Post 19: Somewhat related to the one where I sort of ranted about teachers (but not really)

Because having said that I ranted about teachers actually means that I ranted about myself since, as I am going to point out later, I am a teacher.  Confused?  Read on!

This morning I was reading other blogs and someone (from New Zealand, I think) was talking about befriending non-teaching staff and included the librarian in the list of who they are.  I am a school librarian and work in a school where the librarian must be a qualified teacher as well.  Therefore, I call myself a teacher-librarian.  I have qualifications in both.  For the most part, my colleagues treat me as a teacher and I often team or co-teach with them as well as working on the design of units.  I prepare curriculum materials for units involving research to assist students with finding the most appropriate resources.  One of the most useful tools I use is Libguides (click and have a look at one I prepared for a humanities topic.)  (If you are asked for a password, it is 'online' and will work for the next week.)

If I hadn't taught for years, I would be handicapped in my job as a school librarian.  I would lack the knowledge and skills for teaching classes, for knowing what resources were most appropriate for each grade level and subject, and be at a loss when it came to developing information literacy curriculum.

I said that most of my colleague treat me as a teacher but there are some who don't.  They mainly come from the British system where the librarian is often not part of the teaching staff.  They rarely consider asking me to work with them unless someone else in their department suggests it or if I am already working as a team on a particular unit.  The first time they do work with me, they start to see the value of working with their librarian.  My administrators are also British and at times they also fail to see me as a teacher.  I am often excluded from planning meetings after school because my administrator wants me to oversee the library.  It is a sore point!

What am I trying to say here?  I think I would like teachers and administrators to see the librarian as a partner.  Use your librarian to help you.  More than likely they will able to assist you with resources, both on and off the internet, suggest strategies for integrating information literacy skills and give your students book talks to encourage them to read!