In “Trading Places,” Jennifer Bromann talks about her
motivation for switching from a public librarian job to a school librarian
position. Initially motivated for higher
salary and extra vacation time, she explains the main differences between
public librarianship and school librarianship in a number of different
categories. A few examples of the
categories she outlines:
Roles and
Responsibilities: As a school librarian, she often assists with research
assistance and functions as a teacher, visiting classrooms to teach information
literacy skills. As a public librarian,
she feels the focus is more on locating information rather than teaching
information skills. Also, there is more
of an emphasis on programming.
Education: It
seems like the requirements for a school library media specialist vary widely
depending on the state. Many states
require a teaching certificate and teaching experience, although some states do
not require this, and often private schools do not require certification. Public librarianship most often requires a
master’s degree, although in some cases a bachelor’s degree is sufficient.
Collection
Development: She talks about how in a school library setting, the
collection is tied to the school’s curriculum, thus it is can be more
limiting. In a public library setting,
there is more room in the budget for fiction and a wider range of materials.
There seems to be some overlap between this article and one
of the articles we read for our technology week, “Next Year’s Model,” where
Sarah Ludwig left her public librarianship position to work in a school
capacity. Although Ludwig works as an
academic technology coordinator in a private school and Bromann is a school library
media specialist in a public school, they both talk about developing a closer
bond/having easy access to the same group of students rather than new faces
every day. They both also discuss the heavy
reliance that colleagues and students put on them – they are expected to be
experts and know everything.
Additionally, both talk about the emphasis on technology and the
importance of teaching research skills in both of their positions.
