A SCHOOL LIBRARY STORY

I agree with much of what Joyce Valenza says in her school library advocacy video, “School Library Story” (2013).

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Listening to the video I was struck by the number of different hats that a TL wears in a given day, so I replayed it and made a list as I listened:

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1. Librarian (encompassing book-shelver, cataloguer, book-repairer, display creator, book-purchaser, financial controller, circulation manager),

2. Teacher,

3. Information provider,

4. Technology leader,

5. Digital resource curator,

6. Digital space instructor,

7. information ethics guide,

8. Makerspace provider,

9. Digital equipment manager,

10. Copyright checker,

11. Communication, creation, and collaboration facilitator,

12. Inquiry-based learning leader and collaborator,

13. Wellbeing support person,

14. Information professional,

15. Positive role model for literacy enjoyment.

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All of these roles would be lost along with the vast array of information the TL holds and can access. What a huge hole this would leave for students, staff, and the school community.

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I wonder though how many within the school community, and even the greater Education System are actually aware of the loss they would suffer if schools did not have a trained TL within their ranks?

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Although it is disheartening to think that we need to undertake advocacy campaigns such as ‘Students need School Libraries’, if we flip it on it’s head it presents us with a unique opportunity to show what the TL brings to the school community. It is essential the TLs promote the importance and success of the programmes they put in place within the school. We need to be proactive in showing the positive influence we have on students and staff through:

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• Teaching and learning programmes, including inquiry-based units,

• Evidence-based research and evaluation,

• Promotion of literacy and enjoyment of reading, and

• Providing the skills to become information literate and participate in today’s information landscape.

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Our advocacy needn’t be militant, in fact if you subscribe to the belief that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, there are many opportunities to do so.

 

Think about promoting the following and making them highly visible to the school community:

• Book week and associated character parades and activities,

• Premier’s Reading Challenge,

• Continually changing displays within the library,

• CBCA Book awards,

• Book fair,

• National Simultaneous Storytime,

• Inquiry-based projects and their results,

• Student Library Monitors,

• End of year Library Awards, and

• Regular updates in the school newsletter and on website and School’s social media platforms.

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As Valenza succinctly puts it “Stand up for your child’s right to a strong school library program with a certified professional school librarian …. [it]is important to the lives of children [and] is the heart of a school’s learning culture” (Valenza, 2013, 6:02).