1. Collaboration Policy
A librarian and a good library can and will further the learning of all classes,
in all grades, and of all contents in a school. In order for the librarian to be able to
accomplish this task, a collaboration policy needs to be in place in order for the
teachers, administrators, librarians and parents to know steps to take in order to
initiate collaboration.
Collaborating By Content Area
In upper intermediate grades through high school, the librarian will be
collaborating with teachers more in terms of content areas. When a teacher needs
books or other media to further his or her teaching of a specific content, a form will
be filled out at least three days prior and given to the library. The form that I will
use is below.
Name:
Subject:
Program of Studies/Core Content/Strand:
What will you be teaching about:
What are you looking for:
About how many will you need:
What medium do you prefer this information:
When do you need your library tools:
Anything else I need to know:
This form is short and simple enough that is should not be intimidating for
teachers to ask for help. I will give a presentation before school begins outlining
ways that I can help them with their teaching, and show examples of schools that
have effectively used their librarian to further teaching. I will then give each teacher
10 of these and let them know that they should try to utilize my presence at least
once a month.
Collaborating By Skill
There are certain skills that are easiest to be taught in the library. For
instance, teaching research skills and discriminately choosing sources is taught best
in a library because the students are able to practice the skill while they are
learning. I will offer times when I am available to teach specific classes, such as
word processing skills or research, if I have an open library (a library in which class
times are chosen based on need, rather than scheduled all year). If I have a rotation
of classes in the library, I will first ask the teachers as a grade level or team what
they feel are important skills that need to be taught during those library times and

2. when they need to be taught. That way, I will easily be able to supplement what is
being taught in the classroom with library skills.
In Class Collaboration
There will also be times when teachers will want the professional opinion of
a librarian. I want it known that my door is always open for collaboration. I will
make it clear at the faculty meeting and throughout the school year that I am
available to help teach in the classroom. I will send periodic school wide e‐mails
discussing successes in classrooms in which I am collaborating so that other
teachers will have a specific idea of what I can do to further their student’s learning.