Professional Training for Media Specialists, School Librarians, and Teacher-Librarians: A Program Proposal

Abstract

Programs to prepare librarians and information professionals of all types often begin with on-the-pb training of volunteers, students, and paraprofessionals who go to work in a library while they are in school or as part-time of full-time employment when such non-professional jobs are available. On-site training is not unusual. In early days of libraries, librarians were often trained through an apprentice-type program. The newest methods for training librarians include an expansion of a tried and true 'distance' plan, the 'corspondence' course method where lessons were mailed to the students and the responses returned to the instructor through the mail. The newest form of 'mail' is now electronic. In addition, students are able to 'attend' classes through electronic transmission in a variety of formats.
 This paper traces the beginning of a distance education program at a single institution and highlights the rapid expansion because of an acute need for school librarians. It details the plans for the future which has a forecase for exchange of teachers and students via distance education between sites throughout the world.