Pathways for School Library Education and Training in Japan

Abstract

In this presentation we would like to introduce school library education and training in Japan. The School Library Law closely connects school libraries to the Japanese education system. Enacted in 1953, it covers the core elements of the school system in Japan. The first version of the law regulated school libraries, teacher librarians and the teacher librarians’ training programme. It stated that a teacher-librarian should be in a school library if the school has more than 12 classes (which is the case for about half of the schools in Japan). However, most teacher librarians did not receive any exemption from their regular duties as classroom subject teachers. In the latest version of the law, amended in 2014, the placement of the school librarians has been documented in addition to the teacher librarians.

There is another type of library staff also working in schools: “school librarians” who work as librarians in the school library. There were school librarians in Japanese schools before this amendment, but they were not regulated by the School Library Law.