Comments on: What’s in a name? A discussion about identity & vision

By: Do educators need a tea party? « NeverEndingSearch

Do educators need a tea party? « NeverEndingSearch — Wed, 19 May 2010 07:00:36 +0000

[...] or listened too. So much talent deserved to be unveiled. (See a summary in the responses of Cathy Nelson, Diane Cordell, and Doug Johnson, as well as the archive of the [...]

By: Cathy Nelson’s Professional Thoughts » Blog Archive » Field Guide for Change Agents: TL Virtual Cafe FREE Webinar

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 20:55:18 +0000

[...] can’t speak enough about the power of the TL Virtual Cafe meetings. (I blogged about the February one here.) I was extremely pleased last month to see no less then six South Carolina school [...]

By: Cathy Nelson

Cathy Nelson — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:49:08 +0000

What an awesome response. See? had someone had this description of the events that took place made available along with the name change release of information, I my not have responded with a response that sounded quite knee-jerk in nature. This is a well crafted response that allays my concerns spot on. It’s a shame no one involved could speak this to those of us who expressed concern or questions during the time we were give so little information. Thanks for taking time to respond here and make me see how the decision was made.

By: Dorcas Hand

Dorcas Hand — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:16:47 +0000

I’m coming to this discussion late, but I am equally inspired – and I was present at the AASL Board meetings. In that room, we all agreed that Teacher-Librarian is a wonderful title, but we also saw that there remains much confusion about the most descriptive title that would minimize confusion going forward. The term Librarian remains forward looking, even after centuries of use. Librarians have always handled information in whatever form it took in the century they worked. We also agreed that when someone asks us what we do, the term that is most immediately understood is School Librarian: it tells everyone that we are librarians who work in schools, and it includes all the other aspects of our job. We further felt that TeacherLibrarian did not indicate the administrative aspects of our jobs, and that does separate us from the teaching function. The bottom line of the discussion, however, returned to the fact that the world understands what we do by watching us do it. When the librarian BY ANY TITLE is quiet and hides behind the desk only managing books, observers develop a retro definition. When they see us out front leading the charge to information literacy, collaborating with teachers and teaching classes daily – then they know the full definition of school librarianship. An additional factor in the decision was money and further confusion: it would be very expensive to change the name of the association, money that would then not be available for other currently essential programs. And it would be confusing to legislators (especially at the federal level) where current legislation is written with the term SLMS; the change to SL will be easier going forward.
All that said, I appreciate the passion of all Teacher Librarians and hope they will remain active in AASL. As further advocacy and marketing programs are developed by the association, the teaching role will be emphasized as will the collaborative, administrative, technology and traditional library roles that are so essential to schools today. I am finding serive on the AASL Board very intellectually challenging as we discuss with intensity majopr philosophic questions that have immediate and practial effects on our membership; I also find it satisfying to see how passionate the Board members are that every member’s opinion be considered in these discussions. School Librarians ARE TeacherLibrarians, all day, every day; the title is not retro IMHO.

By: Name Change from Media Specialist to School Librarian- moving forward? « Library Garden

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:48:05 +0000

[...] Cathy Nelson’s Techno Tuesday [...]

By: Cathy Nelson

Cathy Nelson — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:12:35 +0000

It is wonderful to have you here commenting!! I believe there is room at the table for all titles. So I say embrace what fits you best. PS–I LOVE your blog. I have a Titlwave list called MsYinglingReads and it is sort of like our emergency list to pull from when we need to add titles to a list.

By: Ms. Yingling

Ms. Yingling — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:09:26 +0000

For the last ten years, I’ve called myself a school librarian against the tide. I’m a horrible media specialist. I hate overhead projectors, my teachers show so few movies, and what I do most is give students books. Liber, libri is the Latin for book, so I have felt that librarian is the best title for me. I understand that other people are upset. I’m lucky to be in a school where they need me to be a librarian and value the work I do getting the right book to the right child at the right time.

By: Anne Robinson

Anne Robinson — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:55:47 +0000

I believe that you are right to fight for the title “teacher-librarian”. Here in the UK we are in a total mess when it comes to our professionalism and recognition. We have a mish-mash of people with librarianship qualifications called “Librarian”, “LRC Manager” and much more. We also have a large number of people with no qualifications who call themselves “Librarian”. There are also teachers calling themselves many titles. But what we don’t have, except in very rare cases, are people with dual qualifications who can call themselves “Teacher-Librarian”. There is no incentive to take both qualifications in the UK – there is little to do Librarianship, as I did so many years ago. If I were starting out, I would fight hard to be both a teacher and librarian, because that is what I am and what I do. But I wish I had the knowledge and expertise that you guys have – also teacher-librarians in Australia and New Zealand. I have always felt that there is something missing from my armoury – a teacher qualification. So, just as I baulk at unqualified people in the UK being able to call themselves “Librarian”, I think you should keep on battling for your term “Teacher-Librarian”. I wisdh I could join you! Good luck!

By: Diane Cordell

Diane Cordell — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 04:07:16 +0000

Cathy,
I’m with you on this issue: without “teacher” in our title, we are frequently confused with clerks and volunteers. Worthy people, to be sure, but not literacy and information experts.
Formal and informal teaching occur continuously in the physical library and anywhere else that the teacher/librarian is interacting with students.
We are professionals and we need to be valued as such.