School. Learning. Literate. Technology.

The 21rst century continues to shape and change what these words mean.
Now more than ever before, educators are faced with the challenge of meeting the
changing needs of todays learners. Will Richardsons eBook Why School?
discusses the dramatic shift and fundamental change schools must take in order to
stay relevant in our information saturated and technology dependent world. In
British Columbia, we are in the midst of introducing a curriculum that strives to
meet those needs. In our schools, we want hands-on, personalized learning that
encourages students to pursue their passions, ask critical thinking questions and
solve meaningful problems. We want students to be able to utilize technology that
will support their learning in ways previously not possible and become educated,
information literate citizens.

These changes to our curriculum and methods of teaching offer our students
unique and powerful learning opportunities, yet they do present educators with
significant challenges. Classroom composition, particularly in Nanaimo inner city
schools, is demanding and complex. Teaching is increasingly becoming a job that is
too difficult to do alone and unsupported.
Enter the teacher librarian! (Supporting other teachers supports students!). A
variety of studies (Haycock, Huysmans, et al, Keith, Montiel-Overall, Dickinson, et
al) shows that a full time qualified teacher librarian working in an accessible up-todate library, can dramatically improve student learning, including those students
living in poverty. An effective school library is described as a library that has
planned programs, collaboratively designed to provide stimulating intellectual

inquiry and engaging cultural experiences for students and teachers..[with]

knowledgeable, innovative staff, and ready access to diverse resources (Olberg).
Teacher librarians work with students, other teachers and support staff, as well as
maintain the library collection (both in print and digital) to ensure that students
have a variety of relevant, up-to-date learning resources. Teacher librarians can
work with students both in the library/learning commons setting as well as in the
classroom, to teach them literacy and technology skills, foster a love of reading and
lifelong learning, explain internet safety and help to create digital citizenship. A
well-staffed, well-stock, and well-used library program is essential as we look at the
changing nature of what literacy is today. To be literate in todays society, is to be
information literate. No longer defined as just the ability to read and write, the
National Council of Teachers of English Defines 21rst Century Literacy as the ability
to:

Develop proficiency and fluency with technology

Build intentional cross-cultural connections and relationships with others so to pose and solve problems
collaboratively and strengthen independent thought;

Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes;

Manage, analyze, and synthesize information;

Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia texts;

Be ethically responsible. (NCTE)

Given this changed and complex definition, it is essential that our students have as
much support as possible in order to be successful in todays schools. Library prep
coverage time provides extra support and extra instructional time to students which
extends and enhanced classroom learning and ultimately supports 21rst century
learning.

Teacher librarians can and should collaborate with other teachers. Collaboration
amongst staff has a significant impact on student learning (BCTF Points of Inquiry,
Haycock, Oberg). Teacher librarians should work with classroom teachers to co-plan,
co-teach and co-assess to create meaningful, engaging lessons and units.
Successful collaboration paves the road towards district initiatives such as inquirybased learning. Every school in Nanaimo and Ladysmith needs a full time teacherlibrarian to improve student learning and enhance overall school performance.

The evidence supporting school libraries and full time teacher librarians can no
longer be ignored. If we want our students to be successful learners, we must
invest in our libraries. Globally, provincially, and locally, right here in School District
68, we must remember that information literacy is not just a library issue it is an
educational issue (Oberg) and that the library should be the very heart of the
school that not only fosters what and how students are learning but also addresses
why they are learning. It is only through this mindset that our students, teachers
and communities can stay relevant and meaningful for education in the 21rst
century.