Being Indispensable: A School Librarian's Guide to Becoming an Invaluable Leader

Ruth Toor
Hilda K. Weisburg
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$38.70
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$43.00
Item Number
978-0-8389-1065-8
Published
2011
Publisher
ALA Editions
Pages
184
Width
7"
Height
10"
Format
Softcover
AP Categories
A
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  • Description
  • Table of Contents
  • About the authors
  • Reviews

In New on the Job, experts Ruth Toor and Hilda K. Weisburg helped newbies make the transition to real-world school librarianship. Being Indispensable is all about staying one: without a proactive approach, school librarians, facing a severe economic downturn and budget cuts, run the risk of becoming an endangered species. In clear, simple, and practical language, this book empowers school librarians by helping them

  • Understand what other stakeholders in a school need and want
  • Demonstrate their importance to administrators, teachers, and parents
  • Plan strategically in both their personal and professional lives
  • Master important tools like advocacy and marketing

Making the case for the vital role school librarians play in learning, this book gives readers all the strategies they need to become the kind of leader their school can't do without.

Introduction

Part I Knowing Who You Are
1 What's Your Mission?
2 What Makes a Leader?
3 Where Do You Stand?

Part II Knowing Your Stakeholders
4 What Do Administrators Want?
5 What Does the Community Want?
6 What Do Teachers Want?
7 What Do Students Want?

Part III Thinking Bigger
8 How Does Advocacy Develop Leadership?
9 How Do You Get a Larger Perspective?
10 Does This Really Work?

Appendix: Web Resources

Index

Ruth Toor

Ruth Toor retired after 29 years as an elementary school librarian in Chatham, New Jersey. She is a past president of AASL and a past member of ALA Council. During her AASL presidency, she was its representative to the National Forum for History Standards as well as a member of the Implementation Committee for Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning. She taught graduate courses at Rutgers and Montclair State Universities. A past president of NJASL, she received its President's Award.

Hilda K. Weisburg

Hilda K. Weisburg was a school librarian for more than 30 years and is now an author, speaker, and adjunct instructor at William Paterson University and Montana State University. She coauthored (with Ruth Toor) more than a dozen books for school librarians, including Being Indispensable: A School Librarian’s Guide to Becoming an Invaluable Leader (2011) and New on the Job: A School Library Media Specialist’s Guide to Success (2014). Weisburg is also the author of School Librarian’s Career Planner (2013), Leading for School Librarians: There Is No Other Option (2017), and Classroom Management for School Librarians (2020). For 35 years, she cowrote and edited School Librarian’s Workshop, a bimonthly newsletter for K–12 librarians. Weisburg has given presentations at ALA, AASL, and state library conferences. She has also presented staff development workshops in many locations. A past president of the New Jersey Association of School Librarians, she is a past chair of the AASL Advocacy committee, chairs the Ruth Toor Grant for Strong Public Libraries, and serves on various ALA committees. Weisburg was the recipient of AASL’s 2016 Distinguished Service Award.

"Throughout the book, Toor and Weisburg provide many thought-provoking ideas and questions to ponder, providing librarians with a framework to build a better program. This title is recommended for school librarians looking for ways to expand their effectiveness."
--Catholic Library World

"The optimistic tone, pertinent examples of various strategies and guided practice would help many students and practising teacher librarians to develop leadership skills and to convince the school community that the library programme is indispensable for achieving desired curricular and broader educational outcomes."
--The Australian Library Journal