the cull

Well it's been a while, folks. That's what happens when you start your academic reading in earnest. You get SNOWED UNDER. I have been SLEEPING and DREAMING this material and I have aspects of the role of the Teacher Librarian coming out of my ears.  To prove it, please glance your eye over the plethora of readings on my bed. I have been sleeping with Herring, Haycock, Hay & Todd, Purcell, Kaplan and Kuhlthau just to name a few. Poor husband.

ACADEMIC READING TAKES OVER BED

 Who'd have thought the role could be so contentious! Well, surprise everyone. IT IS. How much to collaborate? With whom? Should all the ASLA professional standards be professional standards? If not which ones to keep and which ones to modify? Is there a difference between being an Information Leader and an Information Specialist? And it goes on. If you want more on this, read my essay,

See the picture below? It's a trolley situated outside the library which is currently replenished daily with PERFECTLY GOOD BOOKS being CULLED from the library's collection. They are not being replaced because you know what? THEY ALREADY EXIST in CyberWorld.  The incredible shrinking library is actually expanding,  it's just not visible to the NAKED EYE.

FREE TO GOOD HOME

Wake up world, we now have CYBRARIANS not Librarians (got that from Carol Tonhauser, 2009, who got that from Murry, J. 2000).

Don't you just LOVE that term? It feels so futuristic and cutting edge. A Teacher Librarian sounds all right, but to those who simply cannot appreciate how EXCITING the role can really be, I admit it might sound a little old fashioned, glasses-y, cardigan-esque and of course book-ish. But Teacher Cybrarian? Move over WORLD, here comes the most innovative, tech savvy forward thinking and info-literate futuristic job of the millennia. I'm pretty convinced that if we changed our title to Teacher Cybrarian we'd be super-dooper popular and very famous. Anna Corney. Teacher Cybrarian. Here is my card. Talk to my PA.

Ok. I'm getting carried away. Hard to believe, but being rich and famous is NOT the reason I have undertaken this masters course. Right now I want to hear from Warrick who reckons it was NEVER about books. He is clearly ahead of his time. Welcome aboard this blog, Warrick, Director of Learning & Curriculum (and psuedo-cybrarian) at a well-resourced independent school.

WAS IT EVER ABOUT BOOKS?

 NO. IT WAS ALWAYS ABOUT INFORMATION

'Fundamentally changed'. 'More important than ever'. Mmmmm. Indeed the times, they are a-changin'. From the 'keeper of knowledge' to empowerin' kids to work with that knowledge. Thanks, Warrick. I like it.

Finally I wanted to hear from THE woman herself. THE person in charge of one of the best run school libraries I have ever come across. This, people, is JANE. Let's hear it from the girl.

EMPOWERING AND COLLABORATING

FOSTERING INFORMATION LITERACY IN TODAY'S ONLINE WORLD

Scary but this very sweet looking woman is the SAME person who mercilessly culled all those beautiful books from her very own collection. Devoid of emotion, SHE decided which books  remained (and for how long WHO knows?) and which books were relegated TO THE TROLLEY. You've got to hand it to her, it's a tough call. Anyone who LOVES books would find this hard. In fact, here is my confession. I have taken many of these very same books home, SAVED them from their inevitable demise. Half this school library now resides in my little house - call it a mini-library if you will. I am their rescuer. But if I ever want any really recent info, updated information, current stuff, I won't consult these books of course. I'll be visiting the super futeristic digitised library from whence they came.