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Teaching Librarian 15.indd 26 Ontario School Library Association I have a confession to make. When I first heard that my children's school library was no longer run by a teacher-librarian, but instead by a library technician, I was disappointed. Who runs our province's school libraries? Does it matter? As the article by Glenn Turner in this issue indicates, there are many different service models in place throughout the province, with a mish-mash of staffing models. Staffing is a contentious issue and the manner in which the boards and some principals have historically handled school library personnel has unfortu- nately helped to create a rift between two groups that should be close allies. These two primary groups are teacher-librarians and library technicians. What's in a name, and how do these two jobs differ? Each position has its own role and responsibility. Teacher-librarians are first and foremost teachers with a specialist in Librarianship. They provide comprehensive instruction in information literacy to students independently through classroom teaching or collaboratively with the classroom teacher. They choose appropriate materials that directly link to the Ministry of Education curriculum; they maintain library policies and manage library budgets. Library technicians have a two year college diploma and are trained to perform various hands-on tasks that include cataloguing and classifying of materials, data input to assist in acquiring print and nonprint materials, and circulation procedures. In a school library, a library technician would provide support to, and work in partnership with, the teacher-librarian to provide a harmonious welcoming library for all students. I work in a different board than the one in which my children are enrolled. At a parent council meeting, I offered to volunteer in the school library and the principal put me in touch with Ms. J, the library technician. She said she could use some help weeding the professional collection in the school library, as she was not familiar with the Ministry documents. When I came in during part of a professional activity day, I was surprised to see the condition of the non-fiction shelves. "Don't the students borrow non-fiction books?" I asked. "Yes, they do quite a bit" she replied, "but I always fix the shelves after classes visit." The shelves would have made Melville Dewey proud; every single book was in order and aligned precisely--this was a big contrast to my school library, with its untidy shelves (despite having student library helpers and a senior volunteer in once a week to help maintain order). The distinction between the role of the teacher- librarian and library technician often gets blurred and disconnected. In some school library settings, especially elementary schools, budget cuts force the staffing component of the school library to be limited to one person. In many cases this is a library technician due to the lower salaries. Library technicians have the expertise to train and assist students, such as locating resources and one-on-one research assistance; however they should not be expected to teach a class information literacy skills as they are not qualified to teach under the Ontario College of Teachers' policy. At the same time, expecting teacher-librarians to maintain the school library collection to professional standards, all within the confines of the instructional day, is not feasible with all the other teaching responsibilities. While researching this article, we have heard of New Beginnings Maria Ripley with Diana Maliszewski TL & LT, not TL vs LT