she noted, her work was in alignment with them, she was certain .     For context, Mrs. Vasquez is a certified school librarian, but she does not possess an MLIS- her route to certification came through a degree in Information Technology, and so...
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Interview II

  For our second interview, I decided to approach Mrs. Flint, in whose library I had spent t he semester interning .   Mrs. Flint is highly experienced; a seasoned educator and skilled librarian who had, already, given me some incredible insight into how to construct and administer effective library programming .   She was, therefore, a perfect candidate to shed some light on the next standard I’d chosen- Collaborate.   As with Mrs. Streets, I opened by asking her what her familiarity was with the AASL standards .   She noted that she was relatively familiar , particularly since our district had (prior to my joining) held a series of PLs discussing the AASL standards crosswalk, and how it integrated into our practi ces .   Satisfied, I decided to dive right in, as our time together was unfortunately quite limited on this occasion.  I asked her what Collaboration looked like in her Media Center, how it manifested in regards to her colleagues. ...
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Interview I

  Librarianship is a discipline built on the shoulders of Giants, nurtured and cultivated by the accumulated knowledge passed down from mentor to mentee, generation by generation.   As such, I felt it only proper to begin this assignment by interviewing my own original library mentor, Mrs. Streets, who worked as the Media Specialist at ARC High School fo r nearly a decade.  While Mrs. Streets is no longer with Richmond County- she is currently working as a school Media Specialist elsewhere in Georgia - her guidance has always been invaluable to me, and I chose her specifically for this reason.   For our discussion, I chose the very first AASL standard :  Inquire .   In my own practice, I consider it the most foundational of the six, but I was eager to see Mrs. Street’s opinion on the matter .   To open our discussion, I asked her about her familiarity with the AASL standards framework .   To my delight, she rummaged quickly in her desk dr...
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