Program+Defense

=﻿Why is the Library/Media Specialist Pivotal to the Work of School?= Thoughts and evidence presented by: Shelly Main

“Good creative and critical thinking take place in a context of questioning and open inquiry that requires a certain spirit of thought manifested in certain attitudes and dispositions like being open-minded and considering points of view other than one’s own. Creating a classroom or establishing the school library media center as an information laboratory, rather than teaching for specific skills, is the most difficult aspect of teaching to generate thinking” (Callison, 2006).

The library/media center truly exists to promote learning and assist teachers with curriculum management and enhancement. In order to do this, the media specialist must be moving the wheel. The center, itself, is only a room full of books and technology without a driver. The analogy of a bicycle wheel immediately entered my mind when I begin formulating a mental image of the library/media center. When adequately fulfilling its role, the library will be the central location for curriculum enhancement resources, standards-based units, cutting edge media, and support, suggestions, and encouragement for teachers and students. The center of a bicycle wheel is known as the “hub.” The hub exists to bring support to the spokes and rim. The wikipedia definition of hub is: “center or important place.” As a new library/media specialist, my goal is to make this a reality in my school. By infusing fresh media and working as a team with the classroom teachers, I feel that this is a possibility. My work in collaboration with teachers in grant writing, cross-curricular lessons, and research training is just the beginning of my driving of this wheel. I do not intend to sit back and watch dust collect on the shelves and books fall apart. I will run a center alive with activity, learning, and critical thinking.

In addition, my Family Literacy Nights will keep the center active in the evenings as well. It will be a place for little ones to be turned in to the joys of reading and imaginative thinking. I will not stand by and watch the hub of the school turn into a vacate tool shed. In Curriculum Connections (2003), the librarian/media specialist is at one point defined as “the connector.” In this analogy, the hub is in constant connection with the spokes. The connection takes the form of team teaching, resource provision, attending grade level team meetings, and planning alongside the classroom teachers in order to connect the spokes solidly to the rim.

The rim—the students: The exterior portion of a bike tire is the rim. The rim is the students. The rim supports the tire and allows the rider to move the bicycle. If the rim is bent, the bicycle will not move appropriately—it will be misguided. Thus, the importance of a firm center and connecting spokes. As the faculty becomes more connected to the center of the school (the media center) and its driver (the media specialist), his or her lessons will be enriched and enhanced through the support of the media specialist. The teachers will have “an extra arm”—a connector—a support. Students will receive deeper instruction, more inquiry based learning, and the added benefit of a central support system. In addition, the library/media specialist as the hub connects “one teacher to another” for interdisciplinary or collaborative learning.

I will not be a booksitter as has been the case in the past. I will be a mind-sitter. I will allow both the place and the activities to move the minds and imaginations of our students and teachers to new and exciting places. Through the roles of “instructional partner, information specialist, teacher, and program administrator,” (p. 16) I will allow the hub of the school to be a true place of learning.

Callison, D. //The Blue Book: On Information Age Inquiry, Instruction and Literacy.// Libraries Unlimited: Westport, Conneticut. 2006.

//Curriculum Connections (2003). // //Empowering Learners. //American Association of School Librarians. 2009