4.3 Leadership

Some of the most annoying questions that I get asked when telling people that I am going to be a librarian is, "What exactly do librarians do? Do you really need a Masters' degree when we can just use Google?" I try not to get upset by these questions and explain to these people that librarians are a a vital resource to the school community that should be used as often as possible whether it be for findind a book for pleasure or to help in research. Librarians are necessary to student achievement because we teach students HOW to research and find the information that is not only accurate, but how to use it fairly. Without a librarian, students would be left to Google's searches without knowing HOW to search for accurate information from trusted sources and how to narrow down those sources to what they need. Librarians can also provide more than online sources, but can help put students in touch with print sources as well as people that they may interview for more research. Attached is a letter that I wrote to a school board explaining how vital librarians are to schools and explaining why each school should have more than just a library aide. My letter never received more than a "Thank you for your thoughts" but I was glad that my thoughts were read. I hope that in the future more librarians, teachers, administration, and community members realize the importance of librarians and insist on having them in schools.