What Kind of Collaborator Are You?

In the spirit of work at the national level through ALA’s State Ecosystem Initiative and the new Public Library & School Library Collaboration Toolkit done through collaborative efforts of AASL, YALSA, and ALSC, WEMTA, WLA, and DPI are working together to support and foster communications and collaborations among Wisconsin public and school librarians in order to better support the communities we serve. Each quarter we will share a resource, strategy, or example with you that could be used as a talking point in your community. Please use these ideas to initiate or continue to build relationships with public and school librarians.

Supporting Collaboration Survey - The Results are In!

Beginning with interviews at the WLA Conference last fall and continuing with an online survey open through winter 2020, 90 public and school librarians shared their thoughts with Connecting Wisconsin Libraries about collaboration in their communities. It was encouraging to see that 95% of those surveyed had found an opportunity to collaborate with their public or school library colleagues. And, we were certainly not surprised to find that the greatest challenge to successful collaborations was finding the time to make the work happen.

Please view our infographic, What Kind of Collaborator are You?, to find out more about the data collected. You will also find some helpful hints for getting collaboration started in your community. 

We would like to thank all those who participated in the survey. The feedback has led to powerful conversations and great ideas for how to build our community moving forward. Look for more exciting opportunities to connect with your public and school colleagues in the near future.

This message brought to you through the collaboration of Wisconsin Educational Media & Technology Association (WEMTA), Wisconsin Library Association (WLA), and DPI School and Public Libraries. If you are interested in working on future tidbits or have other suggestions for collaborations, please contact Marge Loch-Wouters (WLA) or Raquel Rand (WEMTA) .