Callison, D. and Preddy, L. (2006). The blue book on information age inquiry, instruction, and literacy. Westport, Conn: Libraries Unlimited.
In this chapter, the authors describe how the role of the library media specialist has developed and changed over the years. One section of the chapter, in particular, caught my attention and that was the one that discussed Kathleen Craver’s 1986 literature review on change in the instructional role of media specialists. According to Callison and Preddy (2006), Craver believed that it would take two to three decades before the instructional role of media specialists envisioned in what was then the latest standards would be visible in actual practice - meaning they should be visible today. Callison and Preddy, affirm this belief by writing, “While one can find excellent examples of school media specialists who have given tremendous amounts of time and energy to retooling for the challenges of the Information Age, the full evolution to instructional media specialist over the next decade rests more with attitudes and skills held by those who are entering the schools as teachers of library media and information technologies now.” (2006 Callison, p. 137)
As a student, who that recently entered a school to become a school library media specialist, I must say that this is both an exciting and frightening time to be entering the library profession. It is exciting in the sense that the way we read and access information is changing dramatically. Overall, I think these changes can be good for libraries, but here’s the scary part: it means changing our conceptions of reading, education, school libraries, and media specialists. And that’s a lot to change. What also worries me is the lack of new media specialists in schools today due to the recent economic downturn or the failure of school administrators to see the value of library media specialists. Bringing about Craver’s “full evolution” appears difficult when many schools are not hiring certified media specialists and therefore fewer students are pursuing the degree.
I am not without hope, however, and agree with Callison and Preddy’s recipe for change. They believe, “Fresh ideas, combined with new technology skills and successful teaching experiences seem to be the right mix, but the next decade is critical to the long-range future of those who want to expand the role of the school library media specialist as a teacher of information literacy.” (2006 Callison & Preddy, p. 137) There are definitely some great media specialists in the field right now that are, I believe, nudging the profession in the right direction. Hopefully, my generation of school librarians does have the right “mix” and will continue to promoting this updated role, but I also think that a lot will depend on how well we can convince other educational stakeholders of this change. It does us little good if we are the only ones aware of this change.
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