Would you qualify?
Sunday, June 27, 2010 at 08:04AM Secondary School Librarian Job Posting
SPECIFIC QUALIFICATIONS
- A Secondary Education degree from a recognized university with a major in Library Science and/or the equivalent training and experience in a secondary school library
- Knowledge of applicable literacy training to support school goals including digital citizenship, online safety and productivity applications.
- Support and foster a collaborative environment that enables cooperative learning activities and project based learning
- Ability to perform duties of information specialist, teacher and instructional consultant in learning resources and strategies for information location with particular reference to the use of online applications and data retrieval, information technology, evaluation, and usage.
- Ability to build, organize and supervise a Library Resource Centre program and staff in order to effectively meet the needs and goals of the school and the Resource Centre.
- Knowledge and understanding of the application of relevant computer technologies to teaching and learning.
- Ability to maintain a sophisticated and ongoing web presence (for example: a Twitter account, web page, a blog, a wiki, social bookmarking, Facebook)
- Able to demonstrate how to use and leverage educational media for use with/by students and teachers.
- Able to use the practical and conceptual tools of information technology and to adapt to emerging technologies.
- Can articulate the leadership role teacher-librarians take within their school and district.
GENERAL QUALIFICATIONS, ATTRIBUTES and EXPERIENCE
- Strong commitment to excellence in teaching and demonstrated teaching ability.
- Comprehensive understanding of curriculum coupled with the ability to interpret curriculum appropriately to accommodate individual differences.
- Ability to design and implement a variety of assessment practices to measure and monitor student progress effectively.
- Ability to organize for instruction to maximize student potential.
- Confidence and proficiency in using instructional organizers, concepts, and strategies that actively engage all students in learning.
- Knowledge and ability to structure and organize instructional strategies to enhance academic learning time.
- Practical knowledge of district initiatives in reading so that reading skills and strategies can be taught explicitly across the curriculum to insure reading success.
- Strategies to identify learning difficulties early, understand obstacles to learning, and implement effective intervention to maximize academic success.
- Knowledge and understanding of the application of relevant computer technologies to teaching and learning.
- Excellent written and oral communication.
- Evidence of personal initiative and strong work ethic.
- Demonstrated successful and creative classroom experience.
- Ability to demonstrate flexibility and responsiveness to the needs and demands of the profession.
- Willingness to be involved in professional development, with an ongoing commitment to learn and implement new methodologies and strategies.
- Ability to work collaboratively with students, parents, and staff to enhance the school as a learning community.
This job posting (the sender OKing its unattributed publication) caught my attention a couple days ago. The items in bold both delighted and frightened me a little. But mostly delighted. These are the attibutes that will keep a teacher-librarian relevant in today's schools.
Here is the reaction the author from others with whom she shared it:
I have received much comment and interesting feedback from colleagues who say that there is no one who can do all this. I disagree, and feel that the important issue here is that the bar has been raised.
The bar had indeed been raised. Are schools of library science sharing this sort of information with candidates for the profession?
Oh, I found only two attributes missing from the list: ability to walk on water and to turn water into wine.
What would you add to the list - as a teacher, administrator or parent who wants a teacher-librarian that truly supports the mission of the school?
http://www.vagabondish.com/
Reader Comments (26)
One more big piece to add to the general qualifications: Capacity & passion to make a difference in the lives of the students: aka - "a heart for kids "
Isn't this why most of went into education in the first place?
I found this job description timely as I just lost my assistant in the library (6.5 hrs to 0) due to a re-allocation of secretarial time in the school. I have been working toward as much of the job description in this post as I could over the last 7 years, and I feel and have been told by the principal that my work is appreciated, but the understanding of the need for someone to handle the clerical work to make my other work possible hasn't stood up to the test and the secretarial time is going to counseling and the front office reception desk. I have been promised that my principal will ask for additional funds for some help this summer, but it sounds like it will be coverage for lunch/planning, not actual expertise based help like I have had. I would like to send this description to my principal and others as advocacy, but I would like to be able to describe and attribute it properly. If you have more information on where it came from, I would appreciate it if you could send that information to me.
Thanks!
I find that the important part is not having the perfection to do all the things listed in the qualifications, but striving to achieve them to the best of your ability. Just as God asks us for perfection, but knows we are incapable of it, He wants us to strive to be the best we can be and not be content to rest on our laurels. The same should be said of our profession. We must always work to better ourselves and not settle for doing things "good enough." And even the best librarians can't keep everything at it's best 100% of the time, but they give 100% every day to the task at hand.
They forgot the salary. $14.75 / hr.
Yes. I qualify. Not willing to work full time though and I'm living happily on the open prairie in the middle of nowhere.
Hi Susan,
Yeah, I am guessing most librarians who are blog readers are pretty tech savvy and forwarding thinking - such post are a little like preaching to the choir!
Nice hearing from you out on the prairie,
Doug
Believe it or not, I do qualify for this job. Each year its getting more and more challenging to do the things I am qualified for and excited about doing as my support is being taken away (less prep time, shortened library classes, .3 library assistant, increase in students per class so no more 1:1..4 will share, fixed schedule, etc.). My challenge is, do I continue to try to do it all with less? Something has to give. Pretty soon I will have to start wearing a cape and a big red L on my shirt.
& I agree with that other person's comment. Most times when you see a job description like this, it comes with a low salary and no benefits :(
Glad to see the choir chiming in!! Doesnt it figure the choir qualifies? Bigger question--how to get more in the choir? Wonder if teachers have a similar job description or requirements for the sender's district? If not, there's a problem. Of course any of the choir could get the teachers there.
Oh, P.S., HATE that I missed ISTE this year. Guess I'll stick to AASL (unless I miraculously make an ALA or AASL committee that calls for attendance at ALA Annual.) A good friend of mine (Chris Craft) mentioned he saw you and my name came up. You two are in that small circle of great guys I call friends.
I had a conversation yesterday with a High school media specialist. He was hired two years ago fresh out of library school. He said they interviewed 18 people for the job. He was hired because he knew how to use technology. On the surface I thought that was great but then he told me that he is the tech. facilitator and media coordinator and lost his assistant this year. So now he is expected to do 2.5 jobs.
He was lamenting the fact that he doesn't have time to help students learn research skills and info literacy because he is pulled in so many directions.
I suggested that he needed to advocate for himself and let the principal and staff know what he would like to be doing and then brainstorm ideas for how some of the lower level duties such as book shelving and fixing jammed printers could be handled by others. He does have student helpers but supervising them is another duty that takes time. Does someone out there have ideas for involving parents or retirees? It seems like we really need to get creative in order to help serve our students.
Why are we always expected to do more with less? Dottie's suggestion of having student or retired volunteers is the common "solution". Training and supervising volunteers is yet another job. This year, I will be training students to check in, check out, and shelve books. This "lesson" (over the course of months as I see students 1x per week) will take the place of other lessons that would have been taught in the library (readalouds, reader's theater, information literacy, research, technology, online collaborative projects, etc.) . No matter how many directions I am pulled in, I can do 1 thing at a time. This year, my 1 thing is training my students to be my library assistant. This makes me so sad I could cry.
Keisa, I agree with you 100 percent. The state of things is really overwhelming. The problem is that nobody wants to pay the price for truly excellent education. We have gotten past the point of belt-tightening and now it is affecting students directly. Those of us who are really committed to students keep plugging away trying to make it work but often at a cost to ourselves. But I keep getting back to what Doug is trying to tell us and that is that we need to save enough energy to advocate for ourselves and our students. If we don't keep talking about it to administration, parents, and the community, everyone will assume that things are just fine.
I read through this job posting description and found it nothing short of expected. As a recent graduate of the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, I believe that any of my fellow classmates from the public relations focus would fit this bill, if not exceed it.
All of the graduating Generation Y has the capacity to ride the digital wave. We are versed in a native tongue of technology and grew up in the whirlwind ready to surf any new developments on the market. So when I read anything in the description relating to technological knowledge, education, implementation and adaptation, I thought check, check and check.
Furthermore, creating relationship tools between students, parents and teachers is tugging at the fabric of public relations. Public relations practitioners look at the internal, external and interconnected relationships within and between companies. Our goal is to find programs suitable to performance and results that are measurable. This concept can be adapted and applied to any group of target audiences to build relationships.
Specifically at the UO SOJC, the program prides itself on forward technological thinking and implementations into the classroom. The program is writing intensive, pumping out some of the best grammar gurus and AP stylists in college. Most journalism focused schools around the nation meet this high bar of writing and communication development.
Yet, the true selling point, of sophisticated recent graduates, is that they have an innate sense of flexibility. We jump on change like we never knew stability. Hand us a gadget, a piece of software, a social media tool and we'll master it in hours. Tell us that you're completely revamping the structure of your company and we'll say "bring it on." We're constantly learning new tricks and tools. We're sponges to our surroundings. Again, we're natives to this technological world full of constant change.
Maybe the ideal candidate for this position is a recent graduate with a journalism public relations degree and an undying love for books, libraries and education.
Sarah, I am sure you are right about the students UOSJC, but that is definitely NOT the case overall, if the new teachers I see are anything to go by. As a recent article explained ( I think it was in e-school news, but I could be wrong about that) new teachers, while social networking savvy, are no more likely than the 20 year veteran to implement technology meaningfully into their curriculum. Their classrooms are just as traditional as any one else's. Moreover, I don't find most of my students, digital natives or no, all that innovative or analytical in their use of technology. It must be taught, like anything else, and if the teachers don't know, how can the students?
While I admire your enthusiastic vision of Gen Y, I'm not all that convinced it's grounded in reality!
Hi all,
Declining support is a major issue everywhere, I think. Why it is ever more important to figure out what is really necessary from a clerical standpoint. Annual inventory? No. Self-check out for kids? Yes. Original cataloging? No. Student aides and parent volunteers? Yes.
It's more important than ever to been seen doing PROFESSIONAL, not clerical or technical work, as hard as that is to accomplish.
Good luck and thanks for the comment,'
Doug
Hi Cathy,
Your question about enlarging the choir and whether to attend ALA or ISTE may be related. One thing I've always liked about ISTE is the cross-section of educators that attend - not JUST the choir!
Doug
Hi Sarah,
I'd tend to agree that while many new teachers use social media personally, few know how to do it in an educational setting. I DO hope new teachers prove me wrong!
Thanks for commenting!
Doug
I qualify! And it's not because I"m fresh out of library school, in fact,I'm 10 years past my silver anniversary of graduating from library school. It's cause I've worked under a wonderful Director of Library Services. BTW, said Director just retired. You don't want to move to Houston do you? It never snows here!
Hi Guusje,
I expect your "gualifications" have more to do with your own dedication to continuous learning than they do with any library director (although they can help!)
You are asking me to move to Texas at the wrong time of the year. Ask again in January!
All the best,
Doug
I qualify, as of December when I graduate with my Masters in Library Science. The one element of the job that wasn't really mentioned is the passion for literature. The technology is vital- but a true, innate love of books is what begins the whole miracle.
J. F.,
What school are your graduating from?
Doug