​​iRead@CMS​​

“The library is a very popular place to be,” she explains. “It’s a social place, it’s a comfortable place, it’s just a very welcoming place. I really enjoy the students, and I get to be in a position where I’m not grading them, I’m not punishing them, I’m just welcoming them for the most part.”

"At the building level, teacher librarians can curate digital resources, collaboratively design courses, and assist teachers implementing blended learning in classrooms. And as teachers, they can guide students in areas from digital citizenship to effective online collaboration.

Regardless of the blend, online learning will be part of students’ learning. And teacher librarians have important roles in the new anytime, anywhere learning landscape."

“It’s still about providing expert understanding of information resources, how to cite the source, academic honesty, digital citizenship...”

But today, the teacher-librarians are also expected to help “curate and guide learners and teachers to find good content and use it effectively”—a challenge at a time when the massive amount of digital content available to schools resembles the “Wild West,” Mr. Ray said.

"Terri Grief, the president of the American Association of School Librarians, or AASL, said an increasing number of libraries can accommodate not only catalogs of printed materials and other resources, but also easy movable furniture for group projects and individual study, and spaces for multimedia and the use of desktop computers, laptops, and mobile devices."

Creating Content Experts

“What Vancouver recognized that few others have is that teacher-librarians are content experts and research gurus,” said Jason Tomassini, the communications director for Digital Promise, a nonprofit based in Washington and California that seeks to improve education through technology and research.