Idea TRAILS...

This year the library moved to a new 'satellite' room at school. The move ended up being representative my evolution of duties at the school. For the past three years I have acted as a typical school librarian, managing the physical library space, providing literacy related programming and sharing resources with teachers. This year, I have found myself in a new territory.

Through serendipitous happenings, I was made aware of two organizational infinitives: Google Classroom and e-book implementation. I was surprised I had not been asked for input on the two projects, so I made an effort to contact the representative teams and ask if they would like a librarian's perspective. Happily, the answer in both cases was, 'YES!'.

In working with these two groups, I have forged relationships with both the Technology Director and Curriculum Coordinator. I have also had the opportunity to provide comprehensive technological training to staff and administration. Expanding beyond the traditional librarian roles has been exciting. Technology has always been a passion of mine and having the ability to be on the front lines has been eye opening. Eye opening to the point where I have begun to brainstorm about a whole new type of educational position.

I call it the TRAILS Coordinator.

Earlier this spring I chatted with Brighton's first S/T/M Coach about her new role. I realized there was significant potential for a librarian to morph into a similar position. For the past few weeks, I've been playing around with the idea and came up with an acronym to represent areas I would like to focus on: Technology, Reading Advocate, Information Literacy, Science (TRAILS).

No acronym can ever encompass a complex idea like education, but it gave me a tangible word to grasp when I feel brainstorming getting out of control. I am looking forward to continuing my research and exploration of new ways a librarian can improve the educational environment.

Further Reading:
- DeChenne, S., Nugent, G., Kunz, G., Luo, L., Berry, B., Craven, K., & Riggs, A. (2014). Coaching in a science, technology, engineering, and math professional development experience: A case study (R2Ed Working Paper No. 2014-7). Retrieved from the National Center for Research on Rural Education: r2ed.unl.edu (http://r2ed.unl.edu/resources/downloads/2014-wp/2014_7_DeChenne_Nugent_Kunz_Luo_Berry_Craven_Riggs.pdf)