They are essential for the information world of today and tomorrow
By Elizabeth Hutchinson
The role of the school librarian is an elusive one. Ask any teacher what the school librarian’s role is and whether they need a qualification to do the job, and I am sure you will get many different answers. I can’t think of many professions where this is the case. I am married to an accountant, and although I could not tell you what he does on a day-to-day basis I am under no illusion that he is a professional and his role is essential within his own company and for the businesses he works with. I know and understand that a professional job needs qualifications, but surprisingly this does not seem to be the understanding for school librarians. Only the other day a teacher said to me ‘I didn’t know you needed a degree to do that job.’ Why is this?
As I see it, the role of the school librarian has diminished over many decades, and there are many reasons for this.
If teachers understood that the school librarian, as an information specialist, can teach these skills in their classrooms, surely they would be inviting us to teach alongside them at every opportunity. We are trained and are perfectly placed to support these skills.
What is the difference between a non-professional and professional librarian?
I recently had a conversation with a head teacher who did not understand the difference between the library assistant she had employed and the professional support I was offering. Why could the library assistant not do the job I was offering? ‘We are all being asked to do more for less these days. Apart from the fact that the library assistant’s job description does not include teaching, she is also busy with the day-to-day running of the library. She is not trained to teach in your classrooms or run research lessons on using digital resources and should not be expected to. My argument is that if I have to tell you what she could be doing within your classrooms, it means that she and you did not know this and therefore a trained professional is the better option. I know and understand what my role is within your classroom and without question I can do that job.
Which head teacher would employ a History teacher without really knowing what they should be doing or employ an unqualified teacher to teach science? I find it amazing that even qualified librarians who have been employed by a school are finding it difficult to do their jobs because of a lack of expectation at a senior level. Why are senior leaders not getting annoyed that their teachers are not using the librarian or the school library more? Is it because they really don’t know themselves? Value for money can only be created when there is an expectation. Librarians need the support of the senior leaders in order to do their jobs well.
What can the Head Teacher do about all this?
Find out if you have employed a qualified librarian or not. If you do, make sure you are supporting them to do the job you have employed them to do.
Embed information literacy at the policy level.
Information literacy is the skill to find, evaluate, use and give credit to information. It is essential that these skills are embedded within your school curriculum at the policy level. The school librarian as an information specialist has the skill to teach this; they are perfectly placed to up-skill and provide training for your teachers and also support and teach within the classroom. Unless senior leaders and administrators understand this, there will only ever be pockets of good practice within your school.
Time for change is now – once we have allowed our school librarians to be systematically eliminated we will never get those skills back. Make sure your school is using all resources to its full potential, which includes the school library and librarian.
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Hi Kathleen, thanks for your comments. I agree the conversation needs to be where Headteachers/Principals and policy makers are likely to be reading this. It is essential that Senior Leaders understand the role and expertise of the school librarian and hopefully posts like this will help and support librarians to make a case. Advocacy is very time consuming and scary but no-one else is going to do this. Be brave, understand your own importance, that is not arrogance but necessary, and eventually it will be worth it. I loved your post by the way!