Hilda K. Weisburg - New on the Job: A School Librarians Guide to Success

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Ruth Toor retired after twenty-nine years as an elementary school librarian in Chatham, New Jersey. She is a past president of AASL and a past member of ALA Council. During her AASL presidency, she was its representative to the National Forum for History Standards as well a member of the Implementation Committee for Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning. She taught graduate courses at Rutgers and Montclair State Universities. A past president of NJASL, Ruth received its Presidents Award. She earned her BA at the University of Delaware and was inducted into the Alumni Wall of Fame, and her MLS at Rutgers SC&I.

2015 by Hilda K. Weisburg and Ruth Toor.

Extensive effort has gone into ensuring the reliability of the information in this book; however, the publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.

ISBNs: 978-0-8389-1264-5 (paper); 978-0-8389-1268-3 (PDF); 978-0-8389-1269-0 (ePub); 978-0-8389-1270-6 (Kindle).

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Toor, Ruth, 1933- author.

New on the job : a school librarians guide to success / Hilda K. Weisburg, Ruth Toor. Second edition.

pages cm

Authors names reversed on title page of first edition.

Includes bibliographical references and .

ISBN 978-0-8389-1264-5

1. School librariansUnited StatesHandbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Instructional materials personnelUnited StatesHandbooks, manuals, etc. 3. School librariesUnited StatesHandbooks, manuals, etc. 4. Instructional materials centersUnited StatesHandbooks, manuals, etc. 5. Library scienceVocational guidanceUnited States. I. Weisburg, Hilda K., 1942- author. II. Title.

Z682.4.S34T66 2015

027.80973dc23 2014024030

Cover design by Kimberly Thornton. Images Shutterstock, Inc.

To our Husbands,

who have been a constant support

Marvin A. Weisburg

Jay Toor

our Children,

who continue to make us proud

Rona Gofstein and Jeffrey Weisburg

Mark Toor and Cary Toor

and our Grandchildren,

who fill our lives with joy

Benjamin and Matthew Weisburg

Ethan and Max Gofstein

Catherine and Joshua Toor

Skye and Erik Toor

Contents

Appendixes

I am so pleased that Hilda Weisburg has ably updated the 2007 Toor and Weisburg New on the Job book. As soon as it came out, New on the Job became an instant staple for meand so many others: school library graduate studies professors and their students, school library supervisors in larger districts, and, most of all, newbie school librarians who needed to start their jobs with confidence and direction.

When I was elected to my first statewide presidents leadership role as the president of the then School Library Media Section of the New York Library Association for 199394, I traveled to visit regional associations around the state carrying my two or three favorite professional books everywhere I spoke to use as props as I quoted the authors and recommended them to school librarians. Ive continued to do that with newer leadership roles and as a speaker and consultant. In 199394, the authors of the books I carried were Keith Curry Lance and Gary Hartzell. Others were added over the years, and as soon as the 2007 New on the Job was published, it became one of my faves.

Hilda, in person, is visionary and practical, analytic and strategic, and, most of all, ready and willing to share her expertise and advice. She has done so at conferences, the American Association of School Librarians Affiliate Assembly, and through publication of The School Librarians Workshop (which I appreciated long before I met her and Ruth Toor), books, articles, and webinars. I found New on the Job to be just like her.

With the book, new school librarians now had a mentor on their desk. It became a favorite present to interns and student librarians from their supervising school librarians. Many school library programs required it for their capstone courses as students finished their studies, readied their resumes, and scheduled interviews. I know that their marked-up copies were revisited after they landed their jobs, reread as they prepared to meet the faculty, administrators, and staff of their new schools at the first day of school meetings and referenced often during that first year. And the second one. Then less so as they hit their strides as school librarians but pulled out again as a suggested purchase for a colleague beginning a new job in a new school library.

I found it to be excellent for self-reflection for veterans in the field with its interactive boxes at the end of each section with questions to ponder. What can I do to up my game? What are the holes in my practice that need a bit of attention? I especially appreciated the with its clear definitions of the difference between promotion, marketing, and advocacy and why each are important. My copy became a bit bedraggled as it was dragged out again and again.

You will find that the updated edition relates to the AASL Standards for the 21st Century and uses the term school librarian which I find to be more inclusive in a profession where titles differ around the country but we are all librarians. Technology has a bigger role reflecting its prominence in our professional life. For instance, interviewees are advised to consider their digital footprints, not a concern in 2007.

Thank you, Hilda, for taking on the work of revising, on your own, a valuable book written with a co-author. This version will be as practical, visionary, and strategic for our profession as the 2007 bookand its much needed!

Sara Kelly Johns

President, New York Library Association

Member, ALA Executive Board

After seven years in print, it became obvious that New on the Job: A School Library Media Specialists Guide to Success needed a facelift. In the world of technology and education, seven years is a very long time. Although the core aspects of your jobrelationships, instruction, and building lifelong learnershave not changed, how these are achieved has undergone some transformations. The purpose of New on the Job is still the same as it was. It is meant to help you hit the ground running when you walk into a new school. Whether this is your first job or you have already been in the field for a few years but are changing your building level or starting in another district, our total of more than sixty years of experience successfully managing library media centers will help you feel comfortable in situations never discussed in your coursework.

You learned how materials are cataloged, heard about automation, reference sources, databases, and the Internet, and were told to read Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs. What you didnt spend much time on and will discover in this very practical guide is how to

conduct yourself at a job interview;

get started once you are hired;

find the most important people you will need to work with;

connect with your students (beyond teaching lessons);

get along with teachers;

have a good relationship with your principal;

run the media center (from preparing budgets to dealing with vendors);

become an advocate and publicize your program;