Module 1: Exceptional School Library Blogs

School librarians need to be on the lookout for a variety of ways to help support the students and communities that they serve. One of the ways that they can do this is through the creation of a blog. Blogs provide students, parents, and other interested individuals with a window into what is taking place in the school library at any given time. For the purpose of this assignment, I decided to visit the MHMS Daring School Library Blog, developed by Gwyneth Jones of Howard County, MD Schools; The Busy Librarian blog, developed by Matthew C. Winner, also of Howard County, MD Schools; and The True Adventures of a High School Librarian, developed by Nikki Robertson of Alabama. Each of these blogs provides valuable insight into school libraries and are also informative to students, teachers, and other librarians alike.

First, the MHMS Daring School Library Blog provides regularly updated information during the school year about events that are taking place in the media center. Some of the posts involve the use of instructional technologies, but other posts are about reading and literature. Many of her entries also include a touch of whimsy that is funny and amusing. One of the entries, Google+ Hangouts: Cool Conversations and BookTalks Without Borders, discusses the use of Skype and other technologies that are being used to communicate and develop a school partnership between Murray Hill Middle School and a school in Louisiana. When I see things like this my first thought is how amazing technologies like Skype really are, and my second thought is that blogs are also amazing tools that can help to facilitate networking and communication about different ideas with people in many different places. Another post on this blog, MHMS In Your Pocket, provides icons to scan that will take you directly to a variety of useful information, an orientation video that is both informative and humorous, and some introductory comments to parents to start off the new school year. There are also other important messages made through the blog presented in unconventional ways, which means you just have to check out the Now a very heartfelt message from Taylor Swift about overdue books blog post! This blog provides students with a great deal of information related to the media center and the things that can be accomplished using the resources of the media center. The nature of the entries and the number of people who follow and respond leads me to believe that this is a blog that achieves its purpose.

The Busy Librarian is maintained by another media specialist in the Howard County Public School System, but at the elementary level. One of the things that Matthew Winner does in this blog, which is somewhat unique, is interview a variety of authors of children’s books; he then posts the interviews to his online blog. What a great way to get kids excited about reading different books! It gives them such a unique insight into the people who wrote them and it is truly priceless! He also offers a lot of his own recommendations for books that students should read, which ensures that his blog is very focused on literature. For an example of one of his author interviews, check out Let’s Get Busy talking with author and illustrator Leeza Hernandez. One of his children’s book recommendation entries is Reading Highlights. YouTube videos, podcasts and other items are sprinkled throughout this blog. I could see students using a blog to highlight their creativity in this way as well. Just think what it would look like if students put their best digital work, written work, and reflections on a blog and a college admission officer saw it! It would be amazing public promotion and a very positive digital footprint. The quality of the entries and the number of responses that some of the entries receive is a sign that this is a very active blog that achieves its goal of promoting children’s literature.

Finally, The True Adventures of a High School Librarian seems to focus in a more general way on the many things taking place day-to-day on the Hoover High School campus in Hoover, AL. It surely serves as a positive digital footprint for the school and the media center on the campus. The entries tend to be more reflective in nature, but there are also some entries that focus on the use of technology to enhance the overall instructional program. The blog is nicely illustrated with pictures and YouTube videos as appropriate. One great example of a reflective entry on the blog, August 26 – 30, 2013 The Library @ HHS, focuses on the first week of school and includes text and a Flickr slide show. In addition, an entry entitled Blogging in Education-Answering ?’s about Who, What, When, Where, Why and How focuses on the many opportunities available for blogging in education. While this is an interesting blog, I think it would be nice if it had a little more media center focus, but at least it stays focused on the school community.

One of the things that I see through these blogs is that, while each one has a different focus, they each provide valuable information about the role that the school media center is playing in the context of the overall instructional program at their respective schools. This really helps the schools, as well as the media specialists themselves, to develop a positive digital footprint in the online community that is seen by billions of people around the world (Richardson, p. 16). Examining these blogs helps me to understand that blogs are an excellent way for students to showcase their creativity, reflectiveness, and vision for a wider audience. We have a true obligation as educators to find ways to allow students to take the lead in terms of establishing a positive digital footprint.