Will “they” cost me my job?
Mar 5th, 2011 by Cathy Jo Nelson
I can’t stop thinking about a blog post I read yesterday. The opening line of
We all run into them now and again…. Techno-resistant librarians. I used to think such an attitude would cost them their jobs. No more. Now I think those retro-librarians might cost ALL of us our jobs. (Jacquie Henry, LMS, Cirillo High School in Walworth, New York)
The post hits home and is so right on so many levels. Here I sit safe and secure in my current position, thinking I will never lose my job because I am so up on 21st century learning, how today’s students learn, engagement, and making the learning relevant (and keeping myself relevant in the fast-paced changing world.)
Here is what how I responded to Jaquie over at Wanderings:
To the ones who say “I did not sign up for all this tech stuff,” I say “THEN SIGN OUT!” “Go do something else, PLEASE.”
Yet I grow concerned when I read articles like the one that popped up in our state paper yesterday.
Governor takes aim at state employee benefits – Governor Watch – TheState.com
In a nutshell, serious wagging of the dog is happening in our capitol, with our Governor also punching the lights out on educators by proposing to cut our benefits package.
So how are these two related for me?
The techno resistant make it easy for those making serious budget cuts to decide the librarians of today are unimportant. They (the ones resistant to change) are why my job is at risk. And then the thought that my benefits are up for cuts, especially as a twenty-five year veteran educator, make me seriously consider other options for employment–maybe even far, far away from my home state of South Carolina, the only one all tweny-five years have been invested in.
It’s almost as if there is a tug a war happening–the teachers, administrators, and yes, teacher librarians that refuse to use more relevant teaching tools for the kids we see everyday now (and instead skill and drill the “test” as their bottom line) pulling against the bureaucratics who are hell bent on pushing their own agenda (school choice) by painting an ugly picture of today’s schools and using politics to affect change (like the Governor’s proposed changes in our benefits, a direct result of Act 388 in our state which is the primary reason for budgetary shortfalls since 2008.) Neither side of this tug-a-war is worthy of a win. All lose.
The fallout?
Less college students seek to become teachers, despite a passion for shared learning. More quality educators leave the profession. Schools nationwide cut services and programs, making the education of our students suffer setback after setback. Oh, and my position, no matter my passion for it or what I bring to the table, could be a part of that fall out. Yikes. Scary time.
Scary, scary times ahead. But I also must add that it is LMSers who forget that our number one job is customer service who will be our downfall. Be it failure to keep up with technology, best practice, or even just being dog gone PLEASANT to the folks visiting the library. You don’t know how many times I’ve heard from parents, students, teachers, and administrators that their last media specialist was so: mean, rude, unhelpful, incompetent, clueless, etc, etc, etc. I know I have my off days, but I hope I’ve made my library a place everyone wants to visit and not one they want to avoid! It is about making ourselves visible, trusted, valued, and as Doug Johnson says “indispensable” to our stakeholders! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you CHOOSE to be a LMS so do the job right or move to another profession.
As for our illustrious governor and other public officials who think they know what’s best for education and the little guys, I can’t say here what I want to say. I will just add that I find it interesting that the people who live in fancy houses, send their kids to private school, and have a more than comfortable living (with a sizable retirement package) are dictating cuts for folks who are barely making ends meet. They have some nerve talking about people making sacrifices!