Philosophy of High
School Librarianship
By Laura Crisp
As a young child climbing the
marble steps of my local public library, I knew that it housed treasure. Had
not Andrew Carnegie himself helped pay for this mighty building? I sensed the
power of all those words, respected the books, and valued the information they
held. My early love of that local library and childhood fascination with books
and words evolved into a passion for knowledge and a desire to help people in
their search for and use of information. I channeled that energy into a career
as an English and ESL teacher. After years of working with high school students
of varying levels of fluency and educational proficiency, I saw very clearly
the common thread of inadequate information literacy skills.
I see the high school library media
center as the hub around which the active, successful school functions. Education
today is a combination of information literacy skills, collaboration among
teachers, and the integration of technology into the classroom in a way that
trains students to master the art of finding and using information. Often, the
difference between a student who has no information literacy skills and one who
is fluent in the use of them is the influence of and interaction with an
instructional librarian. Through effective communication, instructional design,
and presentation skills, a librarian can help a student develop the necessary
abilities to find information, evaluate it, and use it with respect. This complicated
task requires specialized knowledge and the ability to deal with each student
in a customized way. Being able to differentiate instruction allows all
students to have access to the skills being taught. With assessment and
evaluation, the librarian can appraise the instructional methods being used,
determine if they are successful, and adjust them for future interactions,
integrating best practices of instructional design.
Libraries,
since Alexandria, have been storehouses of knowledge with librarians to
organize and maintain them. However, the role of the librarian is going through
an exciting evolution; no longer the
gatekeepers of knowledge, today’s instructional librarian is a facilitator of
discovery, empowering students to find needed information and integrate those
information literacy skills into other facets of their lives. However, the
influence of the librarian now extends far beyond the instructional
interaction. There are never-before-seen opportunities for leadership in the
area of preserving access to information. So too may librarians serve as
advocates for digital preservation and defenders of intellectual freedom. Additionally,
instructional librarians are uniquely positioned to be agents for social
justice by serving as advocates for and allies to marginalized groups.
Being an
effective instructional librarian involves the continual pursuit of instructional
best practices. Maintaining active membership in professional organizations and
interacting with other specialists keeps professional skills sharp. Conducting
research, serving as a peer-reviewer for others who have done so, and otherwise
participating in scholarly communication allows not only the well-trained
instructional librarian to be effective but also others who would gain insight
from that work.
It is
essential that in the whirlwind of growth and change, one not lose sight of the
library as what it has been for so many centuries: the storehouse of
books. Collection development is crucial
to the successful school library, as research continually shows that students
want to choose what they read, and they are more likely to do so if they have
current, continually evaluated collections from which to choose. It is not enough just to have shelves with
books on them; it is not just the privilege but also the responsibility of the
school librarian to ensure that the collection meets the needs of all
students. This includes underrepresented
and marginalized groups; the world needs diverse books, and students need
access to those books. Additionally, any school collection must stay current on
issues facing the student body. This often includes maintaining student resources
on issues relating to mental health and social and emotional wellbeing. The library is the place to research the
world but also to discover oneself; however, this can only happen through
maintaining a well-organized, well-rounded collection that meets the needs of
the student body.
Though the housing and organization
of knowledge and the methods of its pursuit continue to change, there is
constancy in humanity’s need for information. Access to that vast collection of
knowledge remains central to the growth of people, individually and
collectively. I am excited about playing an important role in facilitating that
process. The world today is quite different from the one Andrew Carnegie sought
to shape with his collection of libraries. However, it is no less in need of
people to help others locate information, judge its value, use it with respect,
and integrate those information literacy skills into their lives. The high
school librarian of today is continuing that important work.
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