2008 Horace Mann Award Recipient - Christie Kaaland

Her Tenacity Leads to a Brighter Future for School Libraries

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It takes a lot of determination to strategically apply for a grant three times when, after your second shot, you've been informed your school does not qualify for the grant.

Christie Kaaland, core faculty in Antioch Seattle's School of Education and the faculty recipient of the 2008 Horace Mann Award, is long on energy reserves and tenacity when she's fighting for Washington's school libraries and those who staff them.

So Kaaland sought a partnership with Mansfield University of Pennsylvania and landed a $1 million grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services on her third try.

She had developed an Antioch endorsement program aimed at Tacoma school librarians and teachers, recruited every student for the new program and now could offer scholarships as enticement.

For those who might not know the lingo, in today's information age a school librarian is called a library media specialist or teacher-librarian. And Antioch's Library Media Specialist Endorsement program in Tacoma is attracting the interest of a new audience of teacher-librarians, the first- and second-year teachers.

"Research skills are crucial for kids to have today or they find themselves wasting a huge amount of time on the Internet."

Training this new generation of librarians to be technology and curriculum leaders in the schools requires a cutting-edge program. Teacher-librarians spend 75 per cent of their workdays teaching, according to Kaaland. Their curriculum includes evaluating websites, Internet safety and other important 21st-century research skills.

"Technology has so many pieces to it," she says. "A child might try to do an Internet search on China and find over a billion hits. Kids today are not discriminating Internet users. Research skills are crucial for kids to have today or they find themselves wasting a huge amount of time on the Internet. As information multiplies exponentially, it becomes important for teacher-librarians teach students to evaluate websites, narrow searches and find authentic rather than commercial information.

"Forty years ago, we got all our information from books – books that were edited and fine tuned and rarely if ever published with misinformation. Today, there's little if any editing on the Internet, and when kids look up information on the net, they assume it's accurate. It used to be librarians were keepers of books. Today, we're filters of information who help students filter, find, evaluate, apply, synthesize and process information."

Kaaland doesn't stop there. Her passion for school libraries led her to co-chair the advocacy committee for the Washington Library Media Association.

Now she's telling everyone within earshot about Washington Senate Bill 6380, introduced by State Sen. Tracey Eide (D-Federal Way) in January. The bill, which has passed the Senate, would provide school districts with $12 per student in state funding for libraries.

"One of the great things about SB 6380 is that it came about in a grassroots effort when some parents saw their children's school library locked several days a week. Several legislators say they have never had so many calls on one bill," Kaaland says. "What we're hoping for is an equalizer. School libraries should be funded equally for all our children.

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