Re: Personal Reflections . . .

[Joni J Rathbun <jrathbun@OREDNET.ORG>]

On Fri, 3 Dec 1999, Heather Norris wrote:


> It is sad so many states are like Utah, yet others like Virginia require
> librarians at every level.  How can we organize to work to standardize this
> across the country?  It seems we all agree that the best of all worlds would
> have an MLS certified librarian in every school--aided by a paraprofessional
> who is more than just "clerical" help.
>

In an ideal world, I would probably agree provided the person
also had a degree in education. I am not an advocate for staffing
school libraries with MLS-only backgrounds. But that is not the
point of my post.

My point has something to do with the practicality of requiring
an MLS. If that were the case in all states, I think we'd have even
fewer professional "types" in our school libraries. As another poster
stated, there can be some associated problems. The closest program
to me has long been about 6 hours one direction and another state away,
hardly a reasonable commute. If, perhaps, I had made a decision to go into
this field when I was 18, I would have chosen to head to faraway
parts. But not unlike many others in this particular field, it's something
I decided to do in my second life meaning at that point I also had
children and mortgage payments and other assorted things to fuss about.

Simply requiring an MLS (in any combination upon which we may
or may not agree) is not likely to do a lot of good unless we also
have reasonable opportunity to acquire such a degree. If every school
in the nation started to require an MLS, could we actually meet the
demand?

What are some practical -- if not acceptable -- alternatives?

This line of thought of course, doesn't even take into consideration
the issue related to "convincing" schools/districts/administrators/others
that some type of professional preparation is needed in the first place.
That's a whole 'nother  ballgame. Well ... kind of! It's also a vicious
circle. If there was a demand, there might be more opportunity to acquire
the necessary training and education...



   J. Rathbun | Library Teacher - Media Specialist
   Lincoln Elementary School - Las Vegas
   jrathbun@orednet.org [home]
   The views I express are mine and mine alone.

  "Poetry and hums aren't things which you get, they're
   things which get you. And all you can do is to go
   where they can find you."

             -- Winnie the Pooh

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