MSLA 2018 Conference: Future Ready

The leader and most important person in any school is the school principal. Developing a positive, working relationship with the principal is crucial to the success of any school library, no matter how experienced or inexperienced. What the principal thinks of the school library program shapes the perception of the school library program for the entire school community.

Our interactive session proposes to share 5 tips for developing (or improving) a positive working relationship between the school principal and school librarian along with a couple of proven strategies for creating open lines of communication. Templates of "talking topics" for participants to use when meeting with a principal to help guide the development of a relevant and meaningful meeting will be shared. Using scenarios, session participants will participate in choosing "talking points" to simulate a real-time conversation with a principal that is focused on student learning. A list of topics and issues of national and local importance will be generated through a group brainstorm. From the list, participants will select a topic or issue of personal importance and outline action steps to apply in their respective school setting to create a bridge and start a dialog related to their own school and principal. Participants should leave the session with a ready to implement idea or two that will develop or strengthen communication between the principal and the school librarian.