Re: [LM_NET] Librarians vs non-librarians

[Michelle Ohnstad <michelle.ohnstad@GMAIL.COM>]

Jennie,

I work at two independent schools and from my experience it's quite the
opposite.  All of my colleagues on the AISL email list have master's degrees
in library science and any private school worth its tuition will only hire a
degreed librarian.  Charter schools, on the other hand, will do what they
want - they don't necessarily need to have a certificated or degreed person
in the library - but we hope, of course, that they will.

I also see this is an article from the UK - perhaps standards and/or titles
are different there, I'm not sure.  When we had a librarian job swap with a
private school librarian from the UK, she had a master's degree and was
highly educated.

In terms of your other questions - my impression from my independent school
colleagues and from what I read in journals and on the internet is that
private schools want and need professional librarians - most of my
colleagues are at college preparatory schools and thus require someone who
is well versed in teaching high level research and information literacy
skills, as well as continuing to foster a love for literature with
students.  We are considered faculty and many of us are on curriculum
committees and are directly involved with shaping the academics at our
schools.

Someone I work with is pursuing her MLIS and there are courses in designing
lessons for school libraries as well as young adult and children's lit
courses.  There is a school librarian track to follow at San Jose State
University, where she attends.

Michelle


Date:    Wed, 9 Apr 2008 13:49:54 +0300
From:    Jennie <jennieteacher@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Librarians vs Non-Librarians

I have been hired by an IBO school to help make their Library more of a
"Media Center"; catering to international students with 21st Century
Literacy.
If good quality private schools are not hiring "professionally trained
librarians" (as appears to be the trend) is it due to the lack of qualified
librarians or something else?

  1. What do schools now want in a "school librarian"?
  2. What is being taught in current MLS courses for school librarians?
  3. What do "professionally trained librarians" and "non-professionally
  trained librarians" think of the article below. Is going on the defensive
  the best action?

Librarians hold summit with CILIP

03.04.08 Tom Tivnan <http://www.thebookseller.com/Tom-Tivnan>

School librarians held a summit meeting with the Chartered Institute of
Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) last week to air their
concerns about the growing number of non-professional school librarians.

The School Libraries Summit saw 20 librarians from across England and Wales
meet with CILIP officials, following a 2007 Booktrust survey that found*just
42%
* of secondary school libraries in -England were managed by full-time
chartered librarians.

Guy Daniels, CILIP director of policy and advocacy, said: "It's a clerical
assistant type of model where we have a large number of librarians with no
experience or training. The emphasis of the summit was to provide school
librarians with the skills to influence employers and head teachers."

The first step to combat the rise in non-professional school librarians is
the launch of a microsite at www.cilip.org.uk/schoolsummit with information
for school librarians.


Jennie Scott-McKenzie
Middle School ICT Teacher
ATIS International School, Kuwait
jennieteacher@gmail.com

-- 
Michelle S. Ohnstad, MLIS
michelle.ohnstad@gmail.com
Head Librarian
La Jolla Country Day School
La Jolla, CA
Web: http://www.ljcds.org

Library Media Specialist
Pacific Ridge School
Carlsbad, CA
Web:  http://www.pacificridge.org

Wiki: http://www.independentschoollibraries.wikispaces.com
Blog: http://indy-school-librarian.blogspot.com/
SLA-SD Chapter Blog Administrator


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