So many facets…

There are so many more facets to the roles and responsibilities of a teacher-librarian than I ever imagined. Even now, after a year of studying, I am continually surprised by all of the tasks school librarians are expected to accomplish. I never expected that the seemingly boring role of budget management would be one of them. Let alone that it would prove to be less boring than I always thought…

Library Selection Criteria

Currently reading about the different criteria used by Librarians to select resources for school libraries. Came across two different (and yet quite similar) sets of criteria which I am interested in taking a further look at later on. The first is from a teacher and librarian context.

Well, damn!

The [school library] collection cannot afford to be an eclectic gathering of interesting resources that may prove to be useful.

Well, and damn!

(I guess I’ll just have to leave the eclectic and interesting resources for my own personal library… :P)

Changing Roles

My understanding of the role (and especially the future) of the teacher-librarian continues to change. I have read so much in the past year about the future, or lack thereof, of the school library that my understanding of just what teacher-librarian’s do, their role within the school community, changes almost drastically from one day to another.

For my new semester at university, I have been reading a few articles on the future of the library in this ‘post-literate’ world. And I have come to a new conclusion: no matter how much the focus turns from the maintenance of a print-based collection to a digital one, no matter how the library is perceived, even if they take away the books and the library, there will still be a role for the teacher-librarian (even if they change the title).

My current understanding of the role of the teacher-librarian is founded upon the importance of information literacy, upon the need to ensure that students are critically aware and able to decipher all information to the best of their ability. Even if there is no longer a physical library in schools, but merely a digital one, the teacher-librarian may still have a role in ensuring that all students (and staff) are information literate.

But that, even there, is my worst case scenario. In my dreams, the future is one where the importance of the book and the printed and bound word is still recognised, and the library is not just something that teachers and principals put up with for tradition’s sake, but because they recognise its value, and its fundamental beauty. But what can I say? I’m a traditionalist, and I’m a romantic.

Further reading:

Mai Lee (2010), A library without books?

Doug Johnson (2010), Libraries for a post-literate society.

Games as a ‘valuable learning tool’

After watching the Gabe Zichermann video ‘Gamification’ (see here), I started trawling the web for articles and research to support the idea of games as a tool of learning. And I found this…

Games and Learning

A good friend brought this video to my attention, and I must say, I was incredibly impressed by Zichermann’s presentation, by the concepts of fluid intelligence and gamification. I am a traditionalist (as noted on other occasions), I am one of those people who idealise sitting by a window with a cup of tea and a book, but I realise that such a situation is not for everyone, and particularly that it is not for many of the kids who are in our schools and our libraries right now.