The Future of Learning Is Human-Centered

School librarians often find themselves betwixt two different worlds that come with quite varied expectations. They are seen as the arbiters of traditional learning and academia, with library spaces providing books and quiet places for self-enrichment and study. They are also often given the responsibility of being the building's technology experts: distributing devices, doing minor repairs to screens and keyboards, as well as helping classroom teachers better utilize educational technology. With school librarians being so firmly planted in the past and present by outside expectations of their "duties as assigned," they cannot always look towards the future of learning and how they are perfectly suited to lead that work in our schools. The human connection to learning is at the root of rethinking education. The 20th century provided a system of schooling that relied heavily on rote memorization and behavioral preparation for working in a factory. That is no longer the world we live in and is not the world we are moving into. If we truly want learners to be able to pursue their passions in life, we must provide them with an educational experience that gives them the proper tools to do so. To fully understand how to prepare young people for a future of employment and life that is still being designed, we must embrace what we have known for hundreds of years--how to be human.