I Believe in My Profession

Relevance is a big word in education these days.  We wonder how relevant our curriculum is to our students' lives.  We wonder how relevant what we teach today will be to our students in adulthood.  We wonder if the skills employers are demanding us to develop in our children today will actually be relevant when they are in the workforce.

There are those who might question the relevance of a school librarian in today's day and age.  In fact, many school districts have eliminated librarians in favor of volunteers running their libraries.  After all, all librarians do is check out books, right?

I suppose in some cases this could be true.  I have known the librarian who feels safe in her fiefdom, sheltered from the reality of today's education environment.  These are the people who enter the profession because "they love to read" or because "the library is so quiet."  They are totally unprepared to be a school librarian.  They give the rest of us a bad name.

In economic downturns, "they" threaten the existence of "us" and the good work we do.

The School Librarian, or school library media specialist, has a lot to offer her school community.  She serves on committees that makes key decisions; she stays current on curriculum trends and provides professional development opportunities for her faculty and district.  She creates her own professional development opportunities to stay ahead of the demands of her job and to help the teachers with changes as they come.  She builds relationships with her teachers, students, administators and parents and is a visible, positive presence for her school and her profession in the community.

The school librarian serves as an instructional partner to her colleagues.  Whether she is coteaching alongside her colleagues or actively developing lessons and providing materials and assessments for learning activities, she is in the trenches.  She learns as much as she can about her faculties' teaching contexts and how she can support them.  She ascertains that the library's collection meets the needs of the faculty, as well as those of the students.

As an information specialist the school librarian creates virtual learning resources for her community.  She ensures that 24/7 access to information - and the school librarian herself -is available. She maintains a webpage, writes or blogs, collects electronic media for students' use.  She communicates the availability of information sources to parents, teachers, and students alike. She finds new ways to bridge information and service gaps.

The school librarian is a teacher in her own right.  She has a curriculum to be delivered to her students and abides by standards set by the American Association of School Librarians and the West Virginia Department of Education.  Her job is to teach information literacy as well as literature appreciation.  Sometimes we are asked to teach out of our subject areas as well.  We are master teachers and approach these responsibilities with aplomb.

Finally, we are program administrators.  We market our services, we attend to the day-to-day operations of the library, we supervise volunteers.  We develop long-term plans that illustrates the library's role in the school's mission. We carefully select materials so that our children get the best resources.  We carefully plan our budgets so that all groups and needs are represented. We plan reading incentive programs and contests.  We advocate for our programs. And yes, we check out, check in and shelve books.

I believe in my profession and am very proud to be a school librarian.  I do not always live up to the tenets and standards described above, but it is my goal to do my very best and to uphold the values of my profession in the most positive light.  When I fail to live up to these values, I must be held accountable.

My five year plan for our library is slated to be finished in August.  I will post it on this blog so that all parents and teachers can see my vision.  Changes and suggestions are welcome, because my goal is to be relevant to my users.

What Should an Administrator  Expect a School Library Media Specialist to Be?