Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Library Dreaming DAY 23 OF THE MARCH SOLSC #SOL16

I am participating in the Slice of Life Story Challenge (SOLSC; #SOL16) 
hosted by Two Writing Teachers
Each day for the month of March I will be posting a "Slice of Life". 
Please feel free to stop back and check out my other posts here.


If you had told me a few years ago that I wanted to be a librarian, I would have told you you were crazy. I had no idea! I didn't know how passionate I was about books. I didn't know how much I truly believed in all things literacy. I didn't know libraries would become the hub of technology and the maker movement. I didn't know how exciting the idea of being part of that world would sound to me. I didn't know.

Ironically, I frequented my public library as a kid. I loved the summer reading program each year. I enjoyed weekly visits to the school library in elementary school. In middle school & early high school, the library was my safe haven, my happy place. I went there during lunch. I worked there in my spare time. 

Maybe I lost touch with the idea in college. For those 4 years, I hated the library. I couldn't study there; couldn't focus. It wasn't a comfortable spot for me. I certainly didn't feel "at home"- quite the opposite. Maybe that's when I forgot how important libraries had been to me in my younger years.

In the school district I work in, teacher-librarians have never been a key position. When I started teaching in the district, we had them...but they were only on site every so often. They were more like a visitor on campus. Then, as budget cuts came, their positions were cut. I didn't really see much issue in it, as they weren't playing a vital role in the schools I was in. 

That is sad to me now! 

As I've rediscovered the reader & writer within me, as I've built up by PLN on twitter & connected with so many teacher librarians, as I've thought about what a robust position & library COULD look like...I've realized THAT would be my happy place. That is what I wish I could do. But we didn't have the positions.

They are actually re-instituting Teacher-Librarians in our district next year. But I'm not sure what it will look like. There are 4 positions posted...we have 17 elementary schools! Doing the math, that doesn't seem like much time at a site...time to build a program, build relationships, build the library as the hub of learning in the school. I'm also not qualified! 

So, I'll begin looking at credential programs. And I'll keep dreaming of what I believe a position should look like. We'll see what lies ahead...only time will tell! For now, I'll be Library Dreaming!

7 comments:

  1. Teacher-librarians are so important to schools!!! We have wonderful teacher-librarians in our school who have worked really hard to build a culture of reading in our building. They come into our classroom to do booktalks and even host mini "pop-up" libraries around the building. They wheel a book cart and display popular titles in hallways, the lobby, even the courtyard, to get students who don't typically frequent the library an opportunity to browse and check out some titles. Good luck with this opportunity!!! There can never be enough passionate teacher-librarians in any school!

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    1. Oh, that sounds amazing!! I wish we had that here.

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  2. Good luck! I love libraries, too!

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  3. Isn't it fun to find your passion? I am sure your journey is going to have highs and lows. Good luck!

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  4. I love libraries too and I am glad to be in a school that believes in our library. I consider my classroom the library annex as I keep filling it with new books. Good luck to you on this new journey.

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  5. I also am looking into making that transition! I'm having trouble finding a program locally. I suspect that with all the librarians that have been cut over the years, there was less and less demand for the certification program. My local university is phasing it out this year. But yes, there is a lot of excitement around what libraries can do for schools.

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  6. I hope your dream comes true!!!!

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