AASL Standard: Curate

How Does a School Librarian Implement the AASL Standards in Their Daily Practice? 

AASL Standard: Curate

Curate: Make meaning for oneself and others by collecting, organizing, and sharing resources of personal relevance.  

A. Littlejohn has been an elementary school librarian for 16 years. Before that, she was a high school English teacher. During our discussion, Littlejohn and I discussed with humor the wordiness of the AASL standards. I noted they were reminiscent of the No Child Left Behind era standards I was required to write on my classroom whiteboard while teaching in North Carolina. My young students during those years usually commented that they didn't understand what the "big words" said. Thankfully, Learning Targets are written now in more student-friendly language.  

Is it the wording of the standards or the expectation that she meets them while also fulfilling her other duties that make her state that preparing for this interview makes her feel like she doesn't do enough? I have worked as this librarian's clerk for 3 years, and she is a thoughtful, resourceful, and dedicated librarian committed to serving the school community.  

Littlejohn chose to reflect on the Shared Foundation, Curate for this interview. Littlejohn states that curation is an area of librarianship that she feels is one of her strengths. In addition to acquiring and managing printed materials in the library collection, Littlejohn enjoys teaching students to use the Destiny catalog to locate, favorite, and place holds on the library materials that interest them. She promotes the importance of using reliable resources for academic and casual research to teachers and students. In addition to the state-funded SC Discus virtual library, Littlejohn dedicates a portion of her yearly budget to adding additional resources to the school's digital library collection. 

Littlejohn noted that the current 5th graders have conducted less hands-on research than previous students. For example, due to COVID restrictions in third and fourth grade, these same students had fewer experiences using the Dewey Decimal system while browsing nonfiction and using print reference materials, like atlases and encyclopedia sets. 

When reflecting on collaboration, Littlejohn emphasizes that her flexible schedule allows her to attend grade-level planning meetings and plan lessons that align with the curriculum and needs of students and teachers. Although she may change the books she shares from year to year, she notes that some constants will always be a part of her lessons: fiction vs. nonfiction, sequencing, nonfiction text features, genre characteristics, and book talks.