Potential futuristic collection development – Photo by Hammer & Tusk on Unsplash

School libraries and their ingredients are in a state of perpetual change and funding is a decisive factor in allowing them to thrive. I think in ten years time, there will definitely be a need for a school library. It will have evolved though.

The school library will be a place of innovation that inspires students to learn –  with the right funding. I think mostly non-fiction books will disappear (I am sure many will disagree) but a physical fiction section will remain. There will be new ways to learn different concepts such as ethics. In a TED Talk video (Christopher Robichaud: How I used Dungeons and Dragons to teach ethics), Robichaud conveys how he taught ethics to policy makers through an online simulated game which incorporates group activities. Technology will progress and methods of teaching through these technologies will too. This is an opportunity for teacher librarians to lead these changes.

Lewis, Boudrye, Panter & Stout in their journal article, School library best practice requires innovation (2017 p. 6-7), reveal four areas that are integral to the success of future school libraries. These are inspiring areas but need to be elaborated on.  We also need to protect our students, so the ’empowering learners and teachers’ area also should include educating students more about how to use the internet, not only safely, information literacy but also in terms of whether their data is going. Therefore, with new technology the budget will need to expand. The gaps between those who have access to the budgets and technology will, unfortunately also increase. Therefore, advocacy and attention to equity  needs to increase.

Education and, school libraries, are already becoming more internationally connected. Gavigan in School library research from around the World (2018) asserts that best practices for library programs can be better established with research papers from worldwide sources and better student outcomes. School library collections will evolve, becoming more electronic, become more innovative and change with developments. Therefore, school librarians need to ensure they are professionally aware, contributing and advocating.