“We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself.”

Lloyd Alexander is responsible for this one. I think it rather appropriate as for the past 3 weeks all I have been doing is searching for the answer to 'What is a teacher librarians role in an information literate school community (ILSC)?'. And I tell you it is enough to drive anyone insane.

But I have to acknowledge during my search I learnt a lot about the teacher librarians role. I originally thought the librarians role was to, order books, borrow books, repair books, cover books and teach the occasional library/library skills lesson. To be fair though there are studies to show that the teachers perception of a librarians role is rooted in their past experiences, and this is my past experience.

I have since come to realise the the TL role is a lot more detailed than I would ever have imagined. It also highlights how the librarians I have known have not really been living up to their role. The librarians role is all encompassing! and constantly evolving. The librarian is an IT specialist, a reading specialist, a manager, teacher and much, much more.

"Libraries are becoming obsolete"

This quote is from the story covered by Fox looking into whether libraries should be closed to save taxpayers money. This is a very interesting story coming out of Illinois in the good old U.S of A! Well worth looking at. I have to say though, just because you, yourself don't use the library, that does not mean they should be closed. I found that those against libraries were those who most likely had 24/7 access to internet at home, could afford books and were not studying. I particularly like the comment that it didn't matter that libraries offered assistance with resume and applying for jobs via the internet as there were no jobs, because the government was overspending on things such as libraries. Am I the only one wondering what would happen to those applying for jobs if there were no libraries, but jobs because there was no financial crisis from over spending? How would they then apply for jobs when there are no libraries to help with the application process and provide free access the internet?
I have to say that the best bit about all is the library commissions response. After reading this I realised how many services were being offered by public libraries.

Not as many are doing the watering and nurturing now and, like plants, our libraries are slowly dying"

Sadly I wasn't able to put the whole quote in the heading. It was, "Teacher-librarians have nurtured and watered school libraries. Not so many are doing the watering and nurturing now and, like plants, our libraries are slowly dying". This is a quote from on of my asssigned readings by an author Robert Munsch. I have to say I find it curious that in a course for teacher-librarians or teachers wanting to become teacher-librarians they should begin with a reading on the decline of libraries and how due to budget cuts there are no librarians and libraries are going to the dogs essentially. Already it has me thinking about changing to being a reading specialist because reading is, hopefully, something that will always be valued within the education system.

I have had little or no luck contacting any librarians to help me in my quest for enlightenment as to, what constitutes a TL. I have a feeling this is directly linked to the fact that librarianship seems to be in a downward spiral. We shall have to wait and see. Other than that all is going swimmingly but only because I am not working. I think when school is back in session I will have to up my game.

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”

So in order to succeed you must try, try and try again.

I had emailed the librarian who had most recently been working in my school, to get her opinions on the role of a librarian with in school. Unfortunately, her email appears to no longer work. This could most likely be directly linked to her also relocating to Canada and the email being a United Arab Emirates provider. Who knows? So, as Winston Churchill tells me; success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. Thus, with enthusiasm I go on.

I have emailed the other librarians I know. The concern is that they are predominantely academic librarians so may be out of touch with the lowly teacher librarians. I await their responses.

And while I wait I shall continue to enjoy Lebanon and all the Arabic, culture and food it has to offer me.

“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.”

While looking for quotes for a new beginning I stumbled across the quote, 'The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are'. I felt this was a rather approriate quote given the circumstances that have led to my pursuit of higher education.

This quote came from an American philanthropist and financier, Mr. John Pierpont Morgan. He also created the Pierpont Morgan Library as a public institution in 1924.

Thus begins my blog for ETL401, Teacher Librarianship.

I received my course outline for ETL401 and figured would rather start the blog sooner rather than later as next week I leave for an Arabic course in Beirut, Lebanon and might not have the time later to complete the set up etc. that is required.

Today, I have also begun the first steps to finding out the role of a teacher librarian. I have emailed the librarian who has for the last 15 years worked at my school. Sadly, this year saw her returning home to her native Canada, I am hoping she will be able to shed some light on the role a teacher librarian plays in creating an information literate school community.