My previous post identified at surface level, a few strategies I use to be aware of, know the content and understand children’s literature.

Relishing the opportunity to read, I naturally gravitate toward libraries to observe new content and view promotional displays. Keeping up to date with literary awards and initiatives such as the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) and the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge ensures I am aware of book lists and the selection of high quality literature. My school is in the fortunate position to subscribe to Scholastic Australian Standing Orders, ensuring our school receives new content on a regular basis. When these books cross my desk, I make the effort to read and absorb content that could be relevant or beneficial for students and staff in my school.

Being in the enviable position of working in the TL role gives me the advantageous position to take stock of children’s literature that is available in my school. Frequently I take books home from a wide range of genres, text types and age recommendations to read in my own time. This allows me to know the content and promote texts to staff and students alike and be ready for that moment when a student comes to me and says “I don’t know what to read!”

Although these sound like great initiatives to get to know new and varied literature, there is still more I could do. Following online book reviews such as those presented by Booktopia; subscribing to children’s literature magazines such as Magpies; attending professional development opportunities relevant to teacher librarians such as those run by the School Library Association of NSW would increase my professional knowledge of children’s literature. These opportunities would further develop my critique, analysis and understanding of how these texts can be used for reading engagement and teaching content within the school curriculum.