by Cathy Fowler, Joseph Jeffery, and Shaunna MacDonald
The Crucial Role of District-Level Teacher-Librarians in Enhancing BC’s Educational Landscape: Advocating for Sustained School Library Leadership
Abstract
This paper examines the benefits of dedicated central support for school libraries. Across the country this kind of professional support takes on many forms if it exists at all. The writers have researched many districts in British Columbia and shared their positive findings. They document the pivotal function of the district-level TL and why their role should be considered essential staffing within a district.
TMC8_2025_Fowler_Jeffery_MacDonald.pdf
Cathy Fowler has been a teacher-librarian for 20 years and is currently the District Teacher-Librarian in Campbell River School District. She holds a Master of Educational Technology from the University of British Columbia with a Post Grad Diploma in Library Sciences from UBC. She has been actively involved in the transformations of Libraries to Library Learning Commons across two districts and loves seeing the transformation in school cultures that a vibrant Learning Commons brings. She reads historical fiction and devours graphic novels, especially the reworked classics.
Joseph Jeffery is the District Learning Commons Teacher-Librarian in School District 57 – Prince George, BC where he supports teacher-librarians in creating and maintaining information literacy rich library learning commons programming, designing participatory and flexible learning spaces, and developing culturally responsive library learning commons. Joseph holds a Master of Education in Curriculum and Pedagogy specializing in Teacher-Librarianship from the University of Alberta. Joseph is currently serving as the Chair of the Canadian School Libraries Board of Directors. Outside of school, Joseph is an avid gamer of all types from card to tabletop to video games and enjoys being transported to imaginative worlds of science fiction and fantasy as a reader.
Shaunna MacDonald has been a teacher-librarian for 11 years and is currently the Teacher Librarian Helping Teacher in Surrey School District, British Columbia. She holds a Master of Education in Teacher Librarianship from Charles Sturt University, NSW, Australia. Her professional passions lie in connecting readers with books and creating student-centered Library Learning Common spaces and collections. You’ll most commonly find her hanging out in any middle grade fiction section, raving about her latest favourite reads.