This week in class, we reviewed the syllabus, class expectations, and calendar and discussed the history of libraries in schools. This discussion focused on the trends that have supported and deterred the mission of school libraries, beginning in the 1950's post-Sputnik push for greater educational resources to the funding and testing crises that resulted from No Child Left Behind.
One of the most interesting conversations we had focused on the following question: why is it that some school librarians get away with only reading stories to kids? It is true that getting to read awesome books to kids is part of what makes youth librarianship the sweetest gig on the planet but to think that is the bulk of our profession is completely wrong. We discussed the lack of education among school administrators and educational professionals about our capabilities, both as instructors for students and resources for teachers, and how those largely effect budget decisions regarding whether or not schools will have a librarian. We also touched on the idea that the advocacy of our profession needs to happen everyday on the job-- that we will prove our worth by actually being worthwhile in our respective communities.
Your question mirrors mine. If only I could figure out why some people are so unwilling to expect more of their librarians, I'd be a millionaire. (But still be a librarian!)
ReplyDeleteI'm sad I missed out on the first class about the history of school libraries. It sounds very interesting! Also, I guess I can kind of understand why certain administrators and educators would think that the only thing school librarians do is read books to kids. That's all my elementary school librarian did, so if that's the way you're going to promote yourself, you can't be surprised when administrators expect less from you. I hope what happened in my school system when it came to school librarianship isn't common though...
ReplyDeleteI sadly missed this due to student teaching commitments. Boo!
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