AASL Standards for Framework - Interview 3

Librarian Interview about the AASL Inquire Domain

    For my 3rd blog interview regarding the AASL Standards Framework, I interviewed a middle school librarian at a middle school in the Fort Mill School District (FMSD).  The middle school is one of six middle schools in the school district, with an enrollment of 535 students.  The middle school encompasses grades 6th - 8th and has the following demographics: 61% White, 17% Black, and 9% Hispanic.  36% of the student population are from low- income families (Great! Schools.org, 2025). Unlike the elementary schools in the FMSD, middle school librarians work with an instructional assistant specifically geared towards the library. I interviewed the librarian regarding the Inquire domain for the AASL Standards Framework.

    The librarian involves students in the inquiry process through program development, which piques student interest.  For example, the librarian creates a scavenger hunt for 6th-grade students at the beginning of each school year.  The scavenger hunt focuses on student learning and locating different resources of the library.  This is an activity that I could incorporate with the older elementary grades to facilitate and engage students in the library resources.  In addition, the librarian has 6th-grade students sort different books into different genres, which provides additional instruction in learning the different areas of the library.  The 7th-grade students work on a digital escape room project in which students solve problems using different parts of speech and research methods.  Students use resources such as Google Forms, Padlets, and fiction books, which expand upon the Inquire competency.

    The librarian collaborates with other grade-level teachers to incorporate the Inquire competency.  The ELA classes are invited and scheduled to visit the library once a month. During this time, the librarian works with teachers to prepare students for their media lessons.  Teachers and librarians collaborate and create escape rooms based on information they are learning in class and information they need to review for tests or other assignments. I am intrigued by the digital escape rooms and will be implementing this concept in the elementary school library next school year.

    As with my other interviews, the librarian mentioned that time constraints create challenges for implementing the Inquire competency in library programming.  Students are only in the library for 45 minutes one time a month.  When using inquire competencies, the librarian must complete the entire lesson in that period or risk students forgetting it before returning to the library.   

    The librarian added that there are multiple ways that she can include the inquire competency in the media center for lessons. However, getting students to go the extra mile in the media center is challenging when they are already burnt out from classwork. Due to student burnout, the librarian focuses on keeping the lessons fun and engaging with technology and hands-on activities.  This is another aspect that I strive to include in my library programming to fulfill the Inquire competency.

Reference

Great!Schools.org. (2025). Banks Trail Middle. https://www.greatschools.org/south-carolina/fort-mill/3565-Banks-Trail-Middle/?searchWhatType=autosuggest&searchLocationType=undefined&searchWhatKeywordValue=banks+trail+m