The Evolving Role of Teacher Librarians in Australian Primary Schools: A Scoping Review

Teacher Librarians (TLs), also known as school librarians, are qualified educators with dual credentials as teachers and library professionals. The TL role has evolved significantly due to the demand for information literacy, technological progress, curriculum reforms, innovation, and shifting school environments. The aim of this scoping review is specifically to explore how the role of TLs in Australian primary schools has evolved from 2000 to 2025. Specifically, this review will identify and map the key characteristics of the TL role and identify research gaps in the literature. This study investigates the current understanding of the evolving role of teacher librarians in primary schools across Australia, as outlined in existing literature. It maps the available evidence to evaluate its extent, scope, and characteristics, highlighting key concepts and identifying research gaps related to the changing role of TLs in Australian school libraries. The study design followed the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology to systematically identify relevant peer-reviewed papers, and the PRISMA reporting guidelines were adhered to. Eligible articles included peer-reviewed literature in education and librarianship scholarly journals. Reviewers used EndNote and Excel to screen titles and abstracts of located records and full-text articles. This scoping review will adhere to the JBI methodology for scoping reviews and is in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). Review stages Search, Screening, Extraction, Synthesis Current review stage Preregistration. Submission of the review protocol for publication. Start date The planned start date is November 2025. End date The estimated completion date is April 2026.