What’s in a name? A discussion about identity & vision
Feb 2nd, 2010 by Cathy Nelson
Recent developments, the Teacher Librarian Cafe Elluminate last night, and yes, the AASL name change have my emotions so stirred I cannot think straight. Even at supper tonight my husband and I debated on who was being harder hit, the media specialists with the discovery that our President and congress see little value in our programs, or the teachers that rumors say will be losing their 
positions at the end of the school year.
So many of us exchanged thoughts and ideas today regarding what has us up in arms of late, and something Mike Eisenberg shared today with this network of friends and colleagues really struck me. I feel so lucky to be connected to such a group! I share it with permission below:
Regarding brand:
No, I cannot agree with School Librarian. To me, it’s retro – conjuring black and white images of stereotypical 1950s librarians. At the very least, let’s use teacher-librarian. Teacher-librarian emphasizes that we are educators – along with classroom teachers, special education teachers, technology teachers and others. That’s the term used in Canada and Australia. Here in Washington State, it’s the term written into educational code. I urge AASL to reconsider their decision. Yes – let’s move away from the 60’s – away from library media specialist or media specialist. But, let’s go forward, not backward.
Also, please remember the audience – it’s school boards and administrators and other teachers and students and community. It’s not us! It’s not how WE feel. This is how we are perceived by others.
Regarding the program – we’ve discussed this at length in the Northwest – with major input from the 3 Moms. We now agree on Library Information and Technology Program – the LIT Program. It’s a bit of a mouthful, but it captures key terms – library, information, technology. Yes, it is somewhat redundant to include all these terms, but politically and brand-wise it makes sense.
I know that there are strong feelings throughout the field on all of this. But I assure you – BRAND MAKES A DIFFERENCE. Returning to “school librarian” and “school library” gets us nowhere. “Teacher-librarian” can help a little because no one can say it and not realize that teacher-librarians are educators and not caretakers of rooms and books. “Library Information and Technology Program” can help a lot because it defines the scope of our responsibilities and links us to key, central, essential elements of 21st Century Education.
I plead with everyone – especially the AASL leadership PLEASE ACCEPT THIS PROPOSAL. I think it would be impossible right now to reach consensus on an entirely new title for the professional. So, the choice is really between “school librarian” and “teacher-librarian.” School librarian? Been there, done that. Teacher-librarian? We haven’t really given that brand a concerted, nationwide try – shouting it from the rooftops. As for the program, accept a new term that does capture and stake out the breadth of what we do – library information and technology.
I truly fear for the future of the field. Like newspapers and bookstores, I think we are truly endangered. THERE IS A CRISIS. It seems that we lose positions every day. I think it is crucially important if we have any hope of stopping the erosion of cuts in positions across the country that we need to take these 2 steps now!
Teacher-librarian. Library Information and Technology Program.
I’ve worked in and for this field for almost 40 years. I think most of you know how hard I have worked on the ground in individual schools, districts, in states, and on the national level. I put every ounce of my reputation on the line for this plea. Even if you don’t fully agree with me, but you respect my efforts and work over the years, please give this a chance.
Thanks for listening,
Mike
p.s. – and the tag line, mission statement is clear – “to ensure that students are effective user and producers of information and ideas.” There is no mission more powerful than this.
***************************************************************
Mike Eisenberg
Dean Emeritus and Professor
The Information School of the University of Washington
Box 352840
Mary Gates Hall, Suite 370
Seattle, WA 98195-2840Phone: (206) 616-1152
http://www.ischool.washington.edu/mbe
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Wow. Can’t you just feel his passion in that? I too feel we NEED the “teacher” brand in our title to make our congress and President take us seriously. Mike is right. When they think school library and school librarian, they remember what it was like 40+ years ago when they were in school. They have not experienced the library of today.
Introductory Webinar focus – TL Cafe discusses the “name”
Last night in the TL Virtual Cafe, there were some very animated discussions centered on the title issue as well as the national budget eliminating school libraries. The TL Virtual Cafe is going to happen every first Monday of the month, so stay tuned to see what the next topic is and how to access it. There were over 86 particpants last night alone! Checkout the resources provided to us from our special guest Mike Eisenberg.
And so, I leave you with the question–>What’s in a name?
Our brand, our livelihood, I daresay. Call your congressman TODAY. Claim yourself as a TEACHER Librarian, and ask them to rethink cutting our budgets. End that call (or letter) with our clear mission:
“to ensure that students are effective user and producers of information and ideas.” (quoting Mike Eisenberg)
Photo Source: Michael Eisenberg
http://faculty.washington.edu/mbe/
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.
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!
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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