ETL503 Module 2 – Reflections on responsibility for resource selection
What a moment to be reflecting upon Module 2 in ETL503 – and what a time to be in the role as a Primary school Teacher Librarian. As I write this post (March 21 2020), we are heading into our final week of Term 1 in Victoria. Schools are scrambling to prepare for the possibility of remote online-learning, should the need arise for closures in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To give some context, I work in a large independent school at a junior girls’ campus. In my small team is myself (full-time), a part-time TL (0.3) and a full-time library assistant. We have colleagues in 4 other libraries, (another junior campus, middle school, senior school and music library), so we are part of a large and valued library team, but it is a team where major resource selection decisions ultimately lie with the Head of Libraries.
So, how does our role in resource selection differ from other teachers? I would also like to extend this discussion to other Teacher Librarians – as being 1 of just 2 primary school TL’s in a large team, it is exceptionally important to advocate for resources that can be used and valued by the teachers and students in the section with which I work directly. Digital resources at our school are resourced centrally, and the Head of Libraries must weigh up requests from a variety of teachers, TL’s and libraries with diverse users and needs. Under these circumstances it is exceptionally important to select trusted digital resources that are easy to access and use for a wide variety of users. The Australian School Library Association’s paper on future learning and school libraries notes Teacher librarians as “resource aggregators” (ASLA, 2013, p. 11):
- maintain an inviting and innovative physical and virtual collection that supports and involves learners in both their educational and personal development, and
- understand the current and emerging media formats and the importance of providing a range of resources to facilitate students’ interaction and engagement.
Oh, and how handy have our carefully selected digital resources come over the past week! It has been my role to show teachers how to access these resources and embed them in online teaching and learning should we be required in the weeks or months ahead. It has been interesting to note that not all teachers were familiar with the digital resources available via our library catalogue – so there is some work that needs to be done in promoting these to junior school staff. It is heartening, however to know that our older students were familiar with these resources due to them being used extensively during their scheduled library lessons.
ASLA and ALIA’s standards of professional excellence for Teacher Librarians state that TL’s “collaboratively plan and resource curriculum programs which incorporate transferable information literacy and literature outcomes” (ALIA and ASLA, 2004, p. 3). Further elaborations state that TL’s “support learning and teaching by providing equitable access to professionally selected resources” (2004. P3). So, regardless of who has the ultimate responsibility for particular resource selection, my role is to advocate, resource, select and deliver the most appropriate resources for the staff, students and wider junior school community of the large, multi-campus P-12 school that I am a part of.
Australian School Library Association. Australian Library and Information Association. (2004). Standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians. file:///Users/jrt/Downloads/alia_asla_standards_of_professional_excellence_for_teacher_librarians_2004.pdf
Australian School Library Association (2013). Future learning and school libraries. ASLA, Canberra, ACT. https://asla.org.au/resources/Documents/Website%20Documents/Resources/2013-ASLA-futures-paper.pdf
