A few weeks ago on May 31, 2009, I was alerted to an article from the SMH titled "Book now: libraries are top shelf in family attractions". http://www.smh.com.au/national/book-now-libraries-are-top-shelf-in-family-attractions-20090530-br1b.html
It made interesting reading not only because Roy Crotty, one of my lecturers, was quoted in it but becuase it highlighted the vital role that public libraries (and I would include school libraries in that as well) play in today's society. It is more apparent now that families use the library for more than just borrowing and reading books. It's a mulitmedia centre where people can use the Internet, borrow CDs and DVDs and research using a multitude of online resources due to the decrease in printed resources, such as journals and encyclopedias. Young families can go to the library for reading programs for pre-school aged children and there's homework help programs being offered.
Roy Crotty highlighted the need for students to be taught the skills in researching online - the information literacy skills. This is what the students at my secondary school desperately need to be taught and that is why I am determined to finish this course. In the digital era it is incomprehensible that students are not being taught information literacy skills at school. In the words of Roy Crotty in the article above "If anything, ther digital era has made a teacher librarian's job even more relevant". It's nice to know there's a need out there for teacher librarians. I can only hope that our education systems can also see the enormous benefits that trained-TLs can make to students learning.
It's good to know that libraries still have a significant role in society today.
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