The roles and duties that a TL performs are never stock-standard, as each works in a unique environment with unique needs. It is simply not possible for the TL to do, and be everything — particularly not all at once (Herring, 2007, p. 31). And for the most part, or has been my experience, this is not typically demanded of TLs.

Although I found Herring (2007), Purcell (2010) and Lamb’s (2011) comments about school libraries and teacher librarians exceptionally helpful, particularly in explicitly labeling the obvious roles that a TL performs, these roles are often obscure. We’re told to be leaders, but how do we lead? We’re told to be teachers, but what do we teach? We’re told to support the curriculum, but what does this support look like? What does a TL actually do? Sometimes these questions are answered, as they were in these articles, but sometimes they leave the reader more confused than when they began.  I came across this infographic (MacMeekin, 2013) about 6-months ago, and printed it off to sit above my desk. I think this is an excellent example of all the things TLs do that they don’t necessarily receive credit for.

On the whole, however, I do believe that TLs must work with those in the school community — including parents and senior executive — to determine what the current needs of the students, staff and wider school community actually are and therefore define their explicit roles (Purcell, 2010). In order to remain relevant and do away with the misconception that ‘librarians’ read all day, the TL must be willing to transform themselves and their role to suit these needs. This is a theme that seems to be echoing itself throughout my blog posts, but is supported by Lamb’s (2011) view that TLs must be future-focused and develop their technology-related skills, especially if this is where the future of TL-related work lay.

There is a perception held by many TLs that they must constantly demonstrate their worth to principals, teachers, and school community in order to receive support. I agree with Lamb’s suggestion that advertising the programs and services of the library needs to be a top priority, and that TLs should be involved in blogging, writing, newsletters etc. The good stories need to be told.

Bibliography

Herring, J. (2007). Teacher librarians and the school library. In S. Ferguson (Ed.), Libraries in the twenty-first century: charting new directions in information (p. 27-42). Wagga Wagga, NSW: Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University. 

Lamb, A. (2011). Bursting with potential: Mixing a media specialist’s palette. Techtrends: Linking research & practice to improve learning, 55(4), 27-36. 

MacMeekin, M. (2013). 27 things your teacher librarian does [Infographic]. Retrieved from https://anethicalisland.wordpress.com/2013/04/12/27-things-your-teacher-librarian-does/

Purcell, M. (2010). All librarians do is check out books right? A look at the roles of the school library media specialist. Library media connection 29(3), 30-33. 

von Scherler Mayer, D. (Director). (1995). Party Girl [Motion Picture]. United States: First Look Pictures.

Reading through various discussion forums and blog posts, I’ve come to realise that my journey to becoming a Teacher Librarian has been somewhat different than the journey embarked upon by others.

I finished my Bachelors of Secondary Education in 2017, and — at the time — was unsure of whether my future career would involve teaching. I knew I loved reading and books, which is why I had majored in English, but I didn’t know if I wanted to teach English. So instead, I enrolled full-time in a Graduate Diploma of Information and Library Studies at Curtin University. My thought at the time — and had been for over half of my undergraduate — was that I would work in public libraries, or perhaps even an academic, higher-education library. I even completed a placement at Fisher Library at USYD to this end. Halfway through the diploma though, I realised I missed interacting with teenagers, so becoming a TL became my career dream. Given that being a TL had not been my initial goal when enrolling in the diploma, I never bothered to check that it was recognised by the NSW Department of Education. I was a qualified teacher, and by the end of my studies, I would also be a qualified librarian; surely that translated to being a Teacher Librarian. It did not.

I struggled to find TL work — probably because I didn’t have any experience, the right qualifications, or any connections. I knew I had to enroll in my Masters to be formally recognised as a TL, but when no one was willing to employ me in this position, I decided not to rush it. I had been a full-time university student for 6 years by this point — I wanted to take a break from studying. So instead, I taught English. For approximately 8-weeks.

In my first term of official teaching, a school nearby posted an Expression of Interest for a Teacher Librarian. I applied, interviewed and got it. All in the span of 3-days. It was fate.

I’ve only been in the TL role for a term-and-a-half now, but I know how lucky I am to have gotten this position. So, so incredibly lucky. The TL in the role before me wore a lot of different hats, but never really the teacher or librarian one. The role has been whatever I’ve wanted it to be, which has been amazing for me as a beginner teacher AND a new teacher librarian.

“TLS have twin qualifications, as teachers and as librarians” (Fitzgerald, 2019). I personally struggle with this statement, probably because of my lack of experience as both a teacher and a librarian. As a beginning teacher though, I’ve been working toward my accreditation and have been using the Australian professional standards for teachers (AITSL, 2017) extensively. As I was only a regular classroom teacher for 8-weeks — and that a majority of my teaching career has been with me in a non-regular teaching TL role — I’ve also been using AITSL’s Standards for teacher librarian practice (2014) as an additional means of support. This document has been particularly beneficial in guiding me as it provides examples of what type of evidence can be collected to satisfy the required standards. It’s often hard to devise ways in which you would typically meet all the standards, particularly when you’re not timetabled to specific classes and you’re in the TL role. Luckily, I was always mindful that I should get my accreditation done as soon as possible, simply because I was on a smaller contract and couldn’t guarantee I would be getting regular casual work, let alone being put on a scheduled class where I was responsible for programming, lesson sequences, etc.

Bibliography

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership(AITSL) (2017). Professional Standards for Teachers. Retrieved from https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards.

Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) Schools Section (2014). AITLS Standards for teacher librarian practice. Retrieved from https://www.alia.org.au/sites/default/files/AITSL%20Standards%20for%20teacher%20librarian%20practice%202014.pdf

Fitzgerald, L. (2019). ETL401: Introduction to Teacher Librarianship – Module 3.2 The role of the Teacher Librarian [lecture notes]. Retrieved from https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_42381_1&content_id=_2899459_1

I actually love the term ‘Information Society’ — I think it neatly summarises what can potentially be a complex — and deep rabbit hole — concept. Although I understand Rouse’s (2005) definition of Information Society as a society in which the creation, distribution, and application of information has become a significant cultural and economic activity, I tend to favour the more expansive definition used by WebFinance (2016).

For me, Information Society can be defined as a society and/or world in which information is freely created, distributed and applied by individuals for specific purposes in their daily personal, social and business activities. Information is a commodity by which we determine meaning (semantic definition), as well as intangible data retained in a line of nonsensical code (classic definition) (Fitzgerald, 2019). Unlike other commodities which are physical, information cannot be consumed — instead, it accumulates. Although many can consistently access this accumulated information, it still does have a shelf-life — perhaps a shorter shelf-life than other, more physical commodities. Combined with the evolving technologies of the 21st Century, this information can be understood and used in different contexts and manners, which in turn, can change how it is understood. New information will replace old information, although the user is responsible for determining the value of the information.

It is important that the Teacher Librarian understands their role within the Information Landscape — and particularly that their role, just like the Landscape — will and has to evolve. Fifty, twenty years ago, the librarian was responsible for curating and mediating the exchange of information between those that produced it — typically trained and specialised professionals — and the general public. Now, with Web 2.0 and increasing access to technology, people from opposite sides of the globe can easily transmit information without mediation. The librarian — particularly the reference librarian — has seemingly become obsolete.  In today’s world of search engines and an overabundance of information, some have questioned the future of libraries and librarians — particularly in schools.

“Who needs librarians when you have Google?”

I recently met up with some TLs at a conference, and one of them told me that their principal didn’t see the value of a TL in High School and was consequently looking to get rid of them. This made me incredibly sad for a variety of reasons, but was also heartbreaking because if a principal — the leader of a school — can’t see the value of a TL, then what did that mean for the future of TLs in schools across the state, nation and world? Are we all wasting our time trying to gain a qualification that in ten years time will be useless?

Obviously I don’t believe this. The LIS profession will always remain challenged by the misconception about librarians and TLs role in teaching and learning. If people ask, “Who needs librarians when you have Google?” your response should be: “Why do we need Math teachers when we have calculators? Why do we need doctors when we have WebMD? Why do we need to make decisions when there may be a ‘higher power’ controlling our actions?” My independent research into the assumption that post-Millennials are inherently information literate because they’re part of the ‘digital native’ generation has revealed that in many cases, this assumption is far from being correct. In fact, just yesterday, I had a student come up to me and not only ask me how to save a file from Google Docs onto a USB, but also where the USB was meant to be plugged in. This seems to echo Dr. Combes’ (2019) view that while teachers think students are capable of using computers and applications safely, efficiently, and ethically, this is, in reality, a learned skill that many students are lacking. If they can’t complete a task as relatively simple as saving a file onto a USB, how can we expect them to be able to critically evaluate online sources, understand ethical usage, and participate as digital citizens? For the time being, it would seem one of the primary roles of a TL is to teach students how to first use the technology, and then how to navigate the information landscape using it and their developing IL skills.

Bibliography

Combes, B. (Producer). (2019). Information, change and issues [Webinar]. Retrieved from https://connect.csu.edu.au/p46nev0a746/

Fitzgerald, L. (2019). ETL401: Introduction to Teacher Librarianship. Module 2 – The information environment [Course notes]. Retrieved from https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_42381_1&content_id=_2899453_1.

Web Finance Inc. (2016). Information Society. Retrieved from https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/Information-Society