Just so Ann, Need to have a booking sheet on the front desk or online in outlook
where every aspect of your time is documented and accounted for - show exactly what
you are doing. Also have a strong plannin document that clearly outlines what you
do - get this signed off by the principal each year. We also need to boast about
what we do - newsletters that go home and displays of student work - not in the
library but in the foyer of the school. Do innovative projects and then write up
what we have done and how it has added value to student learning. Eg the GiggleIT
Project http://www.iasl-online.org/sla/giggleIT/index.htm
:)
BC
Vice President, Advocacy & Promotion, IASL: www.iasl-online.org
LIS@ECU: http://www.chs.ecu.edu.au/portals/LIS/index.php
Australian School Library Research Project: http://www.chs.ecu.edu.au/portals/ASLRP/
Barbara Combes, Lecturer
School of Computer and Information Science Edith Cowan University, Perth Western
Australia
Ph: (08) 9370 6072
Email: b.combes@ecu.edu.au
"Whatever the cost of our libraries, the price is cheap compared to that of an
ignorant nation." Walter Cronkite
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-----Original Message-----
From: School Library Media & Network Communications
[mailto:LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of ann reed
Sent: Wednesday, 4 March 2009 5:35 AM
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: Re: [LM_NET] Teacher Librarian - YES! - Justification
Meg... and LM_NET'ters:
I most often referred to myself as teacher librarian during my many years as a high
school librarian, but it wasn't original with me. In 1987 I attended a week
seminar in Victoria, British Columbia with many librarians other than U.S.
librarians---where I discovered that in Canada that librarians are [or, at least,
were] officially "teacher-librarians." I loved it, since I was also certified as a
teacher in another subject, but I have never considered librarians to be "only"
librarians if they were not certified in another subject.
"Only" a librarian... hasn't that historically been the ultimate put down in the
K-12 environment?
K-12 librarians are teachers. Most elementary librarians have non-flex time and
regularly scheduled classes. Excuse me, that makes you a teacher too. The rest of
us who have flex time, are just as deserving of that nomenclature. How many classes
do you have in a week, a month or a year, where you teach orientation, research
skills, and/or whatever is needed? How many one-on-one reference "helps" do you
teach a year to faculty or administration as well as students? Those are "teaching"
moments. They deserve to be recognized as such, not ignored, or devalued simply
because they are not in a regularly scheduled class.
Isn't a doctor still "doctoring" if they treat a patient somewhere other than their
official office or their hospital? We do not need to be in a regularly scheduled
classroom to fulfill our teaching role.
Team teaching as a librarian with a regular class based teacher makes us just a
much a teacher as any classroom based teacher.
Librarians are teachers of the whole continiuum including classroom teachers and
administrators via our formal and informal one-on-one reference help sessions, but
we are seldom recognized or rewarded for those educational
teaching-consultant contributions.
"Teaching Consultant;" "Information Consultant"---would we be more respected if we
changed our official designation? We are all those things, as well as teachers.
In the academic venue where I am now working, our teaching role is officially
referred to as "Information Literacy" and "Bibliographic Instruction."
You too are "Bibliographic Instructors."
Instructing = Teaching
It is a sad state of affairs that the recognition of librarians' and libraries"
changing technological roles and on-going teaching roles have not been recognized
by the public or many in the broad spectrum of the vast varied educational
community at all levels.
Changing our official designation from "Librarian" to "Teacher Librarian" is a
definite step in the right direction.
Ann Cober Reed, MLIS
"Retired" 30 year High School Librarian
Currently: Reference Librarian
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Princess Anne, Maryland
reedref@yahoo.com
--- On Mon, 3/2/09, mchawkins <caughey195@YAHOO.COM> wrote:
From: mchawkins <caughey195@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Teacher Librarian
To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Date: Monday, March 2, 2009, 6:23 PM
Recently someone shared an article from the NYT about the changing role of
school librarian. I forwarded the article to my principal and the head of
curriculum and rather facetiously suggested that perhaps my title should be
Teacher Librarian.
Now they want me to "make a case" for their consideration.
This group has always been the best at helping us all avoid reinventing the
wheel. I would appreciate any ideas and arguments you have for changing the
term.
My motto actually is "Librarian, so much more than a teacher" but
I haven't gotten that onto the letter head yet. (that's a joke, folks!)
Thanks for your collective brain, always.
Meg Hawkins
Teacher Librarian
Librarian
Darby Township School 1-8
Glenolden PA
caughey195@yahoo.com
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