First Post of the Final year

Welcome to the first post of my final year in the teacher librarian master course! It has been a long six years with many disruptions but it feels good to be finally on the home stretch – albeit a stressful one as I will be competing in not one but two units – At least one of them occurs over the entire year!

this is my first post for one of my final units  Teacher Librarian as the leader. From the outset, this unit is looking at the role of a TL as a middle manager – ruled from those above but influential enough to make lasting change. TLs are in a unique position to become changemakers in their school context ( ASLA 2001) and are often described as ” learning leaders” (ASLS 2013) playing an important role in future-focused learning (AASL 2017).  As a leader, the TL is responsible for managing a huge amount of resources including budget, and being a leader of information literacy which often includes leading the school in embracing new technologies as well as developing the library as the well-being centre of the school ( ASLA 2014) A jack of all trades for sorts (Martin, E.A. and Sheehan, L.A. 2018). But how does a TL do this from a middle management position?  Farrell (2014) suggests that the middle manager can see “horizontally” throughout an organisation – which in a sense, is what TLs already do when working across KLAs’ – this working horizontally is what makes TLs so specialised in their fields and positions them well for creating change ( soft link 2017).

So this brings me to my first activity – Who has been inspirational to my learning and working life?  My initial thoughts go to my many classroom teachers – most of whom worked their butts off to effectively guide and teach the adolescent Mrs Spiteri – and probably led me down this path in the first place.  However, in my teaching career, I can only think of those other middle managers  – my head teachers – who have impacted me in both positive and negative ways.  Two things strike me when I think of these middle managers and that is 1. Effective communication and 2. Advocacy. As my role went from classroom teacher to TL – these two factors of success did not change, the only added factors were knowledge and respect for the TL’s role in the school.

 as a final note, I wish to share this amazing guide created by the AASL ( American School Libraries Association)  which gives great advice for TLs in leadership positions. It’s a great read and a good one to share with your won middle managers.

Australian School Library Association (2014) What is a teacher librarian? Retrieved from http://www.asla.org.au/advocacy/what-is-a-teacher-librarian.aspx

Australian School Library Association (ASLA), & Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). (2001). Learning for the future: Developing information services in schools (2nd ed.). Victoria, Australia: Curriculum Corporation.

Australian School Library Association 2013, Future learning and school libraries, ASLA, Canberra,
ACT.

“School Librarians as Learning Leaders”, American Library Association (AASL), May 30, 2017. http://www.ala.org/aasl/advocacy/tools/leaders (Accessed February 25, 2024) Document ID: 856bf119-e0c4-2004-dd99-0316550f8983

Martin, E.A. and Sheehan, L.A. (2018), “The New “Jack of All”: The Evolution of the Functionality and Focus of the Academic Librarian in New Spaces and New Roles”, Challenging the “Jacks of All Trades but Masters of None” Librarian Syndrome (Advances in Library Administration and Organization, Vol. 39), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 67-90. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0732-067120180000039006

Softlink. (2017). The ongoing importance of school libraries. Retrieved from https://www.softlinkint.com/downloads/The_Ongoing_Importance_of_School_Libraries.pdf

Farrell, M. (2014). Leading from the middle. Journal of Library Administration, 54(8), 691-699. https:doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2014.965099