‘What is a teacher librarian ? A qualified teacher librarian is defined as a person who holds recognised teaching qualifications and qualifications in librarianship, defined as eligibility for professional membership for the Australian Library and Information Association.
Within the broad fields of education and librarianship, teacher librarians are uniquely qualified. This is valuable because curriculum knowledge and pedagogy are combined with library and information management knowledge and skills.
Teacher librarians support and implement the vision of their school communities through advocating and building effective library and information services and programs that contribute to the development of lifelong learners.
Teacher librarians have three major roles : Teacher librarians as curriculum leaders; Teacher Librarians as information specialists; Teacher librarians as information services managers’.^[1]

This page looks at the role of teacher librarians in all states and territories, research and reports, associations, resources and more.

To access a wide variety of resources in addition to any listed, visit the School Library Association links which have been provided, as well as links in the Other Information section.

This remains a page under development and additional links that improve the content will be welcomed. There are some obvious areas where it has been difficult to find relevant information.

States & Territory Information

Australian Capital Territory

• Children’s Book Council [ACT]
• School Teacher Qualifications
  Section 4.2.2 provides details for School Teacher Librarians. Updated information.
• Australian School Library Association [Australian Capital Territory]
  Use this email link if wanting to contact ASLA ACT.

New South Wales

• Books and Reading for Young People page provides a wealth of links in a wide range of areas.
• Children’s Book Council [NSW]
• DER-NSW Support for Teacher Librarians
  Covers a range of resources as part of the Digital Education Revolution.
• NSW Teachers Federation, Information for All Teacher-Librarians
• Raps and Book Raps
  ‘A rap or book rap is an exciting teaching and learning adventure. A blog is used to host weekly discussion points in response to a text (books, films, websites), topic or event, stimulate classroom activities, and provide opportunities for teachers and students to share responses and ideas with other schools’. Examples are provided for those unsure or looking for ideas.
• School Libraries and Information Literacy
  A site ‘for teacher librarians, teachers, principals, school assistants and those interested in collaborative teaching and school libraries supporting digital age information literacy and reading’.
• Teacher Librarian Retraining Program
  ‘The Teacher Librarian Retraining Program is one of our strategies developed by the NSW Department of Education and Training to meet demand for teacher librarians’. An Information Package and other documentation is available from the site.
• ALIA NSW Library Technicians
  ‘Provides a range of professional development activities, represents library technician interests on relevant issues and promotes and supports national library technician initiatives’.
• Association of Independent Schools, Teacher Librarians
• Catholic Primary Teacher Librarians Association
• NSWTL.NET
  ‘A site serving NSW teacher librarians with links to useful sites, DET documentation [internal means these links will only work when logged into the DET network], industrial issues, and networking information’.
• Australian School Library Association [New South Wales]

Northern Territory

• Australian School Library Association [Northern Territory]
• Children’s Book Council [NT]

Queensland

• Children’s Book Council [Qld]
• Functional Job Requirements For the Position of Teacher Librarian
  While originally done as the basis for rehabilitation of injured staff, it provides a very clear statement of what a teacher librarian can expect to do per week.
• Frequently Requested Information About School Library Management
  Covers areas including Accountabilities, Censorship, Collection Development & Management, copyright, Library systems, licenses, Quality Indicators and use of videos and DVDs.
• Queensland Teacher Librarians Listserv
  ‘Anyone interested in joining the list will need to follow the instructions on [this] Education Queensland webpage’.
• Schools Catalogue Information Service [SCIS]
  Provides information about accessing this at the school level.
• Teacher-Librarian Role in the Developing Performance Framework
  ‘The Developing Performance Framework offers a process, tools and resources to : Deepen your understanding of the role of a teacher-librarian and the expectations of you in that role, Explore and make informed choices about the types of support that are available to you and Investigate options for addressing your own professional and career goals’.
• School Library Association of Queensland Inc.

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South Australia

• Careers
  For Teacher Librarians, Teachers and Library staff. Includes courses and more.
• Children’s Book Council [SA]
• Choosing and Using Teaching and Learning Material
  ‘Guidelines for the selection and access of teaching and learning materials. Includes templates and exemplars for a selection and access policy for teaching and learning materials’ and more.
• Role Statement
  ‘The following role statement can be adapted to suit the level of responsibility of the teacher librarian. When fulfilling all aspects of the role, the qualified teacher librarian is operating at a leadership level’. Available in PDF and Word.
• Teacher Librarians
  ‘The Award provides definitions for the face to face teaching calculations for teacher librarians’.
• School Library Association of South Australia

Tasmania

• AEU Teacher Librarians and School Libraries Policy 2008
  This link gives access to a PDF download of this policy.
• Children’s Book Council [Tas]
• School Library Guidelines
  ‘Developed primarily to support government school library staff. They are not to be used to replace school library staff but may aid staff in providing an effective school library service’.
• Staffing
  Information covering Teacher Librarians and a variety of Library Assistant positions, including qualifications required and how these can be obtained.
• Australian School Library Association [Tasmania]

Victoria

• Children’s Book Council [Vic]
• School Library Association of Victoria
  ‘Offers opportunities for teacher-librarians and library teams to build their essential role in engaging and developing lifelong learners’.

Western Australia

• Cataloguing
  Includes information relating to the use of SCIS data.
• Children’s Book Council [WA]
• School Library Support
  From CMIS. Covers multiple sections including the Importance of the School Library, support for the LRC, resource selection and more. Good section on the Role of the School Library with further links to a range of specific information from multiple sources.
• School Library Support [Department of Education]
  A new page created at the beginning of 2012. Multiple sections include Supporting learning, Learning Environments, Facilitating access, Resourcing the curriculum, news and a range of valuable links. Well worth a visit.
• WASLA Relief Register of Teacher Librarians, Library Technicians and Library Officers
  ‘WASLA maintains a relief register of Teacher Librarians, Library Technicians and Library Officers available to do relief work in both Government and Independent schools in Western Australia’.
• Association of Independent Schools WA Libraries
• Western Australia School Library Association

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Other Information

Associations and Groups

• Australian Library and Information Association
  ‘The professional organisation for the Australian library and information services sector. It seeks to empower the profession in the development, promotion and delivery of quality library and information services to the nation’.
• Children’s Book Council of Australia
  ‘The Children’s Book Council of Australia [CBCA] is a[n] organisation that was established in 1945 and is comprised of branches of individual members who are passionate about children’s and young adult literature’. Sections include, Book of The Year, Book Week, Authors & Illustrators, For Writers & Illustrators, For Readers and much more.
• Council of Australian University Librarians
  ‘Improving access by the staff and students of Australian universities to the information resources that are fundamental to the advancement of teaching, learning and research’.
• OZTL_NET
  ‘OZTL_NET is a discussion list for information professionals working in Australian schools’. Operated by the School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.
• School Library Association of New Zealand
  ‘The School Library Association of New Zealand Te Puna Whare Matauranga a Kura aims to strengthen and promote the role of school libraries, to enable all school communities to become information literate’.
• School Libraries Online
  ‘International Association of School Librarianship’. This association also has a range of Special Interest Groups from Children’s and Young Adults Literature to School Library Research.
• Australian School Library Association
  member bodies are listed under the states and territories above. Their Professional Links page has a really worthwhile listing covering associations, authors, booklists, databases, technology and much more.

Courses

• ALIA - Librarianship Courses
  Lists these by state → university → level. There is also a similar listing of Courses for Teacher Librarianship Offered across Australia listed on this site by ASLA.
• The How 2 of Web 2.0 : Learning with web 2.0
  ‘Online Learning Program - 7th March, 2011’. There is a cost associated with this.

Journals

• Access
  ‘Access is the professional journal of ASLA, which provides an open forum for all educators at all levels who are concerned with issues arising from information literacy’.
• Connections
  ‘A quarterly newsletter produced by the Schools Catalogue Information Service [SCIS], a business unit of Education Services Australia. Connections is distributed to all schools in Australia’
• Scan
  ‘Scan is a quarterly journal produced by the NSW Department of Education and Training. Scan focuses on the interaction between information and effective student learning’.
• School Library Journal^®
  American journal. Has reviews, articles, technology information, links to blogs, newsletters, supplements and more.
• The Australian Library Journal
  ‘An internationally recognised journal that showcases the best of Australian library and information research and practice’.
• Teacher Librarian
  ‘The Journal for School Library Professionals’. Has other information on the site as well as access to the journal.

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Other Information

• aliaLIBTEC
  ‘This e-list is open to all library technicians and library workers. It is designed as a place where people can discuss issues relating to them in their workplaces or in the library industry as a whole’.
• A Simple Book Repair Manual
  Online text. Select by chapter.

Blogs

• Brave New World
  Tania Sheko. ‘This blog was originally created to record my progress in a Web 2.0 program run by the School Library Association of Victoria in 2008. It soon took on a life of its own, allowing reflection, sharing of ideas and information, and social networking’.
• Bright Ideas
  ‘Bright ideas is a blog by the School Libraries Association of Victoria and the State Library of Victoria. Its aim is to encourage teacher librarians and educators to actively engage with ICT, to share tools and experiences, to network on a global scale, and to embrace dynamic teaching and learning opportunities’.
• Edubeacon
  ‘The Internet provides a wonderful opportunity to have convenient access to our own library of references regardless of our location. This Edubeacon blog and my Linking for Learning site assemble the resources I find valuable. Children are learning in a different landscape in their life outside school - let us do what we can to combine their worlds and create a love a learning with the stimulating tools available to us today. Let’s all get on the bus’.
• Fiction is like a box of chocolates …
  ‘I wanted to do more than just talk about books. My aim was to present information about fiction in an informal way, providing hyperlinks to further information, but without cramming it into a half-hour talk. Blogging allows me to include images of book covers or authors, videos of interviews, book and movie trailers, or videos produced by the authors themselves’.
• Lucacept - Intercepting the Web
  Jenny Luca. Concentrating on libraries and technology being used together and the ways of using new technology to achieve this.
• Rhondda’ Reflections - Wandering Around the Web
  ‘As a teacher librarian in a Melbourne boy’s secondary school I have a unique role, with a cross-curriculum view as well as working with teachers in specific subject areas. This site was set up for me to take the time to reflect on what I have learnt about the web and what I have learnt about what is working with students. I also see the blogging world as one that everyone can share create a collective knowledge far greater than if we were on our own’.
• The Hub
  ‘Campaign for Quality School Libraries in Australia’.

• Destination Library
  ‘This wiki is a resource for everyone considering a career in the library and information industry’.
• PlanOnline
  Resources and advice relating to promotion, marketing and more.
• Librarian Chick
  Vast collection of resources for librarians, grouped under topic headings from Books to Video Tutorials. All are well annotated. ‘All of the sites listed here provide Free resources or offer Free memberships/subscriptions.’.
  Good collection !
• SCIS
  ‘SCIS [Schools Catalogue Information Service] was created with the aim of providing schools with access to a database of consistent catalogue records created according to agreed national standards, in order to reduce the cost and duplication of effort of cataloguing resources in schools’.
• Teacher Librarianship : Useful Links
  Covers Role of TL in Australia, Professional Associations [Australia & International], Professional journals and Listservs & mailing lists. Most links annotated.
• Your Professional Learning Network
  One part of a sequence of pages for Teachers & Librarians. Others include School Libraries Today & the Future and Library Roles.

Reports and Research

• A Snapshot of Australian Teacher Librarians
  ‘The purpose of this study is two-fold : to gain a snapshot of the state of school libraries in Australia and to examine the roles and qualifications of library personnel in Australian schools’. Australian Policy Online.
• Google Search & Research Tools for Teacher Librarians
  ‘Glenda Morris. This presentation was delivered to a Teacher Librarian network meeting [CLANS] in Melbourne, Australia, on September 1, 2011 ’.
• Impact of School Libraries on Student Achievement - a Review of the Research
  ‘Report for the Australian School Library Association by Michele Lonsdale, 2003’.
• Inquiry Into School Libraries and Teacher Librarians in Australian Schools
  Completed by a committee of the Commonwealth Parliament in 2010. Download the final report either whole or by chapter here.
• School Libraries and Teacher Librarians in 21st Century Australia
  Australian Policy Online. ‘The inquiry is a timely response to calls from the library and information management sector for a review focusing on school libraries and teacher librarians’. Read the full text here. You can also access the Government response here.
• School Libraries Make a Difference to Student Achievement
  ‘This page contains links to research reports and other documents that show that school libraries make a difference to student achievement; that school libraries have a positive impact on students and on learning’. IASL.
• Something to Shout About : New research shows that more librarians means higher reading scores
  An American article from the School Library Journal^®. It uses a specific case to highlight the research.
• Standards of Professional Excellence For Teacher Librarians
  ‘The Australian Library and Information Association and the Australian School Library Association are pleased to endorse and promote this statement of standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians’. Developed in 2004.
• Teacher Librarians in Schools
  ‘ALIA/ASLA statement on teacher librarians in Australia’. Also has links to related documents.
• Teacher Librarians, Technology, and Collaborative Connections :
  ‘A case study … - Hazel Grace Clark - Google Books. 2006’.
• The Changing Role of the Teacher-Librarian in the Twenty-first Century
  Done by a Graduate Student in Canada. Access to the full document. A little dated but still relevant.
• The Future for School Librarians
  Audio download from an ABC Radio National broadcast, June 2010, with Karen Bonanno, Executive Officer of the Australian School Library Association.
• The Value of School Libraries In Learning
  ‘Research studies continue to show that an active school library program run by a trained teacher librarian or resource teacher makes a significant difference to student learning outcomes’. Links to several research reports available in PDF format.
• What is a Teacher Librarian ?
  Extract article from an ASLA publication entitled Learning for The Future : Developing Information Services in Schools. See reference in the introduction to this page.

References

• 1. “ASLA - What is a teacher librarian ?" ASLA - Australian School Library Association. Web. 07 Dec. 2010. http://www.asla.org.au/schoollibraries/teacher-librarian.htm.

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