‘No offense but….. can you explain why becoming a librarian in a school would require training, a masters degree at that! Don’t they just stack books’?
I have been asked this or a variation of this question half a dozen times since mentioning my new venture into studying to be a Teacher Librarian.
I’ve fumbled through answers that include; ‘It’s more than that! We teach research skills and help students find resources and information. We provide a peaceful learning environment etc etc’.
I feel like I’m trying to sell and defend the profession. To be honest, prior to doing my blocks as a TL, I didn’t quite understand what was done either.
If I remember my days as a student, I recall a little old lady sitting us on a mat and reading a lovely little story then colouring a picture about the book. Later in high school it was pointing to a catalogue where I was directed to shelves of books. Fast forward to University, on campus then as a distance student I began seeing that libraries where no longer buildings with books and number/letter allocations. Most recently as a teacher, I see our TL fulfilling endless roles; Engaging juniors with the most amazing tale telling, Introducing middle schoolers to the abundance of information at their fingertips, & Seniors how to navigate this world of information. That is just the top of the iceberg! This doesn’t cover the support they give teachers, the curriculum planning and assessing and on and on.
My reading and searching of the question; ‘what is the role of a teacher librarian’? has come up with a plethora of different duties/ aspects/images etc and to be honest I’m sure they differ again from school to school. I found this ‘TL role statement’ below from The School Library Association of South Australia (2015) and it sat nicely with me. It seemed to cover what I now understand of the role in a nice, no-fuss kind of way (maybe I should put it on a business card to hand to the next person who asks me the ‘please explain’ question.
I have filled the role as acting TL a few times, never for more than 5 weeks at a time. It has usually been as an emergency, due to illness or injury so have been doing what I can (thrown in the deep end) with guidance over the phone and working it out as I go. I have at most been doing about 50% of the role and never at the busy times of year such as book week, beginning or end of year for textbook borrowing/returning or ordering. Although I was absolutely exhausted and totally out of my depth, I loved it. What I loved the most was that the library became my classroom. Students came in to escape the craziness that is a school, they were relaxed and happy to chat as I was in a role that supported and helped them but did not put the pressure on them time-wise or performance-wise.
As an absolute beginner of this Masters degree, I’m excited to learn the skills and the knowledge to demonstrate and not have to explain that the role of the TL is indispensable.
Teacher Librarian Role Statement
School Library Association South Australia inc. (2015). Teacher Librarian Role Statement (2015). retrieved from https://studylib.net/doc/6745422/teacher-librarian-role-statement