What is the role of a teacher librarian?

This is definitely a compulsory post for my course :)

But I do not consider that this means that the question is not of relevance. If one does not bring a guiding philosophy to one's job, how is it possible to do it well? Other than browsing through the textbooks for this semester, I haven't initiated any specific readings for this question. This is stream of consciousness type stuff and is completely subject to revision in the light of subsequent study, discussions and readings. Consistency is the mark of a closed mind.

It's clearly the role of the teacher librarian to run the library. Books need to be accessioned quickly, they need to be shelved properly, teacher resources need to be well organised and accessible. The best collection of books in the world is of no use if it's just piled in a heap. Scholarship is not feasible without well organised resources. Teacher librarians need to be skilled at teaching students and teachers how to access information in its myriad of forms. So it is part of their role to educate people about information access, and the pitfalls involved within.

I believe that teacher librarians are advocates for information. It isn't enough to have a well stocked and organised library if the children are not patronising it or using it enthusiastically and knowledgeably. It isn't enough to have a well organised set of teachers resources about a unit if the teachers don't know it's there. It isn't enough to know where the best internet sites are for a particular topic if no one knows where to find the links when they access the network.

The ability to communicate with a wide range of people, then, becomes a critical part of the teacher librarian's role. It isn't possible to sell the importance of reading unless you are communicating effectively. If people are unaware of what it is in the library, the quality of said collection becomes irrelevant. The teacher librarian is the focal point for the school's information resources.

Teacher librarians need to advocate the importance of silent reading within the school, the importance of telling stories within the school, the vital place of literature within learning.
This has become an important part of my conception of the role because it is not happening in a majority of the schools that I work in. And as a casual teacher, I have worked in a lot of schools in recent years. The idea that uninterrupted, sustained, silent reading is a valuable,indeed critical,  part of the school curriculum might be getting some lip service here and there but I am not aware of any primary schools that I have worked in recently where there is a schoolwide program for it.The quality of the classroom libraries that I visit is certainly a silent witness to the fact that silent reading isn't happening. What self respecting student would want to read the dreary rubbish that purports to be a classroom library in numerous schools where I work? Some individual teachers have provided, out of their own pockets, some excellent classroom libraries but this is definitely not the norm.

Similarly, the amount of stories being read to kids seems to be dropping significantly in the schools that I work in, even, dare I say it, in the libraries themselves. As the evidence that these are 2 things that contribute significantly to high academic outcomes is overwhelming, I feel it is a vital part of the teacher librarian's role to advocate for them.

There is much more to be said about the role of a teacher librarian, and it is a topic that I anticipate re-visiting. For now though, this will suffice.