A Hundred Ways to Learn

Unlocking the Power of Fiction

The power of fiction can be overlooked if not fully understood. My learning in the opened my eyes to the learning possibilities that exist within fictional stories. Neil Gaiman (2015) stressed, that the telling of stories is an important part of the human experience. It helps people to make sense of their lives and experiences. Stories are what tell us that other people, perspectives, and experiences exist.

Prior to studying in this area, my idea of fiction and the uses of fiction in schools was confined to leisure reading, and language studies within the English curriculum. I have now come to understand that fiction can be a powerful tool in teaching across the entire curriculum, and is especially powerful in exploring social, emotional and environmental issues. Sanders (2017), Lindgren Leavenworth and Manni (2021) state that fiction can offer students a safe place to explore uncertainty, alternative perspectives and unfamiliar experiences in a non-threatening way. Bishop (1990) described fictional stories as windows, mirrors or sliding glass-doors; the window representing the different views and experiences than our own, the mirror representing a reflection of our own world, and the sliding glass-door as the moment where stories can spark real-world action and participation (Johnson, et al., 2017). This analogy illustrates why fiction can be so powerful when exploring social, emotional and environmental issues.

I have taken an in-depth look into how genre and impacts on the way themes and messages are received. Strong the emotional reactions to a story, lead to greater impact. When students experience strong emotion when learning, they are more likely to retain that information (Persellin, 2014). Recognising fiction as a blend of information and emotion, distinct from the largely informative nature of non-fiction texts, has been a revelation. Genre, previously not deeply understood, plays a crucial role. On reflection, contemporary realistic fiction was something that was requested frequently by students, probably due to the mirror qualities. Students were wanting to see their world and familiar experiences represented in the books they read. Vardell (2019) describes contemporary realistic fiction as in the present time with events and people that could be real, even though they are fictional. Realism is a powerful learning tool, as students can connect with characters and places easily, applying prior experiences to what they are reading.

Conversely, historical and fantasy fiction can prove powerful in teaching across the curriculum developing inference and complex understandings. Delamain and Spring (2018), describe inference as the ability to apply knowledge, experiences and reasoning to a text beyond what is written. Fantasy and historical fiction offer opportunities for students to build inference as the characters and situations presented in the story are most likely to be unfamiliar to their world, requiring them to think critically and reason. As a result, I intend to familiarise myself with historical and fantasy stories within our collection, incorporating them more deliberately as we expand our resources.

The implications of this learning directly apply to my role in the library, significantly influencing resource promotion and development. I am equipped to advocate for the integration of fiction in all learning and will be recommending them alongside requested non-fiction resources. The recognition of fiction’s potential to engage, educate, and inspire will reshape my daily practices, enriching the teaching and learning experiences in our school.

References:

Bishop, R. S. (1990). Mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors. Perspectives. 6(3), ix-xi

Delamain, C., & Spring, J. (2018). Reading between the lines set two : Inference skills for children aged 8 – 12. Taylor & Francis Group.

Johnson, N. J., Koss, M. D., & Martinez, M. (2017). Through the sliding glass door: #EmpowerTheReader. The Reading Teacher. 71(5), 569-577. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1659

Lindgren Leavenworth, M., & Manni, A. (2021). Climate fiction and young learners’ thoughts- a dialogue between literature and education. Environmental Education Research, 27(5), 727-742. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2020.1856345

Persellin, D. C., & Daniels, M. B. (2014). A concise guide to improving student learning : Six evidence-based principles and how to apply them. Taylor & Francis Group.

Sanders, D. L. (2017). Windows on a changing world: using children’s literature as an aesth/ethical trope in early years education for sustainability. In O. Franck & C. Osbeck (Eds.), Ethical literacies and education for sustainable development: young people, subjectivity and democratic participation. (pp.127-136). Springer International Publishing.

Vardell, S. M. (2019). Children’s Literature in Action : A Librarian’s Guide: Vol. Third edition. Libraries Unlimited.

Where to Next? The future of children’s literature

In reading ‘7 trends in children’s and YA publishing’ (2020, July 17), I have been reflecting on the trends that resonate with me and my school community.

Children must be the drivers of change within the children’s literature space. The trends that would likely be on most children’s wish list include:

Illustration: The increasing inclusion of illustration within fiction books, giving readers the opportunity to build their imaginings upon something observed. In an increasingly visual information landscape, children have not had to visualise entire worlds within their imagination before. The lack of included illustrations is often enough to put off a young reader, as the creation of visualisation from scratch often seems too daunting. If the purpose of reading is to learn and discover through enjoyment of text, then the inclusion of visuals is only going to make the text more accessible and appealing to a wider audience. The popularity of Graphic Novels highlights the accessible and engaging role that illustration plays.
Visually Appealing: Children respond to creativity in the language used and the visual presentation of the text. A book’s personality must reflect the theme of the story, communicating through all aspects of it’s presentation. Creative use of font, layout, colour and design is not only a feature of the cover, but children expect this ‘personality’ to flow through the entire book. A child will then connect with the essence of the book , hooking them into wanting to engage with the story. Many children get grabbed by the cover, only to flick through the pages and place it back on the shelf. The reader is looking for an authentic visual representation of the story WITHIN the pages.
Bite Sized Moments: Writers and creators need to examine the way that most readers are reading. There may now be fewer readers who have extended periods of uninterrupted and undistracted time to devote to reading, but instead may have bite-sized moments in which to engage with books. This doesn’t mean that a story most loose depth or substance, it just means that a story must be crafted in a way which allows the reader to build the story in brief but frequent reading sessions. Can the story be crafted in such a way that the language grabs the reader in a way that allows them to cast away distractions that may exist in their environment at the time of reading. Going back to my last point about the inclusion of visuals, this will only assist in making these bite-sized moments more engaging.
Wellbeing a Priority: The more informed we become about diversity, inclusion, trauma and the resulting impacts on mental-health, the more imperative it becomes in ensuring wellbeing is at the heart of children’s literature. Making books child centered and focussed on matters that most affect children is a key priority now and in the future of children’s literature. In the past, literature was used as a means of getting children to think, believe and behave in ways that adults deemed most appropriate. Literature was used as a form of control. Over the centuries there has been a continual shift towards a child-centered approach to childhood in education, parenting and in general society which must be reflected in children’s literature. Literature must now be used to support children in their wellbeing by providing examples, advice, support and perspectives. Children are looking to literature for representation, searching for characters that resonate with their own experiences. Creating literature with a child-centered approach where child-wellbeing is at the heart is a must for the future of children’s literature.

As an aside, I am noticing a tension between the child borrowers and their well-meaning adults (either teachers or parents). The driver for innovation, transformation and change within the space of children’s literature should always be the child, however traditionally it has been the adults who have control over what is written, published, selected and purchased. I’m wondering if the increasing access to digital technologies and the way that these platforms are becoming extremely easy to use, is going to impact the way that content and literature is created and shared- giving a leg-up to child writers and creators.

Australian Writers’ Centre Team. (2020, July 17). 7 trends in children’s and YA publishing. AWC: Australian Writers’ Centre. https://www.writerscentre.com.au/blog/7-trends-in-childrens-and-ya-publishing/

The Power of the Collection- Reflections

My understandings of the role and nature of a school library collection have increased in complexity through research, discussion and practice in developing a collection. I have discussed the power of the collection in influencing the engagement and success of student learning (Beaumont, 2023, April 9) and have begun to understand the impact that the collection can have on teacher engagement and success. Through advocating, collaborating and support, the Teacher Librarian (TL) and the collection can have huge impacts on the quality of the entire educational experience (Libraries Tasmania, 2022). I had not considered this until commencing my work in the school library and had previously only considered the direct impacts a collection may have on students. I now understand that if the TL is the information and curriculum specialist, then a well-considered collection can support quality just-in-time learning, satisfying Ranganthan’s (1931) fourth law ‘save the time of the reader’ whilst also saving the time of the teacher. This means that the careful development and management of a collection can encourage increased engagement, by allowing users to find information as required (Opara, 2017).

Collections are developed to respond to the needs of its users, whilst also catering for potential future needs (Fieldhouse, 2011). I understood that collection development was mostly a set of processes or steps to follow (Beaumont, 2023, March 4). I now understand this is the collection management process. I had little consideration for the values-based policy that needed to exist in order to guide these processes. The why was missing from my understandings. I began to explore how the values must be firmly embedded into the library mission and subsequent Collection Development Policy (CDP) to guide all procedures, acquisitions, management, decision making and associated teaching and learning (Beaumont, 2023, April 9). The CDP sits at the heart of all decisions made in relation to all parts of the collection. The following statement from the IFLA School Library Guidelines 2^nd ed. (2015) highlights the importance of the Collection Development Policy in relation to school library collection development:

“A school library should be managed within a clearly structured policy framework that recognises the library as a core resource and centre for reading and inquiry. A school library policy should be devised bearing in mind the overarching policies and needs of the school and should reflect the ethos, mission, aims, and objectives, as well as the reality of the school (p 22-23).”

In advocating for the school library and the collection, it is essential that a strong CDP Policy exists and can be used as a tool in making strategic decisions benefiting teaching learning and wellbeing of staff and students.

A clear CDP will assist in futureproofing the library collection by incorporating statements on the community, the collection and selection aids. I have explored the ways in which collaboration between the TL, Teachers, students and the community is an important element in keeping the collection relevant to its users (Beaumont, 2023, March 12). In collaborating, rather than consulting, the resources selected for addition to the collection would be most appropriate to the learning that is taking place. The selection aids as stated in the CDP would then include a statement on user selection and the ways in which this offers student agency and teacher collaboration.

I have previously discussed the way in which information in the 21^st century is becoming an increasingly complex web of communication (Beaumont, 2023, May 13). I have explored how the collection must address this, ensuring easy access to clear, purposeful, relevant and authentic information. I can now see the selection criteria in the CDP can also be applied to digital information sources, assisting in the selection of appropriate online student resources. The CDP is an ever-evolving policy with school values and students at the core, assisting in the navigation of the information landscape of the 21^st century.

Fieldhouse, M. (2011). The process of collection management. In M. Fieldhouse & A. Marshall (Eds.), Collection Development in the Digital Age. (pp. 27-43). Facet Publishing.

IFLA. (2015, June). IFLA School Library Guidelines, 2nd revised ed. IFLA. https://www.ifla.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/assets/school-libraries-resource-centers/publications/ifla-school-library-guidelines.pdf

Libraries Tasmania (2022). Effective School Libraries. School Library Guidelines. https://libraries.tas.gov.au/school-library-guidelines/effective-school-libraries/

Opara, U. (2017). Empowering library users through the five laws of library science. Library Philosophy and Practice, 2017(1).

Ranganthan, S. (1931). The Library is a Growing Organism. The Five Laws of Library Science. Mandras: Mandras Library Association.

Information & Inquiry Specialist- Uncovering the Essence of the TL

Initially my understandings in the areas of Information Literacy, inquiry learning models and the role of the TL in inquiry learning was limited. I understood literacy in an English language learning sense but had little consideration for the complex range of literacies that exist and intertwine throughout a range of specialised fields of information. In my earliest readings I understood literacy as being a broad term describing the acquisition, understanding and application of information (Beaumont, 2023, April 17). I now understand that when the term ‘literacy’ is applied to a specific field such as digital (literacy), cultural (literacy), critical (literacy) or information (literacy), it takes on a new and more specified way of obtaining, processing and responding to the world around us. Throughout my studies in this subject, I have had to develop skills in information literacy to source, synthesise and analyse vast quantities of information across multiple platforms, formats and delivery modes. I needed to successfully do this to develop new understandings and articulate these through writing and practise. In learning, understanding and participating in this process, I now know that the skill of information literacy must be introduced to students at the earliest beginnings of their life-long learning journey, in order for them to fully participate in the 21^st Century information landscape.

Information in the 21^st century is a complex, everchanging, interconnected web of continuous communication. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find, critically analyse and authenticate information. Therefore, there must be huge importance placed on the development of information literacies in schools.

Information and the role of an Information Specialist is not something I had considered in my earliest understandings of the Teacher Librarian role. Initially, I had not completely realised the impact that the TL could have on the culture of learning within a school (Beaumont, 2023, April 9). I understood the TL as being a resource manager and administrator who also was an advocate for reading and literature (Beaumont, 2023, March 9). I had somehow missed the entire and incredibly essential element of Information Specialist and Inquiry Learning facilitator. I can now see that the TL is perfectly placed to be the information leader within the school, collaborating with class teachers, working directly with students and developing a culture of thoughtful and intelligent information literacy. The TL can lead the way in developing an inquiry-based way of being, that encourages the development of skills and attributes that will become “life-long and life-wide assets to learners” (Murdoch, 2021, p. 43).

As an experienced Early Childhood Teacher from an inquiry-based school, I feel I had a good understanding of the importance and value of inquiry-based, authentic education. However, I now know I was lacking an understanding of the models used to ensure the inquiry process was as effective as possible, leading to the best educational outcomes for students. I now understand my past practices as being more of a discovery facilitator, rather than an inquiry practitioner (Scott, 2018). Through studying Guided-Inquiry design (Kuhlthau et al., 2015) and the Information Seeking Process (Kuhlthau, 1991) I can see that the consideration of how learners seek and interact with information can determine their level of success in the inquiry process. I now see the importance of thoughtful planning and structure when designing an inquiry has direct benefits and impacts to the quality and effectiveness of the teaching and learning process.

Kuhlthau, C. (1991). Inside the search process: information seeking from the user’s perspective. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 42(5). 361-371. https://guidedinquirydesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/information-seeking-from-the-users-perspective.pdf

Kuhlthau, C., Maniotes, L. and Caspari, A. (2015). Guided Inquiry: learning in the 21^st century: 2^nd Ed. EBSCO Publishing.

Murdoch, K. (2021). The art of inquiry teaching. ACCESS, 35(4), 39-43. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2605663574/fulltextPDF/E651D56D25374FC6PQ/1?accountid=10344

Scott, D. (2018). Why your child will benefit from inquiry-based learning. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/why-your-child-will-benefit-from-inquiry-based-learning-97245

Literacy

In my recent reading around literacy and multiple literacies. Rather than viewing literacy as something that is mastered I feel that it is more in line with developing understandings from information acquired in various endeavours, then applying these understandings to perform specific tasks.

UNESCO describes literacy as:

Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written (and visual) materials associated with varying contexts. (UNESCO 2004).

You could substitute ‘printed and written’ with any other way of acquiring information which can include other experiential sources.

Letter sounds to words to reading.
Movements to locomotion to playing sports.
Quantities to money to finance.
Curiosity to inquiry to scientific process.

I feel that in thinking of literacy in this way, it becomes a very broad concept of acquiring, understanding and applying information.

UNESCO Education Sector. (2004). The plurality of literacy and its implications for policies and programmes. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000136246

The New TL

This week I finished up in my classroom teaching role as I make my transition to the school library. It was a bitter/sweet day as after 16 years as a classroom teacher, my identity was suddenly changing into something that I do not fully understand yet. As I am not filling an existing position I do not have a mentor or role-model to learn from in the school library space. This is both unnerving and exciting. In the past I have been accustomed to collaborating with colleagues and being mentored by others in the same role as myself. I now find myself having to imagine and design the role purely from my studies and research in conjunction with my understandings of the space and the school community. I’m not used to making such big decisions on my own!

I have been finding that with every essay I write and reading I do, I am becoming more and more aware of the significance of the TL role within a school. I had never before considered the influence and impact that the TL could have on the culture of learning, the embedding of values and the strengthening of the community. This week I have been investigating Makerspaces and it has given me an insight into the way a TL and library environment can have on a more holistic style of information access.

I am beginning to understand that there are two distinct roles of the TL, but at the same time, these roles interact and intersect, guided by the same set of values. There is the organisational/resource management side and the teaching/collaborating/facilitating side. All of these are guided by the library, school and community values. Accessibility, access to all, community, diversity, curiosity and collaboration have all been reoccuring themes within my reading.

I am looking forward to being able to directly apply my new knowledge when I commence my new position after the term break.

Selecting Resources through a Reggio Lens

“To make a lovable school, industrious, inventive, liveable, documentable and communicable, a place of research, learning, re-cognition and reflection, where children, teachers and families feel well – is our point of arrival.”
Loris Malaguzzi

In reflecting on the Reggio Children (2022) twelve principles of the Reggio Emilia Educational Project:

Children are active protagonists
Progettazione
The hundred languages
Organisation
Environment and spaces
Participation
Environment and spaces
Co-construction
Professional growth
Educational Research
Documentation
Evaluation

You can see that resource collection must be a collaboration between the Teacher Librarian, Classroom Teachers, learners and the wider community.

As a Teacher Librarian (TL), guided by the principles above, the relationship that exists between TL and teacher, TL and learner, learner and teacher and each with the wider school community must be reciprocal and collaborative. Observing children in their learning and play, being an active part of teacher research and planning and being the conduit between the school and greater community will ensure that resource selections are relevant and authentic to the learning that is taking place.

It is also important for the TL to know what is available in order to introduce teachers and learners to new provocations and ideas.

Child agency is extremely important. Children must be consulted as to the types of resources that would best support their learning and interests. They may even use this provocation as a basis for a project inquiry surrounding how resources are selected.

Just in time purchasing is a considerable proportion of the development of the collection with the TL making contributions based on the values and direction of the curriculum for the learners.

So how would this look in my setting:

Conversing with borrowers about their interests, inquiries and preferences.
Working with teaching teams to create bibliographical resources to support their student/class inquiry projects.
Planning collaboratively with all teaching teams.
Promoting the purchase by request service to teachers and students.
Including a ‘Suggest a book’ service in our space.
Ensuring that my knowledge is up to date, regarding new publications in order to suggest these to the community.
Observing the learners engaging with texts and researching how we can optimise their learning experience.
Constantly observing, questioning, reflecting and collaborating.
Ensuring the environment is organised in a way that the teachers and learners can easily see what resources we have, in order to uncover the possibilities of what we can acquire.

Reference:

Reggio Children. (2022) Values: Principles of the educational project. Reggio Emilia Approach. https://www.reggiochildren.it/en/reggio-emilia-approach/valori-en/

Making the most of eBooks.

Our collection is made up of digital and hard copy resources. I’ll need to do a bit of digging, but I suspect that the digital resources are not getting the work-out that they ought to be! I thought I’d have a think about the benefits and challenges regarding eBooks in order to understand why and uncover ways to promote them further.

Benefits of eBooks:

eBooks are convenient. As long as you have your device you have a whole library at your fingertips, wherever you are.
Access to a greater range of material.
They take up no space for the user or the library.
eBooks are sustainable.
They can’t be damaged.
Digital resources can be edited or updated without having to be reproduced.
Borrowers don’t have to commit. If the text they have isn’t useful, they can instantly return and borrow another.

Challenges:

Access to eBooks could be inequitable depending on having access to a suitable device and internet connection. Some families do not have access to these things, so the learner is disadvantaged by their circumstances.
Using eBooks could be seen as increasing screen-time for children.
Is it a case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ for children borrowing ebooks? Do children need something physical (like a hardcopy book) to remind them to engage?
Digital devices present distractions that may take the reader away from the text.
Additional features of eBooks such as narration, animated illustrations, and complementary games take the focus away from reading the print. (de Jong & Bus, 2002)
eBooks can have an impact on the level of interaction an adult may have with the child when engaging with the text. (Korat & Or, 2010)

Questions to consider:

How many students/families are accessing our online resources?
How can we promote our eBook collection further?
What is our investment in eBooks, how does this work?
How do families feel about reading from screens?

I’ll have to do a bit of research in our school community to uncover the borrowing habits of the students and their understandings of our eLibrary. Hopefully we can encourage increased participation in using eBooks.

de Jong, M. T. & Bus, A. G. (2002). Quality of book-reading matters for emergent readers: An experiment with the same book in a regular or electronic format. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94(1), 145-155. http://doi.org/10.1037//0022-0663.94.1.145
Lowry, L. (2016). E-Book or Paper Book − What’s Best for Young Children? The Hanen Centre. E-Book or Paper Book − What’s Best for Young Children? http://www.hanen.org/helpful-info/articles/e-book-or-paper-book-whats-best-for-young-child.aspx
Korat, O. & Or, T. (2010). How new technology influences parent-child interaction: The case of e-book reading. First Language, 30(2), 139-154. http//doi.org/10.1177/0142723709359242

Examining past experiences and perceptions: My reflections and understandings of the Teacher Librarian role in schools.

My teaching story began back in 2007 when I commenced teaching in a Catholic School with 29 four-year-old students. We visited our school library at a scheduled time each week. In this amazingly picturesque library space with panoramic views over the city, was a tidy collection of books and the hard-working Library Assistant who returned and scan out books. I had an extremely limited understanding of this role as a newly graduated teacher!

After two years, I moved to work full-time in a four-year-old class in a large independent school which is where I still work today. This school is greatly influenced by Inquiry-Based Learning (Murdoch, 2021) and the Early Childhood year levels were inspired by the Reggio Emilia Educational Project (Malaguzzi, 1998). We visited the library at a scheduled time each week where the inspiring and passionate Teacher Librarian would warmly welcome us with the most amazing picture book read-aloud. She would then guide the children in their book selections, teach them how to make informed choices and converse with them about their interests to match them with their ideal book. She made the job seem effortless (even though I’m certain it wasn’t!), and she was always full of excitement for the next story she would share. This was her way of encouraging the children to become lovers of books.

Just after her retirement, we had a HUGE redevelopment. The new space was enormous and full of potential. A space for robotics, self-checkout stations, large interactive screens, flexible furniture and a range of seating options, but one key ingredient was missing. This space did not have a Teacher Librarian. There were teachers working in this space, and also a Library Assistant but it didn’t seem to fill the void. Another change was the switch to a flexible timetable. The idea behind this was ‘just in time learning’: the accessibility of information and the opportunity to access these whenever needed, or ‘just in time’.

This approach to our Learning Hub (no longer called a library) continues today but has dimmed a little without a Teacher Librarian. My understanding of the TL role was that of management and organisation of the physical library space working predominately with books. I recognised that the TL worked alongside teachers to resource the library with materials to support planned learning. I understood that an important part of the role is to promote a love of reading and literature through read-alouds, displays and engagement with learners. Whilst I’ve only worked with a TL for a brief time in my career, I see the role as being so much greater that what I thought and see it as a vital piece to the puzzle for developing a culture and love of inquiry and reading in any school community. The Teacher Librarian is our missing link between teachers, students and information as well as playing the pivotal role of being the passionate champion of reading and literature. I look forward to cultivating this culture of literature rich learning and inquiry in this space as I step into this role.

______________________________

Malaguzzi, L. 1998, ‘History, ideas and philosophy’, in Edwards, C. Gandini, L. and Forman, G. 1998, The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Approach, Ablex Publishing, Greenwich

Murdoch, K. 2021, ‘The art of inquiry’, ACCESS, Vol. 35 (No. 4), 39-43, Australian School Library Association, The+Art+of+Inquiry+article+ACCESS_Vol35_No4_Dec_2022.pdf (squarespace.com)

Where to start?

I’ve been reading about collection development and management and have considered the ‘Collection Development process’ See Oddone: School library collection development: It’s not as simple as you might think – Linking Learning

To begin in our large (some may call it intimidating!) collection in our Junior School, I will begin in the ‘Stocktaking and Evaluation’ phase. I have been a part of the school for 14 years, so feel I have a good understanding of our community which is why I think this phase is a good place to start. I’ll take a good look at what’s there already. We have an extremely large collection and I know we don’t utilise it all, but careful consideration needs to be made regarding the things that will support our learners best. I’ll consider:

Which titles and categories are most popular?
Which cohort is accessing these popular texts?
Are there any groups of students who aren’t well catered for?
Are there some categories that are overstocked and aren’t being utilised?
Are unpopular texts taking up valuable real estate?
Are there sections of the collection that aren’t being frequently borrowed and what may be the reason for this? Is it positioning, the condition or age of the books, or are they not appealing or relevant?

Once careful reflection has been made in the ‘Stocktaking and Evaluation’ phase, I’ll move into the weeding phase. As I already know that we have far too many physical books, I will ensure careful consideration is made and will consider weeding out titles that fit into the following categories:

Books that don’t support the needs and interests of the community.
Books that may not support our values or purpose.
Damaged books.
Books which aren’t being borrowed.

Next, I will move into analysing the needs of our community to see if this aligns with what we have and to ensure that new titles and resources will support the needs of the learning community. I will consider:

Are all members of our community represented in the collection?
Is the collection aligned with our values, learner attributes and pedagogy?
Are there opportunities to inspire creativity, provoke curiosity and inquiry and offer insights into different perspectives through rich contemporary texts and resources?
What are the passions, preferences and interests of the learners?

I will then collaborate with Year Level Teams and classroom teachers to ensure that we have the appropriate resources to support planned units of inquiry. Considerations of classroom learning, extension and enrichment, learning support, cultural perspectives and wellbeing will all be made to ensure the collection best caters to the needs of all.

Acquisition, cataloguing and processing will all follow.

Something further to consider is how the physical space is laid out. I’ll need to ensure that the location of books and resources according to need is considered. Can the teacher or learner quickly and easily access what they need whilst also ensuring the space is enticing and inspiring to those who wish to browse and find something new?

There is so much more to collection development and management than I ever thought. According to Ranganthan, the fifth law of library science is “A library is a growing organism.” I’m wondering if this growth is transformative or ever expanding, and if it is the latter, then how many books is too many?

I’ll leave you with this quote, which sums up my thoughts beautifully.

“We need to think of the school as a living organism. Children have to feel that the world is inside the school and moves and thinks and works and reflects on everything that goes on.

Of course not all children are the same — each child brings a part of something that’s different into the school.”

Loris Malaguzzi

Malaguzzi, L. (1994) Your Image of the Child. Where Teaching Begins in Child Care Information Exchange 3/94 Translated by Baji Rankin, Leslie Morrow and Lella Gandini, Child Care Information Exchange U.S.A.
Accessed from: https://www.reggioalliance.org/downloads/malaguzzi:ccie:1994.pdf