The SurRural Librarian

I try to not refer to things I read on LM_Net here or in daily conversation, I get too riled. But this one, I can’t pass up.

There was a thread this weekend in support of librarians who read on the job.

I almost fell off my chair when I saw so many responses from librarians who do this! I can’t imagine having the time. If I have one minute free, I’m planning with teachers - usually while standing in the hallway in between classes. Most of the librarians I know are so completely over-booked that they don’t even bother to subscribe to that listserv.

What I want most to respond to is the idea that those of us who do not read on the job do not keep up with our collections.

Ahem.

Like many school librarians I know, I believe reading the books I buy for the students to be a MAJOR part of my job. Of course, this part always takes place outside of school. Of course if there was a SSR period that I was around for I’d love to pop in and read with the kids, but I’m usually teaching other classes. Of course modeling is great, but when I can chat with the students about the books they’ve read, that’s great modeling too - they know I’ve read it, they don’t have to see me read it. When I booktalk a book, I’ve always read it, the kids know it, expect it and always follow up with me after they’re read books they know I’ve read. We talk about books - we’re librarians!

I simply cannot imagine what they’re thinking. How unapproachable is someone reading a book? How expendable?

Read them at home people. Here’s my evening reading routine - picture books, LM_Net, RSS feeds (blogs & professional journal alerts), YA novel, done. Turn off the TV. We’re teachers, we’ve got great hours. We’ve got the time to read outside of the library and still have a life.