Summary
Content – Best Books of 2020 & how to promote them
Type – Webinar
Length – 1 hour
Level – Teachers, Teachers Librarians, Librarians, Library staff
Organisers – School Library Association
Presenters – Lizzy Martin & Gabby Cundy
Format – 1 hour presentation through Zoom
Reflection
What are your students’ favourite books of 2020? The goal of this Online Meet-up is to provide members with a selection of the best books of the year, ranging from picture books right through to young adult fiction. Special mention will be given to graphic novels and comics. Presenters will also take you through a range of ways in which they promote books within a primary school library context.
Presenting this webinar enabled me to think about all that I have achieved over the past 3 years completing my degree. It was an honour to be able to present to teacher librarians from all over the state on how I promote books to middle grade and high school students. I have worked closely with the senior school library running their book club and when putting the presentation together it made me think about all the skills I have developed through the years.
All the professional development courses I have completed over the last few years had a hand in how I promote books to kids and how I connect with them to ensure they are engaging with books they will enjoy and foster a love of reading. My focus for the presentation was YA novels and graphic novels for middle grade students. Thinking about my next stage in my career, this is where I would like to tailor my focus for my studies and children’s literature is where I see I have a future in. This was a wonderful opportunity to be given in my role as a library technician.
Evidence
https://slansw.net.au/event-4033341
Summary
Content – Focus on school libraries
Type – Conference
Length – 4.5 hours
Level – Teachers, Teachers Librarians, Librarians, Library staff
Organisers – School Library Association
Presenters – Various
Format – Keynote speaker + breakout sessions
Reflection
The School Library Association conference is something that all school librarians and school library staff look forward to each year. It is a wonderful day where we are able to hear from our fellow school librarians, new ideas are exchanged and it is just a nice day to get out of our library environments and celebrate what we do. I was lucky enough to attend as a guest of the Teacher Librarian of the Year 2019. I have been working alongside Lizzy since I graduated TAFE and started working in my first library job, a job that I have nearly spent 7 years at!
Highlight on Breakout Session 1: Developmental Bibliotherapy
Judith Wakeman
read4life.today
A session that I found the most rewarding was learning about developmental bibliotherapy.
Developmental bibliography is a new term but an old practice. It is about using books in the healing process to better understand what has/or is about to happen. It is a practice that can be used by anyone in the book business from librarians to even booksellers and it can be done in a formal way or through an informal chat. The purpose behind this is to gain perspective into their lives and the world that is happening around us. In today’s age of social distancing and the threat of a pandemic there is no better time for this to be highlighted. This can be done from preschool age all the way to young adults, providing them with novels, poetry, nonfiction, anything that can help them understand their feelings.
The School Library Association conference is always a place where you come away feeling inspired and with so many ideas that you can try and integrate into your library. I found it such a rewarding day listening to people in libraries and how they use reading to connect with their students and how I can change the way I read a story, to thinking about how developmental bibliography can help girls in upper years connect to the world around them. It was a day that I could make connections with other librarians and think about how in my future career I can connect with my students or patrons through reading.
Evidence
https://www.slansw.net.au/event-3636968
