NYTimes defines the 21st-Century Librarian … or does it?
In a story that Sara Kelly Johns points out has been brewing for nearly a year, New York Times reporter Matoko Rich creates a profile (both an article and a video labeled “The 21st-Century School Librarian” of one school librarian in Brooklyn and her effective role beyond reader’s advisory to information fluency.
This follows up on a late December story on a school librarian’s many efforts to improve her collection, which I blogged about here.
I congratulate everyone at ALA who has been working to get these stories out and the librarians featured in these articles. But I can’t help but think that neither article completely defines the “21st-Century School Librarian.” It’s just showing the tip of of a much bigger iceberg.
(Added note: after reading about others’ takes on this article in the NY Times’ comments and elsewhere, I went back and read it again. I realize where the source of my “wanting” is — it’s the video. It makes a huge statement about showing 21st-century librarianship and then shows students working alone on teacher-created worksheets, which reinforces the very stereotypes that the accompanying article tries to dispel. The video could have done so much more to promote the ideas behind the AASL Standards. Where do we see students self-reflecting? Guiding their own learning? Working collaboratively? Practicing the development of dispositions?)
So what else does it mean to be a 21st-century school librarian? It’s something at the forefront of my mind for two reasons: first, Judi Moreillon and Debbie Abilock and I are looking at the many facets of our professional practice for the November/December 2009 issue of Knowledge Quest, and secondly, I’ve got another project up my sleeve that will be revealed in Fall 2009 that’s making me read and reflect on our many roles. What about the school librarian as …
- Professional developer?
- Change agent?
- School leader?
- Advocate?
- Copyright adviser?
- PR agent?
- Member of a professional learning community?
- Technology advancer and reassurer?
- Book club organizer?
- Teacher just like every other teacher?
- Teacher unlike other teachers?
- Listener?
- Instructional designer?
- Collaborator?
- Volunteer coordinator?
- Supporter of student-centered experiences?
- Guide from the side?
- Inquiry sherpa?
- Club advisor?
- Modeler of a life full of curiosity and discovery?
- Creative coach?
- Assessor of student learning?
- Reflective practitioner?
- Ongoing learner?
Not to mention these essential skills….
- Laminator fixer?
- Source of secret chocolate stash and bad librarian jokes?
- Person with the messiest office in the building?
- Printer cartridge changer?
- Person you go to when you need a roll of tape or extra staples?
- Person who untangles cords of all provenances?
- Furniture rearranger?
- Duster of shelves?
- Book repairer?
- Shelver?
PS - Check out Joyce Valenza’s interpretation of the same article.
February 16th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
I picked this article and video off my RSS feed (hope everyone’s doing that) this morning and also wondered … I’ve been doing this for years now - what’s so new? At the same time I was thankful for the positive image in a major news publication. You are right that it is NOT what we need to be currently advocating - we want MORE from our colleagues and students and I’m growing impatient.
Another role for SLMS - liaison. People know that we can help to bring all the disparate pieces of what is happening in a school community together - we KNOW people and can be the ‘go to’ for so many things. Oh, one more thing, this week I’ll be judging the student games for the Winterfest pep assembly! That’s a new role!