The idea of service struck a nerve with me. While librarianship is a service
profession, I am not sure that providing this particular service is in the best
interest of the students who are as much our customers as the teachers are. By the
3rd grade, students should be learning the basics of the research process.
Choosing a topic and having a book on that topic "appear" in your classroom does
little to help that student learn.
I think that thanking the teacher for the opportunity to help them make up for
their lack of planning only perpetuates the image of servitude that many school
librarians suffer under. Teachers are in a service profession as well and the best
interests of their students are not being served if you do the work for them. In
my experience, this type of outreach does not foster collaboration, but a
dependance on the librarian to continue providing this service in the future.
We need to emphasize that the library is not the storage facillity for books, or a
field trip for students that is somehow separate from their education. We need to
do whatever we can to make the library an integral part of the educational process
and curriculum of our schools. If not, we will quickly find ourselves out of a job.
Genevieve
Genevieve Gallagher
Librarian
Buford Middle School
Charlottesville, VA
gallagg1@ccs.k12.va.us
>>> janet perry <perrybros@HOTMAIL.COM> 4/2/2008 12:36 PM >>>
One post asked the question about whether or not we are in the service business.
Obviously, yes, we are. And I have no problem finding materials for teachers "on
the clock". Call me crazy, but I don't think it is reasonable for a teacher to
catch me as I'm walking out the door with a request that she needs first thing in
the morning, and expect me to fill it. And, the original poster was not even going
to be in that library the next day. I'm sure her schedule is posted somewhere, so
it should be the teacher's responsibility to know when she will be there. I think
I would have told the teacher I would get to the list as soon as I could.
As for all of us who get "walked on", and I think we all do at one time or another,
I quote Ann Landers. "No one takes advantage of you without your permission." We
sometimes are our own worst enemies in how we let the rest of the staff treat us. I
am very willing to help whoever needs it and asks for it. I also suggest that I
might have been able to help when I hear that someone "had trouble" getting
something. But, I refuse to be a pushover and feel guilty if someone is late in
asking for something, and I can't get to it right away. Now, I will admit, it took
me many of my many years of being a librarian before I got the backbone to stop
some of the problems, but, I don't lose any sleep over things now. Just how I cope.
We all do what we can.
Currently reading Hattie Big Sky
Hitty (still)
Same Sweet Girls (adult) Janet Perry, Prek-12
LibrarianCerro Gordo CUSD 100, Cerro Gordo, ILperrybros@hotmail.com
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