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 * The School**

The school is a State Primary school in Cairns. There are approximately 340 students from Prep to Year 7 and 29 teaching staff. The library is staffed by one full time Teacher Librarian, who is assisted by several School Officers and a regular volunteer.


 * The Role of the Library within the school**

The recently established Resource Centre welcomes children into its learning space through its open layout, natural lighting, fun colours, funky furniture and front displayed books. Due to regular flooding in the area, the Resource Centre has been built at a second story level and has wheel chair access. The promotion of reading is the main priority of the library. Before school and during lunch times, students are able to utilise the computers, play board games as well as peruse and borrow books. The Resource Centre has two SmartBoards and fourteen computers available for use, two of these are for OPAC use exclusively.

The TL had a chance to be an integral member of the building plan. There is a Teacher Librarian office, soundproof conference room, a spacious School Officer workroom, teacher resource room and toilet are also included within the Resource Centre building. The clients of the Resource Centre are the students, staff and parents. A newsletter article from the Resource Centre is submitted regularly and an electronic photographic display is shown on a monitor upon entering the building. Design to encourage children to connect Complements tropical surroundings


 * The School’s Role Description of a Teacher Librarian**

The Teacher Librarian reports directly to the Principal. She views her role to incorporate managing resources and assistant staff; passionately promoting literature; collaborating with staff for curriculum and professional development purposes; initiating and participating in teaching information literacy; profit from collaboration TL cull books and manage any challenges to texts with respect to the person challenging it, generally a parent. The school has a library policy document that was written several years ago.


 * Interview with Teacher Librarian**


 * Pedagogy**

She collaborates with staff teaching classes in Prep to Year 3 to develop literacy based lessons that compliment their classroom teaching. These classes participate in weekly literacy skill based lessons in the Resource Centre, where the classroom teacher is the co-teacher. This provides the teacher with professional development as well as the students with new literacy skills. The Teacher Librarian finds that the students gain the most learning if the classroom teacher actively co-teaches during the lesson. In the lower grades, the Teacher Librarian’s pedagogy is literature based, explicitly teaching language from story telling. She incorporates the use the SmartBoard technology into her lessons. Years 4 to 7 have fortnightly borrowing sessions in the Resource Centre. While the Teacher Librarian ensures that classroom teachers are equipped with the knowledge of how to use the borrowing system, she finds that conducting the borrowing allows her to maintain a relationship with her main client base and gives her the opportunity to make suggestions on the variety of texts available. The Teacher Librarian works on a flexible program. Therefore, if a Year 4 – 7 teacher requests her assistance with teaching information literacy skills, note taking or research assistance, she may teach several lessons in one week or over several weeks. The older students may be sent to the Resource Centre to complete independent work on the computers available during which the Teacher Librarian is responsible for their supervision.

The school has a laptop program for Year 6 and 7 students. When the TL works with Years 4 to 7 she teaches a variety of skills such as information literacy skills to locate information and research topics effectively when using books or the internet, how to create bibliographies or take notes.


 * Curriculum Development**

The Teacher Librarian is a member of the school’s leadership team and facilitates curriculum planning sessions with teachers every term. She encourages lessons in the Resource Centre that would complement the teaching occurring the classroom. She herself attends regular PDs and networking meetings both in school time and on weekends. She attends both State and National conferences for SLAQ and ASLA when possible.


 * Staff Development**

The Teacher Librarian delivers staff professional development at every third staff meeting and on Pupil Free Days. She has introduced new syllabus documents, new resources, how to use OneSchool for online school curriculum, reporting and recording data and planning, productive pedagogy and IDEAS (Innovative Designs for Enhancing Achievements in Schools) project. The school employs a Literacy Coach with whom the TL collaborates on English related matters such as recommended authors for a particular topic or task and comprehension strategies.


 * Collaboration**

The Teacher Librarian finds it challenging to work with all staff. She respects that some classroom teachers do not want sharing their teaching experience. She has found that by approaching one or two staff members who appreciate her involvement has allowed other staff members to view the successful collaboration and made them more willing to.


 * Literacy Development**

The Teacher Librarian ensures that students see that she is genuinely passionate about literature as a means to promote reading. She will discuss books and author, text appropriateness or interest level, as the children are borrowing books because she wants reading to be enjoyed and books to be discussed. She participates in her own professional reading of Magpies Review Magazines OZTL_NET.


 * Library Management**

The library is budgeted $10 000 - $12 000 per annum to buy new resources and supporting software. The Teacher Librarian sources material based on recommendations from colleagues and students, books sent on consignment, on-line website such as Scholastic and her local bookshops. She makes her decisions based on child appeal, if it supports the curriculum, popularity and with picture books, the fluency of the text when read aloud will determine if a purchase would be made.

The library is open before school and during both lunch breaks. The TL works her roster so that she supervises most of these duties as she feels it is important to maintain a good rapport with her main client base away from the a lesson situation.

She regularly promotes the Resource Centre through electronic displays and a regular article in the school newsletter.


 * Visions for the Future**

The Teacher Librarian has seen some changes with more graphic manga-style novels being available and texts to hook boys into reading. She sees the Resource Centre as a place that will be more heavily influenced by digital technologies and there will be alternative modes of accessing information but she does not see the simple enjoyment of actively and physically interacting with a book will be lost in the near future.