Library Technicians@ Schools

a presentation to Durham College Library & Information

Technician programOctober 25, 2012

slides by Lisa Weaver, presentation by Lorna Young

Statistics• 72 Publicly Funded School

Boards in Ontario• Over 5000 schools• Most Boards no longer have

Library Technicians

Typical Roles for Technicans

• Sole staff member in a school library• Sole staff member rotating through many

school libraries• Assistant to Secondary Teacher-Librarian• Assistant to numerous Elementary Teacher-

Librarians• Central cataloguer/trainer

How school libraries work• Together for Learning Document [a must know]• Teacher-Librarian [B.Ed and Library A.Q]• Some school libraries are run by MLIS• Book exchange (aka “circulation”)• Prep coverage• Learning Commons• More than books [manipulatives, learning labs,

multi-language]

Selection of Materials• Teacher-Librarians select materials for

schools for:– Curriculum– Literacy– Local language/population needs– Special initiatives [Forest of Reading]– Canadian Content– Multiple viewpoints– Various reading levels and formats

Selection Tools• Novelist database• Vendor lists• Canadian Book Association Reviews• Book lists from Central Departments• Trillium List from the Ministry of Education• Teaching Librarian• Teacher Librarian• Professionally Speaking

AcquisitionsTeacher-Librarians purchase resources:

• Directly from vendors• Through their Office Assistant through the central

purchasing system• During Ministry grants, central purchases are made• At book fairs, bookstores, garage sales• Rarely online due to Ministry reporting requirements

Who catalogues the material?

• Cataloguing records are purchased and uploaded into system by central services

• Cataloguers travel to schools and put items into database

• Teacher-Librarians fast-add items and central cataloguers link to full records

– Items usually come from OCLC, ITS Marc, Bookwhere databases, original cataloguing or from book vendors

Processing• Most items are processed by teacher-

librarians, volunteers or clerical assistants• Processing includes, barcodes, spine

labels, book jackets, mylar over labels and occasionally an “inside” label with barcode and title information

Role of Library Technicans at TDSB

• Catalogue materials for 600 school libraries and 9 central libraries

• Lead collection revitalization projects at schools• Lead teacher-librarian training for the system• Staff the system help desk for 700 teacher-librarians• Write training manuals and document for system• Run daily system maintenance tasks• Lead library closing and disaster recovery processes

Collection Revitalization: From This ...

To this ...

Challenges

• No school library curriculum• Lack of recognition for the need of professional help in

libraries• School libraries are currently underfunded and under

staffed• When the lone staff member always need a teacher in the

room to lead program• Lack of access to system/network• Vendors can provide cataloguing

Applying to School Boards

• Internal application– Usually starts as a clerical temporary working [On-

Call Office Assistant, Lunch Room Supervisor. Cataloguer]

• External application– Often applying against people with a few

years of experiences, so volunteer or related experience is essential