HUNTERDON CENTRAL REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT

Librarians as Learning and Technology Leaders
Along with classroom teachers, the IMC staff has also taken a direct role in supporting the vision of studentcentered
learning:
Their ETTC courses, their partnerships with teachers, and their willingness to share their
incredible knowledge are vital to the progress toward our school’s vision. They are the epitome
of Lisa’s message last year to the staff. They are willing to be disturbed and, even more
impressive and valuable, they are willing to help others through the most uncomfortable aspects
of learner-driven, formative practice.
[The librarian] kept me focused on the students themselves being the driving force in their own
learning.
They served as facilitators in the new professional development model, giving their time to training and
preparation. They have taught ETTC courses and mini-courses about the Information Search Process, Finding
& Evaluating Electronic Information, Web 2.0 Technology, and 21 st Century Skills. In fact, it is often the
professional development they have offered through mini-courses and ETTC that encourage teachers to try out
new ways of learning. Many of the instructional partnerships from this year derived from these sessions. As
one teacher attests,
Had I not taken your ISP [Information Search Process] class, I never would have found the
motivation or inspiration to put together my totally student-generated environmental issues unit.
The IMC staff’s reach does not end when the summer arrives. They are integral to the important preparations
made during the summer. In addition to teaching ETTC courses over the summer, they brought their expertise
to the summer 1:1 pilot training, doing sessions on inquiry, social media tools like Twitter, and source
evaluation.
The twelve-month staff members supported initiatives and meetings taking place during the summer all while
doing preparations required of a school library to make it a warm, welcoming place in September. With the
elimination of the IMC supervisor position, each IMC staff member took on new leadership responsibilities
both instructionally and operationally. Despite the loss of this important position, the IMC’s program and
commitment did not falter.
Librarians as Information Specialists
As mentioned previously, the members of the IMC staff are information specialists. They work tirelessly not
only to help faculty and students to find information but also to process, catalog, arrange, and maintain all forms
of material to make retrieval possible. Even with our team of six, keeping up with a library of this size is a
challenge. However, given teacher and student reaction, we are managing this challenge very effectively:
Were it not for the IMC and its staff, the tools and resources available to both staff and students
would not be as easily accessible or user friendly. ~ Teacher
[The librarian] has taught me to use other sources besides Google and has really made an
impact on the books I have read. She opens up other options of books and different ideas.
~Student
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