A Theoretical Understanding of Teacher and Librarian Collaboration (TLC)

Teacher and librarian collaboration (TLC) is considered essential to support the changing population of students, complexity of educational issues, and increased information. However, collaboration has yet to be clearly defined for teachers and librarians. This article discusses four models of teacher and librarian collaboration (TLC) previously proposed by the author (Model A: Coordination, Model B: Cooperation, Model C: Integrated Instruction and Model D: Integrated Curriculum) and identifies five constructs in the models that can be used to evaluate the effect of each model on students' academic achievement. This article argues that high levels of the five constructs (a) interest, (b) level of involvement, (c) improved learning, (d) innovation, and (e) integration in TLC may have the most effect on students' academic achievement.