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How to be a Librarian
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Weeding
Introduction
You don’t have to know everything, but you do have to know how to find out everything. It isn’t rocket science, just research. Practice helps, and there are many things we all learn by doing. This manual aims to provide some basic information for the new school librarian. We’ll cover everything from basic logistics, like scheduling and checking books in and out, to less cut-and-dried subjects like library ethics, freedom of information, and opposition to censorship.
School librarians are unique in library-land – of all the types of librarians, you’re the only ones with patrons who didn’t all volunteer to be there. It’s a unique opportunity to teach information literacy and a love of reading. It’s an important job, and it can be a difficult one.
In addition, school librarians are also teachers, responsible for supplementing curriculum taught in the (non-library) classrooms, teaching students library skills (traditional and modern), and encouraging students to love reading.
In the following chapters, we’ll briefly explore each function (whether or not you’ll have to perform it yourself), and then provide links to some longer resources that explore the topic in great depth. New librarians, and any school librarian who hasn’t taken formal coursework in librarianship, should read through the manual. If you’re short on time, read the short descriptions first, and return to the links to longer resources throughout the year.
Note: APS Library Services created this guide as a combined manual/manifesto (we call it the manual-festo). We hope it serves as a welcoming introduction to this wonderful and essential profession. Many thanks to Albuquerque Public School for sharing their manual so we can create ours!
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