Should there be expectations for collaboration in the library?

This subject to close to me right now: it was the only revision in my defense that came up. Here's what happened: in my description of a model library, I talked about everything...except what the librarian does...with students, with other teachers. And one of my committee members said it was like building a boat and forgetting the skipper.

Interesting.

So it got me thinking about collaboration. If you had this amazing library, what good would it be without a highly qualified librarian...who had expectations of working with students and teachers? What would that look like? What would the expectations for the other teachers in the school be?

What would happen if something like the following was published at a school:

"The highly-qualified library media teacher will work with teachers to prepare lessons developing media literacy and research skills using topics of study in the content class. All students will have an opportunity to work in-depth with the library resources at least once a year." 

and

"Teachers should plan to collaborate with the library media teacher at least once a year on a unit of study that involves media literacy and research skills around the teacher's content area."

Now, don't start telling me about the schedule and time and you know, reality. I want to assume that will all be worked out. For this exercise, I want to know how those statements would shape or change the work that you do--or want to do--or are already doing.

What could a policy statement about collaboration look like?

Sometimes it's just because

Why do we read? What does reading do for our students, our children, our own lives? What are the advantages of having a library and librarians?

I loved this article by Neil Gaiman: he brings up so many ideas that I think we need to be communicating to our students, our parents, our whole world in general.

Why Our Future Depends on Libraries, Reading, and Daydreaming

Would you please read this and let us all know what you think? Maybe give us the part you love, hate, or are planning to put on the wall of your library in vinyl? Or tell me I'm just up in the night. Whatever that particular phase means.

Mine would be,

"We have an obligation to imagine. It is easy to pretend that nobody can change anything, that we are in a world in which society is huge and the individual is less than nothing: an atom in a wall, a grain of rice in a rice field. But the truth is, individuals change their world over and over, individuals make the future, and they do it by imagining that things can be different."

But ask me again, tomorrow. It will probably be different.

Be well.