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TL11.1_v5 selves, and to help our profession. Here are some tips to help you startthinking your way back to the prosper-ity we need. The key to gaining ground is to be sure your positive message reaches the right ears. Advocating the importance of your program and proving your claim is easy to do by send- ing the message via reports and newsletters to school administrators, superintendents, the director, board trustee, members of parent council, your MPP, and, of course, to parents at report card time. Reports demonstrate the actual usage of the library, while newsletters celebrate what is going on in the library. A comparison show- ing the reality of what is going on compared to what could be going on, with more time allot- ted to the teacher-librarian, also sends a posi- tive message. Communicating what you do and what you could do with more time pro- motes the profession, the facility, and the pro- gram, while advocating how it could be even better for students if more time were available. Message boards are positive ways to com- municate with the school and public commu- nities. Create a bulletin board or, an In these turbulent and difficult times ofcuts, you may wonder how teacher-librari-ans can flourish in a garden blighted by cut worms and arid soil. How can our programs continue and our students thrive? Searching your soul, you may feel despair, sorrow, and grief as you witness the damage done to our school library information centres and the effects on our students of hav- ing little to no time with the teacher- librarian. It is serious. It is a blow. It is a challenge. It is time to regroup, rethink, and reor- ganize how and what we can do to help our stu- dents, to h e l p o u r - Turning Lemons into Lemon Aid or How to Flourish Despite the Cuts Sharon P. Armstrong C O P IN G W IT H C R IS IS @ your library™