Librarians in Schools as Literacy Educators

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xv

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2. School Librarians Are Educators Too

   • Margaret Kristin Merga

   Pages 1-38

3. Do Teacher Librarians Feel That Their Profession Is Valued?

   • Margaret Kristin Merga

   Pages 39-70

4. Do Schools with Libraries use Them?

   • Margaret Kristin Merga

   Pages 71-90

5. 40 Practices and Strategies: What Teacher Librarians do to Support Children’s Literature and Literacy Learning

   • Margaret Kristin Merga

   Pages 91-131

6. Competing Demands and Barriers

   • Margaret Kristin Merga

   Pages 133-171

7. Collaboration with Teachers

   • Margaret Kristin Merga

   Pages 173-194

8. Supporting the Nation’s Literary Voice: Teacher Librarians as Advocates of National Literature in Schools

   • Margaret Kristin Merga

   Pages 195-221

9. The Future of Teacher Librarians and School Libraries: Some Closing Comments

   • Margaret Kristin Merga

   Pages 223-238

10. Back Matter

    Pages 239-254

    PDF

This book explores the role that librarians play within schools as literacy leaders. While librarians working in schools are generally perceived as peripheral to the educational experience, they can in fact provide significant support in encouraging children’s literacy and literature learning. As the need for strong functional literacy becomes ever more important, librarians who support literacy are often invaluable in achieving various academic, vocational and social goals. However, this contribution often seems to be overlooked, with funding cuts disproportionately affecting librarians. Building on recent research from Australia, the USA and the UK, the author examines the role that librarians may play as literacy educators in schools in order to make visible their contributions to the school community. In doing so, this book urges for greater recognition and support to school libraries and their staff as valuable members of the school community.

• School libraries
• School librarians
• Literacy in schools
• Reading and literacy
• Reading in schools
• Librarians as educators
• School librarian identity
• learning and instruction

• School of Education, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Australia

  Margaret Kristin Merga

Margaret Merga is Senior Lecturer at Edith Cowan University, Australia. Her research interests include social influences on literacy acquisition across the life span and the position of reading and books in the contemporary world.

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