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fl3CJJT RESuflE 129 253 004 029 OTEOF ai..zLi._.,,. 1-iarold C. T :LE '__The- 5ole of the libra ry or edja Center ir ducation in th- Virg Islands. IIVS7.ITUTION Saillt CI-Oix .7vrary AsscCntion, chriStiansted, trOB DIIT.10 N 671 Virgin Jun 73 21p.; pa,per pres Associa-CioTI Annual Fa virgin s a s , Oc-tob 77-slrds Lf-br ar lansidp a-t. the St. Croix Library 1 leetin g (2nd, St Croix, 27, 1972); Studies in Virgin No. 9 EDRS PRICT r1F- Se ,83 Ete-$1 :?lus postage. DESCRIPTOBS :Kerne ntary 5clucation; Instzuctional Centers; Litpr&Tians; *I-ibrary Role; * Iiin*rari,sas; 5econda.ry Education; Speec IDETIF1ES Virg in Islands P.S'71:RACT terials chool es rif ficuat-Leo sp cific to the Virgin Islands and the general rapid advances in techzology require the rethinking of the rtile of libraries. Librarie5 and media centers should be called uinformation centers" to 17eflect the explosjon of information which 5 outdating tie tr-adit.-Ional media. Plans are underway in the Virgin _Elands to develop compoter information links with the mainland United States and Pue rtc Rico. These links would have profound implications for such a geogra phically _-..-.-emote area. Current problems of librarians in Virgin Islands schools, however, have little to do with computers . ghe rote-Learning curriculum and the frequent use of librarians as tainysit tors r?..strict the library's effectiveness. Rates f college failure among graduates of virgin Islands schools and the high dropout rate reflect the lack ef orientation toward individual needs. Students should tDe li_berated to explore arid analyze in their oiwn ways. The aibrary can facilitate needed instructional inddualization. Appendixes accompanying this speech include a rilcord of the luestion answer period which followed. (RB) ********** * * * Documents acquire& by ER7C inc ude many informal un lished * ateria is not available from other sources. ERIC maKes every effort btain the test copy aw-ailahle. Neiretheless, items i)f marginal * reproducibility are often encountered and this affects the quality * of the microfiche a nd haracopy reproductions FIRIC makes available * via the ERIC Dccunient Reproduction Service (LDES). DliS is not responsible for the goaLity of the original document. Reproductions * supplied by 2DES ar e .lie ttest -that cart be made from the original. *400********** 4*********0************ ********************************** LE OF TE LIBRARY OR MEDIA CENTER IN EDUCATION IN THE VIRG (An Ad r Comm ISLANDS Croix Libr ry Assoc! at I n) C, Natz1ip, Ed. D. toner of Education U. Virgin Copyright St. Cro nds y Association 973 Studes lii 1/1 In is1Ands Lib June 1971 St. Croix Library As: nship No. 9 ion Christiansted, St. Croix, V. I. 4 EN INIALTA. tigAti* vre ec THIS DOCuME NT AAS MEN E A Ro- CA4KE D EXACTLY A$ RECEIVED rROAA CNC ACA SoN QacANo LA I IONORLIGIN. A I' INC IT Aolr4 TS or vIE PI OR OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY EPRE. f piCIAL NATIONAC 'NW ITu IL Or vC AT ION POSITION OA POLICY TU IORTFP ITTATFRIAL. JCT TRITir GOTT\ --'PANTLD f. ere :A 4;6 ai ,k4$5actai:ori . TO ERIC AND OPOANIZAtioNs opEpAnNic, LJNUII AGPEEMENTs WITA Tmc NATICTIAL STITUTT 0 OVATION FLPIIHER REPRO- DUCTION DJTRIDt NE' cF/Io sysTCLI NE- ()Lifts PERNIISAIDN Oc iNL coPmora owNEN" P R EF A C : . R a i 2; Zip Co .oner of Educa rgin Io2a7ads, addressed the St. Crot,a Librars kssaciation at its second crinual fall meeting in Sil,- C-roix on, October 27, 1972. Yhis -is a publica- tion of that address. The Association is 6fr teful to Commissioner Rai2lip t to address ita members, for taking the time and ef Beomse of the Importance of the info7tiaz and material in that address, the Association is maiang it available to the Virgin islands. rt sho-uld be noted that r:he question and ansver por- tion in the appendix has beam edited by the Associa- tion and the remarks, questions and answers are not nece,gsradirect quotations. St. Croix June 1973 Ass, ciation 7 E. OF COOT E_ Address by Dr. Her&d C . 1aizi The twtrouctier of Dr. Ha iz by 'nary Scott, 9 keno 1.:s by Fo Vaughn i6 4 Questir and Mswe P led . 10 . 12 THE ROLE OF THE LIBRARY OR MEDIA CENTER IN EDUCATIOA IN THE VIRGIN !sums i appreciate being invited to participate in this meeting. I delayed your lunch, so I believe you're due an explanation. The telephone call that caused the delay was from the Office of the Governor. There was a special problem, which is serious, but also humorous. It seems that a group of students, from a school that I shall not name, had been led by a teacher, whom I shall not name, to Bluebeard's Castle, this morning. Upon arrival, the teacher started banging on various doors shouting obscenities while the students applauded, standing around the doors. And the question was, "Did I think this was grounds for dismissal?" was assured that the Assistant Principal had been dispatched to get the children bac* into the school. Another question was, "litho should be dispatched to get the teacher?" This t aeher is one who has come to my attention before, for similar creative and unique activities that go beyond the pale of what we look for in creativity among teachers. This young man is having serious emotional difficulties and they have now come fully to the fore. So it is serious, but imagine my mental reaction, sitting here chatting with Mr. Vaughn, Mr. Oliver, and others, and suddenly the message! But you get used to it. So many things have happened to me in the last year and two months for which I could never have been prepared by any school or by advice from anyone. And I feel, that these experiences, basicaily enriching, often humorous, do provide opportunities for doing something really significant. Mr. Vaughn suggested that I address myself briefly to the question or the topic of "The Role of Libraries and Media Centers in Education". I'd just like to say, far the record, that whenever i'm given a topic such as "The Role of Something" which does mot now exist, I feel as if I am asked to look into my crystal ball, VD antic- ipate, the future, to rise above the day-to-day problems that now exist. I come forward with a conceptualization of something we think we should be striving to achieve. That's what I would like to talk about today, for you know better than, or certainly as well as I, that there are problems where libraries are being used as classrooms, librarians being used as babysitters, non-existent equipment, and internecine warfare between librarians and principals. I'm not diminishing these considerations, but at this point I would rather talk about something that will cause all of us to stretch a bit, in terms of whet we should be doing in our roles here In the Virgin Islands. There have been tremendous advances in educational technology. As a result complex programs involving media, Involving library service, involving the storage and retrieval of information have emerged. It has become obligatory for us to rethink the role of libraries and media centers in the educational process. Coupled with that, is the fact that we have with us now, the greater involvement of students in independent study and independent learning; a desire on their part to assume a greater role, to assunie -relater resp_n ibility in th- process of theIr ow- learning. And in addition to tha , it is my personal conviction that unless we change our basic concept of what a library is, we will never succeed as librarians or medie center managers. What I mean is this. There is something called the informatien explosion. There is the information, words on peper, or tape, or what have you--- ideas which are being generated on the millisecond, at rates faster than we can anticipate collecting into pages of text, and secondly collecting the texts and housing them in forms we now know as text books, in buildings that are called class- rooms, or rooms that are called libraries. My point is, that there is too much information for storage and retrieval by the old methods. Indeed, the information itself is changing all the time. I lardly need to tell you, that oftimes before it is put into print, it is out-of-date. This information explosion, of which we are a part, really makes it rather ridiculous that we should think in terms of shelves of books, as libraries---if we arc to be adequate in providing information and providing access to information. We have limited resources for the building of structures, and the pace of knowledge is growing at a eate that exceeds our ability to house paper bound materials in the form of texts. As a matter of fact, it is my opinion that libraries should no longer be called libraries, nor media centers. Those locations where we are supposed to be able to gain access to information of any sort should be called, instead, "Information Centers". "Library" carries with it a connotation of books, and it is my belief that we really must get away from the notions of books, because they are soon to be outdated. We need to concentrate on the computerizing of information services. In colleges and universities, it is becoming the practice that a student can go to the reference center---and assuming that he knews the access system terminologycan dial-up the information he wants, cad it, without putting his hands on it, and oopy those sections which are relevant to his needs, in the numbers of copies that he needs without ever touching a book, by just standing in front of a piece of electronic equipment. I was fortunate, while with the Educational Division of Xerox Corporation, to become involved in on an experimental basis---just this kind of service. Some of you may now be fami iar with it. We organized a dissertat on service--4,7hieh operates out of one of the Companies that Xerox owns, in the Midwest. What we did was to put on a computer drum all dissertatioes---classified by subject areas---of all of the major colleges and universities of the United States for a period of the last twenty five years. We then developed an access eystem. We also developed what we thought was a workable means of pubflicizing the availability of this service. It is now operating in most of the colleges and universities on the mainland, as one of the key sources of dissertation research. One can simply indicate what information he needs---it can be done by telephone or in writingand out comes a printout of all the titles of dissertations, the dates they were done, the universities at which they were done, the mehor headings within the dissertation down to the individual paragraphs in the document, for all of those that are relevant to the kind of information that he, as a PhD candidate, is looking for. And you know, those of you who have written graduate level dissertations, spend thousands of dollars and God knows how many hours pouring through boring dissertations, only to find that it is irrelevant to your needs. Of course, the college will profit by your enrolling for anothot semester, because you haven't been able to complete the needed research! We at Xerox were able to cut through all of that, and provide information at a per page cost, where one paid for only the material needed, and some minimal cost for the service which brought that information to himmuch less than he would ever pay, either spending another semester at school, or writing and waiting for individual copies of dissertations (which may not even have the information he needs). Obviously, the computerization of information---to return to my point--- is, essential for ineormation centers. In a recent cony rsation with Miss Enid Bea, I found that plans are underway to develop computer links of the Virgin Islands libraries with the Scientific Center in Puerto Rico, The Poughkeepsie Computer Center, the National Library of Agricul- ture in Washington, D. C., as well as the Library of Congress. In addition to- that, at the College, there is now established and functional, two computer terminals ---one h re in St. Croix, and one in St. Thomas, which can be used, not cnly for informat on retrieval purposes, but also for supplemental teaching in basic skills. This is a step forward for us in the Virgin Is! Jds. There are other lesser applica- tions of computer technology for the government and the private section of the Virgin Islands, and there is something called A.C.T here in St. Croix. There is the Virgin Islands Computer Service in St. Thomas and the Department of Finance also has a computer installation. However, these are used for what I would call the first level application, where it is simply plugging-in information and accessing it out, basic data about salaTies, hours, tines, dates, names, sick leave, things, like that---or a schedule for a high school, which is really rather simple. But the application of information science is something that is coming. in the Virgin Islands, where we are remote geographically from the information centers that we need, our ability to tie in to computer-based information sources, throughout the Mainland, will, of course, open up vistas that none of us have ever envisioned, without the kinds of expenditures for either travel vouchers---or for buildings, or for paper; without the delays of shipping, losses at sea, sinking ships and all sorts of disasterous things. qe will find ourselves much more closely tied in to, and much more up to date on, the information business, with increased demands for our services and jobs here in the Virgin Islands. Strangely enough, I learned also from Hiss Oaa, that the Virgin Islands is running behind Jamaica; where library services have already be2n computerized in a mojority of the area. Well, as I see it, the library media center, the information center, should be the frontier for w ich we should be striving. We've had years of continuous operation of the library and audio-visual programs, but a unification of these media, us ng the technology that is now available, will put us light years ahead. The information fron our po nt of view, as librarians, has another use. Those o you---and I will presume to consider myself among you---those of you who am in tha 7 Page 1+ library or information business must operate in full understanding of the philosophy of the school or school system in which you are providing a vital and essential service. The philosophy of the school system in large peasurc reflects both the support that's provided the library, as well as the functions of the library. Most of us can enumerate in detail, countless abuses of the library, and librarians. I would say that part of the problem which makes these abuses real, on a daily and hourly basis, is that there is virtually no concensus on a philosophy of education for the Virgin Islands. And it is as a result of this fact that we find ourselves with students who are underachieving; with contradictory practices as far as grading is oencerned; a curriculum which has the same labels, but thereafter, all similarities cease. Math 1 in one class is completely different from Math I in another class, to say nothing of another school. So that the abuses you as librarians experience stem from a far more fundamental problem which has tentacles stretching throughout the school system. That is the absence of a defined and agreed upon philosophy. You have to know in your separate libraries, or information centers, the philosophy of the school system, and of the individual school in which you find yourself. It is my hope that we will in the course of the next year or so be able to grapple with the que,:tion of philosophy. I come to that question, I can forewarn everyone, with some rather strong, long-held preconceptions. And the library, or information center, is one place where I see my preconception as having a possibility of coming te ful- fillment. I feel that in all aleas, the first plank of any statement of philosophy should be to prepare and equip children to live in a free society. If we are to teach children to live and Function in a democratic and free society, my first insistence is that they be provided opportunities appropriate to their age levels but similar in skills and in direction or in difficulties to those kinds of skills that need to be applied by them as adults in the real world. I feel, secondly, that students should, as fast and as ct y as possible, be removed from any school which adheres to what I call rot_ and learning. Feeding children knowledge and trying to teach them skill:, : they were Pavlov's dogs, should be abandoned. This is especially true IF we want to teach children that they have power, that they can cope, that they can analyze problems and devise solutions, and that we, as teacher or educators, will comment on the aptness of their examination or analyses of problems, brid upon the effectiveness of the solutions they offer. The student, in other words, as plank one in my philosophy, should be encouraged to take greater responsibility for his own Learning; rather than being told "Read from Page 7 to Page 11; go to the library and get a copy of TIWELFTH NIGHT and read, in whever edition it is, Act One and two pages of Act Two, ond so on". This kind of parcelling out of Information Is as insulting to the students as it is derogotory VD the professiona ism of teachers. What I want to see is students liberated from the mode that we seem to stick so closely to naw in the Virgin Islands. The library, to point out the relevance of what I have just sold, is---or should becomeone Once in a school where a sturks-t may take a problem and obtain infor- mation for its solution. In this institution he should be able to find out how to get the information and where to get the information so that he may proceed to its acquisition. The student will then be able to determine if he has obtained the the needed assistance and use it toward the solution of the orIginal problem. It would seem to me that we shou d provide both the technology and the approach to self sufficiency. Your first job is to decide what resources are here, including the librarian,or the manager, if you will, of the information center. We are in one small, but important way, preparing students for their own lives. It s this kind of self sufficiency that we must teach. It should, in other words, reflect the philosophy and the instructional program of the school. More than any other aspect of the school's program, in the library, the information center, there must be primary emphasis on the individual child and the individual child's needs, both educational and personal. The student defines his needs, retrieves a-A uses information accordingly. The manager of the informa- tion system, the media specialist, the librarian, whatever label you prefer to apply to him, has to be knowledgeable, therefore, about the learning process, about the substance of what is to be learned in the various grade levels or groupings of the school in which he or she is working, and the process that is being undertaken in the school as a whole as well as in the various classrooms. He or she should be able to provide information needed by teachers in helping them update their own programs and thereby utilize the resources of the library. We all know what's happening in the Dark Ages of 1972. The library is looked upon as the unauthorized locus of baby sitticg. It is more often used in ways that would reflect punitive motivatton on the part of teachers who send students there, or principals who send teachers and their students there, and so on. We have yet a long way to go, and you of course, the keeper of the gate---those of you who have gates---have to bear with some of these problems; meanwhile trying to keep some perspective on why the problems exist and to hold some hope that changes will be forthcoming. Struggling with all of this, you need also to be able to help teachers. It is un- fortunate that often those of us who purport to be teachers, deport ourselves in the most unprofessional educational ways. I always find myself chuckling about teachers when I'm In the presence of teachers who comment on the necessity of students' being exposed ND cultural and other uplifting and educational experiences, when I know that the teacher hasn't read a book in the last ten years, hasn't seen a play In the last ten years; spends most of his time on the beach in the sun, and so on. And yet there is this kind of false professionalism which people seem to get a kind of special injection of when they're coming to my office, in order to say that the problem is not with the teachers, but those who refuse to be taught. And I chuckle and I think to myself "Iwell, I've heard that before". And I nevertheless come away from all of these meetings feeling that the students are not the problem. It's we! It's the adults! I have yet to see a student or child who is uneducable, unless he is mentally retarded or has some other kind of brain damage. But we continue to refuse to examine ourselves, our own "up-tight- ness" in approaching students; we refuse to examine the effects of our own behavior on little peoplo---who, though little, have very sensitive feelings---who often respond first in the affecAlve domain and secondly in the intellectual one. As long as we continue to do these things, we are blind to our own Ineffectiveness- because the kids just shut us out---you know, the eyes go down, head goes up, end with age and independence and knew-how, the obsenteeism goes up. Then the foul languoge comes; then the hostility for seme students, and so on. And through all of this I don't bleme the kids. Hnd they been given a mo e exciting program a more,responsive one, less repressiveness---yet firm control and direction--- we would see quickly the diminishment of these kinds of problems. Many young people who have dropped-out left in utt r frustration and in anger. It was because they sensed that while they had to put in the time, they eren't getting the results. I don't exonerate students. But I do believe that the students are not the problem, certainly not the heart of the problem. We need to be able to assist teachers in broadening the scope of their curriculum, in becoming aware of alternetives in the form of different materiels, different books, different approaches different records, different movies---all of which can be used to occomplish the same end, as far as a skill or basic piece of informat on is concerned---a peice that has to be learn d by students. Somehow or another, more often than not, it's ele one-shot emulsified injection. If he doesn't get it as presented, we turn around and flunk him this year and give him that same one-shot emulsified injection which didn't take last year. After that we say "Well, he's uncooperative, he hes failed two years, nnd he's out". In the teacher's bag ef tricks,and I do not mean to diminish the teacher's profession, but in th- teacher's professional preparation, there must be alternatives, in as much as no two children ore alike, nor indeed is the same child the same from minute to minute. So that we must, in our job as information systems managers, find ways of bringing to teachers an awareness which they seem often not to seek themselves; that is, alternative approaches, materiels and tools to the teaching and learning of the same set of skills. Now, that's more easily said than done. First, because in the elementary school, teachers barely feel they have time to go to the bathroom, except, thanks to the .Union, there is now a Preparation period. And even though librarians are called teachers, and sometimes insultingly treated the same, it is the case that the lack of time is not the prohibition. There is time available, but whether teachers will use their time to consult with librariaes, with people in the information center, is another question. More often than not, you know, you can see---if you could cut off the roof of the school and look down and watch the movement---you would see as teachers are freed of their children they run faster than the children in getting away, into the teachers' lounge, out the front door, or wherever, more often than mot. So it is easy to say that teachers should, instead of running to the teachers' lounge, go to the library and investigate with the librarian some ways of reaching a child whom she missed this morning. It's easier to say that, than do it. I have new learned that, in spite of mandates, behavior often remains unchanged, so that while we can say a teacher will spend one "prep" period per week in the library with the librarian, you will find that there are water on the knees conditions; dental appointments which must be kept between 1 ;30 and 12:15; husbands who must have bills paid before 2:00; or all sorts of other things which will prevent teachers from 10 being able, in spite of the mandate, or perhaps because of It, to do So, the e has to be some attractIon to the library that comes not out of mandate, but out of a sense that between the librarian and the teacher there are mutual concerns which neither can fully satisfy without the other. It is that which corn out of a sense of professionalism and commitment to your job, to your children, which leads you to decide that you missed someone today---maybe it was you, maybe it was I, maybe it was the materials. "Let me find out what el e 1 can use, how else I can approach this child", should be the teought. But that is something which we strive for; and I don't feel, at this point that it has been uniformly achieved. There are many, many, exceptions. I don't offer this as an afterthought or keeloey; I have seen many good teachers in the Virgin Islands, but 1 have to admit that they are outnumbered. These are additional areas in which the library and media centers play critical parts. As 1 said earlier, one key area is that of the development of children, a respect for knowledge, the tools of research---even among kindergarteners and first graders. ide can inculcate these tools, we can give a sense of self reliance, teach children the Dewey decimal system, and let them then find, according to the numbering of the card catalog, a sense of accomplishment by decoding and applying the system to achieve an end. Those things 1 consider to be critical to the development of children. They don't show up on the report card, but they certainly do show up in the way in which children come back to the library, and even regard the librarian---and indeed, ehat is more important, regard themselves. So that there is a critical role, in my opinion, to be played by the media center in the development of the children. There is a role in the consultation with the staff, with department cha rmen and individual teachers regarding curriculum. As you know, the unexamined curriculum is dead. It lacks luster, vitality, and 1 am willing to admit that teachers' other responsibilities, of management of the class, taking the roll, of preparing the homework assignments, of grading the homework assignment, of preparing their own lesson plans become priorities, and it's my hope that the information center can be that constant nageing form which says, "while managing, let's provide better substance". It's not enough to sit down and have a neatly run classroom when the information that is belne taught is out of the early part of the 1920's And we often have accepted as good teaching simply effective classroom management. We see the results of that all the time. 1 see it. 1 see it,and 1 am really distressed. 1 heard it "loud and clear" last Sunday at a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the College of the Virgin Islands. In an example of the loss in the well-managed class- room---well run enoughof a selected sami5te of 193 students who graduated from the public schools of the Virgin Islands last June and entered the College of the Virgin Islands, of the 193 selected, 112 failed a basic proficiency test in mathematics-- where passing was at the 7th grade leveland in reading, where passing was also at tho 7th grade level. That's the distressing feedback. Well managed classrooms, all the pomp and circumstance of graduation, are really secondary. I am scared that we are not turninj out stude_ who are educated. And this is some of the evidence. We have begun a follow-up ofsome of our graduetes and we are beginning to find that more than half of those entering college on the main- land, after graduating from our public schools, fail to complete more than one half of the first year. In all of these horrifying statistics, pleaSe be reminded I don't blame the students. I don't blame the students, at ail, because they don't run the school system. They don't select the books. They don't have control over the decision as to what is to be taught. They don't have control over who is to be grouped with whom, for what- ever instructional purposes. So you can't blame them. You can't say that they ware incalcitrant learners, and that the exceptional student succeeded but these in- calcitrant one obviously failed to learn. You cannot blame the students if they spent their lives in a school system which did not recognize its deficiencies, and take action as quickly as possible, to correct them. In a book called, DESIGNING EDUCATION FOR THE FUTURE, the authors Jesser and HorpFiet stated and summarized the gist of my remarks as follows: "Instructional equipment and materials must not---and I would add, cannot--- be used to condition learners to live in a world of standardization, con- formity, and alienation. They should serve as a force to move the educational system in the opposite direction, towards freedom, creativity, and worthwhile sense of one's self." Ladies and gentlemen, I appreciate this opportunity of coming before you because I feel that you have a critical role in helping all of us to revitalize and inprove education in the Virgin Islands. Thank you- 1 2 1,4,fPE IX TV I lETROoDUCcION oF p R. 0-1111ZLIP BY MARY SCOrl, VICE PRES IDE $7, c LI EISRARr As5OC WITION OF THE r, Firo1 d C snisterAs. lie nosior In the F413110101 h ob pa.9e Flat zl p is a native .of Wa6hing ton , D.C., arid a product of It schcpol recalvecl hi 0 in Ida] clogree aim Inode from Amhe rst Col 1 ege COI a clasitto to bui Id upori, he move-d to Ila sward , where as a Woodrow Nil son _aind trio Master and Doct4rate In Educatior, 14ae wa effeIeyed as a higri sct-sool teacher In 'Wel esley, Massachusetts , and later In tale 13ccitoon shaol syotern_ BLit in -the Baston scrawl s he atiaS uniquely ernplolied the rierd Woureadat I on. Foil lowing ic he un-forturate roece ef al l outstanding teachArs he roe:ve frQ.m ttsse cl assrotes to tc3e pos itioned in tho Edtxat 1 anal Divislom of the er-ox tkorpa irat 1 -on, ancr than to tha pos I lion for 1...fstIcri he has been oast noted Headreas ter cy-1 thei Ngow Li ncol n School/ 13ut no on l y is dr, Ha 21 ip an outs tend i mg educator, taech4ser, ho limas clst1ngusheJ himself i an other areas. One of these is he hol ids an ofrord of bei nog orhe of the tort most outs tend i Eg rOUnC Men In 13os ton-- -a dI51Irct1 43n Nita shares wlh ti-be late John F. Kernedy. He Is, as wel , a member of the Moe rd of tie kelmer ken liusum of Natural History and -the Harvard Graduate School of Eciouca t Ion, Hi s roont pooition l rmst unfovtunie. Veu see , as Virgin islands caret ssitroor of education, h has teen cal lead to a clirnate where he cannot coma flue h Is t) srof elerwcy as arie of tha grea test amateur I ce- skate s ccurpl Ingot tries 03C- tandee t hiroi by his wife, s ince he gas boon here, fioweifor, we have noted Oat the hypothesis in eduaat tlhat t=n0 you knOti a priracipl e of the d I scllIr, It carries over to other areas 10 Mit tri.10. For al chouoh ha glosses over tie 1 ce he dees not appear as Anne whoa Sone% cr Ner hls Norte, The roan, Izl I IF, is e want appropriate speaker far the St. csaik 1.11:plery Associatiorm, bacause the 11 (bra wry J s a force for educat ional excel 14nct, alrd s gocw he hos .attalnecl exc-ellence In educatiown, he cannot hel p but be wore 01 trio talmporlene of tha 1 i wary- in the school. g00% of lune of e are now r 1 :0 d te hear Dr. Hai tlip. APPEND IX REMARK-S y ROBERT V. VAUGHN, PRESI VENT i TPIE T. CROIX L IBRARY ASSOCIATI ON AFIER DR. HAIZLIP'S WORMS ll'n) certain role I r Edua 5011 ln the Page ID Halzi ip is re1nrks s411 I rneke ejh o f us tal<0 a new look at our oiwn Ion. perhaps s pedalos feel 4 1 Ittle bl t I Ike a target sitting ibrary---a target for peep le to lake pot-shcts- Yhere is n Puerto Rican saying uhl h has an 101u-once on cur role In edit tl n: A rears must do three things 4ur In hi s 1 if ant trees---m- anci have sons. 1.--Ou is Munoz Marin sal d-1 wi sh tIiY wiou The expending population does affe4t our role our role In education, rea ioisti cal ly. Let' s important matter of I ihrary starda rds, books-- more trs and write nre book6. In eduOtion. Let's taLe iceic_ at, among etl-ser th in I ook a t the You mav vender why 1, a pr ivate sato l 1 1brar n would be concerned about Stanclards for 1; trories. If you are a part 01 a public sehael syster, yoo have the same problems if have - My School is designed Mitt a loy4 teacher/pool 1 rati os As a resul t, ii 1 Classroom are used throughout the acadernic dal. Well , what do kids do whien the y're mot In the cl assroorn51 7114 sun 15 brioht . We doet hove an,' ej(tra ollss- roorms, We don't have groves of trees for shade. Ohyvicus ly the k ids cottne into the 1 IbrarV. So you see, we all have the mese tos lc problem, the oroblern of what to do with all the students who are not In o classroom. We all wont to do a job- to give service to tlihese bie able to come up ta us and tell es virhat they want to be 414 e to tel 1 us what they wort Las to do. Emit, Piave te=hers cora ag In to us, teachers who are doi Obv iously rarely. Ncid , l'rm not saving i t's al 1 the !lave a feel; ng that Wen a teacher Cowes Into the li too marl+ chi Idren, etc. that I rdi*Idoal ly you arvtl look or our faces- ung people. We wart them to and noaect, We wart their WM/i4r5 hew rty ernes clo me actually ng researchl for the ir own c las leg" . teachers) foul t, Very of ten 1 brary, , iwoouse °I pressing dut 1e5-, might root hawe a very pleasant f 'VW see a batch of 1ds---20 ides orning Into the 1 ibrary al I at one ,---perheps onannownced or unarm; pated---l'i 1 hot 1 woule 540 the same voress ion on anyores face, PerhaPsjust perhapsa little better a tti tude en our part mi silt help a little bi t. These kids need solid help---solid help thev generall-y oettino now. Sone of this lId Frei p is gaing to cane about tfiroigit tile eStablls hment aria of some very real I sti c standards fcx our schoo _ 1 ibraries. 1 4 It 's fi ne to ta Ik about l940 969 , and ju shoul d really be planning for a period of today. Page I 1 as Or. HaizlIrj has i nclicated , we alheae of these yea rs , not to ment Well , re here now, have to l ive i1th It . Could we have sane quostlors toga eh you 1 ibror ions woul d 1 ike to a k Dr. Hai 21 ip, concern ing standars or any the r problem? Pni sorry I'nniakri0 a tarat of you, Dr. Flai2lip. 1 5 APPENDIX THE UESTIOP1 ARO ANSVER PERIOD FOLLOWING DR, HA1Z P'S ADDRESS * Pat Central High Schoo ): Dr. HaJ1lp,. I agree w th your p but what can we do in our library when we start off with 15D% capacity o library. They are not there because they core to use the library, 10 ati V./43 do try to make It a friendly place. Students wart to use the library, but there Is use the materials availableiprimeril because t other reasons. place for them to come meny students being there for Y If students could find the meter els themselves, I could werk myself out of a Job. But I can't even get this student there to explain to him how to use the Dewey decimal rystem. The question is, because of over population in the library, %ben will the student be allowid to use the materlils7 Dr,_Nalzli : There are all kinds of problems which have In turn caused ycu your un clue pro lem---no t of which have been resolved (but mot fully)---classes with tool-teachers and few students for three periods a day. %4 have begun elimleating, the inequities represented by sone teachers teaching four classes, or three, and others teaching five,,so that more teachers and students are in class. Alm we tried to fill op classes to the desinsble limit. Rom this Is not something 1 om proud of but it Is a macessity that we use the building effectively and well. Re still have so= problems in scheduling. 1 an not sure how or how soon we are going to he able to solve the problems at Central. Re have solved many of them but clearly we are mot at an optimal state at this point. Comceeeing libraries, I don't agree with an ostrich approach. The problems in the library have to do with things outside the library itself. Nour problem is ISO% occupancy and this emdiess stream of kids who make it impossibleeven with any degree of eelf-respect---to call yourself a librar an. I dom't question for a smearit that yoU should be outraged. Concerning occupancy, the question Is where are we 9oing to put them? There ere posimerl. We haVo accOoPlisbed ft great deal. There is logic In a solution to the problem. Out the simple loeic does mot always seem to be applied, without sone pressure froe the outside. The solutions lie in that we need more effective use of the existing plant and that would partially take the pressure off librarians . Wheats, our solutions will have stopped the steady flowce abusers into your library, can't say.---bee we will certainly try. This is not limited to Central by any W0403. Thera are different problems in different schools, but the effects are Metes nes questions and answers have been edited, en4 are not necessarily direct quotations. 16 often the same. the Virgin Isla Ibrarles a at thls ably the st abused areas ia most sch Cristiane Norayla (Grove Place Sch Do you think the problems in St. Croix are more Inportant at the high schcol le el than they are at the elementary lewell Dr. Haltilp: No, I don't. In some ways, if t had to make cholccs, they would be at fhe secondary levelbut only as a result of tine. For example, we are now analyzing all the test results hl math and English (where tests are administered) of cur seniors in the high schools oi the Virgin islands. What we have decided to do for thes e! students who ere functioning st or Movie* ninth grade level (or its equivalynt level) in rmvch of those two subject areas . we are going to institute a mardatery supportive tutorial program---om top of the csgular level. I cam't hoaestly sit here and tail myself commissioner of Umtata.% and sign my name to a high school diploma, when the student 1st ia fact functionirg below the hi '1 school level. I am just that much of a professional. So, I've made a choice. Altho this year's seniors-, we are el year''r, tenth grade, ninth grad gardan. I want to take care 0 %gm be, gonel h I would quickly say that while doing this wi h planning now for the next year's sent rs, mut seventh grade, sixth grade, right Aown to kinder- this problem first, because, come June, these kids Moravia= But, I think it's better to prevent these probt programs. We can do it by starting at the kindergardan le -ham to hev remedial DT. Halzil : I would like to do everything at the seen time, but It Is eas t an done. We have to admit that for e s long as the present trend continue wIll hews as many new students in the syuem as ue have old. We are getting a as many students fromother places as we are promoting. It Ism feeling that a rather drastic and fundamental and total re-organization of the entire system is necessary. There are some special problems to which ea have to address oufseives as long we expect this Inflow to continue and as long as we still have our own high reten- tion rate. We have age increasing, achieving remaining constant (or decreasing) and we have students coming in who have already been cut of school for seweral years---and even at the time they left they were significantly below grade level. So, for example, you have fmrteea year olds mho are non-reedere. lie had more then 100 such children come into the Virgin Islands public schools this yearfifteen year olds with reading and math scores om the first and second grade levelsi This sets up problems that are difficult to cope with.- , 17 Prage 14 Looking very closely at the placement deeisi ns that arc being made at individual schools by guidance counsellors proves to be an unsatisfactory compromise in every instance. Vhat happens is that because of the child's size, if not age, a child who is fourteen but tested at the first grade level is perhaps placed at the sixth grade level ft's like guaranteeing that the child will not get instruction at the level needed by him. Instead, it is an accomodation. I think we've reached the point where we cannot accomodate anymore. Mary Scott (St. Peters School): You're familiar with the Harvard Report which stated that equal education does not necessarily mean identical education. Even though wa have ostensibly gone to the non-graded system, I find the 1920 attitude of the teachers being king in his classroom prevails, and the librarian is treated as though he was still hired by the public library and is net allowed to infringe upon the kingaom of the teacher. Hy question is, when you speak of the libra ian serving as curriculum consultant, what method do you plan to institute that's going to make people accept the fact that the librarian is no longer alittle old lady, with a bun on the back of her head, who has nothing ch-,e to do with her days and really who haS gohe through all these changes. Then, you haw; some idea what it's like when you decide you'ne goiri to be a librarian. How are you going to get the teachers to understand that we're really not there to se ve as curator of matei=Ials or order-keepers of children? Tbe only way a librarian gets a "prep'period is if she leaves the library, which most of us don't want to do. You know, we are not accepted. It's like the stuff that you bring up, and raise hell about, and all this kind of stuff. They say, "Yes, Baby," and tha 's all! Just as if they figure you're SORG kind of a nut to want to sit in there w th books. Hortense Orrin (Concor Schoo You know, I would like a copy of your speech. I want it be au e yoU are the firt person In five years who stood up in a group like ehis talked with us and made this more real than it's ever be ni The class- roorn teachers view you co only the TV panel, and the opening day of school. They don't hear this. This is our subject and I'd like every teacher in my school to hear it, evem if I have to stand and read it VD them individually. RELIaLELLE: I would j comments- ike to say, "Thank you." But let's return to Mrs Scott I don't think there's a rat formula for conver ing principals and teachers to a greater appreiation of the library, the librarian, and library service. The ques- tions you raise are really in the area of how to change the attitudes of teachers and principals. Pore's no formula for that, because for every change that you pro- pose, there is a very active, sometimes subconscious, reinforcement against the suggestion that you're making. 1 8 Scott: Well, you're a iking about going from tradItIon to innovatløn. Pa pr. HaitliT: Yes, I know, and I believe it is possible to do just that. But, what I'm saying is that neither reading my speech to them nor telling then that you're not some kind of "kook" for liking books to sit in a room with them, is going to change 010er the :;. perception of themselves, or of you. I think there is another kind of approach that is generally necessa y. I often ask myself, Nhy do some principals and teachers in their image, treat responsibilities as if they were external statements of themselves?" Probably what we reed to do is to begin building within our principals and t sobers confidence in themselves, performing---if you eill---as "information agent " for children---not jailkeepors. We provide a service and there's nothing more rewarding for us than a well-educated and well-adjusted child. When I talk to principals, I often f4rel that problems in schools first represent problems between teachers and principals. Those problems can take the form of personal security, whether en the part of the teachers or on the part of priAcipals. Personal security can be related in eerms of your feeling of being adequate to pour job, eour feelings that you are perceived either to be, or not to be, adequate in the performance of pour job by your subordinates. To be adequate we should relax a little bit, accept criticism (as well as praise). Accept the limitations that all of us have; accept it without feeling that by accepting it, we will somehow or another be struck from our Jobs. The pressures of remaining in the jeb sometimes can have an adverse effect on one's willingness to be henest about himself. I think teachers are as responsible for the difficulties e now have, as are principals and supervisors. But, if eou have in any school--- and this is a personal 1.-2lief---a group of angry upset teachers, the kids have had It! And so you can share with me my concern about the anger, the hostility, and SO on, that seems to be prevalent in so many of our schools, i think a lee of this problem ceuld be resolved if we as profess ones co Id accept that we have these problems ard avoid any labelling, and that we have our separate and joint roles in eliminating them. There's no formula for it. You really have to take Tittle steps at a time. It's professional humility and sec eity which will allow mistake without it's appearing en tNe front page of one 0 s to admit making a our newspapers, Mar orie Masters (r.ol egc of the V.I., Si Croix Campus); Dr. Haizlip, 1 wander- ing ng how many teachers come into the libraries to make themselves more aware of the nesources there for students in their clav3es, so that when they bring or send their students to the library,that they can better use the facilities and notaries there---rather than just occupyine the chairs. I am wendering If any of them really try to learn what is in their awn libraries. Dr. Haizlip: I can't answer the question as to how many do, or don't. I feel all shoUld"--but t's like sprinkling water in the rain, you just don't know. Mast s: If they do not, then there is a need for better orlon ion of teachers. Dr. Haiel_ip: Not only orientation. It Is my contention that upon the opening of school, It is necessary, for a teacher to come to school more than two hours before the school reelee, in order to prepare. Masters: Dr. Halelip, in the College here in St. Croix, there are many teacher trainees currently in the program. They come and ask me for some sort of library training, because they themselves do not know how to use either the College library or the school library. They do nce know how to use the school library to further their own class needs. This results beceuse there is no other Instruction given--- only on an individual basis. They ask for it, repeatedly. And until these teacher trainees are allowed to have some sort of a library program within the scope of their education, then we are going to turn out, again, into the local schools, teachers who are perpetuating the problems. Darrin: I would like to say something about teacher trainees. I have invi ed them, and begged, pleaded and cajoled. I have a few coming in. However, I think that something should be done on this teacher training program from the top down, because I can't tell a teacher trainee, "You should come." I can invite them. I can show them. I do get a certain percentage, but I can't get all of them. Dr. Halelip: I will have Mr. Oliver make plans to meet with Mr. Austin Donovan and the College. I assumed they did have in their program of study at least one unit on the contents, organization and use of the library. I find the people at the College to be very willing and excited to help us. In areas such as reading, library services, tutorial services, and curriculum consultation, and so on, they are very much interested. Oliv There was a question of personnel in the budget. Dr. Haizlip: Concerning the budget, we often find ourselves going through the process of specifying what we want, specifying first what we have. Oe the personnel budget alone, you must specify every single person working in the Department of Education, making up a report when he was employed, in what department, at what salary, at what raises per year. Now you kno, some people have been here for forty years! Then, you have to put beside this in'ormation,on all new positions, where the money is to come from. Then, sometimes there's a three word pronouncement "no new positions," which makes It all just a wasted effort. 20 I also must say I don't have sole control over the budget for the Department 1 do once we get it, but 1 don't in terms of getting it. We compete with all other departments, and it's up to the government VD decide which priorities come first. So, as an example, while I put in enough in our capital budget for a gynnasium at Central High School, at Wayne Aspinall, and Nazareth, the fact is a decision is made, notice there is no agent, a decision is made to use the funds for other purposes. And then 1 don't have any money to build a gymnasium, and I'm asked why it hasn't been built. oravia: I would like to describe my library, because no words can explain the situation. Since 1970,1 have on my desk a shoebox and my shelves are made up of concrete block and pieces of wood, even though they are setting up shelves all qver the school, and I am told I'll have to wait. I wish you would vIsit Grove Place. Dr. Concorning this shoebox, it sounds a little bit humorous, but in a way that makes us want to cry rather than laugh. But, I have to say that I believe in the "squeaking-Wheel" philosophy. If you don't make any noise, often you don't get any change. Moravia: Oh, I make noise. Edwin Golden (Lew Muckle Schoo ): I have been at the Lew Muckel school since its opening, and up to now I don't have furniture. Dr. Haizl p: 1' 1 look into It and find out what happened. What Is it -eally that you are-lacking? Golden: Well, we are lacking chairs, tables, a 1 these things. We do not have an adequate number of chairs and tables. I borrow same chairs from the lunch noom and whatever desks are not being used in classrcoms, so that we'll have some pl cc for the kids to sit. Dr._ Haizjip: 1 don't know the full story---nor any part of it-- __t 1 will next week. 1 aM afraid 1 had a three o'clock appointment. I had better run. Once again, though, I 40 thank you -very very much for Inviting me. I 's been my pleasure. 21