24th October International School Library Day

School teacher librarians need to shout out loud at every possibility. We need to make ourselves so indispensable. To quote the Statement on School Libraries in Australia

The school library is a vital teaching and learning environment in the school community.

and

Having access to a well resourced school library and the services of a fully trained and qualified teacher librarian is the right of every student in an Australian school.

I am very fortunate to teach at a school that is committed to libraries and in fact has three to cater for students from preschool to Yr 12 and IB, an Early Childhood, a Junior School and a Senior School one, each catering to different bodies of students and having very different focuses. But I do feel for colleagues who need to fight for their funds and their status in the school they work at. In the time I have been in this job the way school libraries are funded and staffed has changed greatly. There is a perception that the move away from books and towards technology requires less staff and different staff. Not so, it is still a big and multifaceted job and more than ever needs commitment from governments and funding bodies.

Something that has surprised me over the last year is the number of picture books that have been published extolling the virtues of the book and /or libraries, so they are not forgotten by all. As well as Lane Smith's It's a Book and It's a Little Book there has been, probably among others:

• Otto the Book Bear by Katie Cleminson

• Homer the Library Cat by Reeve Lindbergh

• Book Speak! Poems About Books by Laura Purdie Salas

• Dinosaur vs the Library by Bob Shea

• Library Lily by Gillian Shields and Francesca Chessa