Month: December 2019

Who is in control?

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As I sit in the study listening to my son watch ‘The Matrix’ for the first time in the other room, I find myself pondering the world I find myself in- is it the world I expected to be living in when I watched this film in 1999?

The short answer is, no. The real answer is complicated.

The importance of technology in today’s society cannot be denied. It is embedded in everything that we do and it is becoming ‘smarter’ all the time. (Hey Google? What does Alexa think?) Schools try to keep up to date with the tech and spend money om 3D printers and laser cutters while running a BYOD program to ensure that all kids are growing up conversant in the language of now, but are we really in the now? Technology seems to change and ‘improve’ faster than most of us can keep up with.

Does this mean that the tech is in control and determining how we behave and respond to the world around us? Could it be that we, as a society, are really adept at adapting to the tools they have at hand to make life social and manageable?

All I know for sure is that I do not fear the Matrix… yet.

Catch Up Victoria!

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When asked to look into online content curation, I turned to a platform I am familiar with- Pinterest. I have used this online space as a source of inspiration many times and decided to look at how the State Library of Victoria might be using it.

I was excited to see what interesting tidbits and book recommendations I might find… and then disappointed to see that there was nothing. Their only presence on Pinterest is on boards hosted by fans of libraries.

So, I decided to go big or go home and searched for the New York Public Library  (NYPL), and boy howdy, do they know how to use Pinterest to their advantage!

Apart from having a direct link to their website and 3.2 million followers, they have 30 boards about a variety of topics. My favourite board is titled #ireadeverywhere which contains pictures of (yep) people reading everywhere. The hashtag prompted me to check for an Instagram account and was happy to see that I can start following them there as well.

Alongside the many boards promoting reading and new books, there are several boards dedicated to showcasing the images from the NYPL digital gallery and examples of film and art that use libraries as a backdrop to help tell a story.

NYPL also use this platform to inform patrons about upcoming events, to promote libraries and reading, and to showcase teaching resources.

In this example, I could see the potential of websites like Pinterest to showcase and promote libraries.

Experiments

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After reading chapter 7 of Developing Collections to Empower Learners by Sue C. Kimmel (2014), I started thinking about ways of bringing ebooks into my school library.

We have a BYOD program that runs reasonably successfully and many students choose to purchase textbooks in an electronic format, so I know that there are some students who prefer to access their reading materials via a screen. I have also come across many students who enjoy reading fiction online.

While introducing some form of ebook lending system would take more research and support from above, the idea of pre-loaded e-readers sparked my interest and I intend to investigate this possibility. I am particularly interested in having genre-specific e-readers that are pre-loaded with a range of titles from a range of reading levels. We have so many students who want to read within a series or genre and students are used to a ‘Netflix’ menu of possibilities, so why not try bringing the two together?

While there will be problems (it is not going to possible for the e-readers to go home with the students), I believe that the information we can potentially gather about the reading habits of our students and the likelihood of their accessing ebooks over paper makes the experiment worthwhile.

Kimmel, S. C. (2014). Developing collections to empower learners. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csuau/detail.action?docID=1687658

If you build it, they will come…

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Having encountered libraries where the teaching staff have little trust in the teacher-librarian, the need for TLs to understand their role and make visible the contribution they make seems a vital part of the job.

The teacher-librarian really needs to be able to work within all curriculum areas of the school while managing budgetary constraints, embracing new technologies and considering all stake-holders (from students to teachers to admin). A good TL can be a game-changer in a school.

Where the relationship between the library, staff and students has broken down, the first step in creating a sense of collaboration lies in the hands of the TL. I can see this happening in the following ways:
– approaching domain leaders and individual staff to see how they can be supported
– looking for cross-curricular links across domains and providing strategies to staff to support integrated learning
– attending curriculum meetings to ensure an understanding of the upcoming resource needs of students and teachers
– team-teaching of skills (research, referencing, reading)
– ensuring displays are inviting and having a knowledge of books to be able to recommend to both teachers and students
– talking with and listening to students (wants, needs)
– holding events that entice and excite students and teachers about reading and learning

All of the above, coupled with a TL who cares about student opportunities and outcomes and a dash of passion about the world that opens up when you know how to access the library, should be a way to begin building a positive and rewarding relationship for all members of the school community.