What sort of TL do I want to be?

Thought this would be a good time to think about my role as a TL and to review it at the end of this subject. Here we go ...

In order to become an exemplary TL, I need to:
- collaborate with teachers to provide meaningful lessons for children that help to build their skills to become productive, life-long learners.
- ensure that children have the means and opportunities to develop their information literacy skills.
- be a leader in curriculum development and in using information technology.
- do more teaching and less clerical work.
- provide my school community with a wider range of learning resources.
- be adaptable and ready to trial new developments in learning.

I believe that my school library "should be seen as a centre of learning first and a centre of resources second (Herring, 2007) and goals like this can't be achieved overnight. I realise I'll have a busy year ahead of me and will need the support of my colleagues, especially my principal. His approval for, and belief in, the changes I want to make to our library program will be necessary if I want keep all the staff "on side". And there need to be more hours in the day!!

School libraries moving into the 21st Century

Although there is plenty of evidence to show that TLs have an enormous effect on the quality of education provided to children, it is evidenced in Haycock's 2003 report that the Canadian government continues to slice away at funding for school libraries. Library services in Canadian schools are dwindling away, so much so that in 59% of schools in Ontario parents raised money for library books. The picture Haycock paints is one of desperation. I finished reading this article feeling disbelief that the government of a progressive nation like Canada could neglect its children's educational needs.
Herring's reading very clearly laid out the roles expected of a TL. The multi-faceted role of the TL visualised in Figure 2.1 took a while for me to absorb at first. It is daunting to think that one teacher could wear so many hats. I felt relieved when I then went on to read Herring state that "It is clear that no teacher librarian could fulfil all of these roles at the same time ...". He says that in order for TLs to meet the needs of their school community, they need manage their time effectively. This is definitely something I need to address in my current position, as I spend far too much time performing clerical tasks and not enough being involved in the important roles, the ones which clearly make a difference on the learning taking place.
Haycock's recommendations to avert the crisis in Canada's school libraries are sound ideas (in my opinion) and if I had to pick one to begin working on now it would be no. 11. I can see that when school begins again in August that I will need to work hard to raise my profile. Although the library itself is a centre of activity in my school and the children and teachers love coming in, I realise that I have many more skills to offer to teachers to improve the learning going on and one of these skills is not my ability to check invoices!
I intend to strive towards Hay's message of school libraries being places where "students, teachers, teacher librarians, resources and technology come together to create engaging and meaningful learning experiences for all".

History of school libraries in Australia

Libraries in Australia have evolved over decades and are no longer rooms where books are kept. They are a central part of each school communy and provide a range of information services. I see a number of issues affecting school library services highlighted in Hazell's paper, the main ones being:
1. the need to produce information literate students;
2. the role of teacher librarians not being given the recognition they deserve; and
3. financial constraints affecting decision making.

I think it's ridiculous that in 2010 these same concerns are still affecting schools worldwide. Even after all this time, TLs continue to advocate for the need to develop the skills in children which will enable them to safely and competently navigate their way through the abundance of information available to them, but often hit brick walls when trying to plan collaboratively for this with classroom teachers as they see this as something the TL should teach in isolation in the library. From posts made in forums by my fellow students, it appears that many schools continue to use TLs for providing non-contact cover for classroom teachers. This, to me, is a blatant waste of a TLs expertise. Government schools continue to work to tight budgets and often library services are the first to be pared down as school budgets dwindle.

Why, after so many years and so much research, are school libraries still being affected in this negative manner?