Firstly, thank you Lee for including Valenza’s (2010) ‘Revised Manifesto’ in this module, hers was the practical application of the role of the teacher librarian that was outlined in the other readings that spoke to me.
Sometimes I feel as a teacher librarian, I am a jack of all trades but a master of none.
One thing I do know is that people are important, and I felt this was reflected in Lamb (2011) article stressing the importance of “building dynamic relationships” to achieve the myriad of roles that are encompassed in the title of calling ourselves teacher librarians. I do not feel that in any way this negates the other elements of being a teacher librarian, but instead is the foundation of a good teacher librarian.
I am lucky enough to work as part of a fantastic team under a head librarian who manages her team effectively knowing our weaknesses and using our strengths. This is the one aspect of being a teacher librarian that I think is often missed when outlining our role. The aspect of being a ‘team manager’. If we can become good team managers it would not be a case of “What existing tasks/roles do you think you as a TL could give up in order to be as proactive as Lamb and Valenza want you to be?” but one of which tasks do you think you could delegate and still achieve the ultimate goal of being a teacher librarian – providing a school environment that helps students to be information literate students and lifelong learners.
The role of the teacher librarian is dynamic and expansive, clearly illustrated in Nicole Moore’s (2017) diagram below. Central to every aspect of this role is collegiality.
Role of Teacher Librarian (Moore, 2017)
Lamb, A. (2011). Bursting with potential: Mixing a media specialist’s palette. Techtrends : Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning, 55(4), 27-36.
Moore, N. (2017, April 17). Role of the teacher librarian [Image – Online discussion group] Retrieved from https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/discussionboard/do/message?action=list_messages&forum_id=_84749_1&nav=discussion_board_entry&conf_id=_42098_1&course_id=_23912_1&message_id=_1116708_1#msg__1116708_1Id
Valenza, J. (2010) A revised manifesto. Retrieved from http :// blogs . slj .com/ neverendingsearch /2010/12/03/a-revised-manifesto/