To be a school librarian in France…

Two examples: Lycée Uruguay-France in Avon and Lycée Jules Verne in Limours.

10/2011

Staff: Recruitment

• The school librarian is a specialized teacher.• He/she has to pass the same level competitive

examination than the others teachers.• A four year long academic curriculum allows to

take the « CAPES » (Secondary Education Teaching Competency Certificate).

• The entrance exam is national and the Ministry of Education controls teachers’ careers and pay their wages.

• The recruitment is centralized and the training follows the same curriculum.

• After succeeding and after following a one year long pedagogical training, the laureate is allowed to teach. His succes also provides him a legal professional status, since his responsabilies and duties are settleed by laws: number of working hours per week; incomes and rules of promotion; appointment and rules of transfert.

• As state public servants, teachers can stay in this function all his/her work life.

• Since 1990, the school librarians (called teacher-librarians, professeurs-documentalistes) have to pass the CAPES of documentation.

We can assert that public schools in France present a homogenous situation regarding the documentation service, managed by a qualified teacher-librarian.

Staff: Timetable• The school librarians are

supposed to work 36 hours per week: 30 inside the school, 6 outside (to go to books shops, to visit museum and exibitions, to prepare courses, to get formations…).

• Beside the head librarian, both qualified as teacher and as a library media specialist, some assistants work for the documentation center. They often hand the basic library function (equipment of books, lending activities…)

Library Work

The school librarian work is very affected by the type of junior high school or high school where he/she is working in and how is the CDI (centre de documentation et d’information ), the library itself.

The Library - CDI

Almost all CDI have divided areas, each one with a specific purpose:

• The librarian desk.

• The documentaries section. Most of the CDI use the Dewey Decimal classification.

The Library - CDI• The reading section

and tables to work.• The periodical

section.• The vocational

guidance section.• The computer

section.

The CDI opens generally from 9am to 17pm 4 days per week. The

presence of assistants also allows to be more

largely opened.

Library work: Duties and activitiesFor few years, there is a project of a new

teachers-librarians’duties. This document defines the librarians’ missions in four fields of

action:Teaching goals• Educate students to information culture :

teach the research process ; develop critical thinking ; teach information skills ; train to the

use of technologies...

Work in collaboration with other teachers to develop a resource based curriculum.

Management and organization

Define the school documentary policy, with the contribution of administrators and teachers :

• Define the needs of the school community ; • Choose the proper technical tools to organize the

whole information service.

Collection and access• Build-up an appropriate collection, suiting

students' and teachers' needs ;• Give access to the entire collection.

Links with the professional and cultural environment

Set up collaborative projects to promote local cultural and professional associations, to work in collaboration with the public library.

Library budget• The school board of administrators (composed

of the school headmaster, members of the administrative team, teachers, parents and local elected representatives) decides each year the amount that will be devoted to the documentation service. These funds are taken from the school budget allocated to educational and pedagogical activities. The teacher-librarian uses those financial resources to buy print and digital materials, pay subscriptions to periodicals and databases

• The budget of the CDI therefore varies from an institution to another. It depends on the school resources (linked to the number of students and the region where the school is set up), on the teacher-librarian’s influence, on the support the headmaster gives him, on the pedagogical choices made by the whole staff.

Library evaluation

• The work of the teacher-librarians is evaluated by academic inspectors and the head master. They give them a administrative and pedagogical grade that got influence on the salary.

• Each year, the documentalist has to assess a report of his/her action to give to the head master and the school board of administrators.

Some successful activities…

• Students training course to vocational or curriculum counselling with their head teacher.

• Exhibit about « slam » and collaborative work with a literature teacher.

• Organization and exhibition around chocolate.