Although I agree with Barbara that we shouldn't have to be selling
ourselves, the truth is that here in California, and I'm sure in other
places, very few people have any idea about what a library media teacher
does. I am constantly having teachers who are surprised when I tell them
about something I could do for them or with them. In my school district,
elementary library media teachers teach classes while the teachers had prep
time. This is often 8-9 classes per day with 30 minutes for each class.
After taking classes with Dr. David Loertscher, I convinced my principal
that prep time was not the best use of my time and I now have a flexible
schedule. Yet I still have a difficult time convincing teachers to make use
of my time. I have some teachers who are totally committed and they are very
strong advocates. Most of the teachers have been teaching the way they were
taught to teach and don't have any vision of what I could do to help them. I
have to constantly teach the teachers and the administrators what it is that
I do and how much more I could do. It isn't that they don't want my help,
they have never seen a strong library media program and don't have a
concrete vision of what it can be. So I am stuck educating the educators
about the library program. Sometimes I get tired of the constant need to
advocate and almost sing my own praises to the teachers, but I am totally
committed to this program and the benefits that it will bring to our
students. I drive an hour and a half a day to do this job because I love and
no school near by hires elementary library media teachers. So I keep
advocating and learning more about the wonderful field of school
librarianship from all of you who have so much knowledge to share.
Dana Stemig
Library Media Teacher
Tuolumne Elementary School/ Modesto City Schools District
Modesto, California
stemig@cbcruiser.com
Mrs. Stemig's Library Page: www.monet.k12.ca.us/wright/library is soon to be
changing to www.monet.k12.ca.us/tuolumne (I'll now be at only K-6 school
instead of two. Hooray!)
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