A community for teacher-librarians and other educators

Requirements

I would like to become a librarian at a middle school. I've just begun looking into this and I need to know what schooling/certification I would need. I'm sure that this varies depending on where you are, but this looked like a good place to get a general answer. I've already got my B.A. in Foreign Languages and I work at the public library as a circulation/reference clerk, so hopefully I'm on my way.

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ashley on February 27, 2008 at 7:38am

The first place you should look is the board of education in the state where you hope to work. I see from your profile that you are in Louisiana. Here is a link to the page with certification information for Louisiana. There is a downloadable link on the left that says "Types of Teaching Certificates." That tells you about the requirements for the different paths into teaching. You might need to contact them to get specifics regarding requirements for Media Specialists (i.e., do you need an accredited Masters degree).

Some other links of interest:
Alternate Teacher Preparation
Louisiana Certification FAQs

Best of luck to you. I also came to school libraries the back way, becoming a librarian (corporate) first, then getting my certification. I already had a Masters degree, so I was qualified for certification on that basis in Maryland. When I moved to Illinois, I needed to take a few tests (a PRAXIS equivalent and a Library Information Specialist content area test) to be certified here.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Lacey Fletcher on February 27, 2008 at 3:50pm

Thank you so much. I've looked at the websites and found some helpful info. Hopefully I'll have my teaching certification by next year. (There's a good program in my area.)
Thanks again!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Natalie Weatherman on March 4, 2008 at 7:33pm

I am currently taking classes toward my Master's in Library Media Education at Minnesota State University - Mankato. All of the courses are online and we have students from all over the country in our classes. It has been an amazing experience. You can work towards licensure or a Master's... your choice. Here is a link to my program.

http://ed.mnsu.edu/ksp/lme/

I, too, teach a foreign langugage. What a coincidence in common interests!

~Natalie

▶ Reply

RSS

Welcome to
TLNing (teacherlibrarian.org)

Sign Up
or Sign In

A Learning Revolution Project

Twitter feeds

Tweets about "#tlchat" Tweets about "#tlelem"

TL Scoop.its

Teacher Librarians of the 21st Century Curated by Mrs. N Ideas and Resources for the 21st Century Teacher Librarian

Libraries as Sites of Enchantment, Participatory Culture, and Learning Curated by Buffy J. Hamilton Ideas and resources to develop the concept of libraries as sites of participatory culture and learning

Personal Learning Networks for Librarians Curated by Donna Watt

Staying ahead of the game, managing your own professional development, joining the dots

SchoolLibrariesTeacherLibrarians Curated by Joyce Valenza News for teacher librarians

What is a teacher librarian? Curated by Tania Sheko Defining the role of teacher librarians for those who think we just look after books

Teacher librarians and transliteracy Curated by Sue Krust Explore the evolving role of the teacher librarian

Teacher-Librarian Curated by Librarian@HOPE Best sites and resources on the web for teacher-librarians

ResearChameleon on School Libraries Curated by Kathy Malatesta Teaching, mentoring & leading in today’s school libraries

Student Learning through School Libraries Curated by lyn_hay Building evidence of impact through research and professional practice

SCIS Curated by SCIS News and resources about school libraries

Educational Technology and Libraries Curated by Kim Tairi In libraries we teach, we learn and many of us are early adopters of technology. This is your scoop on those things.

21st Century Libraries Curated by Dr. Steve Matthews all things 21st Century library related