My library aide has bravely started her third year with me. I apparently do not run a “normal” school library. My background as an engineer tends to make us more technology focused than some other school librarians. I prefer to think of my library as an information hub. If you don’t know where to go, stop by the Media Center. If we cannot directly help you, we can direct you to a better source for help. The district has a Help desk number and over the years I have become friends with several of the Help Desk operators. If that is where they need to go, I usually call on the staff’s behalf first. I greet my friends and give them the shorthand version with specific technical information and then hand the phone over.

My aide as added to her duties to help with Chromebook distribution. As most in schools know, Chromebook distribution is not a one time event. We have over 1,700 students in our high school and distributing is a serious issue for the first couple of weeks. But students come and leave constantly. It is an every single day adventure. And, this is a supplement to her full time job as a library media assistant. After one arduous day, she started making a list of the roles we play in the school. We added additional titles over the next couple of days.

I thought I would take a moment to recognize these roles (along with librarianship – at the bottom – to understand our position).

Roles and descriptions:

Counselor / Good Listeners: We provide a space where a teacher, a student, a staff member, and even an administrator can come into a private area and talk at us about whatever is upsetting them. We listen, occasionally direct to another source, but mostly listen. No judgement. No sharing.

“Oh, the comfort—the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person—having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.” – Dinah Maria Mulock Craik

Babysitter: Teachers will send us students to finish a test but allow the student to carry out of the classroom their entire bags and phones. Are we supposed to monitor them taking a test, as other students come and go constantly? No idea. Sometimes they send students they want out of their room. Sometimes we don’t argue.

Handwriting analyst: Because the online hall pass does not work well (does it ever?), most teachers send a handwritten pass. After her first year in the library, I asked my aide what was one suprising thing she learned. Her answer: Handwriting. Plus, some students are really good at copying teacher’s signatures. One teacher was thrilled to see how closely the fake pass mimicked his handwriting. (Really?!)

Police officer: We are responsible for our space. I do let students relax, but tossing items, chasing each other, even rolling around on the chairs is not allowed. (Videotaping TikToks in the library gets them sent out and the teacher informed.) The other issue is that outside the library is a space with an elevator, bathrooms, and access to two other hallways. I can’t ignore the space, as much as I want to. Students congregate to skip, to make TikTok videos, to sell items to each other, and even to fight. My PE whistle has come in very handy this year. I blow it with great enthusiasm and I find students are happy to move out of my range.

Bathroom Monitors: There are student bathrooms outside the library. Occasionally, the safety officer (usually male) asks for help clearing the girl’s bathroom. It’s part of the job to help where student safety is concerned.

Plumber: We have a bathroom. It’s absolutely necessary since I could not use other bathrooms for the first seven years in this school. I didn’t have a key to the teacher lounges. Also, there have been years where I did not have a full time (or any) aide. I needed the bathroom nearby. Lately, we have adults use our bathroom and throw paper towels in the toilet. There are two signs in the bathroom – one over the toilet, one on the paper towel dispenser – and they still do it. It means getting tools or gloves and digging out the paper towels. Please don’t use our bathroom and disrespect us.

First Aid: We do not advertise, but we have both bandaids and women’s pads. I bet most high school libraries do it. Standard operating equipment.

Custodians: We do have custodians that empty our trash, bring in toilet paper and paper towel rolls for the dispensers. They don’t walk through the whole room, cleaning up paper and messes throughout. They don’t vacuum. They don’t wipe down tables. We do. And, thanks to a special group of students who need practice cleaning, we get help for an hour one day a week.

Water Supply: After students came back in 2021, we had cases of water delivered to hand out while water fountains were covered. After the first semester of that, we asked not to get any water. Occasionally, we do get a case still. We keep it in the back, put a couple in our little fridge. We have staff who need a water, and sometimes a student whose coughing or otherwise parched.

Technology Teacher: As an electrical engineer, I have a very good understanding of educational technology. Not perfect by any means, but I can usually figure it out. And, I have come to understand where teachers and/or students have problems. I produce a weekly newsletter with one problem / solution that everyone gets via email and it hangs in staff bathrooms. We show students how to print pictures. We show faculty how to use Canva. We support parent-teacher conferences by running MS Bookings. We’re here to help.

Treats Supplier: On Tuesdays, I want teachers to come in and learn about the technology in the newsletter. Since I’ve had years where I could not leave the room, I decided to bribe them. Tuesdays are treat days.

IT Support: We have a very good technology support person in the building. In fact, he is so good, that he now heads a team and has to help at several schools. So he’s not always here. Instead, my aide and I try to do basic diagnostic and repair. We can reinstall the O/S if necessary. If we can’t fix it, we help create the tickets and provide the student or teacher with a loaner device checked out through our library system.

Anticipating Problems / Problem Solvers / Information Broker: Sometimes, the district or school sends an announcement. Part of our job becomes anticipating the issues that come with that announcement. Who does it affect? What do they need to know? Where do they go for more help? Part of being an information broker, is anticipating and making a plan for future issues. We tell the students and staff that we don’t know everything, but we can find (almost) anything!

Committee Members: As a school librarian, I actually want to be on the Leadership Team. It helps with anticipating problems. It also allows me to bring up issues that teachers have privately shared or observed.

Editor: I am often asked by administration to review their forms or plans they are about to send out. Sometimes, it’s a testing plan that requires hours of my time to check the room numbers versus the free periods versus the testing teachers, etc. Sometimes, it’s a short or repeatable form. There can be minor mistakes (the date’s wrong) or major mistakes like the room doesn’t exist in the building (that’s a personal favorite!). While this can be time-consuming, I relish the chance to help get it right. My teachers need supports, and getting a document rife with errors isn’t very helpful.

Phone Operator: We have a phone on the circulation desk. The design is to make sure people can reach us, especially as I get very little time in my office. The phone however becomes a link to any teacher or staff member in the Media Center space. I have (anticipating a problem) printed a two-side list of teachers and room number extensions, put it in a plastic sleeve, and left it next to the phone to make it easier on everyone.

Humorist: A funny meme or a joke go a long way to making the day better. The Tiger’s Tissue Tabloid (begun in 2018), our weekly staff newsletter, is now loaded with two or three memes. I have a meme team who verifies they are appropriate – funny but not crossing a line, before they’re added to the tabloid. Purely by accident, we created the most enduring thing in the library, the Joke Bowl. My aide and I had a rough week and when she read me a corny joke, we decided to lean in to the humor. The joke bowl, originally intended for a week, is a permanent part of the Media Center now and kids stand in front of it, grabbing jokes, reading aloud and groaning.

Teacher-Librarian: Both my aide and I check in and out books, materials, and equipment. I order books, databases, and supplies. I speak to vendors often. I review the printed book catalogs, read hundreds of online book reviews, keep track of money, keep the bookkeeper, the vendor, and the district personnel apprised of the ongoing ordering system. I need to create lessons, provide handouts, and TEACH. I need to create programs, run clubs (Reading Bowl Team, Book Club, Makerspace Club, and now defunct Podcast Club), and learn how to advertise on different platforms to get students engaged. I am in charge of the Library Media Technology Committee made of teachers, a student, and community members to help guide the library programs and spending priorities. I lead seminars in the school and wrangle teachers into letting me in their classes for 15 minutes to teach research & presentation skills. I mentor students one-on-one about their research. I support every student, faculty, staff, and administrator in the building.

What roles did I miss?