Learning about the Job

What does a school librarian do?

Today's school librarian works with both students and teachers to facilitate access to information in a wide variety of formats, instruct students and teachers how to acquire, evaluate and use information and the technology needed in this process, and introduces children and young adults to literature and other resources to broaden their horizons. As a collaborator, change agent, and leader, the school librarian develops, promotes and implements a program that will help prepare students to be effective users of ideas and information, a lifelong skill.

These resources provide a more detailed description of the school librarian's job:

Librarians in the 21st Century: K-12 Librarians. Syracuse University School of Information Studies.
McCook, Kathleen de la Peña (1999). Opportunities in Library and Information Science Careers. Boulder, Colo.: NetLibrary.
Sellen, Betty-Carol (1997). What Else You Can Do with a Library Degree: Career Options for the 90s and Beyond. New York: Neal-Schuman.
Shontz, Priscella K. (2002). Jump Start Your Career in Library and Information Science. Scarecrow Press.
Librarians. Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-2009. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics

Also, read testimonials from three school librarians.

Salaries

School librarians are generally on a similar salary schedule as teachers. Salaries go up with years of experience and amount of education in most cases. When transferring from district to district, a school librarian may be given credit for some, but possibly not all years of prior experience based on the teacher contract in the district. Occasionally school librarians will have a slightly extended contract to finish administrative tasks outside of the school year, but this is not common.

Teacher salaries vary from district to district, but averages can be found at:

National Center for Education Statistics - Digest of Education Statistics, 2004, table 77 (http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d07/tables/dt07_075.asp ): estimated average annual salary of teachers in public elementary and secondary schools through 2005-2006
National Education Association - Rankings & Estimates: Rankings of the States 2004 and Estimates of School Statistics 2005 (http://www.nea.org/edstats/RankFull06b.htm ): average salary of public school teachers by state through 2004-2005

Job Outlook

You may also be interested in the status of school librarianship around the country as you explore school librarianship as a career. School Library Journal does a biannual article on school library staffing that may be of interest. Nancy Everhart in “School Staffing Survey 2000: Looking for a Few Good Librarians” (SLJ, September 2000) surveyed the states about school librarianship and found that there were more retirements including early retirements and a prosperous economy and more lucrative job options had those interested information careers looking elsewhere. Nationwide, there was an average of one librarian for every 953 students, up from 887 two years previously. Reasons for shortage cited by respondents to the survey included retirements, limited access to library education, stricter certification rules, heavy workloads, site-based management, increasing emphasis on standards and test scores, limited access to library education, and technology coordinators replacing school librarians or doing double duty. Two years later in “Filling the Void” (SLJ, July 2002) Everhart found those surveyed reporting 68 percent of school librarians projected to leave the profession in 12 years or less. The reported shortage was no longer just in urban and rural areas. Since then, the economic downturn has impacted staffing, especially in states with no or limited staffing requirements for school librarians. For more information see:

Everhart, Nancy (1998, August). "The Prognosis, Doctor?" School Library Journal , 44 (8), 32-35.

National Center for Education Statistics describes the staffing by certified school librarian in public and private schools as of 1999-2000.

Are there any mentoring or job shadowing programs available?

Another way to learn about the job is to shadow a school librarian for a day. Contact your local schools or state professional organization to set up a visit. Once you are in a job, connecting with a mentor will help the new school librarian navigate through the challenges of a new career.

Exchanging Jobs (www.exchangngjobs.org) is a free Web site that offers job exchanges and job shadowing opportunities for librarians.
Colorado Power Libraries project (www.cclsweb.org) matches veteran librarians with new librarians to help mentor them to use collaboration skills and techniques to turn their school librarian into vital learning centers. Click on Power Libraries link for a description of the program.
Individual districts such as Atlanta Public Schools have mentoring programs for their new employees (Library Media Specialist Mentor's Guide). Check with your district for local programs. In some states, districts are being required to establish district-wide mentorship programs.
Reforma, the National Association to Provide Libraries and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking, provides a mentorship program to assist those providing services to Latinos.
Some professional organizations such as the Wisconsin Educational Media Association and the Arizona Information Literacy listerv are beginning mentoring programs or providing forums to seek mentors for new school librarians. Check with your state organization for school librarians for local programs.