IASL Research Abstracts: 129

Findings: Although the study demonstrated that teacher librarians are viewed as influential by their principals and that the teacher librarians employed a number of influence-building strategies, the teacher librarians themselves did not appear to take full advantage of their potential for influence. Indeed, teacher librarians were generally less enthusiastic about their influence than were their principals.

Abstract: Influence power is an important factor in the workplace, especially for those who do not hold formal organizational power. As a professional group, teacher librarians are often regarded as innovative and proactive, even influential. This case study of six Australian teacher librarians analysed the level of influence of teacher librarians as perceived by themselves and by their principals. Research questions addressed in the study include: 1) How do the teacher librarians engage with their community? 2) What are their spheres of influence, strategies for engagement, involvement in politics? 3) How do they build influence through engagement in activities outside the "library"? and 4) Do their respective principals support the views espoused by the teacher librarians? See:

Henri, J. and Boyd, S. 2002. Teacher librarian influence: Principal and teacher librarian perspectives. School Libraries Worldwide, 8(2), 1-17.

Subject Categories: 6, 18