Lamb and Johnson (2012) outline that the teacher librarian has three key roles when budgeting for an effective collection; collaborator, steward and thinker.

Below are some examples of when the teacher librarian has fulfilled all three of these roles

Collaborator:

• consulting with relevant stakeholders about what resources are most appropriate and of the highest priority to the learners for example; parents, colleagues and students themselves.
• collaborating with other local school librarians in order to find resources that are cost effective and meet community needs.
• contributing and gaining knowledge from online librarian forums on the best suppliers and sources to build the school library collection.

Steward:

• facilitating professional development for teachers that guide them to source the most relevant resources and how to request them for the school library.
• maintaining a sound collection management policy that carefully monitors the selection and deselection process of resources.
• using literature and current research to drive decisions made in budgeting.

Thinker:

• demonstrating resourcefulness by purchasing resources that can be used across different key learning areas in the primary school setting.
• seeking various sources for funding the school library.
• collaborating with the wider school community to source authentic resources to build the collection.

References:

Lamb, A. & Johnson, H.L. (2012). Program administration: Budget management. The School Library Media Specialist. Retrieved from http://eduscapes.com/sms/administration/budget.html.