The Issue of Access

I am currently a primary teacher hoping to become a TL one day and have been doing lots of thinking over the past year about the concept of access to the library. I have some ideas about how I would like access in the library to be but without having any practical experience as a TL I know that these ideas may be met with many challenges. 

From the readings and from talking to other experienced librarians I understand that TL’s each have their own unique way of organizing materials to make them accessible to students and teachers. I have heard there can be some merits in putting some books on the “restricted” shelf where older students need to acknowledge that they are aware that the materials contain mature content. Kids are always attracted to restricted things! I also understand the need for increased integration of technology in the use of accessing the collection and information and the TL’s role in facilitating meaningful learning activities using technology. Having the TL available at lunch and before and after school is also a great way to allow students to access to all that the library has to offer but cut backs in staffing have made this very difficult as TL’s often have little time in their schedules for anything else other than providing prep relief (as it is in my district unfortunately) and so spend their lunch hours etc doing the administrative work of the library.

However, in thinking back to my childhood experiences with libraries I remember them being magical places for me. This made me ponder how they dealt with access.  I remember that the shelves in the primary section of my school library were pulled together in a small squared section with just enough space for a class full of primary bottoms to sit cosily within, surrounded by the Easy books and a chair for the librarian to read her magical stories to us. The public library I went to had a Winnie the Pooh Tree House where when you opened the door to the tree house it took you into a rounded darkened room with a fireplace inside with descending steps for the patrons to sit on. Inside, the librarians would enchant everyone with their puppet stories, dramatic telling of stories, and film strips. If you ever go to Saskatoon and have young children, you must check out the Pooh Corner storytimes! The books for the younger children in both of these libraries were surrounded by furniture that was smaller for the primary child and the books for intermediate students were surrounded by bigger tables and carols suitable for their size. Ultimately, however, I think that what made these libraries so accessible to me was the wonderful dedicated staff who were always eager to talk to me about books. I think that no matter how accessible the learning materials are in a library I think that the one thing that needs to be most accessible to students is the TL. The TL is the most important person in the library who has the power to make the library accessible to all. It is the TL who makes the library a learning and exploring space and a space to share ideas and create. The cutbacks worry me. A library can be made physically and technologically accessible but without the TL there to welcome the students and facilitate learning it won’t really be accessible at all. I am curious to see if anyone else has any other remembrances from their childhood days in the library and in what ways those libraries were accessible to you?