Way back when I decided to become a librarian, I made the conscious decision not to do my Diploma of Education because I did not want to become a school librarian! That was a long time ago, but it reflected my perception of the role of the librarian in schools. I didn’t like their image and even then, I felt they were seriously underrated. I went into corporate libraries and special collections where “just-in-time” was reality, long before it became a thing in logistics. Thirty years on, I can see first-hand how important the role of the teacher librarian (TLs) has become and that they are starting to receive the recognition they deserve.
In addition to supporting literacy, teacher librarians now lead, support and actively collaborate with their fellow teachers to teach children how to find, evaluate and use information, both in analogue and digital media. They teach children how to navigate the Infosphere in their search for reliable information and how to be safe while doing so. There is an assumption that students are Digital Natives (Prensky, 2001), and as such, know more about navigating the web than we Digital Immigrants (Prensky, 2001) could ever do. My experience tells me otherwise.
Confronted with the plethora of information at their disposal, students more than ever need to be taught research skills and source analysis if they are not to fall prey to misinformation. They must be taught how to learn and the importance of digital citizenship, and it is here that the teacher librarian plays a pivotal role. The current COVID-19 situation, in which students of all ages are being confronted with the challenges of self-directed learning, makes laying the ground rules for the use of digital media as a learning resource more important than ever. The Digital Divide has always existed, but recent global developments have made it apparent that there are still information rich and information poor students in our schools and that teacher librarians can be the bridge that enables students to acquire the 21st century skills they need in order to succeed.
In a recent article, Holly Godfree, teacher librarian and recipient of the ASLA Teacher Librarian of the Year Award in 2019, called herself the human version of the “Room of Requirement” (Rowling, 2003, p. 387), the go-to person for all needs. Teacher librarians are an essential part of the team that enables teachers to teach effectively. Not only as “learning partners” for students, they bring new technology to educators, keeping them up to date with the latest developments and resources in the field and helping them to integrate these into the curriculum. This has become particularly important in the light of current changes in the teaching landscape where educators have been forced to switch abruptly from face-to-face to remote instruction. Amongst other many other skills, teacher librarians understand the importance of resourcing the curriculum, so that teachers can devote themselves to valuable teaching time, how to evaluate student learning and how to contribute to the professional development of the school community by sharing their expertise on specific topics. MacKenzie sees the TL as “a valuable support for teacher practice and student academic growth, as well as their emotional health“ and this is what I want to be.
References:
Calarco, J. (2020). Online learning will be hard for kids whose schools close – and the digital divide will make it even harder for some of them. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/online-learning-will-be-hard-for-kids-whose-schools-close-and-the-digital-divide-will-make-it-even-harder-for-some-of-them-133338
Farmer, L. (2016). Teaching ethics to teens via school library reference services. Catholic Library World, 86(4), 242. http://library.ifla.org/1077/1/190-farmer-en.pdf
Floridi, L. (2007). A look into the future impact of ICT on our lives. Information Society, 23(1), 59–64. https://doi-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.1080/01972240601059094
Godfree, H. (2020). School libraries: Good for what ails ya. Medium. https://medium.com/@snslcampaign/school-libraries-good-for-what-ails-ya-e0bd550695c
Hughes, Hilary. Gold Coast study links school libraries and teacher librarians to literacy [Research report]. School Library Association of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology.//eprints.qut.edu.au/60260/38/60260b.pdf
MacKenzie, T. (2019). Classroom inquiry’s secret weapon: The teacher-librarian. Canadian School LibrariesJournal. https://journal.canadianschoollibraries.ca/classroom-inquirys-secret-weapon-the-teacher-librarian/
Petro, L. (2017). How to put self-directed learning to work in your classroom. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/how-put-self-directed-learning-work-your-classroom
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. Horizon, 9(5), 1–6.
