Did you ever play the game Whac-A-Mole? Either the big mat that I played on or the arcade game? You took a soft or plastic mallet and tried to hit the Mole that popped out of one of many holes. You never knew where or exactly when it would pop up. Sometimes, the game was like a workout where you were tense the whole time and shouting to others “there! there! there!” The school year start sounds a lot like that.

First, air conditioning does not work well in my high school building. Multiple floors, multiple buildings interconnected (with a few miscellaneous trailers) surprises us daily with working or not working air conditioning. In fact, we have microclimates where students can go from icy cold to extreme heat and we can throw in tight spaces in some rooms too. I cannot control these issues. Instead, I have to rely on the professionals who do handle air systems and provide myself with fans or sweaters as appropriate. The Media Center space, when our A/C is working, can become a haven for students, staff, and classes.

Ignoring what I cannot help with, let’s look at the role of the Media Specialist / Teacher-Librarian / School Librarian in the start of the new year. I consider myself an information broker. It is, in my opinion, part of my job to anticipate problems that teachers and students will have and work on solutions and information. I have worked hard over the years to convince my faculty I can help. To do this, my first priority becomes communication.

Communication is harder than it looks. How do you communicate with a large group of people and meet them all at the level they are at? (Hint: You can’t. You just do the best you can.) I am focused on Instagram posts with the primary focus on students and the staff-wide email group for the staff. Do the staff read my emails in a timely fashion? Of course not. But a school librarian can establish themselves as an information broker in multiple ways.

Many staff have my cell phone number. I don’t post it, but I’m willing to make a one-on-one exchange. So when our LMS (learning management system) went down at 8:30 p.m. on a Tuesday, I got a text from a teacher. In five minutes of texting and me going online, I discerned the problem, sent a Helpdesk ticket, sent a note to other librarians (they always respond!), and lastly a note (with high importance) to the principal so he wouldn’t be blindsided.

The reason the teacher contacted me at all is because, as I said, I am an information broker and he trusted me to know who and how to contact people. While I have a programming background and I’m pretty sure I know where the breakdown was, I didn’t tell anyone. No one wants an amateur telling them how to do their job. Instead the ticket was straightforward with facts, including that the issue included students (we checked!). In the morning, once I verified it was still down, I sent an email to all faculty that it was down. Did faculty call me anyway? Yes, they did. I did not say “read my email”. I said “it’s down and helpdesk has already been contacted.”

The great enemy of communication, we find, is the illusion of it. 

William H. Whyte, Fortune Magazine, 1950

Every year we will start off with issues. I know I’m repeating myself, but it needs to be done. New people who don’t know all the systems. Experienced people who had summer learning loss. Everyone needs some help.

Here’s this year staff list of things they need to know how to do at the start:

• Reset their passwords (starting last year, the passwords expire every year)
• Reset student passwords (yes, they expire and NO, students cannot reset their own passwords)
• How to access Outlook mail (the district does not have GMail) and the various Groups
• How to turn off Outlook’s default “Reply All”. (I consider this a non-negotiable, to use EduSpeak)
• The correct landing page for staff in Sharepoint
• Send messages in Infinite Campus
• Find someone on their hall to help with technology (I have a list of volunteers)

The goal is to prevent the moles from popping up!

There is always more to learn and share. Don’t worry, I didn’t neglect the library. My Media Center Orientation is shared, along with scheduling classes for orientation and checkout. We got this! Have a great school year!