Evidence of Practice

ETL512 Assessment 6: Professional Reflective Portfolio

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Part A: Statement of Personal Philosophy

Effective 21st century teacher-librarians require strong interpersonal skills alongside the pedagogical knowledge to teach a multitude of competencies and literacies across different curriculum areas. Through proficient leadership, strategic planning, resource management, and innovative program design, modern teacher-librarians inspire passion for reading for pleasure and information while supporting learning and wellbeing in our communities.

Modern libraries are about people, not just resources. Our ability to form effective relationships with students, staff, parents, and professional networks allows teacher-librarians to meet the diverse educational, wellbeing, and recreational needs of our learning communities and to advocate for our value in an ever-changing information landscape.

Part B: Critical Evaluation

My very first assessment for this degree required me to reflect on my understanding of the role of teacher-librarians in schools (Lysaught, 2021a). For this task, I discussed the roles I focused on as part of my then-recent job application:

Little did I know, but this visual would serve as a prescient highlight to many of the issues explored throughout this course.

The early work completed in ETL401 introduced me to several roles expected of modern teacher-librarians, and as a result of my continued learnings in this degree I have consolidated these varied elements into three key themes.

Theme 1: Resourcing and Inspiring Reading for Pleasure

The first theme, resourcing and inspiring reading for pleasure, in many ways reinforces pre-existing stereotypes about the work of teacher-librarians as predominantly dealing with books. I discussed this misconception in my early blog posts, noting that these perceptions were largely based on community experiences (Lysaught, 2021a; Lysaught, 2021b). As a result of the readings and learning tasks in this degree, I have concluded that teacher-librarians must therefore ensure that we provide a multitude of different experiences to our communities to shape their perceptions of our roles as varied and valuable in an ever-changing modern information landscape.

However, Herring (2007, p.31) noted that fulfilling all the possible roles expected of teacher-librarians at one time is impossible. Anecdotal evidence suggests many teachers still don’t know what information literacy is, let alone a teacher-librarian’s role in developing student proficiency; those few who do often lack the time for collaborative planning and teaching. Rather than stress myself out by fighting an uphill battle and overhauling community perceptions completely, at the start of my teacher-librarian journey I’ve chosen to draw on my strengths as an English teacher and my pre-existing relationships with this faculty to lean into community expectations and show my value to our school by establishing a culture of pleasure reading. Once trust in my abilities as a teacher-librarian and strong relationships are formed through this Trojan horse, the plan is to leverage my success and branch out into other facets of my role, such as information specialist, to further entrench my value to our school community.

Step one in my plan to channel then subvert community expectations was to create a Wide Reading Program for the Stage 4 English classes. To show the value of this program to our school leaders, I aligned it with our Strategic Improvement Plan, foreshadowing the learnings of ETL504 Teacher Librarian as Leader. This program, inspired by the ETL402 Literature Across the Curriculum readings, aims to create a school-wide culture of pleasure reading. Reading for pleasure has repeatedly been shown to improve student literacies and socio-emotional development (Combes & Valli, 2007; Howard, 2011; Allington & Gabriel, 2012; Kid & Castano, 2013; Gaiman, 2013; Wu et al., 2013; Whitten et al., 2016; Ipri & Newman, 2017; Stower & Waring, 2018; Smith, 2019; Merga, 2021; Merga, 2022). Student reading drops off during adolescence for several reasons, including lack of access to quality texts, lack of positive reading role-models, lack of time, and lack of confidence in their reading ability:

This program aims to address these issues by providing students access to appropriate, self-selected texts and by setting aside a 60-minute period each fortnight to allow students time to explore, share, and value their reading in a socially supported positive learning environment (Gibson-Langford & Laycock, 2008; Krashen, 2011; Fisher & Frey, 2018; Merga & Mason, 2019; Allington & McGill-Franzen, 2021). Through this program I aim to create independent, lifelong readers who are set up for personal and academic success.

This initiative was first trialed in 2022, our first year without a school-wide DEAR program. It initially ran with 4 Year 7 classes which dropped back to 2 due to staffing issues and frequent interruptions. Data revealed that overall, the students who participated enjoyed the experience and found it beneficial, and I reported these findings to our Senior Executive via my Annual Library Report (Lysaught, 2023a):

In 2023 the Wide Reading Program was expanded from one teacher to six and now includes our Support Unit and two Year 8 classes, largely due to word of mouth and positive feedback from participating teachers – proving Bonanno’s (2011) argument that we should build relationships with the staff willing to work with us, since others will choose to follow once trust is developed (Crippen & Willows, 2019, p.173).

A crucial element of successfully inspiring reading for pleasure, especially amongst teens asserting their independence and exploring their identity, is the provision of relevant resources which support self-selection of reading materials (Beach et al., 2011; Allington & Gabriel, 2012; Fisher & Frey, 2018). To ensure a robust collection which meets the needs and interests of my patrons, I drew heavily upon the learnings gained in ETL503 Resourcing the Curriculum. Library hygiene is an important element of ensuring an enticing, relevant collection (Fieldhouse & Marshall, 2011), and thus at the end of 2022 I completed a stocktake and significant weed of our Fiction and Quick Reads collections (Lysaught, 2023a). This was the first stocktake since 2018 and the median age of deselected resources was 1999, necessitating a serious update of our collection to ensure continued relevance. This was followed by subsequent stocktakes of our Picture Book and Graphic Novel collections at the start of 2023. Once these stocktakes were completed I introduced dynamic shelving to make the shelves more enticing and facilitate browsing (Bogan, 2022).

I also implemented patron-led acquisitions to increase circulation and user connection to the library’s resources (Hughes-Hassell & Mancall, 2005, p.9; Kimmel, 2014; Johnson, 2018; Aaron Cohen Associates, 2020, para.6; Crawford et. al, 2020, p.2), with 49% of newly acquired fiction resources specifically requested by staff and students in 2022 (Lysaught, 2023a). Drawing upon my experiences during my practicum, this year I bought 131 Hi-Lo books for our Quick Reads collection, and plan to use them for future Book Club activities during the Wide Reading lessons (Lysaught, 2023b). I am also in the process of genrefying our Quick Reads collection for easier browsing and selection, trialing the learnings gained in ETL505 Describing and Analysing Educational Resources (Lysaught, 2022a) in one of our popular, manageable collections.

Fisher & Frey (2018) argued that interventions designed to increase reading volume should rely on four factors: access, choice, classroom discussion of texts and book talks. The initiatives described above aimed to incorporate these four factors alongside efficient collection development and management. Loans statistics indicate that circulation has increased on the days when the Wide Reading lessons run, and as a result Oliver data shows we are on track to meet or beat our previous loans records since I became the teacher-librarian in 2020, despite our removal of a whole-school DEAR program in 2022.

Theme 2: Resourcing and Developing Reading for Information

As mentioned above, despite the importance of reading for pleasure in developing literacy, the role of a modern teacher-librarian should expand beyond the realm of books and into the crucial realm of information literacy to avoid the misunderstanding that our roles are limited and unnecessary in modern schools. I personally was guilty of this misconception prior to starting this degree, so I can hardly blame time-poor classroom teachers and senior leaders for not understanding our role, especially if they’ve never seen it in action! It is therefore necessary that we provide a variety of different experiences to our communities to shape their perceptions of our roles and ensure they understand our vital importance in developing our students as ethical, efficient users and creators of information. We cannot risk becoming an “invisible profession” (Valenza, 2010; Bonanno, 2011) and resourcing our libraries to develop information literacy is a path forward for teacher-librarians to show our value in a shifting infosphere increasingly filled with mis- and disinformation (Floridi, 2007, p.59; Lysaught, 2021c).

ASLA 2011. Karen Bonanno, Keynote speaker: A profession at the tipping point: Time to change the game plan from CSU-SIS Learning Centre on Vimeo.

The learnings gained in ETL401 Introduction to Teacher Librarianship were crucial in forcing me to revise my misunderstandings regarding the role of the modern teacher-librarian. For the second assessment I focused on how social media platforms affect our relationship with information, and discovered that improved internet access has changed information-seeking behaviours to favour passive information acquisition which uses the path of least resistance (often relying on social interactions), significantly impacting users’ ability to determine fact from fiction (Bates, 2010; Herbst, 2020; Liu, 2020; Kuhlthau et al., 2021). Teenagers are particularly likely to gain information from online, social sources and, far from being ‘digital natives’ equipped to navigate online information, are uniquely vulnerable to misinformation (Combes, 2009; Jacobson, 2010; O’Connell, 2012; Common Sense Media, 2019; Australian eSafety Commissioner, 2021). As a high-school teacher-librarian, I therefore have an ethical responsibility to ensure that my collections and programs equip my students with the skills and competencies they’ll need to be information literate in an increasingly digital world. Anecdotal evidence suggests that for many secondary classroom teachers, the fact that teacher-librarians don’t teach to a specific curriculum demeans our value. The recently released Information Fluency Framework (NSW Department of Education, 2023) offers an exciting way to legitimise our work moving forward, showcasing that we can be the glue which brings learning areas together, and will form the focus of my professional learning after finishing this degree. In the meantime I will continue to run one-off research skill lessons for my colleagues as requested.

Inquiry learning was another key aspect of our role explored in ETL401. While I had been familiar with concepts such as Project Based Learning from my time as a classroom teacher (Lysaught, 2021d), other methods such as Guided Inquiry Design were eye-opening and revealed a new pedagogy full of potential for my students (Lysaught, 2021e), since information literacy is foundational to inquiry learning (Fitzgerald, 2015). I greatly enjoyed reworking our existing Year 7 Shakespeare unit into a Guided Inquiry Design unit and look forward to the opportunity to co-teach it in future (Lysaught, via Guided Inquiry in Australia, 2020), alongside the digital narrative I created for ETL533.

ETL533 Assessment 4 – Digital Storytelling: A Day in Elizabethan England by Danielle Lysaught (Danielle Lysaught)

However, implementing inquiry learning and developing information literacy programs has not been without significant challenges in reality. Early on I identified that high staff workloads and minimal free time would likely hamper potential attempts to implement collaborative inquiry learning (Lysaught, 2021f). As such, there has been limited staff uptake. However, largely due to the relationships and trust developed through the Wide Reading Program, I have finally been asked to work with one of the English teachers and her Year 8 class in Term 4 on a unit exploring suspenseful narratives. The ETL512 Study Visits emphasised the importance of emotional intelligence and persistence as key traits for teacher-librarians, and my personal experience shows that we must be resilient in the face of setbacks and persist in the hope that we can eventually have the opportunity to showcase our value to our colleagues.

Effective collection management is another crucial aspect to developing information literacy in our community. ETL503 Resourcing the Curriculum and ETL505 Describing and Analysing Educational Resources reinforced the importance of efficient resource management for supporting curriculum learning. In 2021 I completed a stocktake of our non-fiction collections – the first since 2018. The shelves were overflowing, messy, and not conducive to easy selection of relevant material:

Prior to this stocktake, the median date of publication was 1981. I weeded 2468 outdated or damaged resources, almost halving the collection and bringing the median date of publication to 2000 – an improvement, but indicating that there is still significant work to be completed to ensure a current, relevant collection which meets the needs of my staff and students. Foreshadowing the learnings of ETL504, I published the findings from this stocktake in my 2021 Annual Report and shared it with the Senior Executive to highlight the complexities of my role to our school leaders (Lysaught, 2022b).

In 2022 we started accessioning English novels to support their resource management, leading to it becoming our third largest collection:

This year, due to the success of this initiative, we have also had requests from the Science Faculty to assist with the management of their Stage 6 resources. While not without challenges, this provides a way for me to showcase my value to my colleagues, support curriculum learning through effective resource management, and interact with students who would otherwise possibly not utilise the library.

Theme 3: Promotion and Advocacy through Leadership

Two of the most used tags on my blog are ‘promotion’ and ‘advocacy’, so it’s only appropriate that the final theme discussed focuses on these issues.

Early in this degree the readings revealed the importance of advocating for our positions (Lysaught, 2021g), meaning that right from the start I’ve developed an awareness of the importance of perception and relationships in our role. This was consolidated throughout this degree in every unit.

In an early blog post for ETL503 Resourcing the Curriculum I noted that, due to the teacher-librarian’s often poorly defined role and lack of clear curriculum direction, we are often utilised in different ways to support whatever the school requires (Lysaught, 2021h). It is therefore crucial for us to collaborate with our colleagues so that they understand our varied roles, ensuring our continued visibility and effectiveness to our school community. As seen through the frequent ‘promotion’ and ‘advocacy’ tags in my blog, so much of our work gives us the chance to increase our visibility; while it can be tempting to give up in the face of colleagues who view us as having the “cushy job”, we need to change our mindset and instead reframe challenges as “chopportunities” (Weisburg, 2020) and look for ways to make our work seen, valued, and understood (Valenza, 2010; Bonanno, 2011).

My final unit, ETL504 Teacher Librarian as Leader, emphasised the different leadership styles that we can leverage to maximise our effectiveness to our colleagues. Effective leadership, regardless of the approach or title, should focus on building strong relationships with others through mutual trust, respect, and effective communication (Holmes et al., 2012, p.271, 276; Moir et al., 2014, p.37; Ezard, 2015; Gleeson, 2016). My very first blog post had outlined my intent to support both staff and students (Lysaught, 2021i), and thus Servant Leadership appealed to me from the start (Lysaught, 2023c). In particular I was drawn to Servant Leadership due to its focus on empowering and developing others, humility, commitment to growth and community building, highly developed interpersonal skills, stewardship, healing, conceptualisation, and foresight  (Arar & Oplatka, 2022, p.83-87; Crippen & Willows, 2019; p.171-172), and found that its guiding questions – ‘do you want to serve or be served?’ and ‘do those served grow as persons?’ (Blanchard & Broadwell, 2018; Greenleaf, 2008, p.36) – aligned well with my personal traits and values, and could help me support and heal cynical, time-poor staff and to act as mentors for both staff and students (Branch-Mueller & Rodger, 2022, p.46-47; Reinsel Soulen, 2020, p.39-40; Uther & Pickworth, 2014, p.21-23).

As a result of the learnings in this degree, I’ve experimented with a variety of different promotions and advocacy methods. I began this degree in mid-2021 when NSW started online learning followed by cohorting, which made collaboration and promotion particularly challenging early on; this has been further compounded by the current teacher shortage and high staff turnover at our school. Some of the early initiatives I implemented to raise the library’s profile include the Student Media Team, a Babble, Books and Breakfast club working alongside the Wellbeing faculty, and a Staff and Student Book Club (Lysaught, 2021j). While the book club fell apart due to lack of interest and time after online learning finished, the other two initiatives are still going strong. My early attempts at strategic planning appear quite amateurish in hindsight, though the alignment of my initiatives to our Strategic Improvement Plan and promotion of my work through Annual Reports foreshadowed the strategies suggested in ETL504 (Lysaught, 2023d). Our school recently experimented with the idea of holding all Stage 6 exams in the library, which if enacted would necessitate its closure for over 2 months of the school year. I was able to successfully leverage leadership strategies and use visitor and loans data collected each day to show the impact library closures would have on our school community, convincing the decision makers to choose another option:

Looking to the future, I will continue to experiment and expand on the learnings gained from this degree. First I will create a library operations folio to ensure effective management and strategic planning moving forward (Braxton, n.d.; National Library of New Zealand, n.d.; Oberg & Schultz-Jones, 2015). I was particularly inspired by the idea of hooking in new and current staff via mentoring (Cox & Korodaj, 2019; Reinsel Soulen, 2020), and building community ownership through a library committee has been a long-time goal of mine (Lysaught, 2021h). Inspired by ETL505 and the ETL512 study visits, I’d also love to create a library website to increase visibility and support teaching and learning by providing easily accessible pathfinders and research lessons. This journey is a marathon, not a sprint, and this degree has shown countless potential pathways to follow in future.

 

Part C Reflection

At the beginning of this course, we were asked to consider what makes a teacher-librarian (Lysaught, 2021a). My understanding of the role has expanded significantly since those early days:

However, despite the complexity of our role, our work is still widely misunderstood. This degree has shown me that to be seen as professionals, we must act as professionals and take every opportunity to advocate for our role through the work we do in our school communities. The professional standards developed by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and the Australian School Library Association (ASLA) provide a useful framework for evaluating our professional practice and ensuring that we remain relevant and visible to our peers.

As a classroom teacher with experience teaching both the English and History syllabi from Year 7 through to Year 12, including the Extension courses for both subjects, I feel quite confident in my abilities as a teacher with strong professional and pedagogical knowledge who meets the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, many of which align with the ALIA/ASLA Standards through their similar professional domains (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership [AITSL], 2022). While I already had a strong understanding of reading practices, assessment, and ICT, this degree introduced me to the wonders of information literacy and collection management which have allowed me to be even more effective in my classroom practice and developed my understanding of how to support my colleagues more efficiently in my library role.

As a relatively new teacher-librarian, I feel that I still have a fair way to go regarding my professional practice, particularly regarding our role as information specialists. While I believe that I have created an environment where learners are encouraged to engage with our resources for understanding and enjoyment, I need to do more to ensure an information-rich learning environment which meets the needs of my community. I’ve worked hard over the last 2 years to build an environment which fosters positive wellbeing and strong reading culture, and due to these relationships and the trust I’ve developed with our teaching staff I’ve finally got the opportunity in Term 4 to collaboratively develop and teach a Guided Inquiry unit. Likewise, while I’ve previously done some strategic planning and budgeting (Lysaught, 2023d), the skills gained in this course will leave me much better equipped to plan for the future and ensure the library’s continued relevance and value to my school. In Term 4 I therefore intend to create a Library Operations Folio, including strategic and operations plans alongside policies for collection development, ICT use, and potential challenges.

I am already a member of several professional organisations, and fully intend to take advantage of their professional development. This will focus on the development and delivery of information literacy programs and wellbeing programs, broadening my understandings further and allowing me to showcase the potential in our practice to our wider school community.

Advocacy through action and alliances is my path forward in what could otherwise be an isolated, misunderstood role. While building my Wide Reading Program I have relied heavily on the action research process to ensure that my practice is evidence-based, innovative, and meets the needs of my staff and students. I have used this research to showcase my professionalism and the potential of my role to my colleagues, particularly to my school leaders. However, evaluating my work against the ALIA/ASLA standards shows that more could be done to develop my leadership capabilities. ETL504 emphasised the importance of leading from the middle by working with staff as well as students, such as through collaboratively teaching, leading professional development, or running key committees (Green, 2011; Wong; 2012; Wolf et al., 2014; Baker, 2016; Crippen & Willows, 2019; Reinsel Soulen, 2020). High staff turnover makes developing relationships with my colleagues a challenge, but also presents a ‘chopportunity’ (Weisburg, 2020) to exhibit both transformational and servant leadership, hook in new staff, and build a culture of library collaboration and appreciation from the ground up.

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Lysaught, D. (2022b). 2021 Annual Library Report. https://www.canva.com/design/DAEwsCALUsI/vyQMXh9an6lLizamxaUW_Q/view?utm_content=DAEwsCALUsI&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink

Lysaught, D. (2023a). 2022 Annual Library Report. https://bit.ly/3Jg1e7k

Lysaught, D. (2023b, July 13). ETL512 assessment 5: Professional placement report. All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2023/07/13/etl512-assessment-5-professional-placement-report/

Lysaught, D. (2023c, March 12). ETL504 2.2 leadership theory. All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2023/03/12/etl504-2-2-leadership-theory/

Lysaught, D. (2023d, April 27). ETL504 strategic planning and setting goals: An amateur’s journey. All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2023/04/27/etl504-strategic-planning-and-setting-goals-an-amateurs-journey/

Merga, M., & Mason, S. (2019). Building a school reading culture: Teacher librarians’ perceptions of enabling and constraining factors. Australian Journal of Education 63(2):173-189. DOI:10.1177/0004944119844544

Merga, M. (2021). Libraries as wellbeing supportive spaces in contemporary schools. Journal of Library Administration 61(6). DOI:10.1080/01930826.2021.1947056

Merga, M. (2022). School libraries supporting literacy and wellbeing. Facet.

Moir, S., Hattie, J. & Jansen, C.  (2014). Teacher perspectives of ‘effective’ leadership in schools. Australian Educational Leader, 36(4), 36-40.

National Library of New Zealand. (n.d.). Getting started in your school library: An operations checklist. National Library: Services to schools. https://natlib.govt.nz/schools/school-libraries/library-systems-and-operations/library-operations/getting-started-in-your-school-library-an-operations-checklist

NSW Department of Education (2023). Information Fluency Framework. https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/school-libraries/teaching-and-learning

Oberg, D., & Schultz-Jones, B. (eds.). (2015). Collection management policies and procedures. In IFLA School Library Guidelines, (2nd ed.), (pp. 33-34). Den Haag, Netherlands: IFLA.

O’Connell, J. (2012). So you think they can learn? Scan 31, 5-11.

Reinsel Soulen, R. (2020). The continuum of care. Knowledge Quest, 48(4). 36-42.

Smith, A. K. (2019, October 14). Literature has the power to change the world. Here’s how. Books At Work. https://www.booksatwork.org/literature-has-the-power-to-change-the-world-heres-how/

Stower, H. & Waring, P. (2018, July 16). Read like a girl: Establishing a vibrant community of passionate readers. Alliance of Girls Schools Australia. https://www.agsa.org.au/news/read-like-a-girl-establishing-a-vibrant-community-of-passionate-readers/

Uther, J., & Pickworth, M. (2014). TLs as leaders: are you a Highly Accomplished teacher librarian? Access, 28(1), 20–25.

Valenza, J. (2010, December 3). A revised manifesto. School Library Journal. https://blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/2010/12/03/a-revised-manifesto/

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Whitten, C., Labby, S., & Sullivan, S. L. (2016). The impact of pleasure reading on academic success. The Journal of Multidisciplinary Graduate Research 2(4), 48-64.

Wolf, M., Jones, R. & Gilbert, D. (2014). Leading in and beyond the library. http://all4ed.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/BeyondTheLibrary.pdf

Wong, T. (2012). Strategic long-range planning. Library Media Connection, 31(2), 22-23..

Wu, Y., Mallan, K., & McGillis, R. (2013). Reimagining the world: Children’s literature’s responses to changing times. Springer.

ETL512 Assessment 5: Professional Placement Report

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Section 1: About the placement organisation

Wollondilly Library is a small but effective public library in Picton, NSW. It services the widespread Wollondilly LGA, covering approximately 2556 square kilometres and with a population density of 21.83 per square kilometre (ID Community, n.d.). New developments increased the population by 8.6% over five years (NSW Government Office of Local Government, 2023), with two-thirds living in urban settings while one-third rural (Wollondilly Library, n.d.). Wollondilly’s population is predominantly white and Australian-born, with the majority of residents identifying their ancestry as Australian, English, Irish, and Scottish (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], n.d.).

Wollondilly Library’s mission statement reveals its purpose is to provide a range of information and materials to all residents, to encourage curiosity, free inquiry and lifelong learning, and to support the community’s civic, intellectual, and cultural pursuits. The team leader’s perspective is that the library exists to overcome disadvantage.

To encourage ease of browsing in the limited library space, Wollondilly Library has separate collections for Junior and Adult fiction and non-fiction, a Young Adult collection, an Adult Large Print collection, and a variety of magazines and other multimedia resources such as DVDs, CDs and audiobooks. Eresources such as Hoopla, Borrowbox, Mango, and Studiosity also support the various needs of users and supplement the physical collection, though borrowing statistics indicate most patrons (many from older generations) still prefer physical resources. In Wollondilly, 89.6% of residents only speak English at home (ABS, n.d.). As such, most of the collection is in English, though there are resources from the Adult Fiction, Adult Non-fiction and Junior Fiction collections offered in other languages along with access to the inter-library loans service.

Couples with children make up 50.6% of Wollondilly residents, compared with 44.7% of residents in NSW (ABS, n.d.). The team run several programs to provide socialisation for children and their parents while developing early literacy and encouraging positive engagement with the library. Bookbubs (ages 0-2) and Storytime (ages 2-5) run twice a week, while Sensory Storytime catering for users with diverse needs occurs once a month and is looking to expand (Wollondilly Library, 2023a).These programs provide a free activity for families who might otherwise be isolated due to a lack of parent groups in the area, while school holiday programming such as Lego Robotics, Mocktails and Monet, and HSC seminars (Wollondilly Library, 2023a) engage students with continuous learning and support the work done in local schools.

One of the challenges faced by Wollondilly Library staff is its low population density resulting in small funding allocations alongside the expectation to service all members in such a far-flung community. The Wollondilly Mobile Library van visits various locations, while the Home Library Delivery Service ensures access for users who can’t leave their homes due to disability or illness (Wollondilly Library, 2023b). For many patrons using these services, they offer a rare opportunity to engage with other members of the community and if this service did not exist could result in almost complete isolation and cut their access to information dramatically. Community Outreach programs also visit preschools and local shopping centres, ensuring positive interactions between staff and the community they serve.

Wollondilly Library also achieves its mission statement and overcomes disadvantage through its physical space and provision of ICT resources. The study spaces and meeting rooms are utlised by local students, adults, and community groups, while the Local History Room takes advantage of Wollondilly’s unique heritage to further connect with the residents. A welcoming children’s area in the Junior collection space encourages positive interactions through the provision of toys, craft, and Lego. For many residents, these quiet spaces, local history resources, and toys are unavailable without cost elsewhere. Patrons also have access to technology such as printing, computers, wifi, and assistive technology which I witnessed being used for a variety of purposes ranging from study to centrelink applications.

Without Wollondilly Library, many patrons would not be able to access these programs, resources, and services. As a result, their disadvantage would, in countless ways, become further entrenched.

Section 2: Theory into practice

My placement consolidated my understandings of the theories explored in ETL402 Literature Across the Curriculum.

Wollondilly Library’s Book Bubs (0-2 years) and Storytime (2-5 years) programs are aimed at developing early literacy and positive reader identity, while the Sensory Storytime was created in consultation with qualified special education teachers and promotes inclusive literacy practices, noted as a key component of an effective teacher-librarian’s work (Australian School Library Association [ASLA], 2014, p.14). Several adult book clubs run by library staff or by members of the public using library book kits aim to promote pleasure reading for older audiences. The mobile library van allows Wollondilly Library to provide access to users who would be otherwise unable to attend the physical branch location, and I participated in several community outreach programs including preschool visits and mobile storytimes in public spaces. These programs created a positive reading culture in the community which leads to many wide-reaching benefits for individuals and our society. The use of literature to overcome disadvantage was explored in ETL402, and several researchers support the notion that a positive reading culture can negate socio-economic disadvantage (Allington et al., 2021, p.S234; Krashen, 2011, p.7; Whitten et. al., 2016, p.48). While ETL402 focused on literature in schools, many benefits discussed in this subject were evident in the programs offered by Wollondilly Library. For instance, the Storytime program was designed around a specific weekly theme which aimed to engage readers through personal connections to content while developing valuable interpersonal and age-appropriate academic skills (Kidd & Castano, 2013, p.377; Myambo, 2016, para.1, 4; Short, 2018, p.291).

ETL402 revealed enjoyment of reading plays a crucial role in developing a person’s literacy skills and understanding of the world around them, as well as their empathy for the experiences of others (Gaiman, 2013, para. 9-10; Haven, 2007, p.vi; Krashen, 2009, p.20; Ross Johnston, 2014, p.537). I worked closely with the children’s librarian and the library assistants responsible for the Book Bubs and Storytime programs. Together we selected a variety of age-appropriate books to read with the children, including sensory board books for the Book Bubs children and picture books aiming to develop early decoding skills for the Storytime sessions. While these texts developed early literacy skills through their use of rhyme, repetition, and images, the primary consideration for staff was to ensure that the children were having a pleasurable and social reading experience. This reflects the notion explored in ETL402 that if children enjoy reading, literacy will be developed more easily (National Library of New Zealand, n.d.). Barone argues that the recent focus on cognitive elements such as decoding, comprehending and reading fluently in schools has meant that a focus on the pleasure of reading has been pushed aside, and that books are seen purely to develop skilful readers rather than as an end in themselves (2011, p.2). My placement experience emphasised that enjoyment of reading should be the focus, and that I have a responsibility to ensure that my students are engaged on an emotional or intellectual level, since this is what creates an intrinsic motivation that drives us to continue reading (Barone, 2011, p.3). Recent research reveals a strong correlation between reading volume and reading achievement and that the more children read, the higher their achievement levels (Allington et al., 2021, p.S233-S234, p.S236) and it is therefore in our best interests to focus on reading enjoyment with my students in future.

During my placement I was struck by how engaged these young readers were with the act of reading, with all children enjoying being read to or eager to interact with the books themselves. This early enjoyment of reading vastly contrasts with the attitudes presented by my high school students, reflecting the research explored in ETL402 around the decline in reading in the teen years due to:

  • Lack of positive reading role models
  • Burnout from reading programs in primary school
  • Boredom from the use of fiction texts to teach literacy
  • Parents who don’t value reading
  • Lack of time due to jobs, extracurricular activities
  • Competing interests and hobbies
  • Underdeveloped imaginations
  • Misconceptions about who reads for pleasure
  • Lack of exposure to reading
  • Lack of confidence and reading ability
  • Overcrowded curriculum and assessment demands
  • Lack of access and choice of reading materials (Dickenson, 2014, Krashen, 2011, Manuel & Carter, 2015, Whitten et. al., 2016)

Several of these barriers to reading can be ameliorated by programs such as those offered by Wollondilly Library. In particular, the social aspects of Wollondilly Library’s children and adult reading programs reinforces the importance of connection and community in developing reader identity, especially amongst teens whose information behaviours are motivated by social concerns (Jacobson, 2010, p.44). Activities such as Book Bubs, Storytime and the adult book clubs allowed library patrons to engage in conversations around literature, acting as positive reading role models while increasing enjoyment and further solidifying their identities as readers.

Section 3: Critical reflection

Seeing the practical application of the concepts studied in this course has consolidated my understanding of teacher librarianship, particularly around the issues of meeting user needs, reading for pleasure and information, the emergence of libraries as a third space providing wellbeing and other supports, collection development and library management, and the importance of advocacy and promotions.

A key aspect of teacher-librarianship is the importance of understanding and meeting our users’ needs and ensuring that we provide timely access to relevant resources (NSW Department of Education, 2017, p.3, 5, 7, 8). This degree frequently emphasised the continued need for free access to information in the digital age (Bates, 2010, para.58; Kuhlthau et al., 2008, p.3). The Australian Library and Information Association [ALIA] believes that unrestricted access to information is crucial to our freedoms and democracy (2018). Wollondilly Library’s commitment to providing access to residents despite their geographic challenges is evident through their Mobile Library Van and Home Delivery Service. In my setting I am faced with the challenge of increasingly being removed from the library space as it is used for exams, faculty testing, and other workshops. Access to reading materials is a crucial factor in promoting reading for pleasure and developing positive reader identities (Fisher & Frey, 2018, p.89). When staff and student access is cut due to circumstances beyond my control, I can adjust the model provided by Wollondilly Library to ensure that my users’ needs are still being met by encouraging online reservations, classroom deliveries, and mobile book trolleys in the playground.

Reading for pleasure is something that I’ve tried to build at my school over the past year to overcome disadvantage while improving student attainment and empathy (Lysaught, 2022a; Lysaught, 2022b; Lysaught, 2023c; Lysaught, 2023d). Wollondilly Library’s adult Book Club model, which allows groups to borrow up to ten copies of the same novel under one barcode, has inspired me in two ways. First, I can adjust this model to suit my Wide Reading Program by offering disengaged students the choice to read the same high interest, low reading level texts, with a social discussion or literature circle activity to follow. Second, I can utilise the book club kits to create a reading group among staff, which would allow us to promote reading for pleasure and showcase our own reader identities to our students as positive reading role-models.

This degree also emphasised that modern libraries are not just about books. Throughout this course it has become clear that libraries play an important role in providing wellbeing and other supports to our community, often stepping in when other services are inaccessible or unavailable (Aykanian et al., 2020; McKeown, 2016; Merga, 2020). My experience at Wollondilly Library proves this, with users utilising library resources to support centrelink applications and mental health activities. Many patrons also used the meeting room and quiet spaces for work and study, while programs such as Mocktails and Monet or Knit and Yarn provided opportunities for users to form connections with others who have similar interests. This supports the work by Hider et al. (2023, p.3-5), who noted that public library physical spaces are increasingly used as ‘third place’ community hubs which enable democracy and civic engagement. Moving forward, in my school library I can incorporate more social activities such as craft activities and gaming clubs to support student interests, friendships, and overall wellbeing.

Library management was another element where I was able to develop my practical skills. I worked alongside several members of the collections acquisitions team, helping me solidify my understanding of budget management and the importance of workflow procedures. Library hygiene is a key aspect of our role as information specialists (Fieldhouse & Marshall, 2011, p.36; Newsum, 2016, p.201), and I worked with the Children’s Librarian to weed their overcrowded junior fiction and non-fiction collections, ensuring that outdated, offensive, or incorrect resources were removed in order to make way for newer, more relevant additions. This experience showed me that I should trust in my own abilities to evaluate resources according to my selection and de-selection criteria.

Bonanno (2011) states we are at risk of becoming an invisible profession, and the terms ‘advocacy’ and ‘promotions’ are among the most popular keywords on my blog. Working alongside the Programs and Promotions Librarian, I was able to understand the importance of advocacy and promotions in a new light. Her tutelage expanded my understanding of the concept of user avatars to ensure my message reaches its appropriate audience, as well as a focus on three content pillars to ensure that my values are clearly expressed.

Overall, this workplace learning opportunity left me with renewed confidence in my understandings and helped remind me that even though I feel overwhelmed in my role much of the time, I am on the right track! It was especially heartening to note that Wollondilly Library has a team of people who each specialise in one role, whereas I am expected to take on all those tasks in my capacity as a teacher librarian.

 

 

Word count: 2299

References

Albitz, B., Avery, C., & Zabel, D. (Eds.). (2014). Rethinking collection development and management. ABC-CLIO, LLC.

Allington, R. L., & McGill-Franzen, A. M. (2021). Reading Volume and Reading Achievement: A Review of Recent Research. Reading Research Quarterly, 56(1), S231–S238. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.404

Australian Bureau of Statistics (n.d.). Wollondilly: 2021 census all persons quickstats. https://abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/LGA18400

Australia Library and Information Association [ALIA] (2018). ALIA free access to information statement. https://read.alia.org.au/alia-free-access-information-statement

Australian School Library Association [ASLA] (2014). Evidence guide for teacher librarians in the highly accomplished career stage: Australian professional standards for teachers.

Aykanian, A., Morton, P., Trawver, K., Victorson, L., Preskitt, S., & Street, K. (2020). Library-Based Field Placements: Meeting the Diverse Needs of Patrons, Including Those Experiencing Homelessness. Journal of Social Work Education, 56(1), S72–S80. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2020.1723757

Barone, D. M. (2011). Children’s literature in the classroom: Engaging lifelong readers. Guilford Press.

Bates, M. J. (2010). Information Behavior. Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences, 3rd Ed. 2381-2391. https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/bates/articles/information-behavior.html

Bonanno, K. (2011). Keynote speaker: A profession at the tipping point. Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/31003940

Dickenson, D. (2014). Children and reading: literature review. University of Western Sydney, Australian Government, and Australia Council for the Arts.

Evans, G. E., & Saponaro, M. Z. (2012). Library and information science text: Collection management basics. ABC-CLIO, LLC.

Fieldhouse, M., Marshall, A. (2011). Collection development in the digital age.

Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2018). Raise reading volume through access, choice, discussion, and book talks. The Reading Teacher, 72(1), 89-97.

Gaiman, N. (2013, October 16). Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/15/neil-gaiman-future-libraries-reading-daydreaming

Gregory, V. L. (2011). Collection development and management for 21st century library collections: An introduction. American Library Association.

Haven, K. F. (2007). Story proof: the science behind the startling power of story. ABC-Clio, LLC.

Hider, P., Garner, J., Wakeling, S., & Jamali Mahmuei, H. R. (2023). “Part of My Daily Life”: The importance of public libraries as physical spaces. Public Library Quarterly, 42(2), 190-219. https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2022.2092347

ID community (n.d.). Wollondilly Shire Council: community profile.

https://profile.id.com.au/wollondilly/about#:~:text=The%202022%20Estimated%20Resident%20Population,21.83%20persons%20per%20square%20km.

Jacobson, Harris, Frances (2010). Found It on the Internet: Coming of Age Online. American Library Association.

Kidd, D. C., & Castano, E. (2013). Reading literary fiction improves theory of mind. Science 342(6156), 377-380.

Krashen, S. D. (2009). Anything but reading. Knowledge Quest 37(5), 8.

Krashen, S. D. (2011). Free voluntary reading. ABC-CLIO, LLC.

Kuhlthau, C. C., Heinstrom, J., & Todd, R. J. (2008). The ‘information search process’ revisited: is the model still useful? Information Research, 13(4). http://informationr.net/ir/13-4/paper355.html

Lysaught, D. (2022a, January 27). ETL402 assessment 2 part b: Reflective blog post. All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2022/01/27/etl402-assessment-2-part-b-reflective-blog-post/

Lysaught, D. (2022b, August 28). ETL533 assessment 2 part b: Critical reflection of digital literature experiences. All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2022/08/28/etl533-assessment-2-part-b-critical-reflection-of-digital-literature-experiences/

Lysaught, D. (2023c, March 5). Annual library report 2022. All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2023/03/05/annual-library-report-2022/

Lysaught, D. (2023d, May 7). ETL504 5.2 & 5.3: Servant leadership. All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2023/05/07/etl504-5-2-5-3-servant-leadership/

Manuel, J., & Carter, D. (2015). Current and historical perspectives on Australian teenagers’ reading practices and preferences. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy 38(2), 115-128.

Mckeown, A. (2016). Overcoming Information Poverty: Investigating the Role of Public Libraries in The Twenty-First Century. Chandos Publishing.

Merga, M. (2020). How Can School Libraries Support Student Wellbeing? Evidence and Implications for Further Research, Journal of Library Administration, 60(6), 660–673, DOI: 10.1080/01930826.2020.1773718

Myambo, M. T. (2016, January 26). How reading fiction can help students understand the real world. The Conversation.  https://theconversation.com/amp/how-reading-fiction-can-help-students-understand-the-real-world-52908

National Library of New Zealand (n.d.). Reading for pleasure – a door to success. https://natlib.govt.nz/schools/reading-engagement/understanding-reading-engagement/reading-for-pleasure-a-door-to-success

Newsum, J. M. (2016). School collection development and resource management in digitally rich environments: An Initial Literature Review. School Libraries Worldwide, 22(1), 97–109.

NSW Department of Education [NSW DoE] (2017). Handbook for School Libraries. https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/learning-across-the-curriculum/school-libraries/your-library

NSW Government Office of Local Government (2023). 2020/2021 Wollondilly. Your Council. https://www.yourcouncil.nsw.gov.au/council-data/wollondilly-1674451854/

Ross Johnston, R. (2014). Literary literacies: digital, cultural, narrative, critical and deep literacies. In Winch, G., Ross Johnston, R., March, P., Ljungdahl, L., & Holliday, M. (eds.) Literacy: Reading, writing and children’s literature.

Short, K. G. (2018). What’s trending in children’s literature and why it matters. Language Arts 95(5), 287-298.

Warner, M. (2013, May). Welcome to the hybrid age of reading. Christian Futures. http://www.christianfutures.com/welcome-to-the-hybrid-age-of-reading-how-we-read-affects-what-we-read

Whitten, C., Labby, S., & Sullivan, S. L. (2016). The impact of pleasure reading on academic success. The Journal of Multidisciplinary Graduate Research 2(4), 48-64.

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Wollondilly Library (2023a). Events. https://www.library.wollondilly.nsw.gov.au/events/

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ETL504 5.3 Future Ready Librarian Self-Reflection

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One of the tasks in this module was to browse the Future Ready Librarians website. Amongst its myriad of wonderful tools, I found the self-reflection survey and since I love a good survey I thought, why not? Here are my results:

 

From this tool I can identify that I need to work on leading through:

  • the provision of personalised professional learning
  • providing robust infrastructure,
  • teaching and promoting student data and privacy, and
  • curriculum instruction and assessment.

ETL504 Advocacy and Visibility

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Inspired by the ETL504 readings about the importance of advocating for what we do and the different stats snapshot infographics posted on the NSW School Library Matters Facebook group, I thought I’d have a crack at designing my own. Hopefully this will help increase my visibility and show the value of my work to the school. As a relatively new TL fumbling my way through each day I‘ll take whatever wins I can!

ETL504 Strategic Planning and Setting Goals: An Amateur’s Journey

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As I’m learning about effective ways to identify needs and create strategic plans, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on how far my understanding of strategic and operational planning has developed since I started in the library role at the end of 2020. In the last two weeks of 2020 I did my best to wade through the vast depths of the library space, resources and services and created a table to help me identify everything that the library did and everything that needed to be either fixed, implemented, or reassessed. This was such an overwhelming job and I felt completely unprepared, especially since the library didn’t have any policies or procedures that I could refer back to in my planning. At the time I managed to narrow it down to 5 key priority areas (I’ve deleted the other specifics since the original document went over a whopping 6 pages!):

Priority Area Purpose  Strategies Timeframe
Resource Management

Support Student Learning

Library Promotion

Literacy Improvement

Social Inclusion

In 2021 I had a bit more time and understanding of the library role, and refined this planning by setting 5 key goals which I reflected on in my 2021 Annual Library Report. It’s interesting to see how my chosen priority areas have been refined, and how my reporting of these achievement was simplified to show the value of the library to my school’s Senior Executive:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2022 this planning was further expanded via the brainstorm below. It’s interesting that at this stage of my understanding I’ve started to hone in on specific aspects of each goal. The achievements associated with each goal were reflected on in my 2022 Annual Library Report which was once again given to the Senior Executive.

Looking back on these now, they seem quite amateurish in comparison to the strategic plans explored as part of my studies for ETL504. However, at the time I was almost completely lacking any realistic knowledge of the library roles and responsibilities or of leadership theory, and so these initial attempts at strategic planning were the best I could accomplish with my limited knowledge. Now that I know better, I intend to do better and hopefully the library will flourish as a result!

Annual Library Report 2022

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One key tool I use to advocate for my school’s library is our Annual Library Report. I give this to all members of the Senior Executive at my school to remind them of the value our library provides to our school learning community. While time-consuming to create, I strongly believe that this is an important promotional tool which projects my image as a professional, a team player and a leader. The full report can be accessed here: https://bit.ly/3Jg1e7k 

          

ETL533 Assessment 4: Part D – Critical Reflection

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My understanding of digital literature has grown significantly over the last few months. From my early definitions to the creation of my own narrative, I’ve gained a solid understanding of what digital literature is, why it’s beneficial and how it can be implemented to support my school.

My preliminary definitions of digital literature focused on the distinction between the digital and the digitised (Lysaught, 2022, July 19; Lysaught, 2022, July 25). As my research progressed I consolidated these distinctions by combining Unsworth’s (2006, p.2-3) and Allan’s (2017, p.22-23) categories (Lysaught, 2022, August 7). Like my peers (Curtis, 2022, July 19), I believe digital literature should be quality and meet community needs, which led me to consider what makes quality digital literature (Lysaught, 2022, August 14) and to design my own evaluation criteria where I determined three key aspects: multimodality, interactivity, and connectivity (Lysaught, 2022, August 28). Self-evaluations and peer feedback reveals – despite the amateur multimodal features – mine’s an effective, quality text suitable for its intended purpose and audience:

Evaluation of The Shakespeare Chronicles

However, defining digital literature is arguably less important to teacher-librarians than understanding how to incorporate it effectively. Digital literature provides exciting opportunities to move students from passive consumers to active creators of content  (Morra, 2013, para.2; Kitson, 2017, p.66), and as new technologies and communication tools emerge, students require new literacies to ensure they’re critically consuming and ethically creating texts (Walker et al., 2010, p.214-216; Kearney, 2011, p.169; Leu, 2011, p.6-8; Mills & Levido, 2011, p.80-81, 89; Leu et al., 2015, p.139-140; Serafini et al., 2015, p.23; Combes, 2016, p.4). In 2009 students spent an average four hours a day online (Weigel, 2009, p.38); by 2015 US teens consumed between 6-9 hours of media a day (Common Sense Media, 2015, para.6), while Australian teens now spend an average of 14.4 hours a week online (eSafety Commissioner, 2021, p.4). Digital literature therefore harnesses our students’ preferences and familiarity with technological platforms (Figueiredo & Bidarra, 2015, p.323; Skaines, 2010, p.100-104; Stepanic, 2022, p.2; Weigel, 2009, P.38). Digital literature incorporating interactivity, multimodality, and connectivity can develop ‘nöogenic narratives’ wherein personal growth is achieved by viewing our lives as a story (Hall, 2012, p.97), a key element of the English syllabus (NSW Standards Authority, 2019, p.10). Research shows that educators can exploit digital narratives to create meaningful and authentic learning opportunities for students to create personal and academic growth (Bjørgen, 2010, p.171-172; Dockter et al., 2010, p.419; Hall, 2012, p.99; Reid, 2013, p.38-41; Smeda et al., 2014, p.19; Sukovic, 2014, p.222-226).

However, educators must carefully consider the purpose of integrating digital narratives into their programmes. While research reveals digital texts’ benefits supporting young, emerging, or struggling readers and developing transliteracy (Tackvic, 2012, p.428; Cahill & McGill-Franzen, 2013, p.32-33; Matthews, 2014, p.29; McGeehan et al., 2018, p.58), others raise issues regarding reading comprehension, retention, and attention (Cull, 2011, para.35-38; Goodwin, 2013, p.79; Jabr, 2013, p.5-30; McGuire, 2015, para.30-35). Technology should be used as a meaningful tool, not just as a gimmick. Monsen (2016) explored the idea that we are “quintessentially cyborgs” due to the symbiotic relationship between humanity and technology. My research into digital learning frameworks such as the SAMR model (Lysaught, 2022, August 6) revealed that effective implementation of technology should not replace, but co-exist with and supplement existing print literacies. Printed choose-your-own-adventure narratives arguably improve literacy (Chooseco & Hofmann, 2016, para. 8-9) and can be updated using digital features to form powerful digital texts (Farber, 2015, para.1-2). Thus, my own digital narrative was designed as an immersive, interactive, multimodal resource to develop students’ understanding of life in Shakespearean England while supplementing traditional print resources and online information sources.

Throughout ETL533 I have examined how I currently incorporate digital literature into our school and considered ways to increase this in future (Lysaught, 2022, July 31; Lysaught, 2022, August 7; Lysaught, 2022, August 13). As discussed with my peers (Macey, 2022, September 24; Barnett, 2022, September 27; Facey, 2022, September 29) difficulties arise surrounding cost-effectiveness, storage, access, and user preferences that often impede digital literature’s success in schools. Despite these challenges, after creating my own digital narrative I strongly believe that student-created digital texts can enhance their own learning and connections to content, and integrate well with Guided Inquiry units and literary learning (Lysaught, 2022, January 27; Lysaught, 2022, August 14; Lysaught, 2022, September 3; Lysaught, 2022, September 16). Peer feedback also supports this (Lysaught, 2022, September 3). Due to this unit I am more aware of my students’ discussions around digital literature (Lysaught, 2022, July 25; Lysaught, 2022, August 28), revealing these are powerful texts with which students are already engaging. Literature in digital environments allows teacher-librarians to show our value to our school community, as we can support time-poor staff as they include more captivating, rich resources and utilise digital narratives to support our students with various interests and literacy needs.

 

 

Word count: 806

Reference list: https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2022/10/04/etl533-assessment-4-reference-list/

ETL503 6.1 Editing a Collection Development Policy

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Discuss new areas needing coverage in your collection development policy, in view of the digital content of your collection.

Like so many newbie teacher librarians, I have been unable to locate a formal written collection development or collection management policy. As such, I’ve felt more than a little lost this year as I’ve floundered my way through budgeting, selection, and acquisition of resources to support my school community and feel like I probably haven’t made the best choices.

When I started this unit last October I saw the School Library Collection Rubric (ALIA, 2017) and quickly reflected on where I thought our school library collection sat. The results were eye-opening: out of the 31 elements I felt confident to assess, I deemed 8 to be developing, 20 to be at foundation level, and only 3 to be effective. Clearly there is a lot of work to be done to bring our collection up to scratch! 

I plan on using this rubric to set goals (some of which will even make it onto my PDP! What great evidence for accreditation maintenance!) and work towards improving our collection over the next year – though honestly, it will probably take much longer! As noted on my blog, I’ve already undertaken a stocktake and weeded many of our outdated, damaged, and irrelevant resources. It will be interesting to review my initial assessment at the end of the year with more qualitative and quantitative data. 

One of the tasks I set myself this year was to at least create a selection criteria which would guide the acquisition of future resources. This draft has drawn on a number of samples and will hopefully guide the development of a more effective collection in future and allow staff to see the complex nature of what teacher librarians actually do. 

1. Criteria
Relevance to Curriculum and Recreational Needs, Interests and Abilities of Users 1.1 Does the resource meet an existing or anticipated need?
1.2 Will the resource be well-used by students, staff, parents, or other community members?
1.3 Is the cost justified in terms of the potential use and value to the collection?
1.4 Is the print comprehensible and formatted to suit the age level and reading abilities of the target audience?
1.5 Are the content and vocabulary appropriate for the target audience?
1.6 Is the resource suitable to the interest level of the intended users?
1.7 Is this resource high quality?
2. Criteria
Currency of Content

 

 2.1 Is the information current and up-to-date (especially regarding resources on topics such as science, technology, social issues, and geo-political content)?
2.2 Is the information and presentation in keeping with current educational practice?
2.3 Are the tables, charts and other relevant data in the resource recent?
2.4 Are links to websites active and current?
3. Criteria
Accuracy and Quality of Content

 

 3.1 Is the content clearly factual or fictional?
3.2 Are facts and opinions identified and presented impartially?
3.3 Is the content correct?
3.4 Is the content of literary merit?
4. Criteria
Authority and Reliability of the Composer 4.1 Is the author or creator qualified in the field?
4.2 Is the publisher well-established/reputable in the field?
4.3 Has the author or creator produced other works in the same area?
5. Criteria
Presentation of the Resource

 

 5.1 Is the style appropriate for the subject and use?
5.2 Do the illustrations extend the factual information?
5.3 Are the print, illustrations, multimedia, and sound of a high quality?
5.4 Is the resource physically attractive?
5.5 Is the resource durable and well-constructed?
6. Criteria
Accessibility

 

 6.1 Is the format accessible for users?
6.2 Is the content easy to navigate?
6.3 Are ideas developed, organised, and presented clearly?
6.4 Does the resource have peritextual elements such as an index, author’s notes, table of contents, chapter summaries, glossaries, bibliography or menus to assist users to locate relevant information?
7. Criteria
Respectful to All Peoples

 

 7.1 Is the resource free of bias or prejudice?
7.2 Does the resource present positive images of gender, disability, and cultural and ethnic groups?
7.3 Are the representations of people honest and accurate?
7.4 Is the resource free of stereotypical images and role definitions?
For resources dealing with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues, consider the following additional criteria:
7.5 Is the resource accurate in its presentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues?

 

 

 7.5.1 Authenticity – is the resource an authentic representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues? 
7.5.1.1 Is the material up-to-date?
7.5.1.2 Is the material accurate?

7.5.1.3 Does the material repudiate the concept of terra nullius?
7.5.1.4 Does the material accurately represent Aboriginal resistance to European occupation of the land?
7.5.1.5 Does the material avoid overgeneralisations?
7.5.1.6 Is the number and diversity of both Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal languages and cultures represented?
7.5.1.7 Are illustrations and photographs positive and accurate portrayals of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and relevant to the text?
7.5.1.8 Are photographs accompanied by captions which name the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person or group in a culturally sensitive manner, and indicate where they come from?
  7.5.2 Balanced nature of the presentation – is the representation of content balanced and representative of the diversity and complexity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures?
7.5.2.1 Is there a balanced representation of men and women in the material?
7.5.2.2 Does the material accurately represent women’s roles in First Nations societies?
7.5.2.3 Are stereotyping and racist connotations absent?
7.5.2.4 Does the resource include all readers by not assuming a European background?
7.5.2.5 Does the resource include Torres Strait Islander people?
7.5.2.6 Does the resource avoid over-representing the ‘exotic’ to the exclusion of other cultural aspects?
7.5.2.7 Does the resource acknowledge that First Nations practices continue to the present day?
  7.5.3 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander participation – has the resource been created by, or in consultation with, members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities?
7.5.3.1 Does the resource acknowledge Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander participation in the research, writing, and presentation processes?
7.5.3.2 Is the author Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander?
  7.5.4 Accuracy and support – does the resource accurately represent and support local First Nations groups?
7.5.4.1 Is the material about your local area or state?
7.5.4.2 Has the material been endorsed by local, regional, state, or territory Aboriginal education consultative groups?
7.5.4.3 Has the material been endorsed by other Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander groups?
7.5.4.4 Is the material acceptable to the local Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities?
  7.5.5 Exclusion of content of a secret or sacred nature – does the resource depict culturally sensitive materials?
7.5.5.1 Does the material avoid culturally insensitive references to information about secret and/or sacred items, practices, sites, and/or representations?
8. Criteria
Criteria Specific to the School’s Context: Support for school and local community issues

 

 8.1 Does the resource support the school as it works to implement the School Improvement Plan (SIP)?
8.1.1 Strategic Direction 1: Student Growth and Attainment
8.1.2 Strategic Direction 2: Enhancing Learning Culture
8.1.3 Strategic Direction 3: Enhancing Wellbeing for Successful Learning
8.2 Does the resource support the socio-emotional needs of our current and emerging student populations?
8.3 Does the resource support the teaching needs of our current staff, such as a specific syllabus option or course?
8.4 Does the resource support specific school-based programs?
8.5 Does the resource support specific local community programs?

Bibliography and other useful resources for future reference:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Library, Information and Resource Network (2012). Welcome to the ATSILIRN protocols for libraries, archives and information services. https://atsilirn.aiatsis.gov.au/protocols.php

Australian Library and Information Association. (2017). A manual for developing policies and procedures in australian school library resource centres. (2nd ed.). ALIA Library. https://read.alia.org.au/manual-developing-policies-and-procedures-australian-school-library-resource-centres-2nd-edition

Braxton, B. (2021, October 1). Sample collection policy. 500 Hats. https://500hats.edublogs.org/policies/sample-collection-policy/

Debowski, S. (2001). Collection management policies. In K. Dillon, J. Henri & J. McGregor (eds.), Providing more with less: collection management for school libraries (2nd ed.). (pp.126-136). Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.

Debowski, S. (2001). Collection program funding management. In K. Dillon, J. Henri & J. McGregor (eds.), Providing more with less: collection management for school libraries (2nd ed.). (pp.299-326). Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.

Dillon, K. (2001). Maintaining collection viability. In K. Dillon, J. Henri & J. McGregor (eds.), Providing more with less: collection management for school libraries (2nd ed.). (pp.241-254). Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.

Fieldhouse, M., & Marshall, A. (2012). Collection development in the digital age. Facet.

Fleishhacker, J. (2017). Collection development. Knowledge Quest, 45(4), 24–31.

Gregory, V. L. (2019). Collection development and management for 21st century library collections: an introduction. American Library Association.

Herring, J. (2007). Chapter 2: Teacher librarians and the school library. In S. Ferguson (Ed.) Libraries in the twenty-first century: charting new directions in information (pp.27-42). Wagga Wagga, NSW: Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.

Hughes-Hassell, & S., Mancall, J. C. (2005). Collection management for youth: responding to the needs of learners. American Library Association.

Johnson, Peggy (2018). Fundamentals of collection development and management. ALA Editions.

Keeling, M. (2019). What’s new in collection development? Knowledge Quest 48(2), 4-5.

Kimmel, S. C. (2014). Developing collections to empower learners. American Library Association.

Librarians Portal (2013, October 24). Book selection principles. Librarians Portal: A Place For Library Professionals. https://newonlinelibrary.blogspot.com/2013/10/book-selection-principles.html

Queensland Studies Authority. (2007). Guidelines Indigenous perspectives: Selecting and evaluating resources. https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/approach2/indigenous_g008_0712.pdf

South Australia Department of Education. (2020). Selecting and using resources for educational purposes guideline. https://www.education.sa.gov.au/doc/selecting-and-using-resources-educational-purposes-guideline

 

ETL402 6.1-2 Teaching and Promotion Strategies for Using Literature

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Reflect on your personal theoretical stance on the teaching of literature and how this is evidenced in your practice.

Reflect on your own and your professional colleagues’ knowledge of literature. Identify an occasion when you successfully connected a book with a child or group of students and how your knowledge of the book facilitated this process. Identify possible opportunities for a teacher librarian to respond to this research within the library and beyond to support teacher colleagues.

There are three theories regarding the teaching of literature. Transmission theories posit that the teacher transmits learning to the students, who are empty vessels willingly waiting to receive this information. While this approach can be useful for the direct, explicit instruction of certain aspects of literature (e.g. the definition of a literary device) the focus on the teacher at the expense of student involvement can limit engagement and higher order thinking. Student-centred theories put the focus back on students, allowing them greater control over their learning and thus more motivated to learn. However, student-centred theories are not without their flaws, since they fail to account for the social aspects of learning. Socio-cultural theories of learning fill this gap, arguing that learning takes place within specific social contexts and to serve specific needs. 

In my own teaching practice there is a definite focus on socio-cultural theories. Student ownership and engagement, adjustments to their zone of proximal development, and building strong relationships within the learning community of our classroom have been key elements that I have tried to implement in my own practice over the past decade. As such, I have been a strong proponent of literature circles in my time as an English teacher and have found that they can elevate the quality of literary understanding. This module has explored some other interesting strategies, some of which I’ve heard about before, some of which are new. I’m inspired to try a number or adjust of them in the context of the new understandings I’ve developed as a result of this unit: 

  • Publishing staff and student works in a school magazine (Reading Today [RT], 2010)
  • Writing competitions supporting curriculum outcomes (RT, 2010)
  • Silent and wide reading activities (Krashen, 2011; Fisher & Frey, 2018)
  • Read-alouds (Krashen, 2011; Jewett et. al., 2011)
  • Book displays (Krashen, 2011)
  • Food incentives (Krashen, 2011; Jewett et. al., 2011)
  • Recommendations or ‘blessed books’ (Krashen, 2011; Jewett et. al., 2011; Fisher & Frey, 2018)
  • Book clubs involving respected staff to model positive reading habits (Beach et. al., 2011; Jewett et. al., 2011; Fisher & Frey, 2018)
  • Book bento boxes (Bales, 2018)

I think that it is crucial for teachers to have a strong knowledge of children’s and young adult literature. However, the increasingly complex nature of teaching and escalating workloads often mean that staff have little time to read widely in these formats. This is where a well-read teacher librarian who prioritises this activity can show their value and provide displays and book lists to enable staff and students to make effective reading choices. Indeed, it is impossible to read all potentially engaging texts on one’s own, and this is where recommendations by trusted content creators such as Facebook book clubs, librarians on Instagram, GoodReads, practitioner blogs, and other publishers come in handy. Following hashtags such as #LoveOzYA, #booktok, and #WeNeedDiverseBooks can also benefit time-poor teachers looking to connect their students with meaningful, relevant literature.

Last year I can think of three separate occasions where I was in a position to have a positive impact on the reading choices of my students. The first was a Year 9 student who is already a voracious reader and had just devoured the Scythe series; I recommended the Obernewtyn Chronicles and the Throne of Glass novels, both of which spurred entrance into an additional fandom for this student. The second was a student in Year 7 who was looking for something to read for the Premier’s Reading Challenge. After a quick conversation I ascertained that her interests might be excited by Westerfeld’s Leviathan series, which presents an alternative steampunk version of WWI from the perspectives of a girl disguised as an British airman and the exiled son of the assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The third, and most rewarding, example was when I connected a disengaged Year 10 student (who had been forced to repeat) with The Story of Tom Brennan, and his English teacher told me later than he’d been talking about it in class. I was so proud of him and it was such a fantastic moment to see the impact that my recommendations could have on our students. 

It really comes back to the first two Australian Professional Standards for Teachers about professional knowledge: 1. know students and how they learn, and; 2. know the content and how to teach it. While we might not be teaching traditional content in a conventional classroom, our content is literature and we have to know our stuff and our students to effectively support our school’s learning needs. 

 

Bibliography:

Bales, J. (2018, September 24). Book bento boxes. JB on not Just Books [blog]. https://jenniebales.wordpress.com/2018/09/24/book-bento-boxes/ 

Beach, R., Appleman, D., Hynds, S., & Wilhelm, J. (2011). Teaching literature to adolescents. Taylor and Francis.

Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2018). Raise reading volume through access, choice, discussion, and book talks. Reading Teacher, 72(1), 89-97. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1691

Jewett, P. C., Wilson, J. L. & Vanderburg, M. A. (2011). The unifying power of a whole school read. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(6), 415-424. https://doi.org/10.1598/JAAL.54.6.3 

Krashen, S. D. (2011). Free voluntary reading. ABC-CLIO, LLC.

A culture of reading (2010). Reading Today [RT], 27(6), 38.

ETL401 4.3 The TL and the Curriculum

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What is an appropriate role for the teacher librarian in curriculum development?

What benefits can a school obtain from the active involvement of the teacher librarian in curriculum development?

Should a principal expect that teachers would plan units of work with the teacher librarian?

How are students disadvantaged in schools that exclude the teacher librarian from curriculum development?

A key element of the teacher librarian’s position is as curriculum expert and this role provides TLs with the opportunity to be collaborative practitioners and leaders who see the “big picture” across the school. Particularly in the secondary setting, faculties often tend to be separated into distinct academic tribes and the TL can break through this division to unify programmes and allow the development of cross-curricular activities which allow students to achieve a variety of different outcomes more easily. Teacher librarians can also provide their colleagues with curriculum support and help develop resources that are relevant, current and differentiated according to the interests and abilities of their students. Since TLs are a constant presence in the school experience for many students, they can also provide a common link across year groups and subject areas for students as well as staff.

Since this is an element of our role, it is not unexpected if a principal does expect that teacher librarians should work collaboratively with their colleagues in this way. In fact, it was one of the selection criteria that I had to meet in order to gain permanency in my current role. Our role in collaborate planning and curriculum development allows us to increase our visibility and demonstrate our value to the school community while giving us the opportunity to demonstrate ongoing proficiency for accreditation purposes. However, if principals expect this of their staff then they should be allowed the resources and time to do the job effectively. Schools where this is not an expectation or not supported effectively will likely continue to assess students according to their separate faculty tribes. They will lack a holistic, cross-curricular approach to teaching and learning and have a narrow understanding of the different resources that can support student achievement. There will also likely be limited understanding and teaching of information literacy and fluency which disadvantages our students in the current economic and political environment. Students may also not feel as supported, experience higher levels of frustration and as a result disengage from the assessment and research process, and be less likely to attain the information fluency that is vital to their continuing capacity as lifelong learners. Teacher librarians, when properly supported, can function as the figurative glue which holds everything together; it stands to reason that schools which don’t utilise their skills effectively would therefore be disadvantaged.

ETL401 4.1a Constructivism and Outcomes Based Learning: A Research Article

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Sorensen, A. (2019). Guided inquiry in Stage 4 history: Collaboration between teacher-librarians and classroom teachers. Journal of the History Teachers’ Association of NSW (Dec) p.30-32.

I found this article as part of this module’s activities. It fits nicely with my own experiences as a history teacher and is relevant to my early plans for the third ETL401 assessment task.

I found it interesting that this article opened by considering the etymology of history – ‘historia’ – in order to the emphasise the potential of inquiry based learning in this subject area. This article broke down the key aspects of Guided Inquiry in an easy to understand format:

  • Authentic task/audience
  • Student choice
  • Curiosity
  • Questioning
  • Reflection

It also referenced the 7 stages of a full Guided Inquiry unit – open, immerse, explore, identify, gather, share, create, evaluate – which helped me to get my head around the GI process.

The references to actual practice, with consideration of what worked and what didn’t, were particularly useful for me as I try to understand Guided Inquiry and plan my own unit for the assessment task. Strategies that worked included:

  • hosting curated online research resources (pathfinders) and worksheets on the school’s LMS so that students can access them easily
  • providing outlines of each lesson with directions for students
  • collaboration between a) TLs and classroom teachers; b) students in each group; and c) high school and primary school students

Open/Immerse

  • explicit teaching of the skills required to successfully complete each stage of the Guided Inquiry
  • use of visuals to pique student interest (e.g. laminated images, snippets of text)

Explore/Identify/Gather

  • students writing down a list of topics/ideas/people that the were interested in pursuing; staff collated these and used them to form groups based on student interest
  • use of the Cornell notetaking method to record relevant information
  • synthesis of notes using a Lotus Chart

Share/Create/Evaluate

  • creation of a final product that was meaningful for students and displayed to create a sense of pride, belonging e.g. a picture book to read to a feeder primary class (creates authentic audience), paintings, models, posters
  • evaluation of individual and group progress

Overall this article has given me an interesting account of how practitioners have implemented Guided Inquiry in their school context, and some of these strategies would no doubt work in my own school also. Interestingly, the notetaking worksheets would provide excellent evidence for accreditation, and these skills would be extremely useful to develop for a variety of student subject areas and serve our students well if they were confident in this area by the time they reached Stage 6.

ETL401 3.4 Advocacy, Accountability, and Research

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Choose one of the AITSL standards and look at the ASLA Evidence Guide For Teacher Librarians in the Proficient Career Stage. Consider the evidence that ASLA provides for the achievement of that standard and how you can show that you are meeting this standard. 

Since I’m generally a methodical person, I’m going to make like Julie Andrews and start at the very beginning since it’s a very good place to start.

 

Standard 1: Know Students and How They Learn

1.1 Physical, social, and intellectual development and characteristics of students: proficient teachers use teaching strategies based o knowledge of students’ physical, social, and intellectual development and characteristics to improve student learning.

This standard really is the foundation for everything we do as teachers, and it is no different in our role as teacher librarians. In fact, TLs are possibly better placed than many classroom teachers to know the vast majority of students in our schools since we are a “constant in the learning environment over time.” (Bush and Jones as cited in Lamb, 2011, p.33). I think that the physical space of a library can provide excellent evidence that we are meeting this standard. Each area of the library links to Thornburg’s (2013) reimagining of traditional learning spaces as campfire, cave, and watering hole. Annotated pictures of these spaces would be useful forms of evidence.

The physical arrangement of our lower library space was dictated to the previous TL by higher powers in order to create an adaptable, open-plan learning environment which can function as a ‘campfire’ or a Makerspace. Flexible seating can be arranged in a multitude of ways to facilitate a variety of learning styles and teaching methods. Before the lockdown and online learning began I was in the process of putting together suggested seating charts so that staff could easily get students to rearrange these desks as required. These charts would be an easily submitted form of evidence.

So many students use our school library as a ‘safe space’ away from the bulk of the chaos in the playground. Many of these students are neurodivergent and so I’ve created a “quiet space” on our mezzanine level near the quieter non-fiction section where students can study or relax in peace and quiet with minimal disruptions. This roughly correlates to Thornburg’s concept of the ‘cave’ learning space and has been so popular that I am looking at options to expand (though not sure how given the limitations of space!). This also correlates to the Upper Library which is currently used as a Senior Study area.

Our manga section is currently the most popular, and so I have moved furniture to make a flexible seating area near these shelves that can function as a ‘watering hole’ space where students can chat in their breaks or move away from the bulk of the group during class time. I have adjusted the seating near our fiction section on the opposite site of the lower library to mimic this ‘watering hole’ and provide further opportunities for students to learn through social interactions.

To facilitate our students’ needs for printing services (one of our most popular services), I have established a dedicated printing zone with stand up desks for students to work on laptops while they wait in line for the printer. This is close to the circulation desk to ensure that troubleshooting can be accessed easily and quickly (this is a frequent need for our student population), and multiple copies of printed How To guides are displayed to assist student independence in this process. These guides could easily be submitted as evidence for accreditation if needed.

If I was submitting this as evidence for my accreditation, I could also provide evidence of my attempts to create a “virtual” library space using websites and social media. Recently, McCrindle Research (2019) identified that our incoming students – Generation Alpha – are going to be more visual, student-centred learners than the previous Generation Z and rely more on virtual learning spaces. Research from Australia and the UK also suggests that they are increasingly engaged with social media platforms as a way of getting their entertainment and information (Common Sense Media, 2019; Notley et al., 2020; Australian eSafety Commissioner, 2021). My ongoing efforts in these online spaces is currently focused on starting conversations about all sorts of different reading habits, with the hope that this will allow our students to recognise the validity in their own reading behaviours and thus begin to identify as readers.