What do school librarians do? (part 1 of 2)
September 4th, 2008
I’ve been thinking about all the things that school librarians do. Some of these tasks are core to our mission (book-talking to classes, providing reference services). Some tasks may be natural corollaries (administering AR, Reading Counts, or a similar book quiz program). Other tasks are outright distractions from our main roles, but in most schools all school employees do a few of these things (bus duty or lunch supervision, for example). So, can we list all of the tasks that librarians are sometimes asked to do?
Click on the “Comments” link below to view and add to our list.
Next week, in part two, we’ll discuss prioritizing these roles.
what librarians do | Comments (5)5 Responses to “What do school librarians do? (part 1 of 2)”
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Keep in mind that no one person can possibly do all of these things. But here are a some roles that Carter & I were able to brainstorm. What other duties are you aware of some librarians doing?
–Sean
* collection management,
* circulation,
* book talker,
* readers’ advisory,
* reference services,
* teacher of research skills,
* AV check-out,
* equipment repair-person,
* collaborator on curriculum,
* reading coach,
* testing proctor,
* planning time coverage,
* cataloger,
* storyteller,
* teacher of art projects (related to stories read),
* web-designer,
* technology teacher,
* CIO (chief information officer),
* computer lab manager,
* software installer and tester,
* teacher of reading,
* computer help-desk,
* coordinator (or reporter) of assessment/data,
* the copyright police (?),
* publisher of student work,
* bus duty,
* video and/or PowerPoint editor,
* janitor,
* creator of bulletin boards and displays,
* curator or art prints, science equipment, & other realia,
* manager of text-book inventory,
*
I know that there are more. What else could be added?
*WASL support
*friend and listener
*safe haven
*reference for former TAs
*class coverage to allow two teachers to collaborate with difficult situations
*para supervisor
*lunch supervision
*in-house suspension
*supervise emotionally fragile students
*help parents with personal book requests
Interesting that you should ask this. A colleague just emailed my district’s librarians asking for help explaining to his new principal all the things he does when he doesn’t have classes scheduled. He explained that she wasn’t necessarily out for blood, but as a new principal she just didn’t see why he shouldn’t see students all day, every day. She argued that classroom teachers got *their* paperwork done afterschool and during their prep period, and she didn’t see how his job should be any more demanding.
I should mention that this elementary school librarian receives no support in the way of a library assistant.
Oh yeah-
Curriculum Map Assembler
Tech Troubleshooter
Carter,
The story about your colleague (above) reminds of a key role that we had omitted from our lists:
ADVOCATE!
For more of our “jobs” see:
ideasandinfo.wikispaces.com/many_hats