2)+Time+and+Support

__ Time and Support __ Teacher-librarians have a unique role within the school community. If given adequate time and support, they are able to interact with each student and teacher in the school. This facilitates equity among students as they develop into literate citizens. Unfortunately, “t he typical library in the typical Canadian school is under-funded, receiving little money for the purchase of library materials or for the hiring of library staff.” (Statistics Canada, 2005) Staffing includes having a qualified teacher-librarian and technical/clerical staff. Exact numbers that represent adequate staffing are found in “Achieving Information Literacy: Standards for School Library Programs in Canada.” (Asselin, et al, 2003) According to these standards, the middle school at which I teach has approximately 450 students and therefore needs a 1.0+ teacher-librarian and a 1.0+ technical/clerical staff to be deemed acceptable. These standards have not been met for almost ten years. Through advocacy and the support of new administration, staffing will improve over the next few years for the teacher-librarian but not technical/clerical staff. This still leaves the onerous task of cataloguing to the teacher-librarian which takes valuable time away from teaching students and collaborating with colleagues.

Support by all members of the school community is needed to facilitate an optimum learning environment for students. One aspect of the library program that occurs due to support is flexible scheduling. This allows for teachers and teacher-librarians to collaborate instead of having the teacher-librarian merely provide preparation time for the teacher. “Students and teachers must be able to come to the center throughout the day to use information sources, to read for pleasure, and to meet and work with other students and teachers.” (American Library Association, 2009) This occurs at my school but unfortunately only during half the day which is when the teacher-librarian is available.