Photo: gettyimages.ca/photos/angkor-wat

“What the school librarian does with regard to reference services is fundamentally to assist students in finding the answers to questions and helping them become independent users of information and ideas” (Reidling, 2003, p. 4).

This theme has been an interesting journey to start off our course.  I chose the photo of Angkor Wat because I feel that without librarians and consistent weeding and maintenance, some libraries are destined to become museums, or worse: ruins.  The old and outdated reference books in this metaphor are the roots that have taken hold of the great structures in Cambodia.  Without someone to maintain these collections they can become historical tombs.  Without too much more poetic inflection, this is the scale of the task that I see laid before teacher librarians in education.

I find the maintenance of a library collection to be a privilege and also a great responsibility.  Collections are vital cultural capsules that are necessary for the individual and social education of children.  As stated in Achieving Information Literacy, the vision of a school library is “a resource centre, filled with our literature and a wealth of national and international information resources, which acts as a national endowment for all our children and youth” (Asselin, 2003, p. 3).  Creating access to information and the keys to unlock that knowledge is no small task.

When I took on my TL position 6 years ago I had absolutely no idea what it took to run a library space.  I definitely did not know what synoptic meant, and it took me some time to fully grasp the scope and breadth of the library collection.  If I had purchased Reference Skills for the School Librarian by Reidling, Shake and Houston sooner, I would have been better prepared when I started out.  This job is not as simple or straight forward as some people may imagine.

Aside: I find it hilarious that we are using a physical text book in this course because it was not easy to find and that fact illustrates so poignantly the decline of books in favour of electronic resources.  However, my bias still resides heavily with physical books.  I am one of those people who tried a Kindle in the beginning (1st generation, thank you very much) and then let it become obsolete while singing my preference for physically turning pages (though I do admit, if one is travelling for a long time, e-reader are where it’s at).

As e-books become more of the norm there are complications that can arise and we must adapt to these challenges so that we can lead others down the path. “Critical thinking capabilities are as necessary in using a search engine as they are in using any print resource or database.  Searching the Web requires part skill, and a little bit of art” (Reidling, 2013, p. 113).  I like thinking of research as an art form because it means that we have not wholly given ourselves over to the machines and there is still a need, maybe more than ever, to foster agency in our learners.

When I began to weed the library collection, I was timid.  Then as I got into the process more and more, I became bold.  Then I became sheepish because I had definitely made some mistakes and I found it hard to reconcile the waste that I was generating,  Questions and doubt began to rise to the surface like, “what if someone comes looking for that book?”, or “what if there is a teacher who counts on that book being here?” etc.

Then came the pandemic of 2020 and The Great Realization (Roberts, 2020).  And while we were all teaching online I found myself alone in the library and there I also found my courage and conviction that it was my responsibility to curate the best collection I could for my students. As Reidling says so succinctly, “if school libraries were to be fully developed, they could be the great cultural equalizer that would give children in every corner of the country access to resources that would enhance their learning, give great personal pleasure, and help them learn about themselves and each other” (Reidling, 2003, p. 3).  I feel a bit grand saying this, but it takes vision and bravery to be in the leadership role that a librarian holds.  To quote that beautiful picture book by Tomos Roberts: “but while we were all hidden, amidst the fear and all the while, we dusted off our instincts, we remembered how to smile” (Roberts, 2020).  I took that quiet time in the library as a gift to reimagine what that space could be and what improvements were necessary.

So now, I consider myself a fierce weeder and defender of those stacks, and even after all of this time, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.

This year, I decided to employ some students to help me out.  I turned to the grade 5/6 Book Club and did a mini lesson with them about what an outdated reference book was and what was still useful.  Those busy little bees got to work immediately (seriously, how much do we love the initiative and follow-through that this age group is capable of?) and before I knew it, they has amassed several piles of books for me to go through and weed what needed to go.  As our school does not have official selection policies in place, I have, with the help of these TL courses, been developing my own.

With this keen group of students we have done some weeding and are now moving onto selection and acquisition which is an interesting conversation to have with them. Talking about what books they want to read and have on the shelves versus what they know is appropriate for a school given that there are younger students who may try to access the books is going to be interesting.  I know I will have to draw some boundaries with them, but it also feels really good to be able to give them a sense of agency, creation and ownership of the library space.

I felt reassured by this passage in the textbook:

“remember, however, that selection is not completely the responsibility of the school librarian.  It also belongs to administrators, teachers, students, parents, and community members.  Input from these people is essential for a useful and appropriate reference collection” (Reidling, 2003, p. 18-19).

This understanding takes the weight of the responsibility of populating a collection off of just one person’s shoulders.  As history teaches us again and again, having only one opinion in the room can be a dangerous thing and the equalization of collaboration is always necessary.

Works Cited

Asselin, M., Branch, J. L., & Oberg, D. (2003). Achieving information literacy: Standards for school library programs in Canada. Canadian Association for School Libraries.

Riedling, A. (2013). Reference skills for the school library media specialist: Tools and tips, (Third Edition). Linworth.

The Great Realization: Storytime Read Aloud. YouTube. (2020, October 8). Retrieved February 2, 2023, from https://youtu.be/LA7fGLK35wQ