PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

A professional association is a non-profit organization seeking to further the interests of individuals engaged in a profession, e.g. library media specialists, and the public interest.  All teacher-librarians are strongly encouraged to join and take part in professional associations.  Our local, provincial and national associations help to remove the feeling of isolation that many Teacher-Librarian’s feel.  Not only do they provide guidelines and standards for the profession as a whole, they also advocate for and educate their members.  Professional associations allow us to add our voices to local, provincial and federal issues surrounding the future of school library media programs.  They provide us with unique opportunities to network with other library professionals helping to connect us and allowing us to share ideas about effective best practices in order to enhance our teaching and our understanding of the role the library resource centre in the 21^st century.   

As a Teacher Librarian, it is important to stay abreast of new developments in your field. The virtual world is exploding exponentially in the field of education, and information literacy is a challenging concept to stay one step ahead of. A Professional Association often provides research-driven education, conferences where the latest technology or tools for Teacher Librarians to use to increase their knowledge base, and often, journals or on-line sites to discover new information. 

When you begin to work within your professional association you will have many opportunities to develop your leadership skills.  You will develop political awareness as your organization keeps you informed about legislation.  If you are in the job market, they often provide job listings.  When listing professional associations on your resume prospective employers know that  you’re serious about the profession and care about keeping current with important trends in the field,"  (Franklin and Stephens, 2008).  Hughes-Hassel and Harada, in their book School Reform and the Library Media Specialist, suggest that joining professional associations keeps you 'on the cutting edge of educational change' (p.12), and list it as one of the strategies Library Media Specialists can use to become a 'change agent'. Change agents are those who facilitate and help guide the course of change in education, (Hughes-Hassel and Harada, 2007).

To become a 'change agent' by joining a professional association go to the following links and choose the ones that interest you.

Provincial Associations

National Associations

International Associations

References

DuFour, R. 2004.  Schools as Learning Communities.  Educational Leadership, 61(8) p 6-11.

Franklin, Pat. & Stephens, Claire Gatrell.  Membership Matters.  School Library Media Activities Monthly, Jan. 2008, Vol. 24, Issue 5, p. 42 -44, 3p. 

Hughes-Hassell, Sandra & Harada, Violet H.  2007.  School Reform and the School Library Media Specialist.  Westport:  Libraries Unlimited.