You Think You Know What Librarians Do?

| Originally publish on BubbleUp Classroom by Corey Thornblad|

This week I had the pleasure of participating in the annual Virginia Association of School Librarians conference in Norfolk, Virginia. I’ll admit that I was a fish out of water — the only teacher in a sea of school librarians. Even though I don’t know much about the Dewey Decimal system or online catalogs, they made me feel right at home.

As I sat at dinner, listening to their conversation about teaching and learning, I realized that unless you have had the privilege of working in a school over the past decade you may not understand what school librarians actually do.  Librarians are not a braggy bunch; so I feel inclined to set the record straight on their behalf. You probably think they spend their entire day shelving and checking out books, while shushing students. It’s time to set aside these stereotypes and give librarians their long overdue kudos.

Librarians teach — a lot 
First and foremost, school librarians are teachers. If you walk into our school’s library on any given day you are likely to see one of our librarians co-teaching or independently teaching a lesson. In order to pull this off, librarians have to be content experts in everything from science to math to PE. Moreover, librarians have the ability and desire to teach children of all levels and learning styles.

Librarians are Apple Geniuses in disguise
Librarians know A LOT about technology. Our librarians are the go-to teachers in our building for everything tech. They help us search the web, use Twitter, create our own websites, and help us learn how to use Google Classroom.

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Job Hunting Isn’t What it Used to Be

Note to librarians: This blog post is for you to share! If you have this title, be sure to link it to your GVRL collection. If you don’t have this title and want to learn more, access a free trial today!  

 

Resumes without special formatting… online applications… no phone calls… social media networking… computer-based screening…

If you’ve ever tried to explain the current processes for applying for a job to a grandparent (or maybe even a parent), you have a sense of how much it has changed in the last 20 years. And it continues to change. Today’s impersonal process can be confusing and off-putting to even the most determined job seekers.

Find information about careers, job hunting, and more
To support people in our community who are looking for new opportunities – whether for a job change or a new career – the library provides free access to a great resource: Life & Career Skills: Employment.

Read moreJob Hunting Isn’t What it Used to Be