Re: Is the Library a Classroom?

[Earl Sande <sandes@wilken-dsm.com>]

If the question is - do we line the student desks up, row after row,
provide a teacher's desk, as in a "classroom" classroom, the answer
should be that no one today really wants to have a learning space that
is not designed to fit the learning situation.  School libraries need to
be learning places with a wide variety of furnishings and such.  And if
the library is a small one, then rows of student desks restrict the
learning to very few styles.

However, if we are discussing is the library a learning situation like a
regular classroom and are we teachers as well as librarians, the answer
must be a resounding yes.  I refer, whenever I can, to an enriched
classroom and myself as a teacher-librarian.  My prime function in some
cases  is as a complementary teacher to teach by either ensuring the
classroom teacher has the resources and skills.  In others, it is to use
library resources and services, take the lead and ensure the students
have the resources and skills required.  Just as a classroom teacher, I
must be primed on curriculum, educational psychology, and a whole array
of other "teacher" topics.

We must be very clear on this.  Why?  Because with the growing trend to
replace teacher-librarians in school libraries, unless we take an active
teaching role, we have no argument when we are replaced by our library
clerk or a parent volunteer.

I raise, however, related quandry.  If we are teachers and we understand
children, then we also know that as they learn, they reflect the
excitement of learning.  As a classroom teacher, we can cope - often
enjoy - the noise of learning.  Yet, as a library, the expectations seem
to be the silence of mature research.  It is a dilemma or at least a
fine line.

But, if we choose to be an enrich classroom, then it is something that
each of us must face.

Earl

--
Earl Sande, Upper School Librarian,
International School of Tanganyika,
United Nations Road,
Post Office Box 2651,
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
(e-mail : sandes@wilken-dsm.com)

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