Are Librarians a Vanishing Breed?

It's been four months since my last blog. I've decided that I can write novels, or I can blog-- I'm not very good at doing both at the same time. And I've not only fallen off the wagon this summer, I've been wallowing around on the ground having a major stress-fest.

Before the end of the school year our district cut half the librarians (4 of 8) based on longevity, and I was number 4. We lost some hardworking librarians-- some who had just finished their master's degree in library science before the rug was pulled out from underneath them in their first year of library service. I'm thankful to have a job in this economy, but I'm concerned about the quality of library services diminishing next year. Or the extreme workload could do us in physically/mentally/emotionally and force us out of the field. Three of the remaining librarians will have two libraries to manage, and since they're moving the 5th grade up to middle school, that means I will have 1800 students to provide library services for rather than 600 like I've had. I've been fretting all summer about it.

I bought a Mary Englebreit paperweight at a garage sale this past weekend, and it's my motto for this month. A cute little girl is standing there with her hands on her hips saying sternly: "SNAP OUT OF IT!" I'm trying to do just that. And I have to confess I've been doing some serious praying, too, asking God for wisdom and confidence-- His confidence; mine skipped town some time ago. And I've been quoting, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength," every time I think about it, which assures me I can do this when it's in HIS strength.

It was encouraging to see the parents and students rally around their librarians in Austin earlier this year when most of their jobs were going to be cut. And their efforts paid off. Most of us do our jobs and don't toot our horns about it, but that means too many people think we just check books out and shush kids-- that anyone can do the librarian's job. Did you know that to be a school librarian, it requires more than a teaching degree? That's only the starting point. Today a school librarian is a certified teacher with a minimum of two years teaching experience, and it requires a Master's Degree in library science, and 200 hours of continuing education every five years to stay certified. We do a lot more than simply check out books and shush kids.

How do those books get on the shelves? Who chooses the books for the shelves? I had the joy of opening a new school library three years ago, so I chose and ordered and placed every book in the library! Wow! That was fun. It took me a year to do the collection development for the opening collection, and that was only the beginning. Maintaining a good collection is an on-going job that requires research, matching materials up with the TEKS, curriculum, knowing staff's needs, staying current, and knowing the student population's interests in providing the kinds of books they want to read for entertainment and information.

Who maintains the circulation system and accounts for every patron record and item in the library? Who teaches information literacy more so than any other position in education in this Age of Information? The librarian. People are drowning in information, and the librarian teaches students how to navigate the sea of information, which is full of propaganda, mis-information, and rumor. An important skill everyone needs to learn is how to evaluate an information source. Can you trust it? Is it a reliable source? How can you check that source to see if it is truthful?

I would prefer a champion to come in and defend us and our jobs, but most champions are fighting other causes or battles for survival. So toot, toot! I'm going to attempt to make more people aware of the important job librarians do in preparing children for life. The library, more than any other part of the school, is the segue to life-long learning-- where information transitions from force-fed to free choice and self-fed knowledge.

Librarians, information specialists, library media center managers-- whatever you want to call us-- are so important. If the opportunity arises, please don't stand by and watch us join the ranks of the quagga or the Tasmanian tiger, both recently extinct because no one was looking out for them.