As I have worked through the learning within ETL504 my perspectives and understanding of a teacher librarian’s role within a school and the leadership opportunities taken by teacher librarians have changed and developed drastically. As I began my time as a teacher librarian I have to admit that along with the majority of staff within my school, still saw myself as a single person working alone and teaching the students about books. I didn’t see myself or my role as collaborating heavily with staff and leading and developing programs and experiences with staff and students across the school.

One significant piece of learning I experienced throughout the course was the versatility and changing nature of leadership styles and techniques used by the teacher librarian depending on the situation they are in. As stated in the blog post ‘Leaders’ (Winkless, 2021, May 14) there are a number of traits that TLs show not only throughout their leadership experience but also through every day teaching. A TL can show a number of leadership styles throughout their work such as instructional leadership styles that lead to strong collaboration with other teachers, staff, students and the wider learning community (Farkas, 2008). The teacher librarian needs to be adaptable and ever changing, where one style of leadership will work in one situation or with a group of colleagues will not work with another (Reale, 2018).

Along with a personal change of opinion about the role of the TL as the keeper of the books I, have also had a professional change as my understanding and knowledge of the teacher librarian as a middle leader developed. This has seen changes within my practice as I am able to advocate for the needs of the library more readily and ensure I am sharing my expertise with staff and students around me. One particular instance where I have been able to use my leadership skills and advocacy can be seen through the blog post Scenario reflection (Winkless, 2021, May 17). From this situation I was able to gain the confidence to share with the staff programs and experiences that were occurring in the library. This also demonstrated to me how vital it is that the teacher library collaborate and share their expertise with staff when developing teaching and learning programs (Collay, 2011).

As I consider the quote by Levitov (2012), “on-going process of building partnerships so that others will act for and with you, turning passive support into educated action for the library program,” found in Module 6.1 and Continuing thoughts: TL as Leader (Winkless, 2021, May 14), I think further about the role of the teacher librarian as an advocate and leader within the school. Teacher librarians need to be able to be a ‘jack of all trades’ with advice or resources to support students and staff in a huge range of topic areas. The introduction of technology and digital resources as a fundamental role of the librarian just make this all the trickier (Farkas, 2008). This is why we need to ensure that our librarian and teacher librarians are not seen for the sole purpose of release and we need to be able to use a wide range of leadership skills to support not only ourselves but build a strong and successful learning hub for all within our school community (Bentley, Pavey, Shaper, Todd & Webb, 2016).

Through my learning I have developed more confidence in the importance of my role and the ability to advocate for the importance of teaching our students quality digital and information literacy skills that make strong connections to classroom learning. The library and teacher librarian have an important role to lead and guide both students and staff through a range of learning to contribute to the success of the school.

 

References

Bentley, E., Pavey, S., Shaper, S., Todd, S., & Webb, C. (2016). The innovative school librarian. ProQuest Ebook Central https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Collay, M. (2011). Everyday teacher leadership: Taking action where you are. ProQuest Ebook Central https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Farkas, M. (2008). Skills for the 21st century librarian. The one-person library, 24(10), 5-7.

Levitov, D. D. (2012). Activism and the school librarian: tools for advocacy and survival. Libraries Unlimited

Reale, M. (2018). The indispensable academic librarian: teaching and collaborating for change. ALA Editions. https://portal-igpublish-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/iglibrary/obj/ALAB0000472