Teacher Librarian
What the work is
Builds and delivers library and information management services in schools, works collaboratively with teachers to select appropriate resources that support the curriculum, and teaches students to access and use quality information and recreational reading material.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Provides activities that focus on literature, the promotion of reading and literacy development to meet the interests and needs of school students
- Delivers programs on digital and information literacy that support curriculum knowledge, understanding and skills
- Provides activities that promote enquiry-based learning, critical and creative thinking, digital literacy and ethical understanding in curriculum areas
- Provides physical and intellectual access to information and ideas, including library facilities, material resources and pedagogical programs and services (physical and digital), for school teachers and students
- Manages schools' physical and digital learning spaces where reading, enquiry, research, critical thinking, imagination and creativity are central to learning and teaching
- Resources the curriculum and leads services and programs that are developed collaboratively with school staff
- Undertakes programming, collection development and outreach to support students across a full range of abilities, and welcomes diverse cultural, linguistic, religious and other unique groups into the school libraries
- Liaises with other library groups in the broader community
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in the library of a secondary school, with shelves, computers, a quiet corner and a very busy lunchtime. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- A reluctant reader comes back to ask if there is a sequel
- A class of Year 8 students learns to spot a fake website and teaches you something new
- The library at lunchtime is full of students who feel they belong there
Hard days
- The budget for books shrinks, and you have to choose what to leave off the shelves
- A parent challenges a book on the shelves and you need to respond fairly
- The library is used as a spare room for detention or exams and the quiet is gone
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 251931, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.