teacher librarians – Jennifer's reflections 'through the looking glass'

Resource selection in the school library

Teacher librarians promote and support the vision of their school through shaping programs and building resources that foster lifelong learning. Research promotes and proves the link between school libraries and qualified teacher librarians advancing student achievement (Commonwealth of Australia, 2011). The dual qualifications held by teacher librarians ensure they hold diverse skills and knowledge to have a positive impact in schools, from curriculum outcomes through to collection development, while being knowledgeable on evolving information and technologies. Teacher librarians understand the principles of the access and use of information and how to support students in an information literate world.

Collaboration is key within all aspects of the teacher librarian role. This includes working with colleagues and teaching teams to plan, develop and administer information literacy and inquiry lessons to enhance student outcomes. Gone are the days where libraries were the sole holder of centralised information, a place where resources were located, circulated and managed, with librarians the “selector and disseminator of information” (Loertscher, 2010, p.133). Libraries are now dynamic and engaging places of learning and recreation that work alongside their communities to effectively merge literature and technology. Teacher librarians are able to transform the information and resources in school libraries into high quality teaching and learning. It is the use of information that is paramount in creating 21st century learners, with Loertscher (2010) asserting that:

“It is not about the books. It is about the percentage of successful readers and lifelong readers. It is not about the information skills themselves; it is about the production of successful inquirers. It is not about the gathering of facts; it is about stimulating deep understanding.” (page 134).

Collaboration with staff when selecting and curating resources provides favourable benefits for all stakeholders. Building positive working relationships with colleagues within the school community and establishing shared educational values will assist in the selection of resources that meet the curriculum needs and interests of staff and students. Some practical ways of facilitating partnerships is through open communication, shared goals and collaborative planning. Sharing library updates and promotions in staff meetings and emails, articles in school correspondence and social media posts, can assist the school community in gaining insight in the library events, new resources and collection management, whilst also actively advocating for the library.

Seeking out input from all users into the selection and acquisition of resources is paramount in school libraries. Schools are more often involving students in collection choices. Patron-driven acquisition (PDA) has shown success in bolstering circulation statistics amongst students (Jorm, 2022). Improved engagement of both students and staff with the library collection has been observed in my school context when the users have been encouraged to select or request resources for passion areas or teaching and learning needs. Techniques for PDA could include utilising print or digital forms, suggestion boxes or using selection aids to suggest and request books for the school library collection.

As experts in information and literacy, teacher librarians are the link between resource selection and a school library that meets the needs and interests of all users.

Commonwealth of Australia. (2011). Potential of school libraries and teacher librarians to contribute to improved educational and community outcomes. School libraries and teacher librarians in 21st century Australia.

https://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees?url=ee/schoollibraries/report.htm

Jorm, M. (2022, May 16). Photo Story: Student-Led library collection development. Teacher Magazine.

https://www.teachermagazine.com/au_en/articles/photo-story-student-led-library-collection-development

Loertscher, D. V. (2010). Shifting Our Vision for Our Futures: Leadership as a Foundational Element for Teacher-Librarians. In S. Coatney (Ed.). (2010). The many faces of school library leadership. ABC-CLIO, LLC.

Information Literacy

Information literacy models set out the steps students undertake to guide their learning and develop their knowledge for inquiry tasks.

When moving to adopt an integrated information literacy model for instruction, the teacher librarian holds a notable role. With expert knowledge of quality resources, teacher librarians create, resource, teach and assess inquiry units that enhance student outcomes and build information literacy confidence and skills for the future. The teacher librarian must champion their skills and knowledge of information literacy and subject matter. They are the scaffold for seeking and accessing information, and deepening student understanding and critical literacy skills. By guiding student inquiry and providing opportunities for developing research and learning for life, teacher librarians build on student learning across the curriculum in multimodal forms. It may be beneficial to present studies and literature on examples of information literacy models, as well as practical and collaborative units of work, for schools to consider.

Challenges to the teacher librarian integrating information literacy instruction can be school structures, timetabling and a lack of understanding of the intricacies of information literacy. School context and staffing structures can lead to minimising the use of teacher librarians in planning and pedagogical arrangements. In a smaller primary school setting like mine, the majority of teacher librarians in the region are used to release teachers from face-to-face contact. This inhibits collaborative planning, teaching and learning, an imperative part of inquiry learning. Additionally, the allowance of time in already packed schedules to effectively collaborate with colleagues to support the learning goals of students can be a challenge. Advocacy on the benefits of teacher collaboration with school executives, to support and timetable in planning meetings, is important for the longevity and success of the information literacy instruction and the teacher librarian and classroom teacher partnership.

To foster an environment conducive to the transfer of information literacy skills across subjects and from year to year is paramount in schools. A collaborative approach by teacher librarians and classroom teachers is imperative for the transference of skills across the curriculum. The need for a strong collegial relationship is an underlying theme throughout the study of information literacy and transference by Herring and Bush (2011). Facilitating a school-wide practice of transfer with consistency, collegial discussions and common terminology were identified as essential elements in the successful transference of skills in their research. Teacher librarians and teachers can support the transfer of knowledge and skills by adopting an information literacy model and collaborating on the unit of work. By educators working together using a guiding model, students will develop a common language, clear purpose and structure for their learning and inquiry skills. With the ability to transfer their information literacy skills, students will be well equipped to be able to access, use and evaluate information for their future needs and lifelong learning.

Herring, J., & Bush, S. J. (2011). Information literacy and transfer in schools: Implications for teacher librarians. Australian Library Journal, 60(2), 123-132.

ETL401 Assessment 1: The role of the Teacher Librarian

My understanding of the Teacher Librarian (TL) role in schools is continually evolving as my knowledge increases.

As stated in my Welcome post, I basically fell into my first TL role at my then Primary School. I had no big understanding or lofty aspirations, only that the Principal wished the library to become the heart of the school once more. Upon reflection, I really didn’t encompass or comprehend the role fully. I focused more on teaching the students and the engagement side of the role. To be honest, I was still a Teacher, not a TL. Looking back, I realise I didn’t completely understand inquiry models or how to even accession resources correctly into our various collections to be able to maintain a cohesive system.

Now in my fourth year at another ACT primary school in the TL role, I feel more confident in my pedagogy and my collection development. But I also realise there is still so much to the role. Just beginning with our first module, ‘The Information Environment’ (Oddone, 2022), it is evident the importance of TLs in schools to assist with developing student understandings in this constantly changing world. Librarians may be misrepresented in society’s eyes as storytellers and ‘the keeper of books’ only: that we read books to children and borrow and return. This is a long way from reality. You can read more on The Information Environment on my blog post here.

I am a solo practitioner in this school library currently – just little me, no assistant or ‘team’. However, the idea of TLs being a single entity and not part of a team is not entirely new but hopefully advancing in school environments (Given and Julien, 2005). Although I have my own office in the library and am the only library ‘worker’ at my school, I am part of each and every teaching team. I am in the specialist team with our music, French and wellbeing teachers. I am in the Literacy team, overseeing the budget and advocating professional learning, resources and practices. I am in each cohort team as I work alongside and collaborate, assisting with developing the best learning paths, inquiry and research, arranging rich texts and programming resources. And I am part of our whole school team, with the students being our priority. We all have the same goals, no matter what our role is: to promote a love of learning.

Nonetheless, my role at the school is beginning to weigh on my mind as I approach the arrival of our first baby in August. Who to train into the role to keep the library at the forefront of the school? How and when? Will the school continue to see the library as an imperative asset while I am on maternity leave? Will I have a role to come back to? Advocacy is so important in our schooling climate, with some politicians and the public believing TLs to be a rare and dying resource in schools (Carmody, 2019). Luckily for our wonderful school, we have a supportive Principal who sees our value. She advocated for me to undertake my Masters at CSU, and combined with the ACT Government’s priority for providing scholarships for teachers to complete their TL qualifications (Lewis, 2021), the future’s looking bright.

Carmody R. (2019, 15 September). School libraries hit by the loss of a dying breed as teacher librarians enter ‘survival mode’. ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-15/research-reveals-alarming-loss-in-teacher-librarians-in-schools/11494022

Given, L.M. & Julien, H. (2005). Finding Common Ground: An Analysis of Librarians’ Expressed Attitudes Towards Faculty. The Reference librarian, 2005-04-27, Vol.43 (89-90), p.25-38. Retrieved from: https://web-s-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=2800e18e-d7fa-4adc-885b-b53e0a76e3cb%40redis

Lewis, K. (2021, 1 February). ACT government to provide 10 teachers a year scholarship to complete librarian qualifications. Canberra Times. https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7106701/scholarships-to-address-shortage-of-canberra-teacher-librarians/

Oddone, K. (2022). 2.0 The Information Environment [Study notes]. ETL401: Introduction to Teacher Librarianship. Interact 2. https://interact2.csu.edu.au/