It has always amazed me how fast the digital revolution has taken hold of our world and how quickly people have transformed and adapted to new ways of working and studying. As a society, our relationship with information has changed rapidly and we have scrambled to keep up with its pace. With increasing consumer awareness about data and privacy and the rise and fall of social media platforms, it is unclear exactly how the digital landscape will evolve. As technology continues to advance, we must be ready to face the next hurdle which presents itself in the digital landscape. Given the complexities of trying to define what information actually is, teacher librarians working in schools face challenges which are in a constant state of fluidity.

The attributes of information mean that its volume is always increasing and sorting through it to find good quality resources can be quite a task. Authors don’t need to be qualified to publish work and of the 3.5 billion Google searches conducted a day (Desjardins, 2019), sorting through opinion pieces to uncover real facts may be quite a daunting task for young people to undertake. With the World Wide Web representing only a small portion of available information, “the problem is finding USEFUL and TRUSTWORTHY information QUICKLY.” (ACT Education Directorate, 2019) The teacher librarian needs to understand the broader information landscape in order to help their students carefully navigate this difficult terrain.

The ever-changing information landscape has an enormous impact on the role of the teacher librarian. If the purpose of the education system is to prepare students with skills and knowledge to take with them into employment or further study, then the challenge facing all teachers, including the teacher librarian is working out what skills will be needed in the future. We must offer learning with a suite of practical skills that are transferable, for careers and technologies that may not have even been invented yet. The ACT Government School Libraries: The Heart of 21^st Century Learning publication states, “schools that invest in well-staffed school libraries reap the benefits of quality services and resourcing, ensuring their staff and students are best equipped for the digital age.” (ACT Education Directorate, 2019)

In order to do this, the teacher librarian must maintain a flexible approach to the management of the library and adapt to new ways of thinking and doing. The role requires a person who is open minded and responsive to emerging technologies. Being part of teacher librarian networks and developing collaborative practices are ways of ensuring the teacher librarian remains informed and up to date with current trends. The willingness to share ideas and expertise helps to build a network of innovative school libraries, which deliver improved outcomes for student learning. The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) recently conducted a census in South Australia and found, “schools with a qualified teacher librarian in this role are more likely to have improved student literacy outcomes.” (Dix, Felgate, Ahmed, Carslake, & Sniedze-Gregory, 2020)

Works Cited

ACT Education Directorate. (2019). School Libraries: The Heart of 21st Century Learning. ACT Government: https://www.education.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/1435435/School-Libraries-The-Heart-of-21st-Century-Learning.pdf

Desjardins, J. (2019, April 15). How Much Data is Generated Each Day? Technology: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/how-much-data-is-generated-each-day/

Dix, K., Felgate, R., Ahmed, S. K., Carslake, T., & Sniedze-Gregory, S. (2020). School libraries in South Australia 2019 Census. Adelaide, Australia: Australian Council for Educational Research: https://doi.org/10.37517/978-1-74286-583-6