The Library Collaboration and Flexible Scheduling Toolkit

Book excerpt: Appropriate for experienced elementary librarians as well as students in school library preparation programs, this powerful book explains the advantages of utilizing a flexible schedule with collaboration as compared to a fixed schedule without collaboration. The aptly titled The Library Collaboration and Flexible Scheduling Toolkit: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started takes readers step by step through the process of considering collaboration as a method to deliver library services. Authored by an experienced elementary librarian and author for School Library Monthly and School Library Connection, the text begins by explaining the relevant research and underscoring the importance of being able to articulate the meaning of the research to library stakeholders. Next, readers learn how to gain support from administration and to train the staff in effective collaboration to impact student achievement. The book provides a complete answer to the complex question that many librarians and librarians in training have: "How do I go about putting collaboration and a flexible library schedule into place in my library?" Specific methods and solutions for handling problems that may come up—such as ways to win over a reluctant staff, or what to do in situations where a library assistant is not available—are provided to lend the author's real-world experience to the challenges that the librarian might encounter in undertaking collaboration.