TO SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS

Why have a school library? Why have a qualified teacher librarian? How does a teacher librarian support classroom teaching, literacy and digital literacy? What should a 21st C school library look like? Does ICT mean we don't need books? How can I improve the performance of my teacher librarian and our school library service?

One vision of the 21st C school library is described by Dr. Michael Hough of the University of Wollongong in his paper, "Libraries as iCentres: Helping Schools" ACCESS, Vol. 25, Issue 1, 2011, pp. 5-9.

What might a school library look like in this digital age? Some thoughts from a UK principal.

Envisioning school libraries: School libraries 21c, Report of the School libraries 21C online discussion, commissioned by School Libraries and Information Literacy Unit, Curriculum K–12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training (2011). School libraries 21C: the conversation begins, the executive summary of the report, is also available.

Below is a useful summary table of the defining characteristics of excellent school libraries and teacher librarians included in the Report of the House of Representatives' inquiry, School libraries and teacher librarians in 21st century Australia (2011).

Use other links on the right to further answer the questions.

Or start with Nancy Everhart's 100 things kids will miss if they don’t have a school librarian in their school. These are taken from:  Standards for the 21st Century Learner by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL,2011), suggestions from members of the AASL, and students in the school libraries of the United States. A great poster is Joyce Valenza's What do TLs teach?

• Guidelines/Issues
• The Standards
• The Research
• Extensive list of evaluation tools
• The Importance of School Libraries, 3 videoclips in a series from Southern Cross University, NSW, to be found on YouTube. Here is the first:

Characteristics of excellent school libraries and teacher librarians

School libraries 

Exemplary school libraries offer equitable access for students and teachers for:

• Specialist educators to support and develop learner capacities for physical and intellectual access to information – in diverse modes and media - for the use and creation of information by learners and teachers;
• Learning program support which generates a spirit of enquiry, which develops literacy across multiple media and fosters, collaborative and independent learning processes; 
• Evaluated collections and sources of information in multiple print, visual and digital/online modes and formats for learning and teaching;
• A wide, current range of literature for children and young people, integrated into curriculum and learning programs and promoted to support both literacy and lifelong reading for pleasure; 
• Customised, purpose-designed learning spaces with the physical, social and digital/online dimensions to enable learners and teachers to engage in independent, collaborative and creative learning experiences and relationships;

Source: Queensland University of Technology Faculty of Education, Submission to Parliament of Australia, Standing Committee on Education and Training, Inquiry into school libraries and teacher librarians in Australian schools. Higher education imperatives relating to the roles, resourcing and adequacy of school libraries and teacher librarians in Australian schools, Submission No. 307. 2010. Pp. 6-7. Published here with permission.

Teacher-Librarians

Exemplary professional practice involves teacher-librarians who are: 

• Specialist educators with dual qualifications in both teaching and librarianship; ideally they hold an accredited post-graduate qualifications in teacher-librarianship;
  
• Reflective practitioners informed by international research, national and local curriculum imperatives and contemporary pedagogical approaches; 
• Proactive and collaborative practitioners in inquiry-based learning, program design  and implementation;
  
• Leaders in literacy and literature learning programs – including digital/online experiences and literature for children and young people;
• Experts in information literacy (and digital literacy), promoting critical, ethical and creative use of information (in all its forms) for learning; 
  
• Advocates for literacy learning within the communities allied to schools; 
  
• Resource and information managers concerned with the evaluation, selection, organisation and use of learning resources in multiple formats, particularly digital / online sources within and beyond the school; 
• Advocates for wide, collaborative professional networks and the ongoing nurturing of their own and others’ professional learning.