AASL Standards for Framework - Interview 4

 Librarian Interview AASL Standard - Engage Competency

    For my fourth librarian interview regarding the AASL Standards Framework for Learners, I focused on the engage competency and interviewed a middle school librarian in the Fort Mill School District (FMSD). The middle school is one of 11 in the FMSD and has an enrollment of 961 students. The middle school focuses on students in the 6th—8th grades. The student demographics are 66% White, 13% Asian or Pacific Islander,  9% Hispanic, and 7% Black. 16% of the student population comes from low-income families (Great!Schools.org, 2025).  The middle school librarian works collaboratively with the ELA teachers, and the ELA classes visit the media center once a month.  The librarian co-teaches ELA and research lessons to each class, which was very interesting to observe. When asked the librarian pulls resources for other classes and tries to attend PLC meetings.

    I had the privilege of observing the librarian for a school day and watching how she actively incorporates the engage standard in her library programming.  The librarian offers students resources for finding a place to belong in the library, especially during "blacktop time," when students go outside for recess.  The librarian uses Google Classroom to help students learn about opportunities in the media center during their blacktop times.  These opportunities include: Sketchy People (students are encouraged to draw), Book Review Team (students check out and review new shipments of books), Poetry and Prose, Teacher Assistants, Library Ambassadors, SCASL Book Award Banners.  I appreciated using different activities and organizations in the media center to encourage student engagement and help students find alternative activities to "blacktop time."

    The librarian utilizes Google Classroom as a main resource for reaching student engagement in the media center.  In addition, the media center website is a primary resource for reaching students, teachers, and caregivers.  The school newsletter also includes media center advertisements for student engagement.  Next year, the librarian hopes to utilize Smart Paths more effectively to facilitate Google meet-ups and also pop-ups for student meetups in the media center. 

    Families are invited to engage with the media center and library programming through annual events such as the STEAM Literacy Night.  This year, the Steam Literacy Night incorporated student poems and a student quilt featuring the topic "I Am." The literacy night centered around the One School, One Book challenge that the entire school read and discussed.  In addition, caregivers are welcomed into the media center during the Fall Family Night, which features the choir's performances.  The Fall Family Night corresponds with a book fair, which engages students with reading and putting books in their hands. 

    The librarian stressed the component of time when trying to facilitate the engage competency.  The librarian meets with the ELA classes monthly, leaving little or no time to engage with other subject levels.  The librarian needs more time to assemble a resource guide to help grade-level teachers engage and pull resources from the library website.  The engagement piece is critical because it is the literacy component.  My conversations with the middle school librarian stressed the literacy piece and the crucial need to incorporate the standard into elementary library programming.  

    

    

Reference

Great!Schools.org. (2025). Pleasant Knoll Middle. https://www.greatschools.org/south-carolina/fort-mill/4246-Pleasant-Knoll-Middle/#Students