On Being a "Teacher-Librarian"

It's the night before the Ontario Library Association Super Conference for 2019 and I have been thinking about how this year's experience differs from last year. At this time last year I was only 5 months into working in the library learning commons at my school and while we had under gone a huge transitional period (e.g., introducing free flow book exchange, implementing new collaborative inquiry methods and starting to use more hands-on materials- such as loose parts) everything was still the first time. Including my trip to OLASC.

The experience at OLASC last year was amazing. I felt that I learned and absorbed so much new information that I was able to take back to my school community and to the library. I felt renewed and invigorated after being able to meet so many fellow librarians from across the various library panels and locations.

Now that we are on the eve of this year's OLASC I am excited to return and to be re-energized again for the months to come working with the educators and students in the school library learning commons. I also feel that I have a much better understanding of the role that a teacher-librarian can play within the school community.

Being a teacher-librarian is a special subset within the world of education. We are small in number (when compared to the rest of our fellow educators) but our role is mighty. We bring our past experiences as educators with us into the library learning commons which provides us with a deep understanding of pedagogy, curriculum, and assessment. In my case I taught for 13 years (every Grade from 3-8) before taking on the role of Teacher-Librarian last fall. This means we view the space, the collection, the maker-ed opportunities, the inquiry process, the technological integration through the lens of an educator. Because first and foremost, we are educators. We are teachers of children and in may cases, we are teachers of teachers. This is a privilege that I do not take lightly.

As I have grown with this role I have made a few observations about how we are educators first:

1) It all starts with the books. This is the basis of our role- to curate the library collection for the school community. This means purchasing texts with an eye towards the curriculum across all the the grade levels in our school buildings, with the reading levels of our English Language Learners in mind, to provoke an interest and passion in important social justice topics, to provide texts that will spark a love of reading and educate our learners in equal measure, to push readers beyond what they may already enjoy, to seek out books that educators can use as a provocation for a maker-ed opportunity, to provide rich texts that enable readers to formulate questions and to keep in mind the most important ideas of- "what is needed for this learner at this time".

2) We have time to delve deeper and wider into the new and unfamiliar areas of pedagogical research and bring it to our fellow educators. One of the most rewarding experiences of the past year is to connect with an educator who is willing and open to trying something new with their class but due to the every day demands of their job may not have had an opportunity to fully plan or formulate their ideas. By providing opportunities to co-plan and co-teach with the educators in our schools we are able to say "Yes, and..." on almost a daily basis. I find that so many educators are very interested in trying new modes of teaching and learning with their students. They want to provide maker opportunities. They want to explore coding. They want to teach from an inquiry stance and they want to promote an inquiry mindset. They want to empower their students. Collaborating with the teacher-librarian provides an opportunity to have a fellow educator as a sounding board, to have a second set of eyes to observe students, a second set of guiding questions that can be asked and a second set of reflections to move everyone's learning, the educators' included, forward.

3) We use our space and resources to help drive the understanding of using our time with students- our observations, our conversations, photos of products-as assessment for learning. The bulk of an educators time with students is spent working to move each student forward along their personal continuum of learning. Teacher-Librarians help to promote an understanding of "uncovering the curriculum". By intentionally curating the collection, creating makerspaces, promoting a maker culture, and sparking inquiry we are consistently providing opportunities for our fellow educators and students to learn from and with each other. To use their learning time together to grow as a community of learners. So that everyone benefits.

Being a teacher-librarian is one of the most rewarding and exciting roles of my career. It is a gift. And one I do not take lightly.

I hope you don't either.