School Librarianship

Department of Elementary Education, University of Alberta, while dated (from 1991) provides some interesting insights into teacher librarianship preparation in Canada.

The Master's Degree is also required -- at least in the United States.

From the ALA Accreditation Frequently Asked Questions:

"For school library media specialists ALA policy 54.2.2 states: "The master's degree in librarianship from a program accredited by the American Library Association or a master's degree with a specialty in school library media from an educational unit accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education is the appropriate first professional degree for school library media specialists."

(While the master's degree is required, the reality is that it is sometimes the case that library media centers are staffed with non-degreed personnel.)

In Canada, however, the Master's degree is not required (although it certainly doesn't hurt). In Canada, within the teacher certification process a student who wishes to be a teacher-librarian needs to take coursework and complete a Teacher-Librarian Diploma program.

For example, here are the UPEI requirements for the Diploma in School Librarianship:

"The Diploma in School Librarianship is designed to give qualified teachers specialized knowledge in the role of contemporary school library resource centres, as well as expertise in being a teacher-librarian. To be awarded a Diploma in School Librarianship, candidates must successfully complete all ten of the following courses:

Ed. 521 Cooperative Program Planning and Teaching
Ed. 522 Instructional Communication
Ed. 523 Organization of Learning Resources
Ed. 524 Leadership in School Library Resource Centre Programs
Ed. 525 Information Technology in the School Library Resource Centre
Ed. 526 Children's Literature in Education
Ed. 527 Young Adult Literature
Ed. 528 Analysis, Evaluation, and Selection of Learning Resources
Ed. 531 Introduction to the School Library Resource Centre
Ed. 542 Curriculum Development II

Students must successfully complete all courses with an overall average of 70% to graduate from the University of Prince Edward with a Diploma in School Librarianship".

Other Canadian schools offer similar Diploma programs in Teacher-Librarianship within their Education Faculty. The MLIS/MLS programs also have concentrations in School Librarianship, for example, UBC's SLAIS program.

Issues

Some of the current issues of concern to School Librarians include Internet filtering, the Children's Internet Protection Act (see also Ashcroft v. ACLU), and information literacy. Internet Censorship: Issues for Teacher-Librarians by Alvin Schrader may be of interest, as well as Ken Haycock's What all librarians can learn from teacher librarians: Information

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