March 2024 – The Library: Literary and Creative Experiences

ETL503: Reflecting on how to engage your learners in selection of resources for their school library.

Before beginning to ETL503 Content 2: Developing Collections, I created this introductory library lesson in an effort to gather information about each student; their interests and book choices as I knew that our library was well resourced but in need of rejuvenation.

Unknowingly I created a very ‘Patron Driven Acquisition’ questionnaire for the students to respond to. The link below can be opened by NSW DET staff only. Names of teachers and school included.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AYWb7hTJliPlVqK-WxffjcqIgnBDIcJXuGVi_GUmW0M/edit

I am now in the midst of the readings for Developing Collections and I am intrigued by the issues surrounding PDA and realise that this criteria for collection should be used as one of many tools when resourcing the library.

Conclusion: student-driven selection is important but professional knowledge of teachers and TLs should ultimately drive the selection process in order to offer literature and digital content that reflects curriculum content, cross-curriculum initiatives, classical literature, new authors and resources that reflect the diversity of the school community.

What do you think?

Blog-worthy: an amazing read.

Australian research supporting what we do and inspiring what we should aim to do in our Australian School Libraries.

ACER Report 2003: Impact of School Libraries on Student Achievement: a Review of the Research.

Report for the Australian School Library Association
by Michele Lonsdale
2003

“Existing research shows that school libraries can have a positive impact, whether measured in terms of reading scores, literacy or learning more generally, on student achievement.

There is evidence to show that:

• a strong library program that is adequately staffed, resourced and funded can lead to higher student achievement regardless of the socioeconomic or educational levels of the adults in the community;
• a strong computer network connecting the library’s resources to the classroom and laboratories has an impact on student achievement;
• the quality of the collection has an impact on student learning;
• test scores are higher when there is higher usage of the school library;
• collaborative relationships between classroom teachers and school librarians have a significant impact on learning, particularly in relation to the planning of
instructional units, resource collection development, and the provision of
professional development for teachers;
• a print-rich environment leads to more reading, and free voluntary reading is the best predictor of comprehension, vocabulary growth, spelling and grammatical ability and writing style;”

ETL503 Reflecting on the selection process

I have extracted the passage below from ETL503 Learning Content 2 as I want to remember it … and so I’ll read it again and provide abbreviated dot point notes for myself and for you reader, who has found yourself here.

Q: Why do I want to remember this passage?

A: I find myself overseeing a beautiful, well established, traditional library that has many many books on its shelves. I am lucky, so very lucky to have inherited a space that is aesthetically beautiful and well resourced. As beloved as it is by teachers, students and the community it does require tlc (teacher librarian care) in the form of weeding, increasing popular titles and developing a senior fiction collection that reflects the needs of the Year 5 and 6 students who are avid, sophisticated readers. This course has come at the perfect time for me. I am learning as I practice. I’m quite certain failure and success will be had in equal measure.

Here we go …

Dot points to help me remember the importance of:

collaborate
it states students possibly should be part of the selection but I think students should DEFINITELY be part of the process.
abilities and needs of users must be considered
collaborate with experts in community (in my context – school’s APCI, local bookshop owners, local library, Highly Accomplished Teachers / colleagues with expertise in English and Technology)
the final dot points are so important. It makes me remember that I must also collaborate with our AP of Enrichment to identify students with diverse needs including HPGE, accelerated and learning support students.

Selection and the teaching and learning context

Selecting resources for the school library collection must be a collaborative effort. Teacher librarians (TLs) are considered to be experts in identifying and including appropriate resources; however, there is some debate on whether the TL should be the only person responsible for this. Teachers, and possibly students, can and should be included as active participants in the selection process within their areas of expertise.

It is clearly flawed to try and argue that the TL alone has the knowledge and understanding of all aspects of the school curriculum, the range of abilities and needs of users, and teaching and learning programs to make these decisions. While the TL can do their best to stay across this information, consulting with the wider community can ensure that the collection best meets the needs of the community.

The New South Wales Department of Education (2016) states that it is the responsibility of the TL to collaborate with teachers in the planning, implementing and evaluating of teaching and learning programs, including the integration of Information Communications Technology (ICT) and literacy. TLs should have a knowledge of:

the curriculum
learning and teaching pedagogical approaches
child development
student achievement levels
collection development
resource selection criteria
changing technologies and access.

Note to self: I must learn how to reference university lecture content accurately.

In memory of Ruth Elston. Teacher/Teacher Librarian 1965 – 2023, Colleague and Friend.

I was lucky enough to realise a long time ago that Ruth was a guide. She was knowledgeable, clever, creative and a storyteller. We spoke often of the world and its wonders, of schools and education and the importance of life-long learning. In April of last year, she walked into my classroom holding a folded, stapled piece of paper. She had printed the university course outline of Teacher Librarianship and hand delivered it to me. Without knowing what would unfold at the end of that year, I still knew that this was a significant moment in my life and hers. For me, it meant the beginning of something new in an area of education that I loved the most and for Ruth it meant that she was willing to share her sacred space and her years of knowledge and expertise.

And so we met every Wednesday where I hoped to learn how to accession books and where Ruth taught me about every other worldly topic but.

While studying recently, I came across a paragraph in a reading titled: Empowering Library Users Through the 5 Laws of Library Science (stimulating, I promise) and seemingly it was written for Ruth ….

The library, irrespective of its time, and type, is not only concerned about the present, but also about the past and the future. The present, because it acquires materials to meet the present needs of its clients; the past because some materials that are acquired are of historical significance and can influence the present; and the future because the past and the present can be used to shape the future. Through its systematic collection, the library tells us where we are coming from, where we are and where we should be. It thus enables us to understand and appreciate our past and present and empowers us to plan for the future.

Libraries have been an instrument of socio-economic, cultural and political change. The library is a foyer of living ideas that permeates and animates all aspects of national life (Ikoku, 1971). According to Aguolu (1989), the library is a place where the dead may be said to be alive, that is, a place where the ideas, knowledge and experiences of great men and women, fully documented and preserved, continue to move the world although these people may be no more. Opara, U. N. (2017). Empowering Library Users through the Five Laws of Library Science. Library Philosophy & Practice, 1–14.

I will be forever grateful for inheriting Ruth’s beloved Library but mostly I will be forever grateful for working alongside a colleague and friend who inspired me and many others to think freely, to be independent and strong and to believe that the world and its people, regardless of race, gender or age, should be appreciated and learned from.

“I don’t believe in age, race or gender” as said by Ruth Elston … always.

Prue Car’s Post: Deputy Premier of NSW, Member for Londonderry, Minister for Education and Early Learning. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pruecar_i-recently-received-some-really-sad-news-activity-7137531014112837632-R0qu