A school media specialist maintains a school’s library resources, promotes information literacy, and works with students to develop research and critical thinking skills. They may also assist teachers in lesson planning and technical support. Qualifications typically include a bachelor’s degree and teaching certificate, with some pursuing a Master’s degree.
A school media specialist, sometimes called a school librarian, teacher librarian, or school media specialist, is responsible for maintaining a school’s library resources. This includes fiction and non-fiction books as well as magazines, educational software, DVDs and other related materials. The aim of the school media specialist is to promote information literacy. According to the American Association of School Librarians, a school media specialist encourages students to become skilled researchers, enthusiastic readers, critical thinkers, and ethical users of information.
School media specialists are not teachers, but they spend a lot of time in direct contact with students. They work with students to answer questions about how to complete a project’s research, discussing issues such as determining whether a source is providing reliable information and what citations are needed to avoid plagiarism issues. They can also recommend leisure reading materials, suggesting authors a student might like based on books they’ve read in the past.
When not working directly with students, the school’s media specialists help school teachers plan lessons that promote the development of reading and critical thinking skills. This includes suggesting specific reading materials that match the theme and objectives of the lesson. At times, the school’s media specialist may contact other school districts to request materials through an interlibrary loan program. Technical support may also be part of the school media specialist’s job description, as the position typically involves working with the latest software and online informational resources.
In larger schools, a school media specialist may not have other job responsibilities outside of the school library. However, it is common for small schools to have a school media specialist who is also certified to teach classes in English or a related field. In addition, some school media specialists in smaller districts also serve as supervisors for students participating in journalism, yearbook, speech, or drama.
The minimum qualification for specialist school media jobs is typically a bachelor’s degree and a teaching certificate valid for the state in which you wish to work. However, a growing number of people in this profession are choosing to pursue a Master of Educational Technology or a Master of Library Science. Depending on where you live, state certification as a school library media specialist may also be required. If certification is required, the credential will likely need to be renewed every three to five years.
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