The Crucial Role of District-Level Teacher-Librarians in Enhancing BC's Educational Landscape: Advocating for Sustained School Library Leadership
by Cathy Fowler, Joseph Jeffery, and Shaunna MacDonald
This paper examines the benefits of dedicated central support for school libraries. Across the country this kind of professional support takes on many forms if it exists at all. The writers have researched many districts in British Columbia and shared their positive findings. They document the pivotal function of the district-level TL and why their role should be considered essential staffing within a district.
Cathy Fowler has been a teacher-librarian for 20 years and is currently the District Teacher-Librarian in Campbell River School District. She holds a Master of Educational Technology from the University of British Columbia with a Post Grad Diploma in Library Sciences from UBC. She has been actively involved in the transformations of Libraries to Library Learning Commons across two districts and loves seeing the transformation in school cultures that a vibrant Learning Commons brings. She reads historical fiction and devours graphic novels, especially the reworked classics.
Joseph Jeffery is the District Learning Commons Teacher-Librarian in School District 57 – Prince George, BC where he supports teacher-librarians in creating and maintaining information literacy rich library learning commons programming, designing participatory and flexible learning spaces, and developing culturally responsive library learning commons. Joseph holds a Master of Education in Curriculum and Pedagogy specializing in Teacher-Librarianship from the University of Alberta. Joseph is currently serving as the Chair of the Canadian School Libraries Board of Directors. Outside of school, Joseph is an avid gamer of all types from card to tabletop to video games and enjoys being transported to imaginative worlds of science fiction and fantasy as a reader.
Shaunna MacDonald has been a teacher-librarian for 11 years and is currently the Teacher Librarian Helping Teacher in Surrey School District, British Columbia. She holds a Master of Education in Teacher Librarianship from Charles Sturt University, NSW, Australia. Her professional passions lie in connecting readers with books and creating student-centered Library Learning Common spaces and collections. You’ll most commonly find her hanging out in any middle grade fiction section, raving about her latest favourite reads.
Cathy, Joseph, and Shaunna,
ReplyDeleteI was already in agreement with your position even before reading your paper. In my school board in Ontario (Toronto District School Board), we have benefited greatly from our Library and Learning Resources Department Program Coordinators, both current (shout-out to Deb Haines) and past (Andrea Sykes, Ruth Hall, Sharon Mills, Tim Gauntley, Esther Rosenfeld, and others). In Ontario, we also have a group called TALCO (The Association of Library Coordinators of Ontario), where school board library leaders can meet.
You make a great point that "these positions are not all created equally" (page 2). The same is true in Ontario. Some are a department of one. Others have to manage many schools and juggle the demands of large numbers of school library professionals.
Closing district TL positions may not at first seem as devastating as saying goodbye to a school library professional who sits in front of students daily, but the ripples are far reaching. They are the great equalizers. I am so grateful that I do not have to sit in on budget meetings or consultations with vendors about databases; my school board does this for me so I can enjoy the fruits of their labor - helpful databases paid for centrally and easily accessible on our board's virtual library site (maintained centrally, thanks to the team and the district TL).
I don't understand why district school library centers are targeted when "bean counters" need to save money. When these services close, who can object? If the district TLs do it, it looks like it's self-serving. The voices of "regular educators" in schools are easily ignored at the system level, and sometimes we who are in individual schools are unaware of the danger our central library departments may face in terms of significant cuts. What is the most effective way to learn about and object to cuts?
Finally, thank you for the end-statement about AI in your paper. It is important to be transparent, and model how to appropriately use AI. It is an area that school libraries will need to play a vital role.
Diana Maliszewski
To get in under the word limit we cut a whole section on the history of district TLs and why we never formed a TALCO like organization in the past -- The BCTLA being the main reason, and its place as a part of the BC Teacher Federation is another. Without the pandemic, I doubt we would have come together like this. We did it out of necessity as we needed to share data and updates outside of the BCTLA structure as it was relevant only to a handful of us who were being asked to inform district decisions on handling of library books. Once we got through that, we stayed together because the power of the network was realized.
DeleteAt UCDSB we had a dedicated Manager of Learning Commons Systems who would be the equivalent of a District TL. This position was eliminated a few years ago and we now fall directly under the Teaching & Learning Department. The principal of this department is a very supportive advocate for us, however, this does not mean that our budget has not been reduced over the years and continues to be a target for cost cutting. Our once robust list of licensed online databases available through our Virtual Learning Commons (VLC) has been eroded to a handful of choices, some of which we are currently fighting to retain. Given that most of the school funding for books is being put towards Fiction, Graphic Novels, and picture books, the online databases provide students with vetted resources to learn about science, math, and social studies, as well as giving them access to ebook collections. Without these resources, students will once again rely on Google. Our school board hasn't had a full contingent of Teacher-Librarians for over 20 years. The SLLCs are staffed by Learning Commons Technicians who are responsible on average for six schools. This year two of the our 13 allocated positions became Learning Commons Lead positions - I am now one of them - and existing technician positions will be eliminated through attrition. The Leads are a liaison between the technicians and the Board, provide District Wide training, maintain the VLC Website and Destiny Circulation software, mentor the technicians, monitor stats, and provide remote assistance to the schools without an on-site Learning Commons Technician (personally, I have 15 schools at the moment that fall into this category), amongst other activities.
DeleteSomething has got to improve if we are to provide the Literacy and Research Skills training and support, and maintain the functioning SLLCs that our students and staff deserve.
Cathy, Joseph & Shauna:
ReplyDeleteLike Diana - I wholeheartedly agree and echo your sentiments that a central coordinating role for school library professionals is a critical one. The irony that I think I hadn't really considered until now is that while cutting theses roles are often made as "cost saving measures," the financial impact of these losses is far greater than decision makers may realize. As you so succinctly note, "a district-level TL can oversee the acquisition of new resources, significantly reducing the time and money spent by individual educators on researching and purchasing materials." In our board (TDSB), centrally purchased resources, including those attached to our Virtual Library, would be cost prohibitive if left to individual schools. Yet, as with many staffing decisions, it is only the consideration of those educators who are providing direct instruction that "count" when it comes to determining who is of "value" in our system. And this short-sightedness is what has brought us to the crisis in education through which we are all now suffering.
If only more districts were able to see the bigger picture... I wonder what kind of data it would take for stakeholders to realize the efficacy of central coordinators? And who can/will do this kind of research?
We have submitted an adapted form of this paper to the BC Superintendent professional magazine to try and bring attention to this. Additionally, one of the goals of CSL this year is:
ReplyDelete"Engage in advocacy directed at school board and district administration regarding the critical role of school library learning commons in education today and into the future."
Excellent Joseph I really like the action you are taking to get published in administrative journals !
ReplyDelete