Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom - Thomas Jefferson

I like to think I am a honest person - but I perhaps deep down I am not.
I tell lies. Not life shattering lies but the little white lies that I like to think are harmless - you know the ones - "No - your bum doesn't look big in that" or the sucking up to your boss ones "Brilliant staff development meeting today" etc.
So in this blog I am going to attempt to tell the truth - from my perspective - about the role teacher librarians have played in my teaching career. And it is a bit disappointing. As Derryn Hinch would have said SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!
My first real block of teaching was on a senior IO (intellectually moderate) class. Unlike other mainstream classes in the school we were not given an allocated weekly spot anywhere in the librarian's timetable. I am sure there were reasons but to me it was just plain unfair. Unfortunately my supervisor was in the same boat - noone dared question the librarian. Instead we had to sneak in during her admin time and much to her disgust I would read several books to my class and let the kids borrow. I hated going - I felt so uncomfortable - I was a beginning teacher in her library - I ignored the digs and the stares because I believed (and still do) that everyone regardless of academic ability should have access to a school library.
The following year we got a new principal and I was on mainstream year 5 class. It was a tough gig - not only was it was my first time starting with a class from the beginning of the year -the grade had some major behaviour problems. BUT on the upside we did get library time - althought my past "crimes" of using the library with my unit class were obviously not forgotten.
Being a new teacher I didn't know that to be a teacher librarian you had to do another course at university. In fact from my past experiences I didnt think too much of librarians (maybe because I was always getting told to be quiet by one of them) Anyway I thought that a teacher librarian was just the name for the teacher that worked in the library - similiar to how we call other teacher's by their job title - ie...reading recovery teacher.
Then it dawned on me that perhaps to be a teacher librarian you may of needed to do an elective subject during your bachelor of teaching at uni to learn the dewey decimal system and how to catalogue books etc.... I guess I thought anybody could be a teacher librarian just like any K-6 qualified teacher could teach say a year 1 class.
The teacher librarian's job from what I could tell was to read to the children, show them how to locate books in the library, teach students how to use computers and then the internet, return and borrow books with the students, collect resources (books, posters, videos) for teachers related to units being taught in class or prepare a list of what resources the library had available, organise book week, complete stocktakes and purchase resources.
Like I said before, the teacher librarian didnt really like me so we didnt do any team teaching or planning for my classes. We did it her way - perhaps the old fashioned chalk and talk way. I did respect her and the role she played in our school. I knew she put in long hours and was held in high esteem by the rest of the staff. When she retired I must admit I was looking forward to a fresh new start with a new teacher librarian.
Due to numbers dropping in my school - the Teacher Librarian position was reduced to only 3 days a week.
As a full time classroom teacher I thought the TL had it pretty easy.
When I went to the library with my class for our allocated lessons I maintained the discipline, I would read to them, i would plan the activities and then the kids would borrow. At report time whilst I was frantically trying to get 30 comments finished - she didnt have to write any. When I had 22 parent interviews until 8:30pm at night - she was skipping out the door at 3:30. There was no accountability - if the students can't read the parents are not up blaming the librarian.
Our library was closed for the first week (sometimes longer) and last week of every term ( longer in term 4) so resources could be collected and stocktakes done. Even after having all this time off I had to get the resources myself after waiting weeks and weeks for them.

so from my limited experience i believe some Teacher Librarians do have it easier than classroom teachers and perhaps they could get away with being a little bit slack or lazy - I saw no real accountability.

And there it is - the truth about why I found the TL role appealing - shocking but true -

Now I have started my little family - I don't want to work fulltime, I can't stay back at work until six o'clock everynight, I don't want to spend my nights/weekends and holidays preparing lessons and trying to be a perfect little teacher like I did prior to having them.

But after looking at the course outline for this subject I have started firing up - I have been inspired and I already know that my perception of what a Teacher Librarian's role is has certainly changed

Reliving past glories and other ramblings

When I younger I always wanted to be a McDonald' s lady or a primary school teacher. Everyone (okay not everyone but lots of people) would tell me I was really good with kids and would make a great teacher - for some reason they were not as supportive of my McDonalds career - and Maccas didn't want me - :( - something I may never get over lol
Anyway - I love teaching and being in the classroom. I still do - but now that I have started my little family - Hannah (20 months) and Lucas (3months) working full time is not really an option for me.
Hence why i have applied for this Masters Course - I feel working in the library would be a perfect role for me - I get to play an important role in a school, work as part of a team and i have the option of not having to work full time. So for me a happy balance.
In my youth I was a library monitor - a very sought after position in my primary school. I remember having to audition with about 30 other hopefuls for the role by being timed returning books to the correct shelves.
I loved my little job in the library in particular being "behind" the circulation desk and filing the little orange borrowing cards and date stamping the books. Being a library monitor also meant you got to read to younger students and be "Tony Barber" in the newly released "Sale of the Century" board game - which we had to organise a waiting list for kids wanting to play. I felt important and that I was helping people.
Being a library monitor was a BIG DEAL back in primary school. All the cool kids were doing it - you were either a Captain, Vice Captain, Prefect, House Captain or Library Monitor. Every lunchtime the library was busy and a fun place to be. Obviously a credit to the librarian.
Heading to highschool, the role of the library changed for me. We didn't have a weekly visit to the library to borrow books and have the librarian read to us like back in primary. The librarian insisited on silence and basically it just wasn't cool to hang out in the library anymore - only "nerds" did.
Back then I didnt know that librarians were teachers.

When I was speaking to a non-teaching friend about being enrolled in a 2 year part time librarian course - I was shocked by her response - "Why do you need to study for two years? How hard is it to learn to put books on the shelf and yell SHHHHHHH all the time?"

If only she knew.

But it did make me think -
* how challenging the role of being a teacher/librarian is and will be especially when many teachers and parents don't understand or appreciate librarians in schools.

I am guilty and in the past I know I have whinged with colleagues during report time that being the librarian would be an "easier" job than being on class but now I know that one should never judge a man until you have walked a mile in their shoes...... and those shoes are certainly big ones to fill.

Yeah me.... I think... This is one of my first attempts at writing a BLOG.
Fingers crossed I have set it up correctly and I will be blogging away in no time.