Quit or Media Specialist?

[Questioning]

The past year I have very dissatified with my job teaching and have seriously concitered quitting. My main issues are dealing with parents, student discipline problems and "the system" (i.e. state testing). Today I began thinking about becoming a media specialist. I love being around books and I feel like I'm pretty knowledgable about children's literature. When I began thinking about the job, I realised that there would be many benefits to it - no papers to grade, no report cards to fill out and mainly, no parents to deal with. I realize that it would also entail other jobs that I don't have to do now such as lunch duty and whatnot. I guess what I'm trying to ask is if anyone else has made this move from the classroom to the library and how they feel about it.

 

[MrsM]

I'm passing along second-hand knowledge, not firsthand, so take it at face value and consider what others have to say. My best friend at school is the librarian, and this is what I know from her. It's true that there are no papers to grade or report cards. There is contact once in a while with parents who can be crazy and unreasonable with the librarian as well. She's had people wanting her to remove books from the library, or parents trying to replace a hardcover-bound book with a cheap paperback version instead of paying the $20 owed. She has to schedule 20 teachers at 2 library times per week, one for a lesson which usually involves a read-aloud, and one for book checkout.(our building is 2nd and 3rd grades) She has to deal with 20 teacher personalities, which can be difficult or not, depending on the year. She has to complete reports on the library, about circulation, how old the books are, what types of books, etc. There are state (or fed?) standards that everything must snap to. She has endless shelving of books to do. She has teachers who send students 10 at a time to use the library when another class is in there. She has extended contract, which means she works 2 full weeks later than the rest of us doing her inventory for year-end. She also starts 2 full weeks before the rest of us to prepare the library for the first day of school. The library is always being used for meetings, before and after school, and she may or may not be informed of it.

My friend taught in classrooms before this, and she prefers the library, but she is passionate about reading and books. In our state it takes a special certificate or endorsement, which can be done within the 2 years they give on a provisional. If this move is also right for you, I say go for it, and enjoy!

 

[Ima Teacher]

Our librarian is VERY busy. It's true that there are no papers to grade, but that's about it. She works with students, has classes in the library, has kids checking out and returning books all day long. She also has to work with TEACHERS to make sure they have books, materials, etc. She keeps track of which kids can and can't use the Internet. She bills parents for lost textbooks and library books.

She doesn't deal with many parents, but the ones she does are often NOT happy. She has complaints because the books are "inappropriate". She has complaints about prices of books. And then there is my favorite, "There are no books for my child in your library." Geez!!! We have a BIG library.

When our librarian was out for an extended period, I worked in the library for several days during my planning times, and I nearly ran from the building screaming from the scheduling issues alone.

 

[Kerri]

Media Specialists Are Teachers

I'm a Media Specialist in a grade PreK-6 school. I have a fixed schedule. I see grades K-3 twice per week and grades 4-6 and preschool once per week. I love my position and I take it very seriously. Media Specialists are "specialists," and we have many of the same responsibilities as classroom teachers.
I teach actual lessons (including technology) during every one of my library sessions and I try to enhance what students are learning in the classroom.
One of your concerns was student discipline problems. I am extremely strict. I need to be because I only have contact with my students for a short time. And I teach the whole school. Sometimes I feel out of the loop because I don't get to know the students as closely as their classroom teacher, but I am trying. If there is a discipline problem, I handle it (detention with me). I don't have much contact with the parents, but I feel that it's important so I am trying to build up communication with them.
Library is a special and I go to great lengths to WOW my students each week. I try to make every lesson memorable. I choose every book that I share and every activity that I do with great care.
I encourage you to become a Media Specialist. Please go into it knowing that your job is important and ever-changing and you need to meet the needs of the whole school.

 

[Questioning]

Thanks for the responses

I really appreciate everyone's responses. I realize that Media Specialists have several "non-typical" jobs to do. As I thought about this recently, I really believe that it could be a good move for me. I continually think about all of the things that I would like to do with the kids such as start up book clubs, plan a young author's day, do book talks in different classrooms and get the kids excited about reading. One of my main problems in teaching in the regular classroom is the fact that I'm forced to use the basal reader, which I hate. I would much prefer reading novels with my students, and I feel that being a media specalist would allow me more freedom to introduce kids to novels.

I haven't talked with anyone else other than my husband about this possibility, and I'm unsure if it would even be a possibility in my district, but I have a meeting set up with my vice pricipal to discuss it this week. I believe initially, all you have to do is take the exam and then they give you several years (maybe 2-3) to fnish up with the classes. As I said, I'm unsure if the position is even open at my school, and if it is, I'm unsure if they would even hire me. I guess it can't do any harm to just find out some information, huh? Once again, thank you guys for your input!

 

[Shelly]

I started my teaching career as a classroom teacher (highschool), became the teacher-librarian at the highschool, had a couple of kids, took a job as the librarian at the local independent Catholic school, took on the IT role - thus becoming the Media teacher at the same school, and now I am covering a maturnity leave in the grade 6 classroom. I absolutely loved the switch to T-L it was both rewarding and challenging. What I missed was the connection with the students. I'm really enjoying being in the classroom again and not sure what I'll do when the position ends. All I can say is that a change is as good as a rest.