We are pleased to report an update to this story. We have heard that this item will be coming off Tuesday night’s agenda. Advocacy works!
Dear JCPS,
Tuesday night, the JCPS Board of Education is looking to revise the minimum job requirements of library director for JCPS, just in time to replace our current retiring director.
In order to become a librarian, I had to obtain an additional Master’s degree in Library and Information Science. This was after I already had a Master’s in Education and a Master’s in Literacy. I have a Rank I, three Master’s degrees and a Bachelor’s degree. Despite all of my credentials prior to obtaining my LIS degree, I still needed an additional degree to become a librarian. And even though I had nine years of teaching under my belt, I really wasn’t qualified to be a librarian until I had completed my degree. Through the completion of this degree, I learned the skills and tools necessary to become a librarian.
Despite what people believe, no, librarians don’t just read books to kids all day. Librarians are more important than that. We are advocates for literacy, research, and support in learning endeavors in schools. We are the go-to spot for current, relevant and factual information. We are essential guides to finding the best resources to achieve goals. We are essential in promoting schoolwide literacy initiatives. We are essential in creating a school culture that promotes and supports the foundations that students need to succeed. We teach teachers. We select materials that support learning. We do so much more above and beyond the minimum job requirements of any teacher. We encourage new readers, foster book groups and promote communities of reading. We are the backbone of each and every school in JCPS.
With that being said, a librarian director for JCPS should be just as qualified to lead more than 155 librarians in our district. A teacher with an admin degree doesn’t have the skills necessary to lead and advocate for our librarians. How can a person with an admin degree lead and teach 155 teachers when they themselves don’t have any concept of what it means to be a librarian? How can a person who has no knowledge of library and information science lead librarians when they have no experience being/doing what a librarian is/does?
I own a car. I’ve been driving for well over 20 years now. I’ve own multiple cars in my life of a variety of makes and models. I’m pretty competent in driving a car and identifying most of the parts of a car. But when I need my car serviced, I take it to a qualified mechanic who knows how everything works under the hood because they know how to diagnose and repair. They have the experience, tools, and training to get the job done. Just because I have experience with cars doesn’t mean I know how to speak the language of a mechanic, or repair the car. It doesn’t mean I can repair my own car, or train mechanics how to repair a car.
Likewise, just because a person has “leadership experience working with diverse populations” doesn’t mean they have the tools, skills, and experience necessary to lead, teach, evaluate, advocate for, and direct 155 librarians in the field of library science. I urge you to vote against these revisions. JCPS doesn’t need a body with an admin degree to fill an open position. We need someone who knows who and what a librarian truly is.
