Maximizing School Librarian Leadership: Building Connections for Learning and Advocacy

From School Library Journal Moreillon explores how librarians can take on leadership roles in their schools and create dynamic, future-ready learning environments. The author notes that because school librarians often work with principals, classroom teachers, and learning specialists, they are uniquely positioned as leaders. The book explores different areas where librarians can practice instructional leadership, including professional development, guided inquiry, digital tools and integration, assessment, and advocacy. Each chapter features a study guide with discussion questions ("What is your school's why' or purpose?"), hands-on activities, and pre- and post-reflection prompts. Conveniently, the book is divided into nine chapters, one for each month of the school year. At times the writing is jargon-heavy, but the glossary is helpful. VERDICT This is both a strong advocacy tool for the essential role of school librarians and a way to reimagine a school's culture from the ground up. For school librarians interested in leadership.Kathryn Justus, Renbrook School, West Hartford, CT Review "Provides a comprehensive guide to the often-precarious art of educational partnership building ... this title is worth the investment for school librarians and their education partners." --Booklist "Sustaining a collaborative learning culture is a challenge, writes the author. [Moreillon] outlines ways librarians, teachers, principals, families and communities can work together to empower the learning culture." --MiddleWeb "This is both a strong advocacy tool for the essential role of school librarians and a way to reimagine a school's culture from the ground up." --School Library Journal About the Author Judi Moreillon is a literacies and libraries consultant and a staunch advocate for the leader and instructional partner roles of school librarians. A 2017-2018 mentor for the Lilead Project, Judi served for thirteen years as a coteaching school librarian at all three instructional levels. As a school librarian, she collaborated with classroom teachers, specialists, and principals to ensure that educators practiced effective instructional strategies and integrated library resources into the classroom curriculum. In addition, Judi taught graduate students in library science for twenty-one years, most recently as an associate professor at Texas Woman's University. She developed and taught courses including librarians as instructional partners and conducted research related to the school librarian's leadership and instructional partner roles. Judi has also served as a district-level school librarian mentor, a literacy coach, a classroom teacher, and a preservice classroom teacher educator. She currently chairs AASL's Innovative Approaches to Literacy Task Force and is a member of the ALA/ALSC/YALSA Interdivisional Committee on School/Public Library Cooperation. Judi has published three books with ALA Editions: Collaborative Strategies for Teaching Reading Comprehension: Maximizing Your Impact (2007), Coteaching Reading Comprehension Strategies in Secondary School Libraries: Maximizing Your Impact (2012), and Coteaching Reading Comprehension Strategies in Elementary School Libraries: Maximizing Your Impact (2013). Her fourth book, Maximizing School Librarian Leadership: Building Connections for Learning and Advocacy will be available in 2018.