The role of the teacher librarian

 When thinking about the role I see myself fulfilling as a TL, I really start to reflect on myself as a person and as a teacher and what I could honestly bring to the role. There are so many ideas and theories behind what makes a great teacher librarian and what a great teacher librarian should say and do but how many of us have actually stopped and thought ‘Am I really capable of doing this?’ If I’m being completely honest I will say that I have definitely thought this, many times. Yet this thought soon is replaced with a more positive ‘of course I can!’, because this is what I want to do.

Lamb (2011) sees that the media specialist in any given forum should “have a palette to mix elements and create meaningful learning experiences”. This PALETTE refers to many different roles of the teacher librarian and doing these roles well.  Whether it is collaborating and co-operating with other people within the school system, promoting lifelong learning or facilitating information use. Herring (2007) also comments on the multi-faceted role of the TL and how to prioritise many of these different roles according to what suits at any given time.

Although it will be an ongoing process and at times highly stressful I am aim to have that PALETTE that Lamb talks about and to ensure that I am constantly promoting this throughout my leadership within the school environment. I want to be the person who other teachers come to for professional advice, whether it be about resourcing or collaborating on particular programs or units, providing informational advice or just asking for my own professional opinion about a related topic.

In regards to the way principals perceive the TL, I really think that depends on what the principal truly knows about the role of the TL. Teacher Librarians need to develop a strong relationship with their principals and involve them in their ideas and planning. Oberg (2006) states that research in this field has shown that although teacher librarians view their principal’s support as critical, very few engage their principals in what they are doing. Furthermore, there are principals who do not respect or support school library programs at all and “believe that libraries are basically warehouses” and “that teacher librarians are not leaders or proactive educators but service providers who merely respond to teacher or student requests” (Oberg, 2006). I believe this has a lot to do with a lack of information about the role of the teacher librarian and therefore a disjointed view of this.

In my own experience, I have and continue to have the full support of my principal and I believe he trusts and believes in the decisions that I make. I do however think that I fall victim slightly to the lack of understanding of my role but I aim to change this perception step by step. By keeping my principal up to date with the programs I am administering and the school wide promotion of events in the library, I aim to show just how huge my role is and the impact it has on the school environment and student learning.

Lamb, A. (2011). Bursting with potential: Mixing a media specialist's palette. Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning, 55(4), 27-36.

Herring, J. (2007). Teacher librarians and the school library. In S. Ferguson (Ed.) Libraries in the twenty-first century : charting new directions in information (pp. 27-42). Wagga Wagga, NSW : Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.

Oberg, D. (2006). Developing the respect and support of school administrators. Teacher Librarian, 33(3), 13-18.