School Librarians as Champions of Equity

As I took a step back to think about what would be most important to Nebraska school librarians at this time of year, I eventually landed on the topic of equity. Equity is at the forefront of the work of the Nebraska State Department of Education (https://www.education.ne.gov/ndeday/). Take a look at the Nebraska Department of Education’s definition of educational equity:

Educational equity means all students have meaningful access to the educational resources they need at the right moment, at the right level, and with the right intensity...Educational equity allows students to discover and explore their passions and make meaningful connections within the context of their postsecondary interests. (https://www.education.ne.gov/ndeday/)

Isn’t this what we do as librarians? I bet you’ll run out of fingers counting all the ways you create equity through instruction and library programming. We are all about equity and we always have been, but that doesn’t mean we can’t grow and get better at it. 

With that said, let’s think about how we as librarians can create equitable opportunities for our students.

Equitable access to resources at the right moment, at the right level, and with the right Intensity

Of course, diverse collections come to mind when we think about equity in the library. We want our libraries to be full of books and resources representing the diversity of experiences in our world. As you start a book order list for the coming school year, make a commitment to take a look at diverse book lists from sources such as We Need Diverse Books and the Lincoln Public School’s MOSAIC. In fact, on the We Need Diverse Books website you’ll find a list of sites you can explore to discover even more diverse books. 

We all know that access to books alone will not improve students’ experiences.  We need to pair our diverse collections with qualified school librarians who can recommend titles to our students. What can you do this year to promote diverse literature? It can be as easy as creating displays and book talking diverse titles.  Perhaps you could select a diverse book and start a One Book One School program. 

Allowing students to discover and explore their passions and make meaningful connections within the context of postsecondary interests
When you teach a student to code or engage them in a makerspace activity, you are allowing them to explore their passions and make connections within the context of postsecondary interests. The young student building elaborate structures with K’nex may be exploring an interest that could lead to a career in architecture or engineering.  A student who spends his time in the library using your virtual reality set, may be preparing to work in the movie or video game industry. Let’s make sure we tie our makerspaces to real world applications and promote them that way with our administrators.

Three important questions

What else can we do?  I think we can ask ourselves some really important questions, research the answers to these questions, and make programming changes that further promote equity.  Let’s start with just a few really good questions:

1. Who is visiting your library? Who isn’t visiting your library?  How can you connect with groups who are not currently spending time in the library?
   
2. What teaching practices do you need to adopt or abandon to ensure equity in your library? Do you call on a specific group of students more than others? Do you pay attention to the avid readers more than others during library check out?
   
3. Do your students get to select at least one personal reading book that fits their passions?
   

I know we as librarians are champions of equity, and I am so grateful that our spaces are welcoming to all.  Let’s keep doing this great work and find even more ways to advance the NDE’s equity goals. 

By Joy Harvey