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Preliminary pages

Foreword

On behalf of my colleagues I wish to thank all those who contributed to the inquiry.

We are especially grateful to the hundreds of teacher librarians from across Australia who submitted evidence or appeared at hearings in each state and territory.

The Committee was struck by the passion and enthusiasm that teacher librarians have for their profession.

The Committee is also thankful to the national library organisations ASLA and ALIA, who have appeared before the Committee on numerous occasions throughout the course of this inquiry to represent school libraries and teacher librarians.

I also want to thank my colleagues on the former Standing Committee on Education and Training for the hard work they undertook in the previous Parliament.

The Committee hopes that this report goes some way toward highlighting teacher librarians’ concerns; showcases their valuable contributions to educational outcomes in Australian schools; and starts to examine their evolving role and place in Australia’s education system.

The Committee was advised that Charles Sturt University’s second semester intake of students into its Master of Education (Teacher Librarianship) had doubled in 2010, and, it was suggested that the publicity surrounding this inquiry may have been a factor in the increased numbers being attracted to the teacher librarian profession. We would be delighted if this were the case.

Ms Amanda Rishworth MP
Chair

Membership of the Committee

(42nd Parliament)

Chair	Ms Sharon Bird MP
Deputy Chair	Dr Dennis Jensen MP
Members	Mr Jason Clare MP (to 15/06/09)	Mr Sid Sidebottom MP
	Ms Julie Collins MP Mrs Yvette D’Ath MP Mr Steve Irons MP Mr Robert Oakeshott MP (from 10/11/08)	Hon. Tony Smith MP (to 10/11/08) Dr Andrew Southcott MP(to 03/02/10) Dr Sharman Stone MP (from 03/02/10) Mr Mike Symon MP (from 17/06/09) Mr Tony Zappia MP

Committee Secretariat

42nd Parliament

Secretary	Dr Glenn Worthington
Inquiry Secretary Senior Researcher	Mr Justin Baker Mr Raymond Knight
Office Manager Administrative Officer	Mr Daniel Miletic Ms Tarran Snape

 

Membership of the Committee

43rd Parliament

Chair	Ms Amanda Rishworth MP
Deputy Chair	Mr Rowan Ramsey MP
Members	Mrs Karen Andrews MP	Mr Mike Symon MP
	Mrs Yvette D’Ath MP Ms Deborah O’Neill MP	Mr Alan Tudge MP

Committee Secretariat

43rd Parliament

Secretary	Dr Glenn Worthington
Inquiry Secretary Senior Researcher	Ms Sara Edson Dr Deborah King
Researcher Office Manager Administrative Officer	Ms Larisa Michalko Mr Daniel Miletic Ms Tarran Snape

 

Terms of reference

To inquire into and report on the role, adequacy and resourcing of school libraries and teacher librarians in Australia’s public and private schools.  Specifically, the committee should focus on:

• the impact of recent policies and investments on school libraries and their activities;
• the future potential of school libraries and librarians to contribute to improved educational and community outcomes, especially literacy;
• the factors influencing recruitment and development of school librarians;
• the role of different levels of government and local communities and other institutions in partnering with and supporting school librarians; and
• the impact and potential of digital technologies to enhance and support the roles of school libraries and librarians.

List of abbreviations

ABS ACARA ACER ACMA ACSSO ACT AEU AISWA AITSL ALIA ASLA BER CBCA COAG CSU   DEEWR    DER   EBP ECU EdNA   ERA  ESA ESL FTE  FOLA  ICT  IKC  MCEECDYA NAPLAN  NT  NSW OECD  QUT   P & C P21 PD RFF SA  SBM  SCIS  ScOT  SPP TAS      TLs VIC WA     WATL

Australian Bureau of Statistics Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority Australian Council for Education Research Australian Communication and Media Authority Australian Council of State School Organisations Australian Capital Territory Australian Education Union Association of Independent Schools of Western Australia Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership Australian Library and Information Association Australian School Library Association Building the Education Revolution Children’s Book Council of Australia Council of Australian Governments Charles Sturt University Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Digital Education Revolution Evidence Based Practice Edith Cowan University Education Network Australia Electronic Resources Australia Education Services Australia English as a Second Language Full-time equivalent Friends of Libraries Australia Information and communication technologies Indigenous Knowledge Centres Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy Northern Territory New South Wales Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Queensland University of Technology Parents and Citizen bodies Primary Schools for the 21st century Professional development Release from face-to-face teaching South Australia School Based Management Schools Catalogue Information Service Schools Online Thesaurus Specific Purpose Payments Tasmania Teacher Librarians Victoria Western Australia Western Association of Teacher Librarians NSW

List of recommendations

2 Impact of recent Commonwealth Government policies and investments on school libraries

Recommendation 1

The Committee recommends that the Commonwealth Government partner with all education authorities to fund the provision of a core set of online database resources, which are made available to all Australian schools.

Recommendation 2

The Committee recommends that the Commonwealth Government work with the states and territories to develop a discrete national policy statement that defines the importance of digital and information literacy for learning in the 21st century, which can be used as a guide by teachers and principals.

3 Potential of school libraries and librarians to contribute to improved educational and community outcomes

Recommendation 3

The Committee recommends that the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority include statistical information about the breakdown of all specialist teachers, including teacher librarians, on the My School website.

Recommendation 4

The Committee recommends that the Commonwealth Government support additional initiatives to promote reading, such as a National Year of Reading.  The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations should collaborate with the Australian School Library Association, Australian Libraries and Information Association and other education stakeholders in developing these initiatives.

Recommendation 5

The Committee recommends that the Commonwealth Government initiate an Australian-based longitudinal study into the links between library programs, literacy (including digital literacy) and student achievement, including their impact on improving outcomes for socioeconomically disadvantaged students.

Recommendation 6

The Committee recommends that the Commonwealth Government support promotional activities undertaken by ASLA and ALIA that demonstrate to the school community the valuable work that teacher librarians are doing in respect of e-learning in their schools, including those that highlight their leadership capacity.

4 Recruitment and development of teacher librarians

Recommendation 7

The Committee recommends that the rollout of the new national curriculum, which is to be made available online, include a component of training for teacher librarians.

Recommendation 8

The Committee recommends that the Commonwealth Government commission a thorough workforce gap analysis of teacher librarians across Australian schools.

Recommendation 9

The Committee recommends that the Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth, through the Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs, establish a national dialogue, including with tertiary providers, on the role of teacher librarians today in schools and into the future. The dialogue should include an examination of the adequacy of the pathways into the profession and ongoing training requirements.

5 Partnering and supporting school libraries and teacher librarians

Recommendation 10

The Committee recommends that the Commonwealth Government, through the Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood and Youth Affairs, discuss ways to enhance partnerships with state and territory and local levels of government to support school libraries and teacher librarians.

Recommendation 11

The Committee recommends that the Commonwealth Government partner with ASLA and ALIA to produce a document that showcases some of the successful partnerships and programs between school libraries and other libraries, and joint-use libraries. The document should be made available to government and non-government education authorities and school principals.

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