Not only is the teacher librarian in charge of the library space, their role is much wider than that of the classroom teacher. In a previous blog post I explained my thoughts about how a teacher librarian used their time – ETL401. 

The teacher librarian role contains collaboration with teachers. This should be conducted so that teachers are on the same page and the learning can happen in the classroom and also in the library. The teacher librarian can also inform the teachers of any changes to curriculum (which seems overwhelming and another job to add to the list) and be able to support the teacher. Being up to date with the curriculum and knowing what topics each year level is completing is essential. When a teacher librarian doesn’t know the curriculum then it doesn’t help anyone – they will just complete lessons that involve reading and colouring pictures as part of the lesson (this is what happens in lower primary) and not engage students in the benefits of the library.

The teacher librarian should incorporate ICT, sometimes this doesn’t seem like the librarian’s job, but we must be able to keep up with change and how students learn.  One way that I enjoyed was making a Digital Library Research Guide. Once this is set up, with a few tweeks, it can be used over and over again and I think teachers would appreciate a different platform of learning. 

The collection development seems to be such a big job that is probably another aspect that takes some time and management. As classroom teachers, we can manage a few books needed for general reading or the topic we are learning in Integrated Studies, but a teacher librarian needs to organise and manage this for Prep to Year 12. It is important that the library collection has the correct resources to help teachers and students. 

I really get the sense that the library needs to be a team effort, not just the teacher librarian and the technician, alone tucked away in the library, the role needs to involve more people and be a shared load of support and engagement for the benefit of the students.

It was interesting reading Farmer’s (2014) ideas about print and digital reference material. There were some materials that I haven’t heard of or used, like an almanacs. There seems to be more resources available today than there was growing up. If we wanted information the reference to go to was the encyclopedia and you would have to look through the many books to find the information that you were after.

Other materials that could be appropriate are materials published by other companies. I am thinking in particular about The Royal Australian Mint and they have created resources, including a powerpoint, that aims to teach students about money including facts about the mint and history of coins.

Some factors that may influence the decision on which format to use will depend on what is available currently in the library, the budget that is allocated each year to online subscriptions or the purchase of new books and what is being used by the students. It is important to have a mix of both, as students need to learn the process of looking things up in a physical book, but they also need to learn the appropriate research skills as well.

Farmer, L. S. J. (2014) Introduction to reference and information services in today’s school library. Rowman & Littlefield.