MSLA 2017 Conference

This ignite talk will give an overview of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) in education and generate ideas of how librarians can demonstrate to school administrations and funding decision-makers that library programing supports SEL goals. The Every Student Succeeds Act has opened the door to assessing measures outside of the traditional academic areas. National and MA state education legislation has formalized SEL standards and even this past summer’s MA superintendent’s conference theme was “Meeting the Social-Emotional Needs of Today’s Diverse Learners.” All signs point to SEL being here to stay and this could be great news for libraries. As librarians, understanding the bigger SEL picture, and how libraries fit into it, could be especially important in times when budgets are shrinking and more and more library positions are ending up on the chopping block. In effect, SEL initiatives could act as a lifeline for school libraries. I will share ideas and identify programming that most school librarians always do that already fits within SEL objectives. This brief overview will help librarians thinking about how to use tools to demonstrate to administrations how librarians can be leaders in SEL educational reform.