The Director of Information and Learning Technology provides the leadership for the teams of staff responsible for the Library, ILT Curriculum and Print services at Scotch College that meets the needs of the three sub-schools, and plays a strategic and transformational role in enhancing learning for boys in PP to Year 12.

The Teacher Librarian's primary role is to support the teaching and learning that occurs in the room. That is, at Scotch the teaching staff in libraries spend less time administrating the traditional library service and more time working directly with teachers in support of the programmes. This support takes two forms, either providing expert-level teaching resources such as LibGuides, or more directly, supporting presentations and promotion of information literacy and the love of reading.

Course Support

The Teacher Librarian (TL) is involved in the creation of support material in and around the topics the students are studying. Staff can request library assistance in relation to a course or an assignment and the TL will meet with the teacher to design a LibGuide supporting the topic and framework. The classroom teacher then works in partnership with the TL to ensure that all students have access to materials at a choice of levels, allowing them to achieve their best.

Course support can also take the form of attending meetings and advising on current trends in learning, and more importantly, the TL has an overview across more than one subject area and can therefore link similar content and tasks. By being a part of these meetings the TL plays a direct role in the teaching and learning programme and therefore the library remains in close touch with the actual classroom work.

The final part of this is the importance of using library lessons to teach the specific information literacy skills to help students research, obtain, and filter information from the many sources available to them. This process is detailed in a scope and sequence document that is the backbone of the TL's dedicated library lessons.

Love of Literature and Reading

Another key role is that of promoting and maintaining the library, so that it fosters a love of literature and reading. This role means that the TL's knowledge of the collection is critical and all TLs maintain a high level of reading to ensure they can actively promote to students books that match their interests.

Obviously, it is important to have highly qualified personnel for this role, but it is increasingly difficulty to locate staff who have the necessary aptitude for the expanding range of roles that need to be supported by the TL. This means means that often the traditional skill sets of Teacher Librarians fall outside of our requirements and so at Scotch we have adapted to a mix of teachers with library and/or complementary qualifications.

The Director of Information and Learning Technology is responsible for the strategic operation of all positions as shown in the organisational chart below. This chart has certain unique characteristics that help to provide a more holistic view of support to the Scotch community.

The Director of ILT reports directly to the Headmaster and works alongside the Information and Learning Technology Manager to support the overarching goals of the strategic plan. This structure is somewhat unique - as library has traditionally reported to the Teaching and Learning/Deputy of Curriculum in many other Colleges - and is due to the increasing complexity of library services and overarching integration with ILT creating a natural tendency for the departments to align.

It is important to note, however, that curriculum is still a major part of the library operations, with the Director of ILT consulting with the Director of Teaching and Learning. This relationship is critical as the library co-ordinates key relationships with individual departments to build resources and services in support of the boys learning goals. 

The Senior Librarian is the only non-teaching library staff member in the Senior Library and is responsible all of the day-to-day operations, purchasing for the libraries and departments, coordinating with all ancillary staff regarding library and LMS practices, and liaising with our sister school in relation to our shared LMS and digital resources. They are also responsible for the creation and updating of library front-facing systems—such as the LibGuides pages—creating digital displays, and administering the College's digital subscriptions for staff and students.

The SL at Scotch is a critical member of the team, degree-qualified and adept in all library operations. They are based at the library front desk, both supporting the students directly through borrowing and advice, and supporting the teachers with meticulous identification and cataloguing of resources of differing media types. This role provides support to all members of the community and forms a vital customer service link on the circulation desk. 

The non-teaching staff, Library Technicians (LT) and Library Services Officers (LSO), perform the bulk of most traditional library tasks in day-to-day operations.

The LT at Scotch is a critical member of the team, degree-qualified and adept in library operations including cataloging processes and procedures. They are not hidden in a back room but are at the library front desk, both supporting the students directly through borrowing and advice, and supporting the teachers with meticulous identification and cataloguing of resources of differing media types. This role has also redefined the media skills needed for the position as they are responsible for the updating of library front-facing systems—such as the LibGuides pages—and creating digital displays.

Complementing this is the ability to work in a team with the LSO as they do not directly manage any staff (see structure). The LSO will not necessarily be degree-qualified but has qualifications and skills in and around literature. This role provides support to all members of the community and forms a vital customer service link on the circulation desk. 

With the increasing number of requests that the library contribute to modern curriculum materials, the position of Library Services Assistant - Graphics was established in support of the creation of internal curriculum resources.

This is a support role to the Director of ILT, primarily with projects driven from a more strategic overview. Specifically the Library Services Assistant - Graphics works to ensure that any product sent from the library has a 'look and feel' to provide the community with final product of impressive quality. Specific examples of this role exist in the creation of of templates for LibGuides and other rich media projects employing the media of video and photography.

From what was originally a Library Services Officer role, the demands and higher standards of the Scotch library prompted a title change and a redefined set of skills to furnish sufficient in-house expertise for future library projects.

Library

The library team, regardless of physical location, all report to the Director of ILT in a flat structure to ensure that each individual has direct access to the strategic operations of the library spaces. While day-to-day tasks are given to the Library Officers and Technicians via the Teacher Librarians, each member of the library team has one-on-one meetings with the Director of ILT fortnightly.

Information Learning Technology Integration Specialist 

At Scotch the ILT Integration Specialists look after the integration of technology into the teaching and learning programmes. Each ILT Integration Specialist is responsible for a sub-school and reports through to the Director of ILT, who oversees the 1-12 implementation of technology.

Print

The Print department handles all printing, postage and deliveries across the College. This area also reports to the Director of ILT with the intention of optimising printing habits, and the updating and conversion of resources into the Library Management System.