By Dorcas Hand with
help from TLC
Special thanks to Terri
Stamm, SHSU student; Barbara Paciotti, retired, Barbara Bush Middle School,
Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD; Cathy Delafield, Hargrave Librarian; Rosalia
Rohr, McAllen TX; Valerie Loper, Clear Falls HS, Clear Creek ISD for their permission to include these comments.
A post on TLC last week caught my attention –and maybe
yours. Terri Stamm is a brand new SHSU Library student. We need to take her cue
and ALL get up to speed on the
answer to her question:
I am excited to be
taking my first graduate class to become a librarian. Just today, I was asked
by three different people, "Why
does a librarian have to have a Master's Degree and a teacher doesn't?"
I really didn't know how to answer that other than "those are TEA
guidelines". One was a parent at my school. She said, "Oh, I figured
a librarian would only need a GED." Does anyone have a better answer than
that?
This post is important
for several reasons:
1. We have missed the boat getting the word out.
Every one of us needs a strong answer to this question ready before it is
asked.
2. We have not carefully articulated to ourselves,
much less our allies and stakeholders, what we do.
3. We have not distinguished the differences between
degreed librarians, certified librarians, teachers in libraries and circulation
clerks. This is a spectrum of training – schools gain expertise in support of
student achievement at the degreed and certified end; schools are only getting
partial service (mostly clerical) without that training.
The key question:
what do librarians KNOW that makes what we do more effective than someone
without our additional training? The answer to this question is especially
important as we look at the implementation planning for ESSA, a process that
will rely on administrators at all levels understanding the potential they are
missing without a trained librarian on their faculty.
Because these answers were all so good, this post is
longer than usual. Please take the time
to read all five perspectives. As you head out to school this week and every
week, be sure you are telling people why your spot as a school librarian is
essential to every student on your campus – and possibly their family. Tell
them both in words when you have in chance, but more importantly in actions
every day with every student and class. Be especially sure your campus
leadership understand. Don’t assume people know. It never hurts to give them a
new point of reference.
I have excerpted the five replies I saw - apologies if
there were any I missed.
Valerie
Loper: A few points
o
We have to have been teachers, and we are still
teachers (everything from teaching research skills, literacy skills, media
literacy, and more to overseeing state testing).
o
We are expected
to know how to find the answers to anything.
o
We do not just check out books - that's clerical
work, which does not require a degree.
o
We must select the materials for recreational
and research reading; that's a pretty high level responsibility.
o
We are good
stewards of our school district's money (the net worth of the items in your
library probably is worth several hundred thousand dollars). Who do they think selects and purchases those
materials?
o
We are responsible for any challenges a parent
may submit to the campus.
o
We are the copyright queens, knowledgeable of
all citation styles.
Of course we have Master's
degrees.
Cathy
Delafield: To be honest, I was surprised when I started looking into the
field. I figured it would take extra
work but did not expect to earn a Masters.
Now when people ask me why (usually after they have just asked me to do
something for them, ironically), I always tell them 3 elements:
1. I have to be able to assess and provide reading materials
that my students need for school and want for fun. I have to constantly be able to track the
market, find the best product and then make them available to the kids.
2. I need to know best practices for research and be
able to provide useful tools, as well as teaching them to use those tools. I have to be able to assist both teachers and
students in this. I know what research
skills students will need when they go to college and make sure they know how
to use databases and other reference materials.
3. I approach running my library
somewhat like a business. I'm
"selling" the most important product: the love of reading and
lifelong learning. Trying to get teenagers to buy into that is
challenging. I have to market my
library, provide incentives to come in, raise support through my teacher
community and be able to acquire funds if necessary. You wouldn't expect a
successful business owner to not be educated.
Your specified degree hits all these points so that when you're
finished, you can also be a successful librarian!
Rosalia
Rohr: I have also heard that question before, and I honestly did not feel
that librarians required a master’s degree. My perception changed when I was
hired as a permanent substitute for the librarian at an elementary school. I
can assure you that you gain a lot of hands on experience, but without proper schooling, I feel that a
librarian will not be able to perform well. There will always be innovative
ideas that one would never be aware of if we did not obtain a Masters in
Library Science.
Barbara
Paciotti: School librarians need a
Master's degree because having a teaching certificate & years of experience
isn't enough to manage a whole school library program.
o
we must have an in-depth understanding of
national/state curriculum.
o
standards to fully integrate library skills into
classroom activities.
o
we must know how to build an extensive
collection of library.
o
materials in a variety of formats to meet the
needs of every teacher's curriculum, and to meet individual students' reading
needs & preferences.
o
we must have a comprehensive understanding of
intellectual property, copyright, and fair use guidelines for purchasing a variety
of materials and to advise teachers and administrators on their proper use.
o
we must have the specialized technology skills
to manage and use audio/video/digital
equipment & applications.
o
we must have financial skills to administer a
budget and take advantage of outside funding opportunities.
Dorcas
Hand: Think of all a librarian needs to know about books and digital
resources, about teaching kids, about curriculum and collaboration, about
inspiring student to be curious, about stewardship of limited resources to
strongest support of student growth, about working with campus and district
admins, and more.... It's really a
wonder we don't need a PhD!
SPREAD THE WORD. Library certification and master's degrees are important to student achievement.
