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.