Reading A Book

The Joy of Books!

Be amazed!

How my view of the role of teacher librarian has changed during the course of ETL401.

The very first paragraph I read for this unit had little alarm bells ringing in my head. The more I progressed through the unit of study, the more I could see that, although well intentioned, our team in the library was not on track! We ran an insular (Johnson 2002) program that had nothing to do with the rest of the school. We did not have a comprehensive working knowledge of IL. We were not advocating it and trying to entice the principal and the rest of the staff on board. We were not being leaders in the school working on curriculum committees or running PD. We were ‘collaborating’ with staff; snatching a few minutes with teachers to ascertain their curriculum needs, finding titles in the OPAC, getting books off the shelves, canvassing booksellers and searching the Internet to find resources that would help them with their units; but not collaborating in the true sense of the meaning; working together to have IL skills embedded into the curriculum. A lot of the things we were doing were tasks that could have been done by others. In short I had the incorrect view of the role of the TL!

Now I can see that the TL should be a major stakeholder in the curriculum who has a responsibility to implement not only an effective, innovative library program but to ensure that IL is a major focus of the school and the curriculum. The TL should be canvassing the support of the principal (Purcell, 2010) to ensure that they are front and centre at planning meetings, actively planning and collaboration with staff, giving and receiving input. They need to make sure they are seen a credible, committed professional who is up to date with curriculum and IL pedagogy and attending conferences and PD (Oberg, 2006). The TL also has to be information literate themselves (Langford 1998). They need a full understanding of IL to enable the students in their care to navigate and master the plethora of information on the Internet. They also need to promote the profession. All this has been a steep learning curve for me as it is such a contrast to what was happening previously in our library.

This course has inspired me to liaise with staff to introduce an IL model into the school. I think a good way to do this would be by designing e-pathfinders (ETL501) for the class units. The teachers are very excited about the pathfinders and the very fact that they have the IL skills embedded into them would encourage staff to absorb them into their own teaching methods. If I could get the IL model embedded in the curriculum, with models on every pin-up board constantly reinforcing its value and use, I would be half way to achieving my goals. As Herring (2007) advocates, I would ‘ensure’ that Information Literacy is a major focus of the school.

I still feel that I have a long way to go but I look forward to the challenges of finishing this course so that I can feel that I really know what I am doing.  I want the library to be seen as vital in the school, to boost student achievement and make a real difference.

I felt very intimidated by all I should be doing and when I read Valenca’s (2010) ‘Manifesto for 21st Century School Librarians’, my initial reaction was how am I going to accomplish all that she has? Then I thought about Chen (2009) and like her, I have a ‘desire to change, and a commitment to keep learning new approaches to providing the best library program and materials to enable the students before me to succeed’.  It is not a matter of being able to do it all right now, it’s about setting small goals that are achievable in the short term. If I break it down into manageable chunks, I can achieve it, I can do it! Thus, Valenca’s manifesto is going to be my pinup poster. I’m going to select a new area from each section of the criteria and set myself a goal, ticking each one off as I achieve it.

I think it is really important to be a 21^st Century Teacher Librarian, a TL that is ‘an adaptor, a visionary, a collaborator, a risk taker, a learner, a communicator, a model, a leader’ and all that Church (2011) advocates. I think that I have a long way to go but my philosophy in life has always been to set the bar high… ‘Aim for the moon and you may reach the stars!’

Introduction

I am a primary teacher working part time in a school library. Throughout my career I have had wonderful opportunities, I have taught in five different countries, across every year level of the primary school and as a few different specialist teachers. I would have to say however that being a library teacher is my favourite. It indulges my passion for reading and on the many occasions when a have hidden away from the family to read, I can legitimately tell them that I have been busy working! I live in Melbourne with my wonderful husband and three teenage children. I am a keen cook and I coach two basketball teams.