Abstract
The author seems eminently qualified to write this book. Anthony Tilke is head of library at the International School of Amsterdam, which was the first school to be authorised to offer all three International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes (Diploma Programme [DP], Middle Years Programme [MYP] and Primary Years Programme [PYP]: the ‘continuum’). He has worked within an IB DP setting for ten years, and obtained a doctorate on the impact of an international school library on the IB DP from Charles Sturt University, Australia. Furthermore, he has six years’ experience of teaching Theory of Knowledge (ToK), and this provides a useful background for much of the book. In fact, Chapter 3 has a number of useful pages dealing with the issue of ToK support. The book itself consists of nine key chapters, embracing 95 pages, plus a further 20 pages of useful appendices and nine pages of references. Each chapter ends with a summary of practical strategies for both the librarian in an IB DP school, and administrators. The second part of the book consists of interesting narratives by librarians and students about what they expect from the library.
The book is aimed at two audiences. First, clearly, it is aimed at practising librarians, filling a gap that seems to exist in literature and research. Second, it is aimed at administrators in schools, especially the director and the IB DP coordinator. The book makes it very clear from the outset that the role of the library in an IB DP school is very different from that in a non-IB DP school, partly because of the nature of assessment (with ToK, the Extended Essay and CAS being formal requirements), and also because each IB DP school has to undergo re-authorisation every five years, and the role of the library is a crucial element of the self-assessment exercise that forms part of that process. In other words, the book states quite clearly that the library needs to be seen as part of the every-day management of the school, not just as a resource for students (and teachers). This aspect of the book got me thinking about how the director in a school might view the library. Do they see it as having a crucial management role? Does the director of a school ever visit the library? This reviewer, with 22 years’ experience of working in IB DP schools, has rarely seen the administrators of the school visit the library, but perhaps they should. Furthermore, is the librarian ever appraised? This book might be a useful tool for that task.
The book argues that the librarian in an IB DP school has an important role to play. Chapter 4 deals with the Extended Essay. Chapter 5 deals with academic honesty. Most teachers in an IB DP school would identify the librarian with a fairly limited role in Extended Essay support (at a referencing and citation level) but the book rather provocatively states that the librarian ought to be involved in almost all aspects of Extended Essay work, including subject choice and research question, and even the writing of the abstract. This seemed to imply that the library would be the only source of literature for the student, yet the biggest resource is probably online or even contained within a teachers’ own private (subject-based) library. This aspect of the book had me thinking that the role of the librarian was probably being over-stated, although I do acknowledge the important role that the library can play. Moreover, there seems to be an accountability issue here. Is not the subject teacher responsible for the outcome (final grade) of the Extended Essay? How far should the librarian get involved in formal assessment? Should the student listen to advice from the subject teacher or from the librarian?
One weakness of the book is the background writing about the IB DP and its history and philosophy (mainly contained in Chapter 2). The author could have made more use here of work by accepted and recognised IB ‘historians’, such as Ian Hill. Second, there is little reference in the book to helping teachers undergoing professional development (undertaking higher degree work, for instance, or even attaining teaching certification). Third, there is a tension within the book regarding the role of the library as a place of study, and relaxation. The IB DP is a demanding and relatively stressful academic programme. Should the library not fulfil a role for students to ‘unwind’ and relax? Fourth, and this is a key point to make, there is an emphasis on the library in an ‘international school’, such as the one in the author’s own school, the International School of Amsterdam. However, we know that at least 90 per cent of IB DP schools are not ‘international schools’ as such, and many national schools (92 per cent of IB DP schools in the USA, for instance, are public schools) are competing with local, municipally funded, libraries. This limits the appeal of the book a little and raises the point that discussions about the IB DP increasingly represent a ‘national’–‘international’ school dichotomy of needs, issues and problems.
The strength of the book clearly lies in its useful checklists and suggestions contained at the end of each chapter, plus the references it contains to research and work that is not normally seen in the context of the IB DP. This reviewer found it very refreshing to read something new and different about the IB DP, even if I did not agree totally with the proposed ‘hands-on role’ of the librarian in Extended Essay work. All in all, the book is a welcome addition to the literature about the IB DP and ought itself to find a place on any library shelf. Moreover, as the book asserts, it should also be required reading for IB DP school administrators, especially in schools about to undergo IB DP authorization and self-assessment.