This paper examines the changing instructional role of the high school librarian from 1951 to 1984 to determine: (1) if the purported changes in the instructional role have been fictional or factual; (2) if the changes were those of substance or of form; (3) if the changes represented a process of growth and development in direct relationship to educational and societal revolutions; and (4) if any of the changes noted experienced a period of dormancy between introduction and acceptance by practitioners. Three sources of material were selected as research parameters for the study: representative literature published during the period which described the instructional role of the librarian; standards, guidelines, and reports issued by national educational and library associations; and research studies performed during each decade. Library literature was characterized by its precocity; it usually did not reflect the times so much as advance them. Standards, reports, and guidelines seemed to reinforce the literature, while research studies revealed that the instructional role had changed, but not to the degree indicated in the first two sources. (Author/THC)