A hypothetical letter to my future colleagues

Dear future colleagues and friends,

This is the most exciting letter I have had the honor of writing so far in my career, mostly because it is the first letter I am writing so far in my career. I have just graduated from Syracuse University in the 'iSchool,' where I have been trained to collaborate, empower, and provide. We have so much to talk about.

My vision for our school media center is that this will be our exclusive space in our school where ideas can be born, heard, and encouraged. This is a strict no silence library. We express ourselves freely. We ask questions. We are relentless in our journey for answers. We never take "I don't know," for an answer. We say to ourselves, "I did it. I accomplished something amazing," and we thank ourselves for doing that today.

Do you have a project you have been assigning for years, but you know there are new ways for students to present using technology that you are currently unfamiliar with? Do you see your students taking the next huge leap to becoming experts on a subject, but you think it would just take a little collaboration or a great space to research and build to get them there? Do you envision your students becoming passion-driven, self-motivating innovators? Let's collaborate! I can't express this enough, I am here for you. I am here to support your curriculum. I am here to introduce new technology. I am here to provide my services and expertise to help you make the most out of your time with your students.

I can't thank you enough for welcoming me into your school. I will be anxiously awaiting your thoughts, requests, and ideas.

Most graciously,

Lauren Stevens

610-393-5132

3443 Martin Road

Clinton, NY 13323

LMSte100@syr.edu

[Author's note: This letter was written as an exercise to envision my goals and priorities upon entering a school. Please feel free to provide feedback as to how you might respond if you were to receive this letter from a new school media specialist.

When I sat down to write this letter, I thought about what teachers may read or may not read. Would they read my intro letter listing facts about myself, or would they skim it? I thought about the things that make me unique or make me someone ideal for the position of school media specialist. I'm not sure I can necessarily build trust with my colleagues based on my past experiences, because I come from a background in creative professionalism, and this would be my very first job in the education realm. One of my strengths that I might try to build trust with instead is my enthusiasm and my excitement about collaboration. When I was writing, I had the goal of: If teachers are skimming this, maybe I can give them goosebumps in the meantime. As a result, this letter looks a little more like a battle cry than it does an introduction. If nothing else, perhaps I build intrigue, and teachers may come chat with me to discuss ideas they have perhaps wanted to accomplish but haven't felt comfortable or maybe had a bad experience in the past. I really want to break any stigmas surrounding the library and continue the revolution that libraries are idea factories, and we are here to be the supportive guides. So I hope I communicated that well here.]