After completing this module, I am feeling overwhelmed, but I am also looking forward to the challenge of the teacher librarian role.

When I look at the library’s current situation, many elements are missing. The mission statement was completed in 2010, and I can not find an updated version. What the mission statement and rationale explained may have been relevant and used back then, but they need to be updated to reflect the current educational and school strategic policies. The library is doing a disservice to the students and staff, but I must remember that the current library coordinator is not a trained teacher librarian and feels she is doing her best. 

I have created a list of the required planning documents outlined in this module to help keep me on track when I am potentially in the teacher librarian role at the school. These include: 

• Finding and, if necessary, rewriting the policy documents – I can use what I learned in ETL503 to help.
• Create Strategic Planning documents
• Create a Mission Statement
• Create a Vision Statement 
• Documentation—Library Operations Checklist—Using the National Library of NZ checklist (n.d) to help, compile a folder (physical, online, or both) that has all of this documentation easily accessible. 
• Create procedures for how things should be completed. I have been told that these are currently in the coordinator’s head, but if she were to leave tomorrow, it would not be helpful for anyone. 

While this is a start, and I am sure there will be more to complete, it is very eye-opening to see what is required to keep a library together and running. I have always known that it differs from a classroom, but I did not know the exact details needed, especially in an emergency. Again, I have no idea if there is anything in place if something were to happen to the library. Is it a wait-and-see assessment? 

I will have to take one step at a time and gather a few other staff members around me to make taking on the library less overwhelming. Wong (2012) states that a library committee should be established to represent the interests of the stakeholders. Allowing the library to be represented in wider circles and not classed as an island.

I am looking forward to putting what I have been learning into practice, even though it is overwhelming. I don’t understand the extent of the mess that I am walking into. Thankfully, I have a good working relationship with the technician and assistant, and I hope that I will be able to lead them and take the library in a more positive and futuristic direction.  

National Library of New Zealand. (n.d) Getting started in your school library: An operations checklist. https://natlib.govt.nz/schools/school-libraries/library-systems-and-operations/library-operations/getting-started-in-your-school-library-an-operations-checklist

Wong, T. (2012). Strategic long-range planning. Library Media Connection, 31(2), 22-23.

When it comes to reading and processing information, my preference is paper. I print out all the modules and readings because I like to be able to highlight and make notes so that I can refer back to them later, if need be. My daughters also prefer print over audio, however my husband much prefers audio books. I don’t think there is a difference between older and younger people, it most likely comes down to personal preference. 

After reading and watching about augmented reality and how it is now included in books, I am certainly not up with this change and don’t believe that I use technology any differently to older people. Technology is used very basically, for things like banking, emails, social media and some games – that’s about it. 

As for ebooks in our school, they were very handy in remote learning. We could assign readers for students, they could record their reading, and we could check how they were going. We could also use them for guided reading over zoom. The preference is printed books that students take home for reading now, but once or twice a week we will read an ebook in the classroom. I have been trying to incorporate them a little more in Maths, rather than watching a video. I know that in high school they are still using printed books. I wonder if this comes down to a licence cost and is it more cost effective to have parents buy textbooks rather than the school paying for licences.

This module introduced the Dewey System. I have always liked the Dewey System – it makes sense and keeps the library organised – no I don’t use it at home with my own library collection! I enjoyed teaching it to the students to get them to understand and find resources they were looking for. 

As part of assignment three we were required to search through WebDewey and work out the different classifications of resources. It was an interesting task, some followed an easy path, some required a little more thought and the use of tables (I had no idea these existed). We were also required to compare the difference with that of the Trove records. Sometimes the Trove record classification made more sense. When I asked the librarian and technician to look over my assignment, they made the comment that they like the format that I had presented it in and wished there was a website that could compare the SCIS record and the Trove record and then as the librarian you could make the decision as to which classification you could follow. 

This whole subject is based around metadata and with the comments from the library staff, it had me thinking, why don’t we have access to things like this to make our jobs easier? Each library may do things differently and that should be ok. The discussion about genrefication came up again – I am still on the fence. One thought of discussion was genrefying the fiction and non-fiction together. This could potentially be a good idea, but what happens with some fiction books that may not necessarily have a particular genre they align to, or would rather be kept separate. Only time will tell what happens with this discussion. 

I have only touched the surface with Dewey and I feel there is still plenty that I need to learn. I just have to wait until I am in the role to continue practising and learning.

It was interesting to read that as a teacher librarian our role is to be a publisher. When I think of this term, I think about writing articles in journals or magazines, but in this case that it not what it means. As a teacher librarian the role allows you to make learning objects or online guides for the students to use.

There are many options for this, such as learning guides, scavenger hunts, webquests (I had to make one of these at uni, many years ago) and so on. What goes with making these resources are the many aspects of design that need to be considered. Colour, fonts, how much information, annotations are just some of what needs to be considered.

My thoughts on whether I think the role of the TL is in the development of digital resources and online curriculum… Absolutely! As a classroom teacher, there is no way that we have enough time to be able to create these resources ourselves. By allowing the TL to develop this, it brings out their abilities to link the curriculum and resources together and work side by side with what is happening in the classroom. All the resources are together in the one place and that certainly makes it easier than scrolling through a very long Google Doc of all the planning to find what you are looking for. Students are able to see everything and know what is coming or expected rather than waiting lesson by lesson. Once a digital resource is set up, it should be easy enough to make more or tweak with new information, and this resource can continue to be used year after year. These resources show the collaboration between the classroom and the library teachers. It also showcases what the library can do and be the source of information rather than just a place to borrow books.

Honestly it is something that seems overwhelming at first and totally out of the comfort zone, but once you get started it really is pretty cool. Now that I have started one for the assignment, I look forward to making more when I am in the teacher librarian role.

Information Literacy. It can at times be a very overwhelming topic considering there is so much information regarding its definition, what it is (a skill or process) and how it relates to life in the sense of its use in the workplace and things we do. 

As I think about my current class, a lot of my teaching is telling them about the topic and then expecting them to complete a worksheet, produce a writing piece or display what they have learnt – it doesn’t allow them to think or learn for themselves. My classroom is basically running under the Content Frame as outlined by Bruce, Edwards & Lupton (2006) where I teach and then the students are required to recall what they have learnt by completing a test. While this serves a purpose, in the long run are my students going to be able to have the skills for information literacy and be able to process what they are required to do on their own? Or by being a teacher in the lower years is it our job just to teach the 3R’s (reading, writing and arithmetic) as their foundation and then as they move through school they will continue on their learning journey with the help of other teachers and the teacher librarian. 

Reading is such an important concept as it is something that is needed for life. Reading doesn’t come naturally, it is something that is taught and is something that can be very tough as the English language is full of many conventions and rules. But as much as we can be preoccupied with children progressing through the reading levels and meeting benchmarks, it is important that eventually students will want to read something of interest to them but also criticise what they are reading and relate it to their own personal experiences.  

So what do I need to do now? Have a think about how I can change my practises to allow my students to engage in information literacy that is not just, teach and recall. 

Bruce, C., Edwards, S., Lupton, M. (2006). Six frames for information literacy education: A conceptual framework for interpreting the relationship between theory and practice. ITALICS, 5(1).