Debbie's+Site+2+Case+Study

Site 2 is an independent Anglican co educational school with a population of 1400 students from Pre-Prep to Year 12 and 114 teaching staff. The school has 2 libraries, one servicing the Junior school and the other servicing the Middle and Senior schools. The Middle and Senior school library will be the focus of this case study. The population in the Middle and Senior school is around 800 students. This library is staffed by one full time Teacher Librarian (TL), one full time library technician, one part time library aide and one part time library assistant. The current Teacher Librarian is employed for Semester 1 as the permanent Teacher Librarian is on leave.
 * The School **

** Role of the library within the school ** The library is centrally located on the Middle/Senior school campus and is the location of many activities that occur at lunchtime, before school and after school such as a homework club, astronomy club, and chess club as well as subject specific tutorial classes. There are nine teaching areas, all with desktop or laptop computers. There are also reading areas and small conference rooms available for student use. The school’s website describes the library as focussing on developing research skills, as well as fostering a love of reading with the students. It also provides many digital options to enhance learning (School website, 2010). The TL believes that the library should provide curriculum support as well as leisure opportunities for students and staff in the school. ‘The school library is now seen as social centre and no longer a place where you hear ‘Shhh’ (TL interview, 10th March, 2011).

** Role of the teacher librarian ** The TL’s role description states that the TL requires specialist knowledge of children’s and adolescent literature, library software and databases, cataloguing and library management. It also states that the TL will work with teachers to enhance student learning. Further specifications include teaching and learning, leadership, curriculum involvement, literacy development, management and services (School Role Description, 2006). Furthermore, it states that the TL should possess recognised teaching qualifications as well as eligibility for professional membership of ALIA.

** Pedagogy and Curriculum Development ** The role of the TL in terms of pedagogy is limited, yet varied. The TL appears to use a constructivist approach in that she provides resources for students to use rather than providing specific information that would limit student's interaction with information. The fact that the TL is in a caretaker role means that there is no clear pedagogical leadership emanating from the library. Furthermore, she is not taking classes for lessons so pedagogical practice is limited to collating resources requested by individual teachers and departments. She encourages the Big 6 study skills framework for students completing research tasks and promotes this framework when addressing classes who visit the library as a part of the research process. She commented that there no whole school model that is used for research tasks. However, she believes that is the role of the TL to implement and coordinate a whole school approach for research.

A broad knowledge of curriculum with finely tuned research skills is the best way of supporting the teaching staff from the TL’s perspective. As a part of the role the TL is to be able to see the big picture of what is being taught in the school to ensure that all areas are well resourced and supported. By having this knowledge, current materials that support the curriculum can be sourced and purchased. The TL attends Curriculum Coordinators Meetings on a weekly basis. She notes that this is the best way to see overlaps and gaps in the scope and sequence of the whole school curriculum.

** Staff Development and Collaboration ** The role of the TL includes facilitating professional development (PD) that is related to the Learning Management System (LMS) used in the school. Although this is managed by the IT Department the TL believes that it should be a co-operative team effort, not one that is separate from the TL’s role. She also sees her role as one that ensures staff understand the digital databases that are available to all students. PD about these databases are presented by the TL and are included in the schedule of weekly school-run PD sessions, as well provided on needs basis for staff and students. It is important to the TL to attend regular PD to assist her in providing contemporary curriculum and information literacy support to the teaching staff. The TL also ensures sees her role as staying abreast of current issues and trends in school libraries across Australia. One way she does this is to be an active member of Oz-TL listserv. The TL perceives her role and that of the library as purely service oriented. Creating strong connections between teachers and the library is a vital aspect of her role. She endeavours to meet the needs of the teachers and she strives to provide opportunities for teachers to prepare best practice lessons for their classes. The TL has numerous conversations each day with staff members about a variety of topics. She sees the building of professional relationships a key to the library functioning at its optimum level. The TL believes that a library becomes just a warehouse of books if there is no relationship between the TL and teachers.

** Information and Literacy Development ** The TL is actively involved in enhancing information technology skills across all year levels. This occurs primarily by offering advice and guidance to teachers in relation to setting up wikis, websites, virtual classrooms as well as showing teachers how to use online resources in the classroom. According to the TL the difference between the TL and a classroom teacher is that the teacher has specialist content knowledge whereas the TL has the technology skills, especially relating to research, that can support and enhance this knowledge.

Literacy development is another key focus of the TL. To encourage student’s reading, the TL believes that the book collection should be kept current and up to date with modern titles and series that interest the students. The TL attempts to read all new books so she can recommend books of all genres to the students. Furthermore, the TL believes that reading to the Prep students enhances literacy. The TL is a part of a weekly rotation of library staff rostered to read to the Prep classes. She thinks that this should be extended to other year levels to foster a love of learning and a love of visiting the library. Despite this, the TL recognises that timetabling and staffing restraints prevent this from happening across all year levels in the Junior and Middle School.

** Library Management ** The TL is responsible for the management of staff in the library. This includes supervising them in their day to day tasks such as staffing the borrowing desk, re-shelving, managing various digital resources as well as the general organisation of the physical resources. Each staff member has a defined job description. However, the TL ensures that each person is able to perform all tasks so in the case of absences there is minimal disruption to students and teaching staff. The TL also manages staff so their strengths are utilised so all tasks are undertaken with the most efficient outcomes. As well, she is responsible for decisions relating to design of the library, the purchase of new fiction, opening hours of the library and services provided to staff and students.

** Vision for the Future ** One of the TLs primary goals for the library includes a better resourced non-fiction collection. Whilst the fiction collection has grown steadily over the past few years, the non-fiction collection is beginning to be in need of updating. The TL believes that understanding the resource needs related to the Australian Curriculum is a good opportunity to address this.

Promoting and publicising the library databases and digital resources is another aspect of the library that the TL sees as an important direction for the library. Her goal for the future of is that all teachers utilise the databases that the school pays for so that they are cost effective. In the future, the TL would to facilitate a system where book reviews are uploaded onto the library website, to promote reading for leisure and literacy appreciation. The TL promotes this initiative at weekly staff briefings as well as in the Student Daily Notices. The TL hopes that in the near future this will be a part of middle school literacy lessons, as well as an activity many students and staff will engage in.

As the TL is only acting in the position for Term 1 and then in a part-time capacity in Term 2 there appears to be limited information and knowledge about the long term future vision of the library.