Short answer – YES!
In my experience there are 3 roles I have observed Teacher Librarians perform that made the role something that I am now striving towards:
- Teacher Librarians are teachers of learning.
The Year 7 classes line up, scared, being ordered to stay quiet and not touch the books in their first steps inside the library. They sit in awe of a space that is crammed full of a history of information repositories: books, computers, and data projectors. The librarian captures the attention of the juvenile learners, even when referring to the reference section.
The Teacher Librarian’s role was to teach the new high school students about what different resources are at their disposal and build their confidence in the library and class environment. Basic research techniques were covered first including using the computer system to view the library catalogue and Dewey Decimal System, and the use of boolean operators when searching online. The effect of this information came to be powerful in observing students narrow down and locate information from the thousands of books and millions of websites with relative ease. The metacognitive discussion of learning and research methods provided a new simplified world for my students.
- Teacher Librarians provide spaces for learning.
Students race into the library on a Wednesday morning to visit the new weekly trivia quiz. Many look puzzled and some smile and look into their friends eyes, waiting to see if they can figure it out too. During breaks the library is densely packed with students pouring over books, playing games online, and working on finishing the jigsaw puzzle for the week. After school, the library is quiet but not empty. The homework club runs with the help of very few teachers to support those who want a space or some advice on assessment tasks.
Teacher Librarians construct safe and effective environments that conduce and excite learning. The juxtaposition of bean bags beside books and computers are evidence of the diverse way that librarians use space to cater for a range of students and their learning. Many are often excited to see the displays for themed weeks and participate in reading challenges. This is often not achieved in a regular classroom and demonstrates the role a librarian can play for diverse learners.
- Teacher librarians help other teachers.
The teacher looks at the assessment task for their new low ability class and wonders where some information to help their students can be found. They visit the librarian who offers to not only help find some student friendly websites, but to also put together a book box on that topic and deliver a lesson with the class on basic research techniques.
Teacher Librarians perform professional learning for others across the school environment. The use of library resources including ClickView and journals is managed and encouraged by the librarian. They also provide expertise on how to access information for teachers as new sources become available. This allows teachers to expand their lessons beyond chalk and talk and help their information literacy and catch up with some of their digital native students.
Thank you for this interesting post. I really enjoyed reading the short scenarios, and the explanation below. You clearly already can see the wide range of different tasks and supports the TL can provide, and I look forward to reading more as your understanding of the role continues to develop.
Your blog is well set out and easy to navigate. It meets all of the requirements of the task – great work.
Kay
Kay Oddone
Subject Coordinator.