My Ideas on the Role of a TL - then, now and to come

I thought it would be good to make note of some of my pre-existing ideas on the role of a TL before I read too much further into the course and forget what my pre-existing ideas were!!

I am very quickly feeling rather overwhelmed at what professional literature says I should be aspiring to as a Teacher Librarian! Not having worked much in this role before, I apologise, but here are my (archaic??) ideas on what I thought a good TL would do:

• Yes, the ol' check books in and out and shelve them, an oldy but a goody
• Help students appreciate books, encourage a love for reading and books - both fiction and non fiction
• Run "library" or "RBL" lessons - might involve reading a story to junior students and providing an activity that goes with it, might also involve working with a teacher to create a research assignment, using a variety online learning tools - games, info sites, applications
• Encourage and train student library monitors to do some of the more menial library tasks.
• Teaching all students "Library Skills" - learning their way around the library, helping them to be independent in locating and using books
• Promote literature - Premier's Reading Challenge, Book Week, displays in the library
• Assist teachers in putting together a unit of work, which may or may not involve use of IT
• Keep the library a vibrant, colourful and interesting place which students look forward to visiting
• Keep the collection ordered so that resources are easy to find, including teacher resources
• Keep the collection up to date - order and process new books, purge out of date or non-relevant books

Hmmmm. Now that I have actually thought about it and listed the "old views", I actually think that even though they may not match up perfectly with the "developing views", there are lots of elements in there that start to go towards meeting them.

Some of the aspects of a TL's role that I was not really expecting and perhaps feel a little intimidated by include:

• Working as a leader in a school to develop curriculum areas, active committee participation  (stress....... I'm more of a follower to be honest)
• Resourcing the whole school curriculum!! (I know it's in collaboration, but....)
• Implementing the school's mission (too hard basket)
• Pressure to keep up to date with current trends - both in teaching and in the area of IT (when am I going to get the time to do this!!!)
• Teaching Teachers!! (They are experts in learning, can't they just teach themselves?)
• Provide PD for staff (maybe when I find my feet and actually have an idea of what I'm supposed to be doing....)
• Be a leader in IT services for the school (Ok, so I know more than some in my school, but I would not consider myself an expert or leader....)

(Sigh)

I have spoken to several people about the stress I am feeling about the whole thing and have had a few words of advice that I think are worth mentioning:

• Often these standards/guidelines are what would occur in a perfect world - loads of money, space, time, and support from schools & colleagues
• Reality is usually a lot different to the idealised picture painted (I know my reality is.....)
• Different personalities with different abilities in different areas, will place different emphasis on the various roles and duties outlined - everyone works to their own strengths, interests and abilities.

I am hoping that as I progress in my studies I will chill out a bit more on what I should be doing and focus more on my own strengths and skills and work on developing and enhancing them. I will certainly take on board the ideas and concepts from the standards, but will not burn myself out trying to be a "SUPER-LIBRARIAN".