I served as a teacher-librarian for thirteen years, ten years
at the elementary level and three years in a high school. For
the 2008-2009 school year, I returned to service in a combined
junior high-high school library. During my school library tenure,
I served in fixed, mixed, and flexibly scheduled school libraries.
Regardless of the schedule, I always strive to collaborate for
instruction with classroom teacher and specialist colleagues
in order to integrate literature and information literacy into
the classroom curriculum.
In my experience, a flexibly scheduled library program provides
greater opportunities for effective learning and teaching. Through
co-planning, co-teaching, and co-assessing lessons and units
of instruction, I have benefited from job-embedded professional
development. Learning alongside my peers propelled my growth
as an educator. This book, which includes lessons that I co-taught
during my elementary teacher-librarian career, is the culmination
of this experience.