Post submitted on behalf of whole child partner American Association of School Librarians by Marcia A. Mardis, assistant professor with the School of Library and Information Science and associate director of thePartnerships Advancing Library Media (PALM) Center iSchool at Florida State University
"It takes a whole village to raise a child," goes the African proverb in the focus of Jane Cowen-Fletcher's 1994 children's book1. I'd like to build on this wisdom to propose that it takes a whole school to educate the wholechild. All of us, policymakers, communities, families, administrators, staff, teachers, and, importantly, school librarians must work in concert to ensure that children are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. School librarians have a special contribution to creating an environment that welcomes all forms of expression, creativity, and active, interdisciplinary learning.
For the past decade, I have had the distinct pleasure to work with up-and-coming school librarians in their coursework and internships. Many of these preservice students are transitioning from classroom teaching; some come from public librarianship; and a few are even from the corporate world. I even have students who come straight to their school librarian preparation from their undergraduate experience. In working with each of them to define their professional visions for school librarianship, I can see so many ways that their plans for