My early experiences of the role of a teacher librarian at school were through my observations when I worked as a casual. I noticed the teacher librarian usually stayed in the library, delivered lessons they had programmed, and assisted students with borrowing and returning books. With older grades, the teacher librarian assisted students in completing their Premiers Reading Challenge logs. The lessons were short, leaving no time for the teacher librarian to recommend or introduce new books. The classroom teacher was there only to drop off and pick up students for library lessons.
When I became an RFF for schools, my perception changed, and I realised that teacher librarians perform a wide array of other duties. They have to stock take and ensure there are books aligned with the curriculum for a variety of stages available for classroom teachers and students to borrow. Teacher librarians also need to coordinate school events such as Book Week Parade, Harmony Day and organise authors for school visits and book clubs. The teacher librarian at my previous school was allocated an hour to recommend books to classroom teachers during staff development. However, I did not notice collaboration, collegial discussion or consultation between teacher librarians and classroom teachers outside of staff development, as the teacher librarian mostly remains in the library.
I became interested in the study of Teacher Librarianship when I saw the urgent needs of students that required guidance on how to improve their literacy skills. I believe students should start with reading. Reading can enhance students’ vocabulary and creativity through reading widely and adopting different genres of writing (Marcos et al., 2020, pp.3 – 5). After I enrolled in the Master of Education (Teacher Librarianship) and started to explore the readings, I realised that the role of teacher librarians is much more than what I understood. The role of teacher librarians is unique. They deal with information daily, promote cyber safety, manage various databases, and provide curriculum support to schools through collegial discussion, planning and programming with classroom teachers and even team teaching in the classroom. I believe they are irreplaceable, and it is crucial for students’ academic success to have qualified and competent teacher librarians (Newton, 2022, pp. 3-6).
I have witnessed schools do not utilise teacher librarians to their full potential. Teacher librarians should be included in every aspect of curriculum planning and programming, especially in implementing new literacy components. They should be viewed as experts and provide advice for print and online resources to support the development of students’ information literacy in this ever-changing digital world.
My goal is to become a teacher librarian to support all students’ academic achievement. I hope this course will support me in learning the tasks and duties of librarians and acquiring the skills and experience I will need to become a teacher librarian. I would like to build confidence, learn new ways to utilise technology and be creative to meet the demands and challenges of life, learning, and working in a digital society.
References:
Marcos, R. I. S., Fernández, V. L., González, M. T. D., & Phillips-Silver, J. (2020). Promoting children’s creative thinking through reading and writing in a cooperative learning classroom. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 36, 100663. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2020.100663
Newton, V. (2022). Teacher Librarians : literally irreplaceable. PETTA, 226, 1-8. https://csulibrary.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/delivery/61CSU_INST:61CSU/12148593730002357?lang=en&viewerServiceCode=AlmaViewer
