[aisle] Does anyone have the most current data on the number of school librarians in Illinois?

Mon Sep 12 09:52:38 CDT 2022

Good morning,

After reading through Joseph Panozzo's remarks as well as the rest of this discussion, I'd like to take the opportunity to introduce myself and the RAILS data project Carolyn Kinsella briefly mentioned.  I'm Janette Derucki, and I work as a Data Research Specialist for RAILS. My primary responsibility has been the RAILS School Library Data Project since it was launched in January 2022.

The main purpose of the project is to explore the current state of school libraries in Illinois and gather data about school library workers, library funding and library collections.  This is largely in response to a noticeable lack of data currently available for Illinois school libraries, which has already been a topic of discussion here.  Our goal is to create a sustainable data source that will provide this information now and into the future, as well as serve as an advocacy tool for school library staff and educators.  If you're interested and have about 10 minutes to spare, I encourage you to view the presentation I gave about our project for the RAILS Back to School Fest in August. You can find it on our YouTube Channel: School library data project<https://youtu.be/USssGxSgrTU>.

I'm grateful to those of you who've shared the changes to library staff in your districts; gathering this information as it changes is challenging.  We're preparing to conduct a statewide school library staff survey in the coming weeks, and I hope you'll take some time to submit your own information and share it with other members of the Illinois school library community.  (Thanks to AISLE's support, we'll be sharing it via the listserv and other channels.) Getting a clear picture of what's happening in schools is crucial to providing better support and advocacy for school libraries.

Please feel free to reach out to me separately if you have comments, questions, or concerns about our project. I'm happy to help in any way I can!

Kindly,
Janette

Janette Derucki
Data Research Specialist
Reaching Across Illinois Library System
Burr Ridge Office
Phone: 630.734.5143
Fax: 630.734.5050
janette.derucki at railslibraries.info<mailto:janette.derucki at railslibraries.info>
http://www.railslibraries.info<http://www.railslibraries.info/>

From: AISLE <aisle-bounces at list.railslibraries.info> On Behalf Of Panozzo, Joseph via AISLE
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2022 10:54 AM
To: AISLE-Share: Association of Illinois School Library Educators discussion list <aisle at list.railslibraries.info>
Cc: Panozzo, Joseph <jpanozzo at my.dom.edu>; Executive Secretary AISLE <execsecretary at aisled.org>
Subject: Re: [aisle] Does anyone have the most current data on the number of school librarians in Illinois?

Hello All,

My name is Joseph Panozzo. I am a current Dominican University MLIS student who is also performing Graduate Assistant duties for Dr. Don Hamerly, one of my professors. I am working on this project being discussed in these email streams. I am attempting to research Illinois School Districts, Public Schools in each of the school districts, and the individual school's staff directory to determine if each public school has a certified librarian/media specialist serving each public school, if the librarian is serving multiple schools in the school district, and if there is an aide/paraprofessional assisting the librarian with library duties. It is a herculean task because many schools do not have a certified librarian on staff; many schools do not list their information on their websites; many schools and their personnel do not respond to my email messages requesting whether or not the listed school librarian/media specialist is a certified librarian and if a library aide exists; and there are thousands of school employees throughout the state with a plethora of unusual job titles that squeeze out funding for a librarian at their respective schools.

When I started my MLIS journey, I thought a Graduate Level MLIS degree would help me obtain virtually any librarian job. Dominican University and Illinois-Champaign/Urbana are currently the only schools in the state with certified MLIS programs. Much to my surprise, I see so many public schools with non-certified "librarians" educating our students, including parents and volunteers. A teacher's certificate is all that is required to serve as a school "librarian." No MLIS graduate level education degree is required. This would be tantamount to nurses and assistants practicing medicine instead of doctors and paralegals and secretaries practicing law instead of attorneys. My expensive graduate level MLIS degree does not qualify me to serve as a librarian in schools, unless I take additional expensive education classes, with many of them not directly related to librarianship studies. So, I feel all of your pain. Plus, when school budgets are cut, it is often that the school librarian position is on the chopping block. This is despite the fact that students need certified librarians at their schools now more than ever to filter out mis(dis)information regarding research and to promote reading and literacy.

Dr. Hamerly is planning to present our findings at the upcoming AISLE Convention held on November 3-5 at the Tinley Park Convention Center in Tinley Park, Illinois. I am still working on this research, but my GA duties will not last forever even though much more needs to be researched and discussed in many other regions and school districts throughout the state. I wish everybody well. I am willing to discuss my findings if anybody is interested.

Regards,
Joseph Panozzo
jpanozzo at my.dom.edu
815-315-7686
________________________________
From: AISLE <aisle-bounces at list.railslibraries.info> on behalf of Karrie Fisher via AISLE <aisle at list.railslibraries.info>
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2022 9:45 AM
To: AISLE-Share: Association of Illinois School Library Educators discussion list <aisle at list.railslibraries.info>
Cc: Karrie Fisher <kfisher at district31.net>
Subject: Re: [aisle] Does anyone have the most current data on the number of school librarians in Illinois?

District 31 in Glenview/Northbrook eliminated one full-time librarian position.

Search The Card Catalog<https://district31.follettdestiny.com/common/servlet/logout.do?tm=>

Happily Ever After,
Karrie Fisher
District Librarian

[Image removed by sender. Bitmoji Image]
Winkelman Elementary School * 1919 Landwehr Road * Glenview, IL  60026 * 847-729-5650

Field Middle School * 2055 Landwehr Road * Northbrook, IL 60062
847--272-6884

On Fri, Sep 9, 2022 at 9:29 AM Executive Secretary AISLE via AISLE <aisle at list.railslibraries.info<mailto:aisle at list.railslibraries.info>> wrote:
Marie and all,

AISLE is well aware of the lack of statistical data for Illinois school libraries. This became very evident when the SLIDE study began and the researchers could find almost no accurate data for Illinois. RAILS is working on obtaining this data with assistance from AISLE and other library agencies but they are in the beginning stages. We all know the importance of accurate data and hopefully Illinois will have the information soon. You can contact me directly if you want more information.

Carolyn Kinsella
AISLE Executive Secretary
P.O. Box 110
Seneca, IL  61360
PH: 815-357-6023

[Image removed by sender.]

On Fri, Sep 9, 2022 at 9:15 AM Carolyn Kinsella <carolynkinsella76 at gmail.com<mailto:carolynkinsella76 at gmail.com>> wrote:

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Donovan, Marie via AISLE <aisle at list.railslibraries.info<mailto:aisle at list.railslibraries.info>>
Date: Thu, Sep 8, 2022 at 10:42 AM
Subject: [aisle] Does anyone have the most current data on the number of school librarians in Illinois?
To: AISLE at list.railslibraries.info<mailto:AISLE at list.railslibraries.info> <AISLE at list.railslibraries.info<mailto:AISLE at list.railslibraries.info>>
Cc: Donovan, Marie <MDONOVAN at depaul.edu<mailto:MDONOVAN at depaul.edu>>

Good morning, all-I hope you won't mind helping me: I'm in the process of finalizing a column I write for the Illinois Reading Council journal with a librarian friend and colleague on the connections between teachers/reading specialists and school librarians. For our upcoming column, we're focused (yet again) on the loss of school librarians and libraries in our state. In researching the number of funded librarian/media specialist positions for this school year, I've hit a wall in finding this out. I realize learning this for private schools probably isn't possible but I thought I could for public schools-yet I'm stymied in locating a database or other entity that could give me a sense of where we stand.

Is this something AISLE would have or somewhere/someone else?

Again, I hope you don't mind my asking. Thank you all in advance for whatever guidance or insights you can share.

Sincerely, m

Marie Ann Donovan, Ed.D.

She/her/hers<https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/GIJiCG6EvwhgkXESpwi-X/>

Associate Professor of Education

Director, Program in Early Childhood Education

Representative, IL Board of Higher Education Faculty Advisory Council

Member at large, Faculty Council, College of Education

2247 N Halsted Street, #303

Chicago, IL 60614

(773) 325-7591 [office; I'm in the office daily]

I'm reading: Patrick Radden Keefe-Say Nothing.

I'm listening to: Nahko and the Medicine People.
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