The Librain

This is a message that I sent to SLN on Friday – it actually arrived on the list on Saturday evening as it had to go through moderation. This is because I left the list and re-joined a few days later.

Dear Colleagues,

This is most probably the very last time that I will write to you via SLN. You probably thought that I had left anyway, but I have been reading the posts on the Yahoo site for some time. I make no apologies for what I am about to say – I think that someone needs to say it. As I am well known for sticking my neck out, I will do so as I feel so strongly about SLN and all the support that it has given me over the ten years that I have been a member.

A large group of committed, professional and passionate school librarians is a wonderful thing. We support each other in a way that I think very few other professions do. We care about each other and try to help. We welcome new members to our profession and do everything we can to assist their development in what I believe is one of the most important roles in education.

Over the years I have been a member of SLN, members have given me so much – I don’t think that I could have achieved what I have without you. I have tried to repay that by sharing my own experience and expertise as much as I can. I hope people agree that I have been generous with my own ideas and knowledge gained through many years of experience, professional development and education. I have also joined in some of the fun stuff on SLN and feel that many of you are more than professional colleagues – we have a comradeship and friendship that has lasted for many years.

So, it is with great sadness that I have to write this. Today I am embarrassed to be a member of SLN. For the last few weeks a large group of members have been discussing off-list just how SLN has descended to a completely trivial and unprofessional level. There is a very large and wide membership including professional librarians from many sectors, commercial interests, international colleagues. It is totally shocking that they see UK school librarians discussing insect bites, Dewey numbers, and other low-level trivia!

Many of us are also shocked at how easily colleagues “give away” their hard earned knowledge and expertise. Before Easter, I was attacked on the list for suggesting that school librarians should have proper training to do their job. Professional qualifications were rubbished by one member. Yet, the list relies on a large group of expert librarians who readily share their professionalism with others. Let me state my belief firmly and unequivocally – school librarians need training! Yes, there are some brilliant people who do not have formal librarianship qualifications – but all of the best school librarians have had training of some kind – courses from SLA, SLG, local SLSs. Anne-Marie, Ingrid, Nikki – have all had some training!

This is from the description of SLN from the Yahoo site: “We aim to promote the professional standing of the school librarian, and encourage all unqualified school librarians to develop their skills and knowledge through relevant courses and qualifications. SLN is not itself a substitute for proper training.”

So why do so many of you continue to support SLN members who have no intention of doing any training? Why are you allowing their schools to get away with employing people with no knowledge of librarianship and then training them on SLN for free?

At the very least – have colleagues no fear that their headteachers will see this as the way forward? Are you all that secure in your jobs?

Good, committed and able school librarians are leaving this list in some numbers, others are now posting very infrequently. Is this what members want? If the main topics on the list are so trivial, the expertise will be driven away to other places where we can raise the level.

Those are my thoughts.

Farewell
Anne

As this is my blog, I can say what I want! So, I will explain to anyone who is interested why I am having a break from SLN (School Librarians’ Network). Sorry – it is a long post!

First of all, I must say that I think SLN is a wonderful source of support for school librarians and Elizabeth Bentley, the list owner, deserves a medal for starting it and maintaining it so well for more than ten years. However, from time to time things get out of hand on the list. Sometimes I have been part of that myself – I am not perfect! Today was the final straw for me and I decided that the only way to stop myself from sending a message I might later regret, would be to unsubscribe for a while.

What sent me over the top was this comment:

“With the help of SLN, a subscription to SLA and the purchase of its very good Guidelines publications plus bags of enthusiasm anyone can become a school librarian.”

This was part of a message defending the position of unqualified people running school libraries. It was in reply to something I had posted about the need for training. My messages were a bit sharp, I know, but I am astonished that anyone would think that training is unnecessary! We all need CPD – I am not so arrogant that I think that I no longer need any training myself! I was not even talking about the professional education that I, and others on the list, have undertaken.

I was also angry that anyone should think that the knowledge and experience of professional librarians count for nothing. After all much of the “help from SLN” consists of exactly that! So, the writer of that comment, and others like her, agrees that she picks our collective brains, but on the other hand denies that we need qualifications to do the job!

Again, I know that there are exceptions in any milieu – there are some dull, disinterested professional librarians around who should never take up a post in schools; there are also some colleagues, without professional librarianship qualifications, who do a fantastic job in their schools. I have met truly awful, disastrous teachers too, and some brilliant teaching assistants, but that doesn’t mean that I support teaching becoming a non-graduate profession. At the very least school librarians should work to take the necessary training and acknowledge the expertise that has come with professional education and experience.

So, I do not apologise to anyone for my fundamental belief in professional qualifications for school librarians. Enthusiasm is great – we can all go a long way with that – but we also need a grounding that education gives us. Many years ago, I strongly believed that school librarians in the UK did not need a teaching qualification in addition to one in librarianship. Recently, after interacting with our international colleagues I am changing my mind. A teaching qualification can also bring so many facets to the job, that many of us struggle to develop on our own. Realistically, it would be very difficult for us to undertake teacher training in addition – there are no financial incentives or rewards for us to do this. But I think that it would possibly help us, not only to do an even better job, but also with our status in schools. It would also help us to focus on what a school library is about – teaching and learning, extending the curriculum, reading development, using technologies, and so on – rather than book marks, nice competitions, pretty displays – necessary, but not the “meat” of our raison d’être.

A friend has just sent me this – I was about to write exactly the same thing, but she has put it better:

Imagine this scenario. A message is posted to the TES Forums:

“Dear fellow-teachers,

I have recently been appointed to teach at a primary school nearby. I have no experience or qualifications but I am determined to do a good job. The school realistically cannot afford a qualified teacher so they have appointed me. Please give me all the benefit of your expertise and training so that everyone will think I am doing a good job”

Signed, TeacherMiss