The Teaching Librarian Volume 10, no. 3 33

Sya Van Geest

OOLLAA’’ss RREEAADDIINNGG

PPRROOGGRRAAMMSS

If we teach our children how to read, but none of them want to, have we done our job?*

It's a question that resonates for teacher-librarians. That's part of our mission –

to link a child with a book he or she wants to read.

DDOO TTHHEEYY MMAAKKEE AA DDIIFFFFEERREENNCCEE??

*A question asked by Professor Steven Layne in Life’s Literacy Lessons. International Reading Association, 2001.Above: The 2003 nominated authors at the tenth Silver Birch ceremony get ready to hear their readers announce the winners.

34 Ontario School Library Association

careful summative assessment. This is essential-ly a snapshot of this year's programs.

The SchoolsBoth schools are French Immersion and English,situated in an established part of the city ofGuelph. Both teacher-librarian positions are halftime on paper, but since half of that is designat-ed to covering planning time for classroomteachers, the reality is .25 library. Both schoolshad brand new teacher-librarians this year, bothnew to their schools, Carolyn Forde and BethMcEwen. Both teacher-librarians were takingSchool Librarianship Part I AQ courses. Both arewonderful teachers, keen and passionate forkids, teaching and reading. Both readily agreedto participate in the reading programs. Bothschools had the same volunteer – a former pub-lic / school teacher-librarian of many years,someone intimately involved with the readingprograms and specifically Silver Birch at thesame site for the past three years.

Test Site 1: Silver Birch at EDWARD JOHNSON Edward Johnson, a K-5 school, has a strong read-ing history and culture. Two years ago a localFrench Immersion school, Brighton Street PublicSchool, merged with Edward Johnson. BrightonStreet brought with it a history of Silver Birchparticipation that dates back almost to SilverBirch's inception. It was lack of funding thatmade teacher-librarian Joyce Thompson skipyear one. But Joyce was determined. "I immedi-ately recognized the potential of Silver Birch toenhance my work in creating a 'community ofreaders through the school library,'" she statedrecently. Joyce moved her Book Fair to the falland used the proceeds to buy Silver Birch booksthe next year. It is important to remember thatthis is a French Immersion school so from thestart Silver Birch reading was voluntary andextra-curricular and established as a Club justfor fun.

PARENTSCOMMENT

Reading is a complex learning enterprise.Teachers have toolboxes full of tools andstrategies to assure the acquisition of

reading skills. But a special and unique contri-bution teacher-librarians bring to the readingenterprise is offering reading programs aimed atmaking children and youth want to read. TheOLA reading programs are designed to do justthat. They are intended to promote reading asfree choice; they are not designed for classroominstruction or curriculum support. They comewith prepared organization supports that makethem an efficient and effective means for a busyteacher-librarian to encourage reading.

DO THEY MAKE A DIFFERENCE?There is a lot of anecdotal evidence that theymake a difference. Those of us using the readingprograms in our schools or those who knowchildren participating, have exciting stories totell. Over the years there have been workshopsat Super Conference that attest to their efficacy.There is the excitement of the AwardsCeremonies and the breakfast celebrations atSuper Conference. In addition, we have OLA'sprovincial perspective with the ever-increasingnumbers of participants and voters and theexpansion of the programs from the first, theSilver Birch of a decade ago, to five programscurrently under scrutiny. Just visit the OLA website <www.accessola.com> and follow the linksthrough Headlines or Reading Programs. Thereis excitement there! All are a testament to theirpositive impact.

DOCUMENTING EVIDENCE A Snapshot of Silver Birch and Red Maple 2003 in Two SchoolsThis year, three of us set out to collect somedata to measure the Silver Birch and Red Mapleexperience at two different schools in Guelph. Itwas not meant to be an exhaustive study but astart that will continue next year following some

The Teaching Librarian Volume 10, no. 3 35

Four years ago my granddaughter, Alison, was ingrade 4, and she loved that Silver Birch Club. ButJoyce was retiring. Her replacement was halftime in two different schools with a little of thisand that sprinkled into her timetable duringplanning time periods and the only teacher-librarian time at Brighton Street following after-noon recesses. Silver Birch was not even on herradar screen nor was it on mine at the time untilI received Alison's cry of dismay that Silver Birchwould not be there for her in grade 5. Alison waswell aware that her grandma was president ofOSLA at that time and that her grandma lovedher and books with a passion. Besides, it hap-pened to coincide with my retirement. So ofcourse I volunteered, and contacted BettyJordan, the new teacher-librarian with theimpossible timetable. Betty was wonderful. Ofcourse she would back a Silver Birch Club, and,with the support of the principal, we made a pre-sentation to School Council together for funds.We would work together to conference twice aweek -Wednesday lunch was Silver Birch Club forgrades 4 and 5 and Friday noon for grade 6. Theprofile and popularity accelerated. Soon it wasimpossible to keep up with the conferencing atnoon and classroom teachers were open to mevisiting their classes and talking books withsmall groups of students.

Two years ago that school merged with anEnglish school, Edward Johnson. The SchoolCouncil of the closing school expressed a strongdesire that Silver Birch money be carried for-ward. Betty and I made a June presentation to acombined School Councils meeting. The continu-ation of Silver Birch was assured with expandedsupport for other reading initiatives.

Edward Johnson brought to the table its ownunique feature to promote reading. February wasdesignated as their Reading Month with specialprograms, one through the school library - a lit-

eracy event with community guests reading andsharing their favourite books and storiesthroughout the school.

There was a natural blending of the two withSilver Birch launched during February ReadingMonth. Several new initiatives have been addedthrough the school library over the last twoyears, e.g., a highly successful bilingual chapter-book reading for grade 3, modeled after SilverBirch with conferencing, voting and awards com-ponents; Blue Spruce picture books studied inprimary; and Reading Versus Screening forgrades 1 and 2, a family partnership completewith ballots, certificates, prizes, and student/parent assemblies. In addition, we copied theOttawa Secondary staff Read Poster idea(Teaching Librarian Spring 2000). The staffresponse to posing for read posters was phe-nomenal, with family and teddy bears andfriends, etc., and teacher-librarian Betty's talent-ed daughter completed a wonderful ISU in hergrade 11 Media Studies course – a win-win pro-ject all around.

This past year, new teacher-librarian CarolynForde prepared for February, adding personaltouches (e.g., the Guelph Storm hockey playerswere delighted to pose for Read posters and par-ticipate in this year's literacy event thanks toCarolyn's connections to the team; her studentlibrary club designed and painted her a colourfulReading sweatshirt).

There is a buzz in the Edward Johnson communi-ty about reading throughout the year and SilverBirch is one of the highlight programs.

Test Site 2: Red Maple at KING GEORGE

Red Maple was at King George Senior School lastyear but it was so low profile that few studentsseemed to know about it. This year was like

The OLA Boardof Directors hasapprovedadding the pilotprograms, BlueSpruce forkindergartenthrough grade3 and WhitePine for highschool. A newadult programfor senior highschool andcolleges anduniversitystudents will beadded in 2005.Also approvedwas a singlefee approach.Registration is$20 whether aschool is offer-ing one or allprograms.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose this year was five-fold. 1. To measure students' participation in Silver

Birch and Red Maple reading programs intwo different schools.

2. To calculate the total number of books read. 3. To compare the participation and reading

preferences of boys and girls.4. To compare fiction and non-fiction reading

in Silver Birch. 5. To document these reading programs as

seen through the eyes of students, parents,and classroom teachers.

Note: This was never meant as an exhaustivestudy but a start and both sites will pursue asimilar log and expanded reflection by parents,students and teachers next year.

General guidelines for Silver Birch and RedMaple as we offered it:

1. All reading was free, voluntary, and extra-curricular.

2. Students conferenced each book whenread, not to test but to facilitate their analysis*.

3. Books were recorded as read after success-ful conferencing.

4. Students who successfully completed all books were taught to conference theirpeers, and created interview questions toguide them.

5. Since school library budget could notafford this program, special funding wassought and acquired.

6. Readers participated in award celebrationswith peers and authors, in school and OLAAwards Ceremonies Toronto.

*Students could also respond to a book throughe-mail to teacher-librarians or volunteer or sub-mit a written response. Only a handful chose anoption other than conference.

See charts at right to see:l Percentage participation by grade

and genderl A profile of the readers and what they readl A breakdown of the interest in fiction

vs non-fiction

starting afresh with Red Maple organized in asystematic manner with well-thought out struc-tures and special events. One of the first thingsdone was asking the principal for her support inSeptember, which she gave immediately andenthusiastically. Money was received from theSchool Council.

Teacher-librarian Beth McEwen presented RedMaple at a staff meeting in the fall with theschedule of presentations in the school librarylater in November, complete with book talks,readings and the history of Red Maple in theprovince. This was followed up by morningannouncements, (often read by the principal),and special displays.

Beth McEwen's warm, open, and welcoming rap-port with students made this new club, the RedMaple Reading Club an appealing new additionto the many extra-curricular activities at KingGeorge. Each Wednesday at lunch the studentsmet in the library for conferencing. Studentswere clustered in groups by book. It was difficultfor the two of us to keep up, especially followingthe winter break holiday, but soon there werestudents who had read all ten. That qualifiedthem to become conference leaders. Beth and Iran a workshop to teach them how to confer-ence and they designed interview questions foreach book to guide their talk.

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The Teaching Librarian Volume 10, no. 3 37

Silver Birch Award program at EDWARD JOHNSON SCHOOL PARENTS' SURVEY

The parents' survey was limited thisyear to the families of the 40 childreninvited to attend the Silver BirchAwards ceremony in Toronto. Theyreceived a questionnaire asking aboutthe impact of Silver Birch on theirchildren and recommendations forimprovements. Thirty-one parentsresponded, itself a testament to theirenthusiasm. Next year a more thor-ough survey is planned. The com-ments were enthusiastic about theimpact on their children, indeed thewhole family. The recommendationthat was repeated over and over wasto please continue and a few suggest-ed more copies of the books.However, the latter comment wasalways qualified with a recognition ofcost along with other solutions suchas public library borrowing, purchas-es for home library, pleasure that stu-dents spent their allowance to buytheir own or asked for Silver Birchbooks as gifts.The following aspects were identifiedand received most positive remarks: l introduces different books, styles

and genres l reading instead of computers, TV

or video gamesl led to book talks at homel love the conferencing approachl fosters a love of readingl promotes Canadian culture, sense

of identityl authors were availablel led us to the public library tool gave us good books to buy for our

home l reading non-fiction for fun l non-fiction especially led to

wonderful family talkl still talking about the Toronto

Festivall my child read morel it is funl promotes Canadian literature

38 Ontario School Library Association

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT RESULTS ATEDWARD JOHNSON:

l 109 students out of a total 157 juniors partici-pated in Silver Birch

l Close to 1000 books were read and confer-enced in three months

l 124 or 13% more non-fiction books were readthan fiction

l The older the grade the greater percentage ofgirls participated –growth from 50% in gradefour to 97% in grade six

l Boys percentage of participation remainedabout the same – 50%, 59%, 52%

l Greatest participation in French Immersion –92.7%

l 25 students read all 20 booksl Readers very keen to talk booksl Total school community show a great love for

Silver Birch

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT RESULTS OF RED MAPLE AT KING GEORGE:

l 69 students chose to join a Reading Club in aschool with many other choices

l 34 grade 7s and 35 grade 8s read and confer-enced

l Greatest participation in French Immersionclasses

l 79 students read and conferenced 370 novelsl 21 students read all 10 novelsl Students were very keen to talk booksl Talking books gave a common topic of con-

versations among young teens who may notnormally mix

MOVING FORWARD

l Assess and enhance last year's procedures. l Entice more students to read through various

strategies such as:- design more visible displays throughout theschool, e.g., post leaves winding through thehalls with student name and book as read

- profile readers, e.g., photograph studentsdocumenting certain milestones – thosewho qualify to vote or read all books; con-gratulatory announcements and letters toparents

The Red Maple Award program at KING GEORGE SCHOOL

The Teaching Librarian Volume 10, no. 3 39

- profile programs, e.g., enhance andincrease communication with teachers,parents, School Council, local press

- establish students' advisory committeel Monitor mid-October OLA's press release for

books nominated for awards and get startedwith purchases, processing, displays, ownreading, advance notice to alert parents,share with local bookstores for their displaysand orders, etc.

l Increase links with public library. Increasestudent public library membership.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Students who participated loved it. Both newteacher-librarians were impressed with theresponse and saw the programs as an effectiveand efficient way to meet their library programobjectives. We plan to continue measurement ofthe evidence but in a more thorough manner. Forinstance, we need more insight from those stu-dents who did not participate and find out whyin more detail. We want to ask students, teachersand parents what can be done to get more read-ers. We plan to better share the results with thegreater community.

In the end, participating students, their parentsand teachers, most frequently lauded the firsttwo guidelines governing the programs – one,the commitment to make these programs a fun,non-threatening, extra-curricular reading pro-gram and second, the positive role of talkingabout the books as the best assets. It gives newmeaning to the oft-repeated adage, "Reading is asocial activity."

IMPORTANT NEXT STEP: LINKING TO EQAO

The obvious next step is to link the ReadingPrograms to EQAO achievement results beforeand after the reading programs. Common senseand other research studies make the link, but weneed evidence. What an exciting Masters or PhDthesis! Anyone out there game?

Meanwhile, there is one thing we can all do, andthat is to keep stats about the OLA reading pro-grams at our schools. Think of it! There are atotal of 1,360 unique stories to tell and places to

collect the evidence – 1,360 being the number ofschools, registered this year in Silver Birch andRed Maple. In addition we had 232 publiclibraries to add to the data. I wonder how manychildren and youth read this year because ofthese reading programs? What is the total num-ber of books read in Ontario?

Want the Support Material?

For a copy of the complete PowerPoint slideswith notes, log onto the OLA Web site or e-mailSya Van Geest <syavg@rogers.com>.

The PowerPoint is intended for a broader audi-ence and places the reading programs within thecontext of the objectives of a school library pro-gram founded on solid research with summariesof current notables such as Krashen, Beers,Booth, Jobe and Kropp. These slides are ideal for

Last Words from our Young Readers

I liked the different types of books.

I get to vote for the winner.

I read more books than I ever expected to!

I read 20 books – Wow!

Love conferencing with my friends.

I liked the non-fictionabout real things.

It actually made me read fantasyand I do not like fantasy.

The books filledmy imagination.

My friends encouragedme to read.

It got me to read books I would not normally read!

I learned neat factsabout earthquakes.

My mom and dadliked to see me read.

40 Ontario School Library Association

selecting, revising and editing to suit vari-ous audiences. They have been used forSchool Council, community groups,Rotary Club, staff meeting, parents' groupand this past spring at the OLA BreakfastPanel Discussion at BookExpo Canada2003. You are invited to make them suit-able for your audience.

In addition, e-mail Sya for informationand support materials for the other read-ing programs.

THE LAST WORD: CAN WE MAKECHILDREN WANT TO READ?

Here are two anecdotes that answer yes!

My second granddaughter, a keen partici-pant in our local grade 3 chapter-bookreading, told me with great relish thatwhen her lunchroom supervisor told herclass that she would make them take outtheir books to read if they did not quietdown, the class broke into spontaneousapplause. "Not much of a threat was itGrandma?" she chuckled.

Her French Immersion classroom teacherhas commented for a second year, "I can'tbelieve it. They come in reading. I have toask students to put away their books so Ican start class." She always finishes with,"What a wonderful dilemma!" z

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The Teaching Librarian Volume 10, no. 3 41

LLooookkiinnggBBaacckk oonnLLooookkiinngg NNoorrtthh

Brenda Dillonreports on the June 2003 CLA/ALA joint conference

Iwas fortunate enough to be able to attendthe joint CLA/ALA conference in Torontofrom June 21 - 23, with a pre-conference ses-

sion June 19 - 20. A number of the sessions Iattended focused on research about our roleand impact, which is the theme of this issue ofTeaching Librarian, so I thought it might be use-ful to share these sessions with you.

CCOONNNNEECCTTIINNGG SSCCHHOOOOLL LLIIBBRRAARRIIEESS AANNDD LLIITTEERRAACCYY PPRROOGGRRAAMMSSRay Doiron, Ph.D. (raydoiron@upei.ca)

Ray Doiron, a noted educator, researcher,author, and speaker, is one of the leading fig-ures in the Canadian school library community.I knew his session would be worthwhile and Iwas pleased to discover a session so wellgrounded in research — and research wellbeyond that with which I was already familiar.

Doiron established the context for connectingliteracy and school libraries, explored the cur-rent understanding of literacy, discussed therelevance of school library programs, andshared examples of literacy/school library con-nections. He suggested that school librariesprovide the environment in which studentsdevelop and practice literacy skills of all types,through both research and personal reading,using resource-based learning. Doiron alsoemphasized the role school libraries play in cre-ating and passing on cultural heritage andnational identity, exposing students to diverseperspectives, meeting student needs, andempowering students. A suggested referencelist was distributed (see “How School LibrariesSupport Reading Development” on page 43).

This presentation expanded my understandingof both literacy and of the role of the schoollibrary in literacy — understandings I plan toshare within my school and district and withthe other teacher-librarians in my district.

EEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN FFOORR TTEEAACCHHEERR--LLIIBBRRAARRIIAANNSSHHIIPP IINN TTHHEE 2211sstt CCEENNTTUURRYYJennifer L. Branch, Ph.D.(jbranch@ualberta.ca)

Jennifer Branch is the co-ordinator of theTeacher-Librarianship by Distance LearningProgram offered by the University of Alberta. Iattended this session because of a personalinterest in the topic and was pleased to discov-

42 Ontario School Library Association

er a session thoroughly grounded in researchabout teacher-librarianship. School librarian-ship research shows clearly that the impact ofschool libraries on student learning andachievement is tied at least in part to the avail-ability of competent, qualified teacher-librari-ans who are involved in collaborativeinstruction. It follows, then, that individualsinterested in becoming teacher-librarians, orpracticing teacher-librarians interested inimproving their qualifications, need a way to dothis. And one way is to participate in the dis-tance learning programs offered by theUniversity of Alberta.

Programs offered include a diploma in teacher-librarianship, a Masters of Education inTeacher-Librarianship, and a Ph.D. program.The distance education model means these pro-grams are available to teacher-librarians every-where - including Ontario!

DEVELOPING THE RESPECT OF SCHOOLADMINISTRATORS: OUR FIRST BIG CHALLENGEDianne Oberg, Ph.D. (doberg@ualberta.ca)

Dianne Oberg is a professor at the University ofAlberta's Faculty of Education and the editor ofSchool Libraries Worldwide, the journal of theInternational Association of School Librarian-ship. A noted educator, researcher, author, andspeaker, she has done considerable research onprincipals and school libraries.

We already know that good school librarieshave a positive impact on student achievementand learning. This presentation focused on therole played by the school principal in a goodschool library. D. Oberg presented both herown research and that of others and the conclu-sion was obvious: school principals play a criti-cal role in school libraries.

Oberg went on to say that it's necessary forteacher-librarians to gain the respect and sup-port of their principals by building credibility,communicating effectively, and working toadvance school goals. The research makesclear that this isn't optional - if we want goodschool libraries, we must have the support ofour principals.

AASL AND CSLA JOINT FORUM: RESEARCH IN SCHOOL LIBRARIANSHIP

l Powering Achievement: How SchoolLibrarians and Library Programs Make ADifference

Keith Curry Lance, Ph.D., director, LibraryResearch Service, Colorado State Library andUniversity of Denver, Denver, ColoradoKeith Curry Lance presented a brief overview of thestate studies (Colorado, etc.), highlighting the majorfindings and discussing the implications of thisresearch for education policy and practice. This pre-sentation served as a good introduction for anyoneunfamiliar with Lance's work and a useful review andupdate for everyone else.

l Seeking Information for School Purposeson the Internet

Holly Gunn, Teacher-librarian, Sackville HighSchool, Nova ScotiaLet's have a quick show of hands please, how manyof you have heard some variation of "if we have theInternet, why do we need school libraries/teacher-librarians?" I'm sure there were a lot of hands up. Iknow I've heard this question and, judging from thenumber of articles on the topic, I know I'm not alone.Well, here's some research you can use next timesomeone asks you the question. Holly Gunn lookedat the strategies and techniques used by high schoolseniors when searching the Internet for school infor-mation. She found that in schools without teacher-librarians, students used few of the strategies andtechniques associated with effective Internet search-ing. When asked how they had learned, these stu-dents said they had taught themselves or learnedfrom peers. In other words, far from renderingteacher-librarians unnecessary, the availability of theInternet means students need access to someonewho can teach them how to search the Internet effec-tively, and that someone is a teacher-librarian.

l Meaningful Research Projects:Perspectives from High School Students

Lois Barranoik, Ph.D. Candidate ElementaryEducation, Faculty of Education, University ofAlbertaLois Barranoik investigated the experiences of ateacher and a group of students while completing asenior English research project. Students are morelikely to complete a research project successfully ifthe project is meaningful to them and choice, rele-vance, reflection, and application are essential com-ponents. Teacher-librarians can play a role in boththe creation and the process of meaningful researchassignments.

How School Libraries Support Reading DevelopmentA Suggested Reference List

Constantino, R. (Ed.) (1998). Literacy, access and libraries amongthe language minority population. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.ERIC Document ED417595.

Dreher, M.J. (Dec. 98/Jan.99). Motivating children to read morenonfiction. The Reading Teacher, 52(4), 414-417.

Follos, A. (May/June 2001). A reading programs that keeps climb-ing. Book Report, 20(1), 12-14.

Hobbs, L. (Jan./Feb. 1998). Reading motivation: A library mission.Book Report, 6(4), 13-25.

Keifer, B. (Feb 2001). Understanding reading. School LibraryJournal, 47 (2), 48-52.

Krashen, S. (Dec. 97/Jan. 98). Bridging inequity with books.Educational Leadership, 55(4), 18-22

Krashen, S. (1993). The power of reading: Insights from the research.Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.

Loertscher, D.V. (1994). Treasure Mountain IV: The power of read-ing: The effect of libraries and promotion on reading competence.School Library Media Annual, 12.

Pain-Lewins, H. (Nov. 1990). Reading for pleasure and the schoollibrary. Reading, 24(3), 157-165.

Smolin, L.I. & Lawless, K.A. (March 2003). Becoming literate in thetechnological age: New responsibilities and tools for teachers.The Reading Teacher, 56(6), 570-577.

Staton, M. (Sept./Oct.). Reading motivation: The librarian’s role inhelping teachers develop programs that work. Library Talk, 11(4),18-21.

Wilson, P.J. (Jan. 1994). What reading teachers should expect fromtheir school library media specialists: Tips from exemplary read-ing programs. The State of Reading: The Journal of the Texas StateReading Association, 1 (1), 19-25.

Note: For on-going professional reading on literacy and school libraries, readLiteracy Links written by Marlene Asselin and featured in every issue ofTeacher-Librarian: The Journal for School Library Professionals.

—Ray Doiron, Ph.D., Faculty of Education, University of PrinceEdward Island, raydoiron@upei.ca, ALA/CLA Joint Conference,Toronto, June 2003

The Teaching Librarian Volume 10, no. 3 43

l The Impact of the Replacement of Teacher-Librarians with Library Technicians onSchool Library Programs and Services:A Provincial Study

Ray Doiron, Faculty of Education, University ofPrince Edward IslandRay Doiron conducted this study at the request ofthe Nova Scotia teachers' federation. He discovered asignificant decline in Nova Scotia's school librarieswith regard to staffing, services, collections, andinstructional programs. Non-teachers, and some-times volunteers, were performing instructionaltasks. Basically, at all levels of the school systemthere was evidence of serious misunderstanding ofschool librarianship and information literacy instruc-tion. In other words, keeping school libraries openwhile getting rid of teacher-librarians does not sup-port student learning and achievement.

l Information Literacy Education for Pre-Service Teachers: Does it Make a Difference?

Jennifer L. Branch, Department of ElementaryEducation, Faculty of Education, University ofAlbertaJennifer Branch concluded from this study that theeducation of preservice teachers does make a differ-ence to their understanding of information literacyand their ability to integrate ICT into their teaching.It's important to note that this preservice educationinvolved immersing these preservice teachers in aresource-based learning environment, information lit-eracy, and the research process. This has implica-tions for the education of preservice teachers.

l An Essential Connection: How QualitySchool Library Media Programs ImproveStudent Achievement in North Carolina

Dr. Robert Burgin, president, RB Software &Consulting, Cary, North CarolinaThis study of North Carolina's public school librariescorroborated the findings of previous studies, suchas those done by Lance. Although the informationprovided by this study isn't new, it's important tohave the earlier results confirmed in yet one morejurisdiction. Each study confirming these resultsmakes it a bit more difficult for policy makers toargue that the studies have been to limited to applyto their particular jurisdiction.

CONCLUSIONAlthough personal stories can be powerful, it'salso important to know the research being donein school librarianship. Attending these ses-sions gave me the opportunity to improve myknowledge and understanding of this researchso I can share it with my colleagues and withschool and district administrators. z

44 Ontario School Library Association

“The Faculty of InformationStudies Alumni Association,University of Toronto, is pleasedto announce that this year's win-ner of the Alumni Jubilee Awardis Peter Rogers, BLS '69, MLS '74.”

Peter has been the recipient of manyhonours during the past 30 plus yearsin his illustrious career in Ontario’s

libraries. He currently is president of theTrustees Group of OLA, where his quiet inspi-ration is, once again, making a difference. TheTeaching Librarian caught up with him toreview his experiences in school libraries…

TTLL: How did you get involved in schoollibraries in the first place?

PPRR:: After graduating with my BLS in 1969 andan honours degree in English and History, Iwas offered a job substituting at a CatholicSecondary School in Hamilton for a grade 13

English teacher on leave. I was also givensome library periods to work with a nun whohad been there for a few years and had somesort of knowledge of libraries. The principal,Fr. Ronald Cote, saw the significance of schoollibraries in the emerging curricula (Living andLearning, or the Hall-Dennis Report, with itsfocus on the child was just coming into promi-nence). Thanks to both of these strokes ofluck, by Christmas of my second year I was incharge of the library. There was no lookingback!

TTLL: For how long have you been involved,and in what capacities?

PPRR:: I have been involved in school librariessince 1969, and worked in three high schoolcommunities (Bishop Ryan, Cardinal Newmanand St. Mary’s Catholic Secondary Schools)and in seven actual libraries – now that’s along story – one building at BR, two at St.Mary’s and four at CN. I held positions aschairperson of communications, and programhead, library resource; these positions bothdisappeared with cuts. I represented myboard on many occasions but never as a paidconsultant. Provincially, in 1983, I chairedIdeashop (OSLA’s conference before SuperConference), and was twice president of OSLA.I also chaired the OLA Task Force on Co-oper-ation between Schools and Public Libraries.

Peter Rogers:QuietInspirationInterview by Dianne Clipsham

the profileTL

TTLL: Tell us about any outstanding momentsfor you in your career.

PPRR:: There have been many:

Meeting and introducing people such as W.O.Mitchell, Sue Hinton, Timothy Findley, KevinMajor, Nino Ricci, Margaret Atwood (I spent anhour with her alone in her hotel room inNiagara Falls) was certainly classic.

As chair of the Hamilton Public Library Board,I spearheaded a local task force on coopera-tion. It was through that group that webrought together three school boards, threepublic library boards, Mohawk College, andMcMaster University, along with a number ofcommercial partners, to create the HamiltonWentworth Information Network (HWIN). Thismodel of cooperation helped land us a$660,000-Ministry grant to create a technologi-cal infrastructure and a resource-sharingframework which still operates today and hasprovided our school libraries with a base thatwould never have been accomplished andsupported otherwise.

My last outstanding moment was my retire-ment reception where my grade 9 mathteacher, my grade 13 Italian teacher, Fr. Cote,(who was my high school principal and whoalso hired me), my director of education, mylong time friend and mentor Larry Moore fromthe OLA, my Chief Librarian from the HamiltonPublic Library, and many friends were all inthe same room. That was neat!

TTLL: Can you share your dream for schoollibraries in Ontario?

PPRR:: It is my dream that we will have schoollibraries in every school in this province,including Native schools, that we will have

well-educated and effective teacher-librarianswho have been supported by Ministry ofEducation regulations. I also firmly anticipatean Information Studies curriculum embeddedin all courses with clear expectations that aremeasurable and are reported to parents. I seethe day coming when information literacy willbecome a regular part of both student educa-tion and all teacher professional training.

TTLL: Can you share your favourite reads orviewing habits?

PPRR:: In the last few years I have graduated fromyoung adult novels (which I always enjoyed,especially after meeting their authors) to con-centrating on adult Canadian material that wealso used in our OAC English program, suchas Ann-Marie MacDonald’s Fall On Your Knees,David Adams Richards’ Mercy Among theChildren, Annie Proulx’s The Shipping News,Timothy Findley’s The Piano Man’s Daughter,Guy Vanderheage’s The Englishman’s Boy, NinoRicci’s Lives of the Saints and ShyamSelvadurai’s Cinnamon Gardens, to name just afew. What great literature we have here inCanada! I am anticipating enjoying YannMartel’s The Life of Pi next. z

Peter Rogers is pictured here when he was OSLA President, 1983-85.He subsequently becameOLA President in 1988-89.After becoming Chair of the Hamilton PublicLibrary Board, he went on to becomePresident of the Ontario Library Trustees’Association in 2002.

Adele Kostiak, Lynn McLeod on the School Library / Public LibraryCooperation Task force that Peter chaired in the early ‘90s.