1. School Library/ catchy title
Names/titles

2. Points to consider before you start…
BREAKING THE CYCLE
Moving from a VICTIM mindset: No one is going to rescue you, but you!
SEEING is BELIEVING: what does your school see you doing? Educator? Manager? Curator? Book Stamper? Dragon at the Door? Shusher?
From LIABILITY to LIBERATION: Making issues more visible (censorship, copyright, plagiarism, rules, regulations, resourcing, technology, staffing needs) and learning outcomes more visible
How can your school library show that it:
Is a knowledge space?
Is a center for learning activism?
Actively contributes to the school as a thinking community?
Shows that it makes a difference to student learning?

3. Consider… a good program…
It has a vibrant literature / reading program for academic achievement and personal enjoyment and enrichment
It collaborates with other libraries: public, government, community resources
It provides an integrated and rich information technology environment to support teaching and learning (the library is not a refuge for reject technology)
It provides leadership to students and staff in the use of electronic resources and integrating information technology into learning

4. More pre-points…Revolting Librarians…the Buffy’s, Valenza’s, Kowalski’s…
Rascal attitude: creative, collaborative naughtiness to show library learning is fun, and motivate others to be part of it
Dance the knowledge waltz not the information two-step
Inquiry-based learning, not information literacy or information skills, is the educative platform
Empowerment Model: how you empower rather than a Deficiency Model: what people don’t know, only I know…
What language do you speak? Deweydecilibrobabble or a cross-curricular learning dialect? (Voices)
Is your library an open invitation for mystery, intrigue, discovery – where accidental discovery, as well as planned discovery, is highly likely?

5. I love my job….Collaboration and service
The reasons why you love your job as a school librarian.
This would be a great place to use the word collaboration and a reference to the support you provide for every teacher and department in the school and the curriculum.

6. What you have made the library… how it evolves
The Library as an inclusive learning commons: where users come to create/collaborate, not just access access information.
Strong virtual presence
24/7 access

7. School Librarian = Successful students
The link between a fully functional school library, certified school librarian and student achievement.  

8. Information-age demands
The benefits of having a certified, school librarian teach information literacy skills for the digital age.
Consider:
A beautiful space and certified librarian are important, but administrators ultimately want students to read better, to research effectively, to discover new ideas, learn more, and to improve achievement. It’s the applications that matter…

9. Celebrating the Found…
Examples….
Number of classes in the library
Number of library items borrowed
Number of students using the library at lunch times
Number of items purchased annually
Number of database searches

10. Student achievement evidence
“What differences do my school library and its learning initiatives make to
student learning outcomes?
Include brief, yet relevant statistics that highlight your role in relation to student achievement. Keep statistics to a maximum of 2 slides.
Choose relevant images, audio and video that showcase the work of the librarians in your district.
Come up with some “talking points.” This is where you can use the data your library and school collects. Some statistics about your library media center’s use (who, how, when).
planning cooperatively with teachers
identifying materials for teachers
teaching information literacy skills to students
providing in-service training to teachers
managing a computer network through which library’s learning program reaches beyond its own walls to classrooms, labs and offices

11. One or two recent accomplishments of your students.
More evidence…
School libraries are vital to effective learning in an information age school. Just don’t say it, show it! Ross J. Todd

12. What I could do if…
The impact on users (students, parents, teachers and other school staff) when you face a shortage of student volunteers. Be specific, use your data. Consider a personal story here.
If your message is about a need, explain what the library would like to see happen and what the listener can do to help.   
**This must be kept positive!! If you can’t keep this positive, leave it out!
Make this an image slide…
THEN Have a “parking lot” or “grocery store” or “elevator” speech ready. This is a very short statement that can literally be communicated during the brief time you’re walking to the parking lot in the company of a student, school staff member or parent, or when you bump into a parent in the grocery store. When appropriate, invite the listener to get involved. Here are two examples: “We’ve had more second graders students move from picture books to ready-to-read books this year than ever before, and their test scores went up 20%.” “Have you heard that we’re trying to create an after-school homework help center in the school library with volunteer tutors and extra computers. If you think this is something our students can really use, please help us communicate that to the rest of the school.”
Consider a single and significant image for this slide while you chat…

13. Where I’d like to take us…
If you are describing a new student-centered program that you are looking to implement in the library, you may want to ask your listener for his or her input on getting it up and running.
Better yet, have this part of the message COME from the students…

14. Also consider how you serve diverse learners…
ESL
Special ED
High-risk teens
Teen parents
“outcasts” (Dignity Act)
Tap into library “vocab” toolkits!
empower, learning for life, information literacy, digital citizenship, Common Core, reading, technology tools, research, digital footprint, lexile levels, read-along functions, collaborative authorship, eBooks…

15. Show gratitude and invite!
Be sure to thank colleagues, administrators, parents and school board members at the end of your presentation. Invite them in!
Show gratitude often! Often! Often!

16. Sources
Content adapted from

17. Content Adapted from…
Make A Big Your School Board Meeting by, Margaux DelGuidice and Rose Luna
School Library Conference (WA) School Libraries: Making them a Class Act; DR ROSS J TODD Associate Professor Department of Library and Information science; Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; scils.rutgers.edu/~rtodd