What does a Teacher Librarian do?
Teacher Librarians seem to do it all. They really have a finger in a lot of pies and are connected across the school organisation through curriculum and extracurricular ties. The Teacher Librarian has a functional role within the school context which is outline by the NSW Department of Education (2020, February 12) acknowledging the specialist role that is played in teaching and learning. This is a dynamic role within this list of duties which deals with changes in technologies, encompasses all subjects, research, programming, strategic goals and improvement, cross curricular capabilities focused.
What is missing from this list is the social and emotional support that is offered by the Teacher Librarian and the space they lead which is equally dynamic (Capstone Publishers, 2014, October 22).
What other services do they offer… and why?
Teacher Librarians are much like any classroom teacher who has a responsibility to students in a holistic way: to see and care for the whole child. They are arguably in a better position at times to do this with the resources at their disposal as managers of collections and spaces that adapt to student needs (Grigsby, 2015). Libraries for example are wellbeing spaces for students and can be a safe space for students who need a quiet or comforting place during breaks and to get lost in books. By contrast they are also highly adaptive academic spaces where through careful planning a Teacher Librarian can pivot a space from a soft space of wellbeing to one of construction and discussion via a makerspace to ignite passion in new ideas (Daley & Child, 2015). Both of these examples offer an insight the to the role of the physical spaces that Teacher Librarians manage and lead for student benefit.
References
Capstone Publishers. (2014, October 22). School libraries matter: the changing role of the school librarian [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/6eilZJp3_h8
Daley, M. & Child, J. (2015). Makerspaces in the school library environment. Access, 29(1), 42-49.
Grigsby, S. (2015). Re-imagining the 21st century school library: From storage space to active learning space. Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 59(3), 103-106. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-015-0859-5
NSW Department of Education. (2020, February 12). Policy library: Library policy – schools. NSW Government. https://policies.education.nsw.gov.au/policy-library/policies/library-policy-schools
