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Curate with Ms. Anna Musselman, Fort Dorchester High School

  

School librarians have opportunities to Curate when working with students and with teachers. Ms. Anna Musselman shared examples of how the library collects, organizes, and shares material based on teacher and student needs, mostly using technology. As librarians, we identify and share resources for our students to use in their studies and for teachers to use in their instruction. Technology seems to be the most efficient way to share curated material as students are 1:1 with Chromebooks and platforms such as Destiny Collections allow for curated lists to be easily accessed outside of the library setting. Through collaboration with teachers prior to lesson delivery, the librarian can put together a digital pathfinder for students to use in their research. This method ensures that students are using credible resources and helps with time management in and out of the classroom. Technology allows for collaboration to occur in a timely manner and allows for increased student access to organized materials. My conversation with Ms. Musselman stresses the need for continued learning in technology resources.

 Technology is also an integral resource in deciding what material to include in the library. My conversation with Ms. Musselman emphasizes the importance of becoming familiar with Follett’s Titlewave as within this program, one can access reviews, create “best of” parameters to assist with collection development, and order materials. As students share their interests and requests for specific books, it is important to take note but to also complete independent research to ensure it fits the library. The importance of researching material before purchasing is reiterated due to the current climate of book bans and censorship within school libraries; the school librarian must be able to defend their purchase if needed. Using reviews from reputable sources is important in our purchasing decision-making process. As a new school librarian, this area is one that will take practice to build confidence.

An area of need is to incorporate more opportunities for student collaboration, also a task under Curate. Ms. Musselman points out that the lack of student collaboration is not a librarian issue but an educational system issue. The use of technology can help provide opportunities for students to share their work with others and to evaluate the work of others. As a librarian, we must create opportunities for students to work and share together. It is easy to fall into a routine of managing the library collection; however, the teaching component of what we do is important as we contribute to student achievement. 

After interviewing two different high school librarians, it is noticed that the amount of teaching that occurs depends on the librarian – I can be a school librarian or a teacher librarian; the AASL standards push me to be a teacher librarian, using curate to teach students the effective use of resources and how to work together.

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