This subject is the first in my Master of Education journey, as I work towards gaining a teacher librarian qualification. I have learnt a great deal this semester about what it means to be a teacher librarian, and I don’t think that I have ever actually met one that measures up to my vision of what is possible, despite 10 years in many schools
I chose the Teacher Librarian course, because “library” seemed a good fit for me personally. I am an avid reader, I don’t have a genre preference, I love books. I also love to write and draw, and so the idea of being surrounded all day by books - novels, information books and picture books - seemed ideal. I was concerned that I wouldn’t be “teaching” anymore, but thought looking after the books would make up for that. I would still be part of a school, and get to talk to the children, and share my passion for reading and learning.
By the second week of starting ETL 401, I realised that “librarian” was a better fit than I had imagined. I would still be teaching - Herring’s term Teaching Partner (Herring, 2007) struck a chord as I saw that rather than being on the periphery of teaching, my contribution to student learning and achievement would be significant and exciting. I would still be an important part of the school, and the utilisation of technology to enhance teaching practice is something that I am eager to explore. I described the library as “the beating heart of the school” in the first post I made on my blog (Knowledge Virtuoso - the Beginning of a Learning Journey), and I haven’t changed my mind about that.
My second blog post was a description of the librarians of my school days. I read in Hartzell (2002) , that one possible reason that we encounter resistance from other staff is that their experience of what a librarian is, drawn from their own school days is so different to what is on offer now. It’s true that it was my love of books that drew me to consider librarianship, and not the librarians I knew during my K - 12 years.
I have described the library experiences of my own school years in my blog post titles “Misperceptions” (17/7/11). They were uninspiring, and the library that will be mine to run, will not be that way.
The beginnings of my vision for My Library was kindled by Braxton (2008). My response to her article can be found on my blog under the heading Librarian as Literacy Leader (25/7/11). Braxton refers to creating the “Wow factor” (paragraph 25), and she has many practical suggestions on space management, collaboration and use of technology. Braxton gave me so many ideas about what I will be doing as a librarian. Then in Topic 5, I had another encounter with Joyce Valenza (2010), and the scope of what could be achieved seemed to roll out before me. Valenza is inspirational, I am sure I will refer to her Manifesto again and again.
As the course progressed, I realised how much I had underestimated what was involved in the librarians job description. I struggled with the Herring and Purcell readings on the role of the teacher librarian (you can see the evidence of this in my blog, in the posts titled “I’ve Cracked It”, 26/7/11 and “Assignment 1” 19/8/11). Herring lists 11 roles, and says that his list is by no means exhaustive (2007, p30). He talks of prioritising what needs to be done, and the decisions that need to be made about how to accomplish what is necessary for your own situation. This was complemented in Topic 6, by the readings on time management, practical advice (Gilman 2007).
My views of the role of the teacher librarian in the school have been challenged, and I am now convinced (and delighted) that teaching is still a big part of the librarians role, as they work in partnership with classroom teachers. Teacher Librarian is still a good fit for me, despite the transformation of my expectations. The other skills I have which I thought would be underutilised in the position are actually a major asset - effective teaching skills, the ability to work with others, and the potential to be a leader. I am glad that there is more to Librarianship than cataloguing, colouring in, stocktakes and tidying the books to make sure their spines are all facing outwards.
REFERENCES
Braxton, B (2008). The Teacher Librarian as Literacy Leader, Teacher Librarian 35 (3) pp22-26. Retrieved from:
Gilman, T. (2007). The four habits of highly effective librarians, The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 23. Retrieved from: http://chronicle.com/article/The-Four-Habits-of-Highly-E/46544/
Hartzell, G (2002). The Principal's Perceptions of School Libraries and Teacher-Librarians. School Libraries Worldwide, 8 (1), pp92-110. Retrieved from: http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=
Herring, J. (2007) Teacher librarians and the school library. In S. Ferguson (Ed.) Libraries in the twenty-first century : charting new directions in information (pp. 27-42). Wagga Wagga, NSW : Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University. Retrieved July 20, 2011from: http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/ETL401201160WD/page/0344cb53-f5fc-4725-8
Purcell, M. (2010). All librarians do is check out books right? A look at the roles of the school library media specialist. Library Media Connection 29(3), pp. 30-33.Retrieved from: http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/detailvid=13&hid=10&sid=2168625c-5199-421b-9207-488549d9e944%40sessionmgr15 &bdata= JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ehh&AN=55822153
Valenza, J. K. (2010). Manifesto for 21st century school librarians. October, VOYA Magazine: Kurdyla Publishing. http://www.voya.com/2010/09/15/tag-team-tech-october-2010/
