Librarian-Faculty Collaboration for Literacy Courses: Promoting Better Learning for Preservice Teachers

This narrative describes a collaboration between three university literacy faculty and subject librarian undertaken to embed library instruction across the semester in required courses--children’s literature, early literacy, disciplinary literacy--in order help undergraduate preservice teachers better understand incorporate children’s literature high interest into their teaching. Concrete, scaffolded, hands-on experiences for with teaching materials helped build awareness of foundational concepts instruction. Librarian/faculty collaborations have potential improve teacher preparation programs by providing designed opportunities active, concrete engagement coupled structured reflection.