The in-service needs of teacher-librarians

Abstract

To determine the in-service needs of teacher-librarians, personal interviews were conducted in thirty-six schools selected by random sampling technique from schools in the Liverpool education region. In this survey research, teacher-librarians in these schools were asked to indicate courses they felt they needed to attend, preferred learning method and to discuss aspects of their work in schools. Results showed that teacher-librarians with more extensive library training felt the need for extra skills in curriculum/teaching areas, those with basic training only wanted more librarianship skills, whilst a number employed in non-government primary schools wanted to learn more about management. The most experienced group of teacher-librarians wanted courses that provided more skills in librarianship; those with the highest qualifications had demands for in-service that were comparable to those of the lesser trained. A significant feature of the findings was the extent of isolation felt by teacher-librarians, especially those working in small primary schools. Primary and secondary teacher-librarians felt that their needs were quite different, but this was not borne out by results of the survey. Recommendations for future in-service courses were listed.

Date of Award	1983
Original language	English