Visibility, core standards, and the power of the story: Creating a visible future for school libraries

Todd, R. J. (2012). Visibility, core standards, and the power of the story: Creating a visible future for school libraries. Teacher Librarian, 40 (1), 8-14, 4. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1115270137?accountid=10043

Summary:

Using stories as a data collection tool, this article examines narratives from effective school library programs to explore how teacher librarians can overcome “occupational invisibility”. Dr. Todd sees Common Core implementation as a vehicle for increasing the visibility of the school librarian with its focus on developing deep knowledge and inquiry-based learning. Examples of effective school libraries are given demonstrating how they support and contribute to student learning through integrated instruction that provides information literacy skills as well as curriculum content through engagement with appropriate resources.

Dr. Todd’s vision includes the  “...the school library as a pedagogical center; the school librarian primarily working as a coteacher; the focus on curriculum knowledge and meeting syllabus standards; and the implementation of an inquiry-based pedagogy.” He suggests this will improve the visibility of the importance of teacher librarians to student achievement and describes the library as the center of a school; integral to the implementation of all curriculum.

Evaluation:

I appreciate this article’s focus on the school librarian as having teaching as the core of their responsibilities. I also thought the idea that 21st century skills are not just about navigating and using information but actually using those skills to build knowledge was well stated. Some administrators and other teachers tend to focus on the information part of the technology without following through to explore how students will use the technology and information to increase their content knowledge.