Why become a Teacher Librarian?

This is indeed the question! Why become a Teacher Librarian? For me, it was a combination of things.

In Year Ten I undertook the Personal Learning Plan subject within SACE and I underwent a  one week Work Experience Placement at Tea Tree Gully Library. I loved it, I really did but I felt it was lacking something in terms of a career. Most of the work was becoming automated or happened behind the scenes with very little contact with the public. Outside of the Work Experience Placement, I frequented that library often. I loved going through the shelves, looking for something new to read but felt that the workers didn’t really have the time for young adults. This feeling was magnified during my Work Experience Placement, most of the contact was with young children or adults. Now, as a twenty-two-year-old, I feel that this feeling of disconnect with a public library makes Teacher Librarians even more important.

During my time in high school, I lived in the school library, especially during Stage One and Two. I was a regular library monitor and I loved helping the Teacher Librarians with either restocking shelves, finding books for other students, processing new books or whatever else they needed to be done. Here, I felt that young adults were welcomed and valued.

When I was looking to commence post-high school study, I decided upon Bachelor of Education (Middle and Secondary Schooling)/Bachelor of Arts as my undergraduate degrees and then made the choice to continue straight into my postgraduate degree rather than take a break. During my undergraduate study, I loved the connection that we were able to form with the campus librarians. It is a very similar feeling to that of the secondary Teacher Librarian.

Teacher Librarians are vital to schools and students. They are not just the people who know where that obscure book on science is, or the ones who can sprout quotes from books at the drop of a hat. They’re the ones who encourage discovery. The ones who suggest a book not just for an assignment but to read in their own time. They’re the ones who can bail you out of a referencing disaster in the Research Project.

But they’re also the ones who can lend an ear when you need it. They’re the ones who give you a chance to contribute to your school community. They’re the ones who’ll put the new book you’ve been nagging them about to the side so you can borrow it first. They’re the ones who have a stash of gummy snakes or Freddo Frogs hidden in a drawer – and look to the side when you pinch one as you leave to go back to class.

Teacher Librarians are amazing people – and I hope I can be one of those amazing people for my future students.