[CALIBK12] "Library" is now "Learning Center" - What do you think?

[Marie Slim]

Our district has been inching closer and closer to this, and I'm figuring we'll fight it kicking and screaming.  Our superintendent has asked us to imagine a "re-allocation" of our salaries - I think in order to convert the library into a study hall and to hire "cheap labor" - (he mentioned "research assistants") to replace us and our library technicians.  
 
I think the new name is terrible.  The whole school should be a "learning center." That's a no-brainer.  
 
Marie Slim
LMT, Troy High School
 
"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that."  
-J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 



----- Original Message ----
From: jeweli annah <jeweliannah at hotmail.com>
To: calibk12 at listproc.sjsu.edu
Sent: Tuesday, December 4, 2007 11:10:21 PM
Subject: [CALIBK12] "Library" is now "Learning Center" - What do you think?



Hello Colleagues!

Shakespeare said a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, however, that being said, our school has decided to change the name of our "Library" to "Learning Center".  The goal is to reflect the fact that we now host an after-school tutoring program and are working to put a computer lab in our facility.  My tried and true customers (students who have used the library frequently ever since elementary school) are perplexed.  The few adults I have spoken to acknowledge the benefit of distancing ourselves from the connotations of a word that conjures up dusty facilities from days of yore.  

I welcome this opportunity to advertise ourselves, yet wonder if we have to kill the "library" in order to showcase our modern usefulness.  

As someone very new to the profession (and as the daughter of a Library Media Teacher), I feel that PR work is our most critical area of need as an organization of professionals.  We don't necessarily have the time nor the staff engage in full-blown community outreach or education, and yet, if we don't prioritize PR work we face budget and staff cuts which endanger ourselves and our customers, the next generation of students we are trying so very hard to reach.  

Is renaming ourselves and our facilities the answer?  Where should our focus be?  What has worked for you and your community?  

I welcome your thoughts, opinions, and musings on the topic!


Julia Hedstrom
Library Media Teacher  a.k.a. Teacher Librarian
Granite Bay High School
Granite Bay, CA 95746
jhedstrom at rjuhsd.us


_________________________________________________________________
Connect and share in new ways with Windows Live.
http://www.windowslive.com/connect.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_Wave2_newways_112007

_______________________________________________
CALIBK12 site list
CALIBK12 at lists.sjsu.edu
http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/calibk12

For information about the Calibk12 listserve, please
visit  http://www.calibk12.net.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.sjsu.edu/pipermail/calibk12/attachments/20071205/f91feadd/attachment.html