ETL401 My childhood reflections, my daughter’s experience and the influence of technology.
Mrs Hill was my childhood primary TL back in the mid 80’s. I loved listening to her read the Milly Molly Mandy book series to our class while we sat on the reading mat during library time. I even purchased this series and read it to my own daughter while she was snuggled up in bed. Mrs Hill was also my ESL teacher for a short time and I remember gathering around a listening post with other ESL peers in the library and answering questions about what we listened to. My reflection is limited, but nonetheless, it is a positive one and one that left me the impression that TL’s can have a lasting impact on individuals and can often carry more roles in the school than just the responsibilities of a TL.
My three children are fortunate enough to attend a private school with an abundantly resourced, modern, three-level iCentre, boasting a marine themed story pit, computer lab with a dedicated IT teacher, IT Support department section, study rooms, pod/vodcast booths, media room, library support staff as well as two dedicated TL. I asked my 11 year old daughter, what she thought was the role of a TL.
“To teach others how to learn to borrow from the library and how to study well and research. They help kids enjoy reading by reading stories to us and getting our opinion about them. She teaches us “stuff” on ipads and how to research and what to look for. We take our ipads to library, we go to our school Landscape page, access the library page and explore the links.” (Grace, 11 years old, grade 6)
There is no doubt that the nature of libraries and the role of the TL has changed in the last few decades and has seen significant changes as a result of the influence of technology. The role technology plays in schools today is diverse. It has impacted upon library management, communications, curriculum resourcing and the teaching of pedagogy. These new rebadged libraries as ‘iCentres’ have navigated the TL into uncharted territory. Technology in many school experiences has threatened the existence of libraries where books on shelves have been replaced with computers on tables. Posing the question amongst many “is the TL no longer necessary?” This very question threatens the future of my own career path as a TL.
The more I read and learn as I navigate my own journey toward this specialised field of the TL, the more passionate I become about being an advocate for print. I am convinced it is critical that the TL has a presence in the school community by staying relevant and thereby proving they are irreplaceable. I am thankful that passionate, determined, educated, TL’s who have paved the way before me, have demonstrated how to embrace the ever-changing technological landscape and have kept school libraries and the role of the TL relevant and necessary, redefining their presence and purpose in the school community. A role that will constantly need to be addressed if TL’s are going to meet the needs of their school community in the future.