Dive Brief:

• Future Ready Librarians announced a pilot for a new micro-credential for librarians who foster “a culture that promotes design thinking, innovation, and collaborative problem solving,” according to Mark Ray, the head of FRL.
• Ray said "student creation" could pertain to making, coding, multimedia, digital storytelling, video production and publishing. Ray said that librarians who were seeking the micro-credential would be asked to reflect on their approach and vision for student learning, and offer documentation on how their instruction assists students.
• The micro-credential is a piece of the Future Ready Librarians Framework, which has worked with librarians and district leaders to help school libraries be part of the growth of personalized learning. FRL helped develop the new micro-credentialing through the use of five pilot districts throughout the country.

Dive Insight:

While at some higher ed institutions, libraries are struggling to find their role while facing diminished support, many librarians in K-12 schools are increasingly being viewed as playing important roles in ensuring digital literacy in students. In a tumultuous world where information can be difficult to discern and trust, it will be important for students to be able to tell the difference between true and false information, as well as learning the new tools on how best to find information efficiently, and in many cases, it is librarians and media center specialists who are leading that effort.

As administrators integrate new tech into classrooms to improve students’ digital literacy, it will be important to ensure that librarians are a part of the conversation, learning the materials and tools at the outset. This will avoid a situation later when the tools are plentiful but educators’ proficiency with them is not yet sufficient. Some librarians are turning libraries into centers for personalized learning, and many are establishing ways to track student data that will help educators better approach assisting individual students. Turning libraries into venues for innovation can keep them thriving, and help them maintain a reputation as a worthy investment.