Submitted by email from DET Western Sydney to The Manager, Library and Information Services, NSW DET.

Updated information notes are clickable.

Please comment on each of the following, in relation to both the NSW Department of Education and Training policies and procedures, and also professional expectations:

Context: A secondary high school, Years 7 – 12, with a collection exceeding 18,000 resources and student population of approximately 950. There is one full time Library Assistant SAO, and one Teacher Librarian. The senior students have ‘open access’; the school timetables a teacher for senior supervision a few periods a week. There are senior students in the library most of the time. Some sections of the collection have not undergone stock take since 2004.

[Note that the few periods that a teacher is timetabled for senior supervision do NOT coincide with those times the Teacher Librarian is in a classroom on a timetabled period - see next paragraph.]

At the school, the teacher librarian is timetabled to teach Philosophy to Year 7. The lessons are conducted in two 40-minute sessions plus one 80-minute session. Note that this ‘course’ is not related to any NSW Board of Studies outcomes, and the teacher librarian has no credentials in this subject - thereby falling outside the Quality Teaching Framework on two accounts.

The teacher librarian provides full library services before school, 5 days a week, without the assistance of the Library Assistant, who arrives half an hour after the teacher librarian, and leaves at the same time.

[Note that this arrangement has been in place apparently for many years. The matter has been raised with the principal who indicated that there would be no change in this arrangement. Additionally, the principal has instructed that Full Library Services - not 'borrow and buzz off' are to be provided during the before-school period.]

In addition to opening before school, the teacher librarian provides supervision for two recesses each day (one of 15 minutes, one of twenty minutes) plus both halves of lunchtime. On Sports Day, the library isn’t open to students at lunchtime, but staff use that lunch period to borrow, return and browse.

[Since the time of the original submission, the Teacher Librarian is no longer required to open before school, but does so on a 'goodwill basis'. Recess One has now been timetabled as Playground Duty (in the library), Recess Two and both halves of lunch are now timetabled as part of 'mandatory teaching load'. For more information and to view a graphic of the difference made to the workload, see here.]

[Following the receipt of the response shown below, and possibly because of it (?), the Teacher Librarian has now been added to the sports roster, in addition to ALL other duties.]

The teacher librarian is allocated “extras” to cover absent colleagues. This is deemed by the school to be appropriate on the basis that the teacher librarian is “under load” as the teacher librarian is “only” timetabled on one class.

In reference to the abovementioned “extras”, there is no attempt to consider those aspects of the DET policy requiring consideration to be given to non-timetabled duties. On the last allocation of an “extra”, staff training was being conducted with a relief SAO with no library experience, who had come to the school for an hour (unpaid time) prior to undertaking a two-week replacement position. There were also senior students in the library. [Since the time of the original submission, the Minutes of the school's Executive show that "the Librarian will not be given any extras".]

[At the time of writing] “Information Literacy” is [was] delivered to Year 7 students in the same manner as Philosophy. The school’s four Year 7 classes rotate between these two subjects (plus two others) each term. A computer teacher delivers [now delivered] “Information Skills” course in isolation to curriculum content. Details of this ‘course’ have not been made available, but it would appear to mainly comprise a basic Information Technology course. [Since the time of the original submission, the Teacher Librarian has now been timetabled for the "Information Literacy" classes - which are delivered as 'enrichment' to only the top streamed classes.]

The school’s library is of the “Pizza Hut Roof” design. The teacher librarian’s office has had one wall removed, and made into a computer lab. The teacher librarian shares what is left of the workroom with the Library Assistant, the Teacher Mentor, and a fourth desk for occasional ‘drop-in’ teachers. The Teachers’ Reference Collection is also housed in the same room. There is very limited room for processing. The library’s only ‘breakout’ room has been subsumed as the Career’s Advisors Office.

Read the second request for clarification: " ... Whilst realising that these issues are at “the Principal’s Discretion”, are you able to advise whether (or not) they conform to ..."

At a meeting on June 20, 2007, the information was provided that a new document must be drafted for determination by the NSW DET's Directorate of Professional Conduct, as opposed to the Staffing Directorate.

On 17th September, a document was submitted to the NSW Department of Education and Training, via the District Office. That document will not be published here, for the forseeable future. However, it is available under the Freedom of Information Act. Contact the author for details of document title and place of lodgement.