More than just a pretty face....
and other observations on school libraries and teacher-librarianship
BCTLA Bookmark , Vol.34, No. 3, March 1993, pp. 148-49.
Hold the horses!
There is a story about "change" and the Spanish army. A general noticed
that the gunners always moved into a special stance prior to firing the cannon.
This position was not defensive, but actually quite exposed. The answer
was that the men were "holding the horses" to prevent them bolting from the
sudden report. But these cannons were self propelled...there were no
horses!
Could we (the school library community) be holding on to something that no
longer has the same value? Has something changed that will require
a fundamental shift in the way in which we embrace the school and learning
and teaching?
It is time to begin a new discussion on the nature of the school library
resource centre and the role of the teacher-librarian. Some of
the conditions that exist today make me think that we have to re-think just
about everything for which we once stood. It is time to do some lateral thinking
about all the things that are conspiring to frustrate the things we used
to hold as self evident truths, or at least pretty good guesses.
Point. The recession did not reduce our numbers, time, clerical support,
materials budgets, or clout in the schools. Things have simply changed
around us. It is not merely a matter of articulating our
mission in the school as much as it is a recognition that the school needs
something very different than what we are offering. There are symbols
and signs of the profound changes that now affect us everywhere. How
many elementary schools have lost teacher-librarian time this year?
How many schools use the teacher-librarian to provide relief or coverage
for "preparation time" so that obligations in the contract may be met?
How could anyone suggest that that "preparation time" had something important
to do with the role of the library in the school! How many new teacher-librarians
are emerging from our universities? How many are finding work in their chosen
field? How can we build the resource centres that are essential to
the new curriculum without trained, excited teacher-librarians equipped with
adequate material budgets, plentiful clerical support and fully literate
teachers able to see the differences we could make?
Point. Can we as "learning resource specialists" justify the attention
we give to overdues and other things that rightly belong to staff people?
How can it be that we have no staff people who could do this work?
Point. Is it not odd that the MARC record we are so busy embracing
at incredible cost and sacrifice, is a machine-readable cataloguing record
built on the card catalogue and not on a computer. Do Library of Congress
Subject Headings make any sense when the computer can access a number of
key words in the flash of an electron? Does the Library of Congress
in Washington, D.C. have anything to do with the school library in Pretty
Acres, British Columbia? Are we only holding horses? Is there
a gun?
Point. Is it possible that our concern for the place (the school library
resource centre, or any of its other names) has led to the school embracing
a different view of "learning resources" than we ever considered? Is
it not odd that the "learning resource allocations" have little relationship
to the "library resources" we so require? Did you realize that the
Ministry is spending over $30 million dollars a year on learning resources
while we give the resource centres in our schools only $9 million. (I use
the estimate of $18 per student for 500,000 students). Are we on the
right course? Can you hear the gun?
Point. To create a resource centre, one should assemble a collection
of resources. Given the extent of the changes envisaged by the new
curriculum it is little wonder that many teachers and administrators wonder
about our reality. We have few resources. Some have fewer that
others. Few among us are able to reach out to the world through
the Internet and Dialog. How many elementary school libraries have
20 current periodicals? How many school libraries have a telephone
line, a fax machine, a copier, a CD-ROM unit, a security system, an on-line
catalogue, a decent collection? Are these the new symbols of success?
I think that we must recognize that many things have changed. I do
not think that we will be able to go back to those heady days when one teacher-librarian
for 400 students was actually a standard in some schools. Why even
Calgary has had severe cutbacks! I think that we must stop holding
our horses and reconsider our strengths and opportunities. It may mean
that we shall have to give up some notions that we once held dear.
We may have to face some truths that have never been self-evident.
"If schools are to become effective, they must be transformed, and if schools
are to be transformed, there has to be a transformation of the working lives
of everyone connected with the schools."Transforming the schools cannot be
accomplished painlessly, or without disturbing some of those involved.
Everyone has to be ready to adjust to change, or has to be ready to go."
John Murphy and Jeffry Schiller: Transforming America’s Schools
Donald Hamilton