-I strongly agreed when I read that “a qualified teacher-librarian has a positive impact on school culture and student achievement" and that “students read more, enjoy reading more, write better, access and use information more effectively and excel in academic content areas”(CASL). I have seen this happen with my own eyes, especially as I have been working as a TL TOC. I TOC at many schools and some TL’s are very rigid about their rules in the library and spend a lot of time disciplining students and talking about overdue books with students. I cringe when I see this because I have seen the other side of this where teachers are warm, relaxed, and welcoming to students. Where students come into the library before and after school, during recess and lunch, with a smile on their face and they have friendly conversation with the TL, and they are excited about reading.
-As I read through the readings for this Lesson, I am intimidated by all the things that TL's are supposed to be doing. Is there enough time in the day to do all these things? Does it get easier with time or do more expectations get added to the TL’s role as time goes by? In the end, I know that I should strive to be the best TL and that it will all come with time and continued enthusiasm for my future job as a TL with my own library.
-I think that it makes sense to organize resources in the library to meet the needs of the users. “When organizing resources, our objectives should be to do so in such a way that this will help all school library users meet the information literacy goals of the school library program and of their school" (Vista). However, sometimes TL’s organize the library in a way that seems to suit their needs more than the rest of the school. I am thinking of a particular TL who left some of the Teacher Resources (TR) in the library, but put some in the Resource Room, and gave some to teachers to keep in their rooms. This was chaotic. When I took over for this TL during a temporary contract and teachers would come to the library looking for Teacher Guide or other TR, we could not find them. This was frustrating for me and for the classroom teachers. I think this TL took the following to the next level: “…generally, decisions about "Organization" in a school library are the responsibility of the Teacher-Librarian” (Vista). She should have taken the teachers’ needs into consideration here too.
-“Can we truly have a strong Library Program in a poorly organized school library?” No, I don’t think you can. I think that in order for the TL and all the users of the library to be able to find resources quickly and efficiently, maybe even independently sometimes, it has to be well organized. I still have a lot to learn about library organization but that is the first thought that comes to my mind when I read the question above in Lesson 1.
-I’m glad that they are websites and videos to help teach students about the Dewey Decimal System. When I was working in the library, I had to teach the new Library Moniters how to shelve books. I remember how easy it was to explain the Easy section and the Fiction section of the library to them. However, when it came time to teach them how to shelve books in the Non-Fiction section, I was lost. I was just as lost as they were when they tried to shelve the books after their library orientation. Also, I remember the challenges I faced when I was teaching students how to find books in the non-fiction section after they had looked up books in the library catalogue for their research projects. That was hard as well.
-I didn’t realize that Melvil Dewey was so eccentric. I think that many geniuses that invented great things were eccentric and strange, as Sarah Prescott put it. But I think to invent something like the Dewey Decimal System, one has to be overtly passionate and somewhat crazed about libraries and organization. I wonder what we would have done if he didn’t invent it? Would it be easier or harder for students to find books? How would they be organized? I wonder if it would be easier without it for those students and teachers who find it challenging to understand?
-I can see myself using the Dewey Rap with my students. It is so funny and it makes a subject fun that the students normally find boring. Hopefully my computers at school will be faster than my laptop which took awhile to load it.
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