Survival of the Species...

When I tell people that I am getting my Master’s in Library and Information Science to become a school librarian, I usually get one of three responses. Some people (sadly a minority, it seems) are enthusiastic because of their own love of libraries, books, or a particular librarian. However, the two most common responses are first to state with amazement, “I didn’t know you needed a Master’s to do that!,” and then to question whether it is a field worth going into at this point in time (“Aren’t libraries becoming obsolete?”). The first misconception about the degree requirement is just a sign that people really have no idea of all that librarians do—which is why they think that libraries are becoming obsolete. Rarely do I have the opportunity to respond to these folks in the way that I would really like—I just smile and say something polite, like, “I hope not.”  

However, after enough people raise this question, should I begin to question it myself? After years of searching for my ideal career, now that I think I have found it, in the words of the Grail knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, did I choose poorly? I do not think so. We have disproven this question of obsolescence repeatedly this semester. Libraries and librarians in general still have much to offer patrons and communities in terms of free access to technology and information. Teacher librarians are perhaps even more important in that they are helping to mold the next generation of learners—the students of the 21^st century, who will need to know and understand more about technology over the course of their lives than any previous generation. The teacher librarian is the guide to information and technology not only for the students, but also the other teachers in the school. In addition to this, the readings about the Learning Commons this week offer another way that libraries are evolving to remain a central part of the school learning environment by offering a new viable space for collaborative and creative learning to take place.

Perhaps I am being overly optimistic, but I do not think libraries will become obsolete as long as librarians remain willing to constantly reinvent themselves and their libraries in order to adapt.