In case you’ve yet to hear about the current issue involving angered School Librarians and Sesame Place, a PA based amusement park, the standardized letter which follows should do a good job of explaining the impetuous for their anger:

“Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts on one of our, a
promotional offers.  The Teacher Preview Pass offer was valid for current,
active K-12 Certified Teachers in the eligible states. Unfortunately,
Librarian Certification does not meet the qualifications of the offer.  If
applicant also possesses a current active K-12 certificate in a different
subject area, and would like to submit a copy of this certificate for
further consideration, please send attachment in response to this email no
later than 4/23/14. Although we understand the importance of all
educational professionals, if defined parameters are unable to be met, we
are unable to extend the offer.”

In reaction, school librarians have gone full force via e-mail, tweets and Facebook comments (which Sesame Place deleted!) to basically dis Sesame Place, but more importantly get the message across that School Librarians do in fact teach.

It’s needless to point out that whomever scribed this e-mail is clueless about customer service and has no clue about knowing when to bend the rules in order to earn consumer loyalty. However his not knowing what school librarians do is, in my humble opinion, not his fault.

Ask yourself: Do your administrators know what you do? Could they clarify your roles and responsibilities? Do they know how what you do effects student learning? Do your parents know? What about Board of Education members?  Your teachers? Your students?

We need to change this paradigm now! Make sure that your roles and responsibilities are clearly written. Show your stakeholders how you’ve met your roles and responsibilities and how in meeting those roles and responsibilities you’ve created student learning.

You make a difference; it’s time to make sure that everyone knows how!