Many schools are purchasing mobile computer labs. A possible downside is what a recent LM_NET post referred to as a “library detour”. Teachers bypass the library (and the librarian) in favor of having kids researching in the classroom …. sans librarian.
One practical suggestion to avoid this downside to mobile labs……? Volunteer to be in charge of scheduling the labs. I do not have mobile labs – but we might have them in the future. I plan to handle that situation the same way I handled computer labs when they were added. Volunteer to take over the scheduling duties.
Right now, the teachers come to me to schedule the stationary labs. If they are doing an online lab etc., I simply schedule their classes into a lab. However, if they are doing research, I schedule the computer lab AND myself, AND the library (or at least a cart of books). I have a form that references information literacy standards, so it is immediately obvious that there is a curriculum requirement that needs to be met.
When/if we have mobile computer labs, they will also be scheduled via the library department. I am hoping to have one mobile lab that stays here (for the most part) to add to the current 15 library computers. This will allow students to work with books and laptops at tables, providing a more seamless research experience. The other mobile lab will be reserved for classroom use. BUT – mobile labs will have to be scheduled by us, and returned to us for recharging. Yes … I know….that will be a lot of work. I am blessed to have an assistant. Not every one is so fortunate. I also know that many schools schedule lab use via a lab assistant. If that is the case, then the librarian can check the schedule regularly and make teacher contacts where appropriate.
It is a matter of a small shift in mind-set – research and libraries are no longer bound by library walls. Research means information literacy, and information literacy should automatically involve librarians. Furthermore, the library and the librarian are NOT synonymous. The librarian is as mobile as any mobile lab – and a whole lot smarter! 
He/she can, should and does travel to where the need is – whether in the library, in a stationary lab, or in the classroom with a mobile lab. Teachers and librarians have worked together with students in the library for years. Teachers and librarians can work together just as easily in the classroom.
This might be a big paradigm shift for some teachers – but it isn’t a big leap for us. We are used to being flexible …… not to mention mobile!
Perfect! You expressed my thoughts exactly, only much better worded!
You are so right. After we recarpeted the library last year, we rearranged everything. I only had 5 computers in the library so I conveniently got rid of the computer furniture and convinced TBTB that we go wireless. I now have a 25 computer mobile lab in the library that I schedule either in the library or the classroom. Because we are a ways from the elevator, it has been much more convenient for teachers to bring their classes to the lab rather than the other way around. I have been able to work more with classes this way. Of course, there is still one teacher who prefers the computer lab to the library. But he is the one who tells the kids only to use Wikipedia – one stop shopping and no need to have a works cited page since he knows it all comes from Wikipedia. I really can’t do much about that.
Thanks for commenting Lisa and Carole. Some folks have mentioned laptops as being a nightmare of problems. I am encouraged by you comments and hope to be able to give it a try. And yes – there certainly are teachers that will never be library folks. I figure those folks must have been scared by a librarian in their childhood
Their loss……Not really. Alas – it is the kids who lose.