Internationalizing School Librarianship Dr. Lesley S. J. Farmer California State University Long Beach Lesley.Farmer@csulb.edu

ACRL Cultural Competence Standards A congruent set of behaviors, attitudes, and policies that enable a person or group to work effectively in cross-cultural situations; the process by which individuals and systems respond respectfully and effectively to people of all cultures, languages, classes, races, ethnic backgrounds, religions, and other diversity factors in a manner that recognizes, affirms, and values the worth of individuals, families, and communities and protects and preserves the dignity of each. Knowledge, social, ethical

Why School Libraries Physical and intellectual access to broad variety of resources Access for all students in all subjects Support for students of various cultures Curating items that support global literacy Information and digital literacy instruction Collaborative instructional design and delivery

Why CSULB – and Profession Campus internationalization initiative International Education Committee incentive No existing international school librarianship course International school librarianship activity

Comparative School Librarianship Course Curriculum (1) School libraries as a universal construct A. The role and mission of school libraries B. International school library professional associations C. International documents supporting school libraries D. International standards for school libraries Task: Analyze a professional association

Comparative School Librarianship Course Curriculum (2) Cultural aspects of school libraries A. Definition of culture B. Cultural contexts of education and libraries C. Impact of culture on school libraries D. Definition of culture competence Task: Self-assess cultural competency

Comparative School Librarianship Course Curriculum (3) Comparative issues and impact of information technologies and media A. Cultural perspective and bias B. Social and political roles C. Equity issues Task: Analyze tech/media social-cultural issues

Comparative School Librarianship Course Curriculum (4) Comparative specific elements of school libraries Library staffing: education and professional development Library configuration: facilities and infrastructure Library resources Library role and services Library curriculum and instruction Task: Compare school librarianship in two countries with US

Weekly Online School Librarian Standards: Canada Dianne Oberg Staffing: Malaysia Diljit Singh Facilities: Australia Barbara Combes Resources: South Africa Busi Dlamini Technology: Costa Rica Annie Gonzalez Services: India Madhu Bhargava Instruction: Jamaica Paulette Stewart

Helping International Students Get to know students and their library experiences Get help from cultural mediators Address language barriers: glossaries, non-English resources, simpler English, visuals Contextualize ideas in terms of students’ reality Provide current info about first culture Review resources for bias and currency Have students share info in own language Invite speakers, including students

Insights “As teacher librarians in a global community it is our job to help disseminate and support our fellows in other countries.” “This class allowed me to step out of my comfort zone and see what is like to be a librarian in other parts of the world.” “One of the biggest take-aways of the class is that despite the cultural differences, we have similar struggles (facilities, budget, staffing), and strive for the same goals (love of reading, literacy -information and digital-, access to information and resources, and critical thinking).” “It allowed me to see how fortunate we are and that people make it happen with so much less.”

Impact Appreciated efforts by librarians in other countries – and chance to interact with them Applied knowledge to deal with own international students – and their own international experiences Realized importance of contextualizing content in terms of students’ cross-cultural reality Built on students’ realities to help them assimilate new cultural understandings Joined international professional associations

Internationals Coming to CSULB August 2017: International Association of School Librarianship conference at CSULB CSULB school librarians as volunteers and speakers Attendance applied to ETEC course on social and cultural aspects of technology