I had a revelation at 2:00 in the morning as I was lying wide awake in bed (as one does...). We librarians love to talk about the value of equitable access in our libraries, and we strive to provide that access to all of our patrons/customers/students. We seek to remove any barriers to access, whether they be physical barriers or barriers based on perceived ability or biased assumptions.
But in the school setting, we are in the unique position of also having access to every member of the learning community, every classroom, and all curricula. Few other individuals in the school have that position. We have the privilege of being able to build a relationship with every student, to get to know the child who is entering the school for the first time, to offer the safe space to the kid who is struggling.
We hear about a new resource or attend a session at a conference and immediately imagine a teacher whose classroom will benefit from the information. Collaboration is such an ingrained part of our work that we begin to plan how best to incorporate the new resource into the curriculum.
Ranganathan states, "Every book its reader" and "Every reader [their] book," but the corollary in the school setting could be, "Every student their person." And the librarian is that person. Every kid has access to the librarian, and the librarian has access to every kid. It's a symbiotic relationship. For some children, knowing that they have that one person can mean the difference between despair and resilience.
Sadly, when that access is removed, the students lose that one individual who knows them, who sees them grow during their time in the school, who follows their progress and revels in seeing their learning and celebrates their successes.
When I began my career as a school librarian, I quickly realized that one of the many benefits of my position was that I got to see my students grow and mature, that I got to be part of that moment when adulthood began to set in. How awesome is that?!