Educating school librarians in the English-speaking Caribbean: The case of the department of library and information studies at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica

Abstract

School library education in the English-Speaking Caribbean is offered at the undergraduate level at the Department of Library and Information Studies (DLIS), University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. This research describes the programme and the challenges faced by the Department in its delivery. A survey was conducted during the 2011 academic year and the results indicated that the DLIS needs to restructure its undergraduate B.Ed. School Librarianship programme to include recent trends in school library education. It was recommended that the DLIS develop a two tiered programme to be delivered using the blended-learning mode in order to increase its student in take. In addition to this, DLIS needs to include courses that will allow its graduates to possess the necessary knowledge and competencies to function effectively in school libraries in this Information Age.