We all struggle with the same information literacy issues with our students, most importantly, they don’t know what they don’t know yet they think they do. Our students come to us with the knowledge that Google can give them all they need (on the first page of hits) and no one has taught them otherwise. In college we are surprised that they were able to get through K-12 without good information literacy knowledge. Our classroom professors are frustrated by their students inability to do any kind of research with depth. And in K-12 they are so concerned with high stakes testing they no longer see the value in information literacy and are pink slipping teacher librarians because they are not in charge of specifically identified students that can be tracked back to their performance. Here in the good State of California those teacher librarians in grades 8-12 that have managed to keep their jobs are mainly textbook administrators and not really able to use their talents for good at all. It’s a shameful situation indeed.

I come to this little rant today after looking at Joyce Valenca’s blog post regarding a little sit down that will be happening with the new education secretary Arne Duncan . Carol Broos is an educator that will be one of the twelve teachers at this little shin dig and she has been asked to consider 5 questions which she has asked for feedback from the education community on. They are located on The Future of Education Ning . Although I am an academic librarian I am deeply effected by what is not taught in the K-12 schools and I believe that our input would also be useful for the big picture view which is so often overlooked. If you feel the same way consider adding your voice to one or more of the questions being asked.