Context

Educational Context

I have been a teacher in Great Falls, MT for 30 years. Great Falls Public Schools is the 2nd largest school district in Montana, with over 10,000 students. We have a military base, Malmstrom Air Force Base, located within our district. Overall, 44% of our students qualify for free and reduced lunch. Twelve percent of our students receive special education services. More than 4% are considered homeless, a number that equates to nearly 500 students. The first half of my career, I taught middle school English. The latter half, I worked as a middle school librarian. For all but the first year of my career, I worked at North Middle School which is an urban school of approximately 715 students with approximately 40% qualifying for free and reduced lunch. In 2020, I was awarded an IMLS grant of nearly $50,000 to improve the physical library space, as well as the perception of school libraries and librarians. Through that grant, I  rejoined my state library association and began my leadership journey, which included being elected as the school library division co-chair and working as a Member Political Organizer and Member Legislative Organizer for my union, Montana Federation of Public Employees. 

Connecting Self-Assessment to Context

How does awareness of biases privilege, and personal values inform your project?

I am a white, cis-gendered, middle class woman who has experienced privilege in many ways. I have also experienced inequity in some ways.  I recognize that my own biases and values might not align with the values of all stakeholders. In order to be a constructive and influential leader, I believe it is necessary to strive to recognize my own biases, privileges and values. Remembering who I serve at all times keeps me focused on becoming the most effective leader I can be. 

Describe your work with diverse stakeholders, shared learning experiences, and how you anticipate your leadership pathway might evolve during the TLI process?

My work as a librarian has shaped my experience with diverse stakeholders. A school library serves all students, even the ones who consider themselves nonreaders. A school librarian works with all staff members in one way or another, and all these experiences have given me the chance to see myself and the library through the eyes of a wide variety of people. Leading from the library is challenging, and exhilarating. Through the TLI experience, I foresee my leadership role evolving to include my colleagues across the state and even the region. 

Keeping in mind that diversity is even bigger than race and other factors, my experience involves working with librarians who come from a variety of backgrounds, which can include but is not limited to, schools from different SES than my own, different grade levels, librarians who are brand new and those who have been working in librarians a lot longer than I have. I believe that I will become more responsive to the needs of this diverse group of librarians I hope to serve.

Describe how your awareness of those from different cultures, experiences, and backgrounds inform your chosen project. 

For this project, my target audience is school librarians. In a state the size of Montana, I am aware my colleagues and I have similar but not identical experiences and backgrounds. Due to the nature of local control, even our professional development needs will vary. Surveying our school librarian membership on what they need is vital to the success of the project. Providing what is needed in a responsive manner is also important. I do not know who will be attending or presenting at this conference, so there are many variables to bear in mind.

Overarching Competency #1 Technological Facility- Developing

As a school librarian, I am comfortable using technology to teach both students and colleagues in face to face learning. I am also comfortable using technology to collaborate with others. Online learning and teaching is another story. I will need to expand my skill set to provide online learning for school librarians.

Overarching Competency #2- Continuing Education- Developing

 In the context of this project, I feel I am Developing in this area given my experience providing in person professional development in my district and at state conferences. To grow in this competency, I will need to widen my horizons and increase my understanding of the needs of adult learners and the nuances of online learning environments.

Foundational Competency- Cultivate Socially Just Learning Environments-Emerging

This competency was a more difficult choice, but once I was able to view diversity as a broader topic than I had previously considered, I was able to see that in addition to providing students with equitable learning environments, we have a responsibility to provide that for teachers as well. 

 Leadership Pathway-Association: Organizational Effectiveness: Leading with Skill-Developing

At the onset of this project, I was Developing in this area. I definitely understood the need for members of the Montana Library Association to transition from merely paying dues to becoming passionate partners in furthering the mission of MLA. Accomplishing such a transition has been challenging and rewarding work. 

Since I chose the Association pathway, the main stakeholders affected by my project are the current and future members of the Montana Library Association. MLA has more than 500 members across the state from all kinds of libraries. For my project, I am focusing on the library group I belong to- school librarians- and creating professional development opportunities for them. Such a diverse group of stakeholders means that I will need to be aware of how adults learn. Some of us prefer online to face to face learning, especially if travel costs are associated with in person learning. My goal is to coordinate the Summer Retreat Conference for the MLA, as well as online learning opportunities for school librarians.