Blog Post 4: Technology Leadership Role of School Librarians

Traditionally, school librarians have been seen as the ambassador of reading and helping students build a lifelong love of reading. While this is still true, they now have an additional role to help students responsibly and successfully access information through technology in the 21st century. The Standards for the 21st Century Learner (American Association of School Librarians, 2007) is a great guide to helping to plan and implement the teaching of information and technology skills for students. These standards help to build the gap between the traditional role of the librarian and the new role of the 21st century librarian.

School librarians have an important role in the implementation of technology in schools. They are leaders when it comes to use of technology. School librarians are in a unique position because they collaborate with colleagues and work with all students in the school. Because of this, not only can they directly implement the use of technology with students, but they can also provide support to their colleagues. School librarians act as a leader and expert in technology at their school. They can provide training for students, teacher, and parents. Librarians have an exciting opportunity where they can bring the latest of educational technology to both their colleagues and students. The library, itself, is filled with various technologies and provides access to all students, regardless of economic class. As the librarian, this is your domain and you are able to help implement these various technologies in a flexible, but meaningful way (Perez, 2010, p. 72).

In schools that are lucky enough to have an additional instructional technology specialist, the librarian can work closely with that person to seamlessly weave instruction to students and both teachers. As schools continue into the 21st century, it is crucial that students build these skills in order to become successful in careers that are probably not even invented yet. In order to truly become fluent in technology, they must be taught specific, useful skills. Teachers must feel comfortable using technology before they are able to successfully teach the skills. Librarians can work with the instructional technologist to help build those skills in their fellow colleagues. If schools have a high level of collaboration among their staff, the students are the true winners and become successful members of the 21st century (Johnston, 2013).

References

American Association of School Librarians (2007). Standards for the 21st-century learner. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aasl/files/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/AASL_LearningStandards.pdf

Johnson, M.P. (2013). School librarian + technology specialist. Knowledge Quest, 42(1), 70-75.

Perez, L. (2010). The role of school librarians in promoting the use of educational technologies. Teacher Librarian, 38(1), 72-73.