Meeting the Diverse Needs of ALL My Students: How Do I Measure UP?

While I like to think I provide my students with a multitude of ways to access information in my library, the reality is, as a new librarian, I am just beginning to understand my responsibilities.  My role is to ensure that ALL students can participate in the library and I have wondered, how do I measure up in providing my diverse learners with access to information?  For now, I give myself a C and in our new educational world, I have yet to meet proficiency.  While not a totally delinquent in providing accessibility, I have just started to understand the immense resources that are available out there in order to provide equitable access for all our students at Spaulding.  

The image above is taken from a Thinglink I created for my libraries web page.  It illustrates all the "services" my library provides to our education community.   On the surface, I appear to provide many ways for individuals to connect to the collection and to access information.   We have iPads, kindles, audio books, newspapers, audio equipment, digital/flip cameras, and videos; all of which can provide those with hearing and visual impairments the ability to participate in many aspects of their academics. I was very proud of the fact that if a student needed an audio book, we could provide it through the Kindle, a Mp3 player or CDs.  If a student needed to manipulate font size, no problem, a Kindle or iPad should do the trick.  All these tools are indeed essential and needed and our budget is sufficient enough that I can provide these services.  However, upon reading about Assistive Technology and the variety of tools available, I realize that I have much more to do and learn.  

As a new librarian, this year my focus has been on just learning all the day to day responsibilities and the tricks of the trade.  It has been an overwhelming year of just trying to BE a librarian.  My ignorance of what is my role in my school at the start of the year has morphed into recognizing the many facets of my job that I didn't know and just how much  I have to learn; especially when it comes to providing our diverse learners with the tools they  need to be successful.  I remember opening a folder in my new desk and seeing the word Bookshare on it.  I thought to myself, what the heck is this?  I even asked my co-workers if we were a member of this and they said "yes" but they didn't expand beyond that.  So back into the desk it went and to be honest, I haven't looked at it since.  Little did I realize that this organization is so important to my students in so many ways. It is these little nuances and little bits of information that will make my role so much stronger and allow me to advocate for my students.  

As I expand my knowledge and reflect on this past year, I realize that I need to collaborate more with the Special Ed. department and to be more proactive in recognizing students who may need extra support.  I also need to look further into what EXACTLY we have for our diverse learners.  For example, when I was a teacher, I had a student who was visually impaired and the school provided him with a special computer that did contain some type of magnification but I have no idea what it was, where it is, or who is responsible for the technology.  By collaborating more, I will have a better capacity to find the holes in the variety of assistive technology available to our students.

I also plan on paying closer attention to the physical space in the library.  How do we support our students with physical disabilities?  We are putting together a 3-5 year plan and I will be more aware and mindful of how the physical space can become more welcoming and adaptable for students to ensure accessibility.  For example, just the simple act of purchasing more half stacks will not only help in supervision, but allow for students to reach books and materials on their own and they will no longer be out of reach.  

While I may not be proficient yet, I hope to put into place the systems and tools necessary to ensure that ALL our students have accessable the means of learning.