Theme #2 - What does a Teacher Librarian actually do?
My thoughts and opinions have evolved over my journey to achieve my Teacher Librarian (TL) diploma. Before I started the program I was like “Oh, how nice it would be to have groups of students come in, read them a book and help them sign out books.” Little did I know what the whole scope of a TL position entails. Now that I am on my final course I have a far better understanding of the role of the TL. Not only are TL’s responsible for creating a welcoming environment for the school community, they need to ensure that the Library Learning Commons (LLC) is a place where the school community can come for help to find appropriate resources, lifelong literacy skills, support in answering questions, and access to a wide range of topics and ideas.
Managing the Library Learning Commons
This theme held lots of great information about how a TL should run a functional LLC. I am a daydreamer, so I sat with this information for quite a while planning out my LLC and how I would like to “manage” it. I put “manage” in quotations because I feel like a TL can’t just run their LLC exactly how they want because they have to appease administration, follow school goals and they also need to support the diverse school community.
There seems to be so many moving parts in the LLC. The TL is responsible for instructing, collaborating, selecting diverse resources, promoting the LLC, staying on budget and maintaining a comfortable and useful space for the school community. I never really thought about how the process of managing and maintaining a useful LLC would be. It seems like that could be a full time job in itself. In the module content we discovered that the budget given to the LLC is not sufficient to even keep a well stocked reference section. From some TL’s and touring a few elementary LLC I have noticed that most reference sections are out of date and usually not visible or accessible to most students. The cost is just too great for the given budget and the TL’s I have talked to are finding that teachers are using digital resources more often. As a classroom teacher I am also guilty for finding resources online but I do not think I vetted them appropriately for authority or bias.
Going forward in my journey as a TL I think that an LLC needs to have a small but visible print and digital reference section that is accessible to the school community. I also feel that if the reference section is promoted and designed for easy access then the school community will use it over going to find their own resources (Riedling, pg. 25). I personally did not know what reference materials my school offered until I went looking for this course. A well managed LLC will be a used LLC.
Evaluating Reference Services
After reading through this module this line stuck with me, “ Evaluation of a library learning commons service is a complex process.” (Course content, Lesson 7). There are high expectations on a TL to make sure the LLC has a diverse selection that meets the needs for the whole school community. It is essential for the TL to use the school community to assist in these decisions. For example, teachers know their grade curriculum better than anyone, so they would be able to aid the TL in ordering learning resources that would align with topics that they are teaching. Students would be helpful in recommending high interest books and even the Parent Advisory Council might have a say because they could be contributing to the LLC budget. By the TL including as many people in process of recommending resources in the LLC the better chance the LLC will meet the needs of the majority if not all the school community (Ministry of Education, pg. 82)
Another big part of this module that I took away was the accessibility to learning material. As I mentioned above but is also stated in, The Evaluating, Selecting and Managing Learning Resources: A Guide written by the Ministry of Education, that learning materials should be intellectually, physically and digitally accessible to the school community. By having a reference section that is located in the LLC with learning material that is at the appropriate intellectual level of the students. As well as having easy online access to digital resources, such as having a digital library with student friendly links to digital resources (pg. 87-89).
In the end this theme made me sit back and think about how an LLC should look. I believe that a TL position should be full time so that the LLC can really be a hub where students and staff can always find the support that they need. In the ideal world the LLC would also have a fair budget to make sure that the resources are current and cover the diverse needs of the school community. Lastly I think that the TL needs to promote all that they do or can do for the school community. In the past I would have not spent hours looking for my own research materials. I would have enlisted the help of the TL. Promoting what you do is hard but I think that if more teachers knew what a TL is capable of offering maybe they would be given more valuable time to support the learning in the school.
Works Cited:
Beaudry, Richard (2023). Lesson 7: Evaluating Reference Services. Retrieved on February 24. from https://canvas.ubc.ca/courses/108885/pages/lesson-7-evaluating-reference-services module_item_id=5310098
E-library. eLibrary Learning Commons. (2013). Retrieved February 26, 2023, from https://elibrary.sd61.bc.ca/
Ministry of Education. (2002). Evaluating, Selecting, and Managing Learning Resources: A Guide. British Columbia.
Riedling, A. (2013). Reference skills for the school library media specialist: Tools and tips, (Third Edition). Linworth.
Hi Sheena
ReplyDeleteI really related to your ideal of the LLC. When I first took over our LLC I had great dreams as to what I wanted to accomplish, how many great stories I was going to read to the students and how I was going to get this all done every day and leave at the end of the day with my heart full. Don't get me wrong, I love my job but you are so right about the fact that our job description is anything but straight forward. There really is so much that it entails and sometimes I feel like what I envisioned for the LLC is out of reach because of obligations to the school community, staff and administration. I find that it doesn't matter how much I plan or expect to do during the day, something always comes up whether it be an intermediate class in need of novels unexpectedly, or kindergarten classes that need extra quiet time and stories read etc. Throw in the need for resources and upgrading technology and often feel overwhelmed at the end of the day. I also find myself almost defending my job at staff meetings because there has invariably been something that happened during the week (mostly missed library/prep time) that has occurred and is 100% out of my control. Frustrating yet rewarding almost every day.
And that was Jamie Sadler replying. I'll get the hang of this eventually.
DeleteHi Sheena,
ReplyDeleteI concur with the roles that you have outlined here, but I still want to hold on to that initial image of the TL just getting to read books to kids and try to make them laugh, or think, or feel anything! It is cool how the role evolves with the students and depending on what age group you are tending to in the moment, we get to be so many things to those kids over the years. (Totally speaking from an elementary perspective). Thank you for your thoughtful and clearly organized post!
Hi Sheena,
ReplyDeleteCongrats on being on your last course! I remember the first course I took (I think it was also with Richard) and that first reading - "the roles of the teacher-librarian" and I was shocked at all the things that were expected of us. I had some idea already at some of the behind-the-scenes things T-Ls do from TOCing and speaking to the T-Ls in my district, but even then I was not prepared by the absolute tidal wave of tasks required to be a good T-L.
I really agree with having full-time T-Ls in all school LLCs. In our district this is only the case in high schools. Elementary schools only have part-time T-Ls that work at 2 schools at a time or teach some subjects in a class the other blocks. Hopefully this will change!
There was a quote in one of my course textbooks along the lines of 'doing the best you can with what you've got'. I think that's the case with any teacher and TL. You just have to keep adapting and be flexible with time and budget while still having the goal in mind to always support the growth and learning needs of students. I think after teaching for the last 16 years, I've seen how the expectations placed upon educators changes year after year, just as the learning styles of students, budgets and curriculum. It's never constant. We just have to roll with it do our best.
ReplyDelete