The future in education in the NT. Where does this leave the library?

Sadly, when looking for an adjective to describe the state of many school libraries in the NT, it would definitely be something on the way to extinction, if a plan isn’t put in place that outlines the needs of the school community and the direction of the school curriculum. In order for it to become a “phoenix” and rise from the state that it is in, our libraries need to stay relevant to the needs of patrons, the teachers, and the learners. It would be recommended to seek out information and literature on the future of school libraries and look to where the school is headed in the future. Is there a strategic plan in place? What are the recommendations? A good place to start would be to read and consider the points raised in the ALIA Future of the Library and Information Science Profession Special Libraries, report (ALIA Futures. 2017).

Six themes emerges from this report: 

1. The most important job in the school library- encourage children to develop a lifelong love of books and reading.

2. Addressing the deepening the divide between independent/Catholic schools and government schools. 

3. Easy and rewarding affordable technologies to improve the library experience.

4. Digital skills. Staff will need new skills to manage digital collections and guide students through the online maze.

5. Parent power. We will need to engage parents as advocates for school libraries.

6. Competing for attention. School libraries will need to market their services, in competition with Google, Facebook, YouTube etc.

(ALIA Futures. 2017).

Very sadly, this report also pointed out, there are hardly any teacher librarians employed in the Northern Territory (ALIA Futures. 2017).

The school where I last worked does have a strong focus on developing digital literacy in students and technology in education. This has been a big focus for the last few years. STEM and Inquiry-based learning programs have been established in the middle school and connected learning opportunities are a focus now in the junior school. Before I left, I was involved in the discussion around maker spaces, and where these could go. Perhaps putting these pieces together could be the key to an evolution in this school library. The maker space could be based in the library and a teacher librarian and or STEM specialist could be employed to provide support for coding and robotics sessions. The teachers in the school library could also teach students to develop digital skills, use apps and social media, develop research skills, and educate students about cybersafety (ALIA Futures. 2017).

Perhaps this may be the way that school libraries have a future in schools in the Northern Territory. There is a big push for digital literacy and for STEM and STEAM education, with STEM education for girls part of the education department’s strategic plan. By addressing and considering some of the points raised in this report would be a place to start.

Reference:

ALIA Futures. (2017). ALIA Future of the Library and Information Science Profession Special Libraries, Australian Library and Information Association.

Image sourced from-

https://www.dreamstime.com/illustration/cartoon-crocodile-reading-book.html