Abstract
School and academic librarians rarely collaborate professionally despite serving overlapping student populations. This presentation reports on a Library Services and Technology Act grant project to form a cross-sector Professional Learning Community (PLC) to support information literacy for concurrent enrollment students in Nevada. PLCs comprise educators who “seek and share learning, and act on their learning…to enhance their effectiveness as professionals for the students' benefit” (Hord, 1997, p. 1). PLCs are commonly practiced in school settings and are also used in school libraries to improve librarian practice (Abilock et al., 2012). For school librarians who are frequently the sole library professional at their school, participating in a PLC can be essential for professional growth. However, PLCs rarely engage librarians across educational sectors.
Concurrent enrollment courses are “taught by college-approved high school teachers in a secondary environment” (National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships, n.d.) and contribute to both high school and college credit. As the University of Nevada, Reno rapidly expanded concurrent enrollment offerings, a critical gap emerged: concurrently enrolled students complete higher education coursework evaluated by post-secondary standards but often rely on their school library. School library resources are not suited to higher education courses and assignments, nor are high school librarians necessarily familiar with information literacy for higher education. Donham (2020) argued that academic librarians can support school librarians to enhance information literacy instruction in high schools and to ease student transitions to higher education. Additionally, McKeever (2013) found that collaboration with academic librarians can help school librarians develop their students’ information literacy skills, yet such partnerships remain uncommon.
Over the 2024-25 academic year, this grant project brought together 11 school librarians and an academic librarian through monthly PLC meetings, common access to university library resources, and shared information literacy lessons and activities. The academic librarian provided information on higher education research assignments and expectations, database instruction, and standards for information literacy in higher education. Meanwhile, school librarians shared insights about student readiness and high school teaching contexts. A post-project survey among participating librarians indicated that the PLCs led to meaningful and actionable professional development.
Attendees will learn the details of this cross-sector PLC, including structure, activities, and outcomes. They will also learn about PLC best practices and engage in short discussion prompts and polling exercises to reflect on their own professional communities of learning. This project--including elements of information literacy for higher education and leveraging school librarian communities and practices--addresses a growing need in secondary to post-secondary student transitions while building professional connections across the K-16 divide.
References
Abilock, D., Fontichiaro, K., & Harada, V. H. (Eds.). (2012). Growing schools: Librarians as professional developers. Libraries Unlimited.
Donham, J. (2020). Academic libraries: Partners in instruction and advocacy. In Coatney, S., & Harada, V. H. (Eds.), Radical collaborations for learning: School librarians as change agents (1st ed., pp. 17-32). Libraries Unlimited. https://doi.org/10.5040/9798216004370
Hord, S. M. (1997). Professional learning communities: Communities of continuous inquiry and improvement (ED 410659). ERIC. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED410659.pdf
McKeever, C. M. (2013). Information literacy skills in year 14 school leaving pupils: Are they ready for third level study? Journal of Information Literacy, 7(1), 99–106. https://doi.org/10.11645/7.1.1784
National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships. (n.d.). What is concurrent enrollment? https://www.nacep.org/about-nacep/what-is-concurrent-enrollment/
