Collateral damage or passive Anura?
Classroom libraries vs. school libraries, teacher superstars marginalising teacher librarians – or is it our fault? Continue reading Collateral damage or passive Anura?
Category: teacher librarian
Species at risk
(Usual disclaimers – does not reflect the position at my current school but a comment on librarianship as a whole etc. etc.) I’ve been prompted to think about the library / librarian as part of an ecosystem (as opposed to the library ecosystem itself, * an important distinction) a lot recently as a result of the continued dismal reports on the state of libraries globally, … Continue reading Species at risk
How librarians can leverage the GRA
I firmly believe that one of the main role’s of a school librarian is to make teachers’ lives just that little bit easier. And if we can do this while fostering a love and enthusiasm for reading in students – well that’s a double win. Over the last few years I’ve written about the things that make the biggest impact on students’ favourite book, and … Continue reading How librarians can leverage the GRA
The 10% problem
It’s a funny time of year in education, November and December. I never knew this before. It’s the time when educators need to decide if they’re staying or going in their current school or position, and if not, what the next move will be. I’m new to this game, and as I librarian I get to see all classes, all teachers and many parents. Observation … Continue reading The 10% problem
Advocacy is not enough we need power
Librarians are big on advocacy. Big on helping their peers when they’re not being heard in their communities or schools to build their “advocacy toolkit”. Most librarian courses include at least one module in one course on advocacy. Some academic librarians have built their careers on advocacy. But I’d like to cry foul. This has been going on for long enough. Looking at advocacy it … Continue reading Advocacy is not enough we need power
How to get free PD
Quite a few schools in our network have cut-back on funding for professional development and have either started limiting the time off or financial support for PD. This is extremely disappointing, as PD can be the lifeblood of educators, and dare I say, particularly for teacher-librarians with their often solitary status within a school. There is however a vast range of ways to get “free” … Continue reading How to get free PD
No excuses – Britannica Image Quest
This no excuses post has been a long time coming. One of the things that most librarians have in common is that they are long-suffering, friendly, helpful, accommodating types, ready to share knowledge, know-how and eager to grasp on any acknowledgement they receive from academic leadership and fellow teachers. While the grumbles and moans are prolific within our little echo chambers, few of us have … Continue reading No excuses – Britannica Image Quest
No excuses: Syndetics
It must be an age thing – but as I’m getting further into my 50’s I’m becoming less tolerant of fancy sounding reasons and explanations that are actually just excuses for staving off change. This is the first of a series of posts on things that really annoy me as an international librarian, with a smattering of understanding of technology and a desire to serve … Continue reading No excuses: Syndetics
Scheduling – priorities and dissonance
New year, new chances, old problems. The perennial one of scheduling library time. I kind of started commenting on people’s posts and questions on FaceBook and then decided it merited a blog post on its own. There is also a whole discussion on libraries and librarians going at the IBO level where priorities, recognition, roles, responsibilities etc. are also being hashed out. But coming from … Continue reading Scheduling – priorities and dissonance
Frustrations of a librarian
And it’s not the usual stuff about being poor misunderstood under-utilized bits of the school / community. No, the frustration goes much much further. It’s about how information, knowledge, books, data, well just about anything is NOT being tagged and catalogued and made generally searchable, available. What prompted this? Well my inbox. I subscribe to a few blog sites that are, well let’s say prolific is … Continue reading Frustrations of a librarian
