*Beep* *Beep* *Beep* - The Role of the TL

The sound of the barcode scanner, skimming over the books as they are returned and borrowed is one of the most predominant sounds in our school library. On average, students are given 10-15 minutes to select the books they are interested in reading, have them scanned and are asked to read through them silently back at the desks. Ten minutes later - time is up! Back to the classroom.

Is this the sole purpose of the TL? What else could happen in the library during this time? Why is so little known by the staff, about the potential that the library has on student learning outcomes?

As a student going through primary school, I saw the library as only a place where I could borrow books to read and for assignment information. I carried this perspective through high school where little help was given to me when needing to use the library and I also carried it through Uni where I seldom was given any advice or help (majority of the staff were students themselves not librarians). Hence, when I became a teacher myself, I knew little about what the TL's actual role is and what they can do to help CT's and the school community.

Through the literature I have been reading this week, it is now clear to me that the TL wears many hats. They wear the hat of teacher; librarian; leader; administrator; faciliator; IT expert and manager. It is quite obvious that to become a TL you need specific qualifications and expertise in ALL of these areas.

I have experiences school Principals who want to turn the library into a place where RFF lessons can be taken, where the TL is simply made to take a section of the CT's program whilst they are on release. This is NOT what the TL should be doing. I believe that Principals AND classroom teachers need to be educated in the potential that the library has and the positive effects that collaboration can have on student learning - they simply DON'T KNOW!

The library at my current school has such great potential to transform the school into an ILSC and to have a positive impact on student learning.

The only sounds that should predominantly come out of the library are the voices of the TL educating their students in the vast information that is available to them, teaching them to become information literate.