Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of the roles of teacher librarians in specialized high schools based on their job experiences. In-depth interviews were conducted with eight teacher librarians. The findings are as follows. First, participants perceived their role as information specialists with subject expertise. Second, their role as teachers encompassed instructional activities and emotional support for students. Third, as program administrators, they managed school library spaces, supervised student volunteers, and promoted library programs. Fourth, job experiences as cooperative leaders involved collaboration in instruction, participation in professional learning communities, and engagement in local community. Lastly, the school community perceived teacher librarians mainly as information specialists and program administrators, with a lack of perception of their roles as teachers and instruction partner. This study provided rich descriptions of the job experience and proposed implications for expanding the roles and enhancing the professionalism of teacher librarians in specialized high schools.