With
all the many projects, documents, promotions and advocacy activities I
enumerated, wouldn't you agree that it is an exciting time to be a
school librarian these days? We have seen the personal stories of
library clients and users. We have looked at the current research on
school library. These are all evidences that our job is relevant. But we
need not stop. We have to go on because the landscape of information
and business of knowledge creation is ever changing. We cease to grow
when we stop recognizing the changes happening around us and we do not
act appropriately on it.
History has lessons to teach us on this.
In
general, libraries, are very much a part of human history along with
the invention of writing and the book. The first to sprout and develop
were government, public and university libraries. School libraries are a
recent invention. It was not not until the turn of the 19th century
that legislation on school libraries took place in the US. It was in
1915 when the American Library Association assigned a division for
school libraries now known as the American Association of School
Libraries (AASL).
Thanks
to Melvil Dewey for devising the Dewey Decimal System. We have a way
of finding order in chaos. Then, there was also SR Ranganathan, a
mathematician by profession who became a librarian not by choice but by
chance. His teachings on the 5 Laws of Library Science still speak of
enduring truths and philosophy of librarianship. In fact, modern library
and information science thinkers have adopted Ranganathan's 5 Laws to
address current issues suitable for the practice of the profession.
These are the 5 Laws as per SR Ranganathan:
1.Books are for use.
2. Every reader his [or her] book.
3. Every book its reader.
4. Save the time of the reader.
5. The library is a growing organism.
Michael Gorman and Walt Crawford made their own variants:
1. Libraries serve humanity.
2. Respect all forms by which knowledge is communicated.
3. Use technology intelligently to enhance service.
4. Protect free access to knowledge.
5. Honor the past and create the future.
Let’s play spot the difference. What changes can you see on the 5 Laws
of Library Science by SR Ranganathan’s to that of Gorman’s and
Crawford’s version? What similarities? Remember, these “laws” were
written in different eras and generations. What factors have shaped the
evolution of the laws?
While SR Ranganathan’s philosophy of a reader centered library service
and a library that continuously grows in terms of collection and
programs, Gorman’s and Crawford’s laws take on a perspective of library
services that adhere to global citizenship, the moral implications of
the profession, and the equitability of information access and creation
of knowledge. This change from a stable knowledge base to a more dynamic
and participatory nature can be attributed to technology, educational
reforms, shifts in paradigms, philosophy and ways of knowing others and
the world.
The school library, in this event of changes and shifting paradigms,
has moved emphasis from collection development to student centered
services to the development of lifelong learning skills (a belief
system). Three ideas are perpetuated in lifelong learning:
collaboration; leadership and technology (Information Power, 1998). With
these movements, the role of the school librarian takes on new forms.
The school librarian is a teacher, an instructional technologist,
instructional planner, and a library manager.
It
used to be that library management is the only work expected of us.
Even the educational and academic preparations I received from library
school taught me skills in running an effective and efficient library.
But, the dynamic flow of information and the constant flux by which it
is stored, created and communicated has changed all that I learned from
university. It is essential that school librarians, you and I, do more
than just catalog, classify, keep indexes and orient users on the
library, its systems, collection and staff, and conduct inventory at the
end of the year. It is imperative that when we collaborate with
teachers in the delivery of the school’s instructional programs the
library skills instruction that we do, whether embedded with Information
Literacy skills or Media Literacy is contextualized on students’
culture and experiences. We need to know the pedagogy and develop macro
thinking skills to understand the school’s curriculum. Pedagogy and
curriculum are two entities that define our collection development
program. When teachers plan their unit lessons, we are with them as
instructional consultants, helping them source out resources, both in
school and outside the community, and providing them with a wide array
of learning tools and technology. Furthermore we function as dialogue
partners of teachers and school leaders in discussing methods,
strategies and techniques in teaching students with different learning
needs and styles. As technological advancements surround and bombard us
with all forms and variety of information, school librarians need to be
guided by three principles: upholding intellectual freedom; adherence to
legal standards; and the observance of professional ethics.
As a parting shot, here are tips, I wish to share with you to stay relevant.
a. Take care of yourself.
b. Know your heart's desire or your passion as a school librarian.
c.
Follow that passion or that desire. Life will reward you. However, as a
prerequisite, you have to know how to truly reflect on your desires. In
other words, discern.
d. Heed the call of universal goodness.
e. Be a lifelong learner yourself.
Thank
you for bearing with me. I hope that I was able to touch on the
conference’s themes. Remember, you and I, we are school librarians. We
are relevant.
