Re: harrumph!

[Betty Dawn Hamilton <bhamilt@TENET.EDU>]

On Mon, 27 Feb 1995, David Riley wrote:

> Per several recent postings on this listserv, I do wish some people would
> rid themselves of this attitude that "the only good librarian is a
> certified librarian".  I have nothing against standards, but I ask that
> you remember the librarians who do excellent work in private schools
> where certification is NOT required.  From what I've seen of some
> states' certification requirements, certification is no guarantee of
> competency.

Yes, David, as in many fields, there are people who learn by doing who
*are* quite good at what they do after many years of hands-on trial and
error (but why re-discover the wheel when there is excellent training to
help one bypass many of the errors).   By the same token, there are those
who, certified or not, are *not* good at what they do.

Your statement brings to light another question that I'm curious about.
Do private schools require *teachers* to be certified?

Incidentally, I had a "natural born" library person for an aide for about
5 years.  She was extremely gifted and an eager learner and had more
energy than *I* did!  NOTHING I did slipped by that she didn't ask why and
what for.  That was 5 years of my having to prove my mettle and of her
absorbing every little thing that happened in the library.  By the time she
moved on, I had shared as much of my background as anyone could without
actually sitting through the classes.  She was a hard worker, watched details,
and didn't miss a thing!

I hated to see her leave, but she moved out of the area.  She (the last
time I heard) is serving as the sole "librarian" in a middle school under
the supervision of a district certified LRS.  I'm sure she's doing an
excellent job (no credit to me because *she* was the one doing the
learning) -- and still asking pertinent questions to make sure she
does it right.  Sad to say, aides of that caliber are hard to come by.
Now that she is in a town with a small college, I anticipate that she
*will* become certified as soon as finances allow (which was why she
wasn't a certified *something* in the first place).

Betty
bhamilt@tenet.edu