A tribute to these elite educators

Once upon a time, mastery of the Dewey Decimal System and an occasional smile were the main requirements for a school librarian.

Today, they’ve got to be well-versed in computers, the internet and library software.

School librarians have to develop new systems, procedures and work flows to match society’s relentless march into a digital information universe.

They have to possess a keen grasp of the books available to eager students, and encourage the non-readers to want to read.

And smiles are still greatly appreciated.

Several of them are captured in today’s Press, thanks to some excellent work by Coeur d’Alene High School junior Zandria DuPuis. An aspiring photojournalist who also likes to write, Zandria reached out to the newspaper and pitched the idea of honoring school librarians for National School Librarian Day on April 4. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be seeing more of Zandria’s work in The Press not too far down the road.

With Zandria, The Press applauds all the school librarians in our readership area, and notes that their diligence is needed now more than ever.

We live in a time of great opportunity to access information instantly, from anywhere in the world. Research that took earlier generations of school children days or weeks can now be gathered in minutes. Notes scrupulously taken with pen and paper are now largely unnecessary. Source material can be copied and pasted in a couple of clicks and sent to a printer almost anywhere.

But these advantages also come with dire warnings: In that myriad of information out there are masses of misinformation. Opinion is sold off as news. Some resources aren’t motivated by sharing accurate or balanced information; they’re motivated by branding their messages on the conscious and subconscious minds of those who cross their paths.

This is where school librarians can be indispensable. Helping students find reliable sources of peer-reviewed research and news outlets with reputations for doing their utmost to accurately reflect what’s happening in the world; guiding students through the minefields of disinformation; these are additions to the school librarian job description that are essential to the promotion of critical thinking and accurate analysis.

The future of our society might depend more on good school librarians than you think.