A Chat about Curation with Mrs. Long

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

An area of librarianship that I wanted to learn more about through this internship is curation. I wanted to have firsthand experience seeing how a school librarian chooses how to purchase and weed titles, as well as how the librarian helps students with research and curating information in that aspect. My interview with my supervising librarian, Mrs. Long taught me a lot about how you can structure this domain in the elementary school setting.

As I had already gained experience in selecting books and how weeding works throughout my internship, this interview I wanted to focus more on curating information. However, one thing that Mrs. Long said stuck with me about reading and that was she pairs reading with a visual of some sort. For example, when she reads for a lesson, she might pair it with an informational video or an image that correlates with the story. I found that powerful because I learned this semester that elementary school students are fascinated with learning about nonfiction topics. By doing this pairing, you can capture their attentions and curiosity even more than with just a fiction title. Seeing this in action also confirmed that this is something that I would like to try on my own as a librarian. 

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

In terms of researching, I liked how concrete Mrs. Long makes it for students. She tells them that they are born researchers because they all ask questions from a young age to learn new information. I felt that this boosts confidence in young students to not be held back by their age. Additionally, Mrs. Long does not overcomplicate research. She scaffolds it by grade level so that by 5th grade the students have foundational skills to use on their own. Also, she has one “major” grade level research project per year that she collaborates with the teachers on. Most of these have been used for years, but it gave me the idea to use in the future. Even if I do not end up working in an elementary school setting, I can take that and use it at any level. For instance, I could choose a subject area per grade level to start small and collaborate with. I have learned that research does not have to be this elaborate endeavor and teaching students that is important. 

On the flip side, I was able to hear firsthand how teaching and conducting research can be challenging. For example, some students do not listen, they are at different levels (experience, reading, etc.), speed (or lack of), and changes in staff can be some barriers. After helping with research, I saw how reading levels and speed can impact how successful it goes. Some students were strong readers and practically finished in one session with their research, while others struggled. Luckily, Mrs. Long has fantastic teachers who stayed to help us help the students while they worked. This experience showed me how important it is to plan with teachers and think about things such as what an early finisher will do while others are still researching. 

Overall, curating is an important part of being a librarian and helping students with these skills may not always be easy, but it is worth it.  From selecting books and resources to teaching research, I believe getting the students and teachers involved is essential to being successful in this domain.