‘Library 2.0’ is a term coined to capture the participatory, collaborative and technology driven opportunities that resources from Web 2.0 offer the library (ALA, n.d). The teacher-librarian (TL) in a library 2.0 world needs the attributes of courage, perseverance and humour due to the ever changing nature of technologies. If we take ourselves too seriously or wish for perfection before we release a new platform or use a new skill in the library, the technology may already pass us by! Cohen’s Library Manifesto (2006) powerfully conveys this. We need to remain relevant, as Akwang (2021, p. 102300) stresses. Thus, TLs must be flexible and demonstrate a willingness to learn.
Libraries who have taken up the challenge of Web 2.0 have indeed morphed from repositories to being innovative educational centres that offer a wider range of digital information and tools (Akwang, 2021, p. 102299). This could mean a library hosting maker centres, AR equipment, green screens, collaborative study rooms, and ‘how-to’ Cavna mini workshops. Of course, no one school library, with the constraints of budget, expertise and space may offer everything. So the TL must prioritise what services to offer and to be successful in these offerings. This means that the TL may need to upskill in several areas and then demonstrate strong time management skills in order to be able to offer services, relying on their knowledge of the school organisation as to which services are needed the most to prepare students for the future.
Ayinde and Kirkwood (2020, p. 142) stress the need for skills necessary for the information professional to thrive in the future. These are: sense making, social intelligence, novel and adaptive thinking, cross-cultural competency, computational thinking, transliteracy and transdisciplinary skills (Ayinde & Kirkwood, 2020, p. 149-150). Many of these will require interaction with technology. I like Ayinde & Kirkwood’s emphasis on the ability to “learn, unlearn and relearn new skills” (2020, p. 150). It is a humble position to take in many ways and as such, I think this characteristic is also important for a TL as they prepare their students for the future.
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References
Akwang, N. E. (2021). A study of librarians’ perceptions and adoption of Web 2.0 technologies in academic libraries in Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 47(2), 102299-102309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2020.102299
American Library Association. (n.d.). Library 2.0. ALA American Library Association. https://www.ala.org/tools/atoz/library-20
Ayinde, L., & Kirkwood, H. (2020). Rethinking the roles and skills of information professionals in the 4th industrial revolution. Business Information Review, 37(4), 142-153. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266382120968057
Cohen, L. (2006). A librarian’s 2.0 manifesto [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZblrRs3fkSU