To leader, to teach, to support: the function and expertise of Florida school librarians providing a reflection in Brazilian context

Abstract

The article presents information about librarians and school libraries of Florida (USA) to raise a reflection on the formation of the Brazilian librarian. The data were obtained through two methods: the observation, with the participation in the annual conference of the Florida Association of Media in Education (FAME), and the documentary analysis of several documents that guide the Libraries of that state: the ExC3EL – a set of documents that presents guidelines for the organization and evaluation of the school library and its educational program; the READS – a set of documents that offers a systematized reading program to be developed jointly between teachers and school librarians; and the FINDS – a set of documents that offers a systematized program of skills to be developed with students in order to stimulate informational literacy and inquiry learning through information researching. It has been observed that Florida school librarians are teachers, and in most cases, have dual backgrounds: a degree in some area of knowledge (with license to teach), and postgraduate in librarianship or information science. They consider their main functions to lead, to teach and to support. In the Brazilian context, the librarian (graduate in librarianship) has general education (to work in any type of library or information service) and, in order to deal with children and young people and to play a role in school, would certainly benefit from a specific training in the educational field