Sunday, November 6, 2016

What is a 21st Century Librarian?


"21st Century Librarian" this is a term that is thrown around a lot in education circles.  But what does it actually mean?  There is no easy answer.  When I looked up the term there were many different definitions.  Some of what I found was:

  • Innovative
  • Technology guru (Comfortable with online technology, and ability to fix simple problems)
  • Commitment to Lifetime Learning
  • Ability to embrace change
  • Ability to evaluate current library practices
  • Creator of new flexible spaces
  • Finding new and exciting ways to promote reading (print and non-print)


This is such a hot topic, and is not going away anytime in the near future.  Joyce Valenza has written an excellent article on this topic titled "Manifesto for 21st Century Librarians" Check out the section Joyce wrote about what she believes school librarians should unlearn.

I have been a school librarian since 1998, and have seen the field change tremendously.  It really is a wonderful and exciting time to be a librarian.  When I completed my first field experience, the Readers Guide to Periodical Literature was still being taught. Students now have information at their fingertips, and that information is not contained to just the walls of the library.  Websites, Web 2.0, Research Databases, Online Catalog - all of these items are available any place a student has internet access.  Through the library website, students can easily find all these items, and if they are in need of help, they can easily contact the librarian.  I personally set up a library account through Schoology, which allows my students to message me with research requests, and they receive an answer within the hour.  Many other school libraries are doing the same with various programs.

Perhaps one of the biggest change I have seen to school libraries, has been the invention of the Library Makerspace.  The Makerspace is an area where students can come together to create, explore, and design anything.  Every Makerspace area is a little different, because every library is a little different.  The Maker area should be comprised of items the students want to see in the area.  Some of the most common things found in the Makerspace area include (Circuit building kits, Engineering (Legos, K'nex), Robotics, Crafts (Perler beads, Rainbow Loom, Duct Tape, Origami, Paper, Markers, etc.), Technology to pull apart and investigate, Coding, Movie-making (Green Screen, Claymation).  The possibilities are endless!  The Makerspace has created a new atmosphere for the school library, and invites students who may have never used a library before to come in.  Many of my students will use the Makerspace, and find other reasons to use the library.  Sometimes their exploration of the Makerspace area leads to the interest of checking out a book related to their invention.

The library of the past is disappearing, and we must embrace the future.  This is accomplished by finding out what other school libraries are doing (what works for them and what might work for you), become a Twitter junkie and connect with others who are excellent 21st Century Librarians and lastly take the time to learn new technologies and figure out how they can best be used in your school.  


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