8/7/2019 Module 1 Groupwork

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The Many Roles of a School Library Media Specialist

The school library media specialist (SLMS) holds many different roles in our

21st century school systems. The SLMS is responsible for wearing the hat of a

teacher, information specialist, instructional partner, program administrator and as

a leader. Each of these individual roles are essential to “instill a love of learning inall students and ensure equitable access to information” (Empowering, 7). The

ranking of importance of each of these roles will perhaps change in the future, but

at the present time the role of the teacher is still held in high regards by many

SLMS’s. As a teacher, it is the SLMS’s job to develop students who produce and

contribute to their own learning experiences. As future Emporia State SLMS’s, it is

important to understand the role of the SLMS as a teacher and how this role

matches the conceptual framework Emporia State has developed.

One of the important roles a school library media specialist has is that of a

teacher. It is necessary that students see the SLMS not just as someone that can

check out books, control discipline, and help with basic computer problems. Oneway this can be accomplished is by taking over a teacher’s class for one or more

days. A librarian could teach subject matter if they felt comfortable or

research/paper writing skills. At the minimum a SLMS could team teach with the

classroom teacher. Making teachers aware that you genuinely want to teach their

class should allow these opportunities to arise. It is also important for SLMS to

encourage pleasurable reading and comprehension skills in each student. It is the

duty of the SLMS to find resources that match the current trends and the individual

interests of their student population. During this time of teaching/instruction the

LMS can help the students become “… critical thinkers, enthusiastic readers, skillful

researchers, and ethical users of information.”(AASL, 2009)

In today’s educational atmosphere, school library media specialists are relied

upon to provide extra instruction and supplementary curriculum to both students

and faculty. As such, the Emporia State University’s conceptual framework provides

strong guidelines to school library media specialists who operate in a variety of 

roles within the school setting. As a librarian, the conceptual framework requires

librarians, as well as teachers to engage in most effective practices, reflect on what

they teach everyday to make themselves a better librarian/teacher, and be willing

and able to change as the students do. We also have a duty to belong to

professional organizations to keep up with the best practices of the profession.

Lastly, we as SLMS are providing a service to society because we are encouragingour students to explore literature and expand their horizons in ways that they could

only do through books.