Topic 2 - The role of the teacher librarian

This topic was a real eye opener for me. To be honest, before I started this course, I had a fairly narrow view of a TL’s role. In my career I have worked in 2 schools, neither of which have had a qualified TL on staff (as I mentioned in my last post). As far as I can tell, both people who were in charge of these libraries have seen their role purely as a collection management one. In the case of the first school I worked in, the staff member in question was a qualified teacher and so was also in charge of teaching some primary library lessons. The school I currently teach in is staffed by someone without qualifications in either teaching or librarianship, so it is all about collection management. In my reading, a quote from Dianne Oberg (2006) caught my eye; ‘teacher librarians need to hold both teacher and librarianship qualifications to be effective.’ This summed it up for me in terms of my professional experience so far.

The readings I have done, particularly in this topic, have shown me what a TL can do and how it can benefit the school. Hartzell (2002) says that ‘one great barrier to full library utilization is a lack of faculty awareness of what the library and librarian have to offer. Exposure to and experience working with effective school librarians is a first step in correcting that deficiency.’ This rings true for me as I have not worked with a TL and through my readings I am building up a picture of how an effective TL could enhance my teaching and my students learning. It has also shown me how much more emphasis I need to place on teaching my students IL skills. This is something I intend to tackle this term.

One of the questions posed to us in this module was ‘How do principals ‘stack up’ against this’ (articles relating to principal support of the library.) As I read and pondered this, I first thought that I had nothing to compare it with as neither school had an effective library, so they couldn’t be compared to other principals who do support the library and its programs. Neither staff member in charge of the libraries show/showed any leadership and neither were interested in setting up a library program that would enhance and encourage collaborative planning and learning. However, as I kept reading, Hartzell (2002) gave me something to turn my thinking on its head. He said that schools should ‘hire high-quality, forward-looking, energetic, innovative librarians’. Does this then mean that these 2 principals have failed in the role to promote an ILSC because they did not hire such people? Or, does it mean that neither principal have been exposed to a qualified TL and so are unaware of the benefits that they can bring to a school. Through my readings, I have discovered that many of these articles that promote the roles of TL’s are not published in journals that might be read by the administrators of a school. Therefore, how are they to find out what a TL can do and how they can enhance their school if they have not been exposed to a TL and the knowledge that he/she possesses?

As I continue through this course, I will do my best to show my current principal what a trained TL can do. Perhaps I can help to set our little school on the path to becoming an Information Literate School Community!

Hartzell, G. (2002). Why should principals support school libraries? ERIC Digest, November(EDO-IR-2002-06).
Oberg, D. (2006). Developing the respect and support of school administrators. Teacher Librarian, 33(3), 13-18