1. Dynamic library space

My views on the significance of the library space have evolved greatly throughout the course of my study. My initial understanding had been a simplistic idea that the library is a place where resources are kept and organised in a way that makes them easily accessible to all users. Modern school libraries, however, are no longer mere repositories of resources. They provide a range of learning opportunities to support a school’s curriculum (IFLA, 2015) and have a significant impact on learning (Elliot, 2010). They must not only enable access to existing resources, but provide tools for the creation of new knowledge and understanding. The implementation of the key aspects of 21st century learning, such as collaboration, innovation, and development of critical thinking forces librarians to re-consider the physical space of the library and make changes necessary to create environments for participatory learning, where technology is used to extend and enhance learning experiences (Holland, 2015).

Armed with this new knowledge I have embarked upon a journey of library space transformation in my own practice. The main idea behind the changes was to offer students a range of learning spaces to promote collaboration and creativity, while at the same time provide tranquil spaces that encourage independent learning (South, 2017). My aim was to re-design the library space in order to increase its effect on student learning outcomes, and, with the same importance, have a positive impact on the wellbeing of the whole school community.

The process of the library space transformation is not an easy one and requires a lot of planning. I was fortunate to have had at this time enrolled in the subject ETL501 (The Dynamic Information Environment). The module readings provided me with the knowledge and tools necessary to carry out this enormous task. As expected, the main obstacle presented itself in terms of the constraints of the school budget. This was partly overcome by my flexibility during the planning process, as well as continual advocacy work directed towards the school leadership team. The assessment task of ETL501 has been absolutely crucial to both structure and content of the proposal, to the extent of immediate practical implementation in my own library. Armed with the model proposal I worked on for the assessment, I was able to then customize it to the needs of my school community and prepare a new one, which included an essential rationale for the change, and its anticipated impact on student learning. The aim of my redesign was to enrich the current homogenous space that has not been used to its full potential, in order to cater for different ways of learning, in alignment with the latest research and trends in education.

The whole library space was planned to be thematically fragmented into two main zones: the “reader zone”, designed for storytelling, reading, and reflection, and the “creator zone”, serving as a flexible learning space. Between the two zones, a central hub was designed to blend the features and colours of the two main zones, to indicate that the learning processes are fluid and interconnected, and to create an inviting community space.

 

 

 

I cannot say that every item on the proposal was accepted and approved – had it been so, it would only mean to me that I was not aiming high enough. Yet, in spite of many obstacles, there are going to be many changes to the library next academic year, which I am very excited about, and which were only possible to achieve with the knowledge and skills I obtained at CSU.

The re-design that will be carried out in my library is linked to the school’s strategic vision for teaching and learning. It will enable optimal usage of the library, with several different groups of students being able to access the space at any given time, using an online booking system. The creation of zones catering for different ways of learning, ranging from solitary study to collaborative group work, whole class discussion and real-life application of learning, has been carefully planned considering Thornburg’s model of learning spaces.

 

The new library space will have the potential to serve as a social and spiritual hub as well, promoting both love of reading and love of learning and research. As a safe space for independence and creativity, the library will promote students’ well-being in their assessment-driven school lives.

 

2. Advocacy

I have chosen to talk about advocacy because it is the aspect of my role as a teacher librarian (TL) that I struggle with the most. Working in an understaffed library often means there is an overwhelming feeling of having too much to do in a very short time that is a school day. All the tasks seem too important and cannot be postponed.  A students who comes for a good book cannot be told to come later – losing a reader is too high a cost to pay.  Shelving cannot be delayed, just as chaos cannot be allowed to prevail in a library! Perhaps delay cataloguing new books? My avid readers are waiting for those books like hungry vultures! And so a long list of absolutely urgent jobs is compiled and the work that usually get the last place on it is the one related to library promotion.

The TL’s roles and services encompass so many aspects that we will never be able to “do it all” and therefore personalization and customization is necessary (Godfree, personal communication, September 3, 2021).  It is then a matter of prioritizing and I often find there are so many pressing issues related to resource provision and daily running of the library, that showcasing what I do and aim to achieve in the library (advocacy) simply has to be postponed. I believe it is due to my natural predisposition that I often fall into a pretense that finding the right book for a child is of a higher moral value than boasting about it on social media. I need to remind myself that it is not arrogance to spread awareness about our work and its impact and in the greater scheme of things it might actually be the smarter thing to do, as the consequences of that advocacy may have a much greater effect on a larger number of students.

In one of my very early blogs on the role of the teacher librarian (Magdolenova, 2014, April 21), I note that TLs need to become advocates for their profession, using different ways to promote what they do and what they aim to achieve, making principals aware of the library needs and accomplishments. The post demonstrates that at that point I had not fully considered that our advocacy work really needs to include the whole school community, not just the principal. Lamb (2011, p. 28) believes that it is the responsibility of the librarian to build connections with everyone within the teaching and learning process. A realization significant to my own practice came from one of the study visit presenters, who stressed the importance of being pro-active and getting parents and students on our side, as they are the best advocates for school libraries (Ruffles, personal communication, September 7, 2021). When parents understand what the school library does and how it supports their children, they are more likely to understand the ways they can help promote reading habits. Further, as I have seen in my own practice, it is the students, their parents, as well as the teachers, who can most effectively advocate for their school library and positively influence the school principal and director. In this equation, the more awareness there is amongst the community about the library and its value, the more support the library is likely to receive from the school management.

Today, libraries in many places around the world are in danger of being considered obsolete. For example, although more than 8 million people are active borrowers from libraries in England, 700 libraries have been closed by councils since 2010, the government still won’t mandate libraries in schools, and the only institutions currently required by law to have libraries are prisons (Rundell, 2019). It is with this background information in mind that one has to approach the matter of advocacy. Good marketing strategies can help us make the libraries visible again. Let’s set the bar even higher, we don’t want them to be just visible, we want them to be cool! For where else can you get things for free these days? Not just anything, the most precious things – books.

Spreading awareness about the library to all members of the community may well be one of the most important ways to ensure school libraries are held in high esteem, just like the academic libraries have been for centuries.

Note: Some examples of my humble beginnings in advocacy work can be found on my school library website, as well as on the photos below.

 

 

3. Ebooks (and their place in a balanced library collection)

The print vs. digital resources discussion seems to be one of the most frequently debated amongst librarians and has therefore resurfaced in several subjects throughout my study at CSU. I have chosen to include it as one of my three themes, as it is unquestionably the one where the biggest shift in my understanding occurred.

Initially, I was one of the people with a strong opinion about the superiority of print resources and could not see why would any librarian chose to include books in digital format in their collection. Surely holding an actual book gives a reader a complete, holistic experience, incomparable to tapping a screen. When reading for pleasure especially, I could not see any reason to deprive children of the tactile element. Not only did research prove that most students prefer to read in print (Baron, 2015), it surely seemed a healthier option considering how much time they already spend daily on their devices. My school library collection at that time included around ten e-books, most of them given to us by our vendor free of charge to promote this format, the rest likely an error in ordering.

In one of the modules of ETL503 (Resourcing the Curriculum) we learned about and discussed various aspects of a balanced collection in depth, including physical versus digital formats of books. We considered other types of eResources that 21^st century libraries need to offer, their management, and ways to promote them. Later on, in ETL 501 (The Dynamic Information Environment), I was required to create an online resource guide. This practical experience has proven to be invaluable, as I was able to transfer it to my own practice straight away and create several new resource guides to aid teachers and students in accessing challenging curriculum topics in an engaging way, through resources in a variety of formats.

The acquisition of e-resources presents librarians with new challenges and decisions in terms of their selection and management (Kimmel, 2014). We have to understand various types of access available from providers (short and long term, single, multiple, and unlimited user access), issues of compatibility and availability of devices students need in order to access these resources.

In the meantime, Covid restrictions brought new challenges to everyone, including our school community. In the library, it became necessary to evaluate the collection, assuring that it is fit to serve students not only while they are physically present at school, but also while studying online (Magdolenova, 2021, May 5). This was another big reminder of how useful digital resources in the library collection can be.  They enabled the library to enter the homes of our students, making it possible for them to sustain their reading habits, helping them learn, and making the school community realize how flexible, creative, and above all resourceful librarians and their programs are.

My collection currently includes 170 amazing eBooks in a range of genres for all age groups. It is a growing collection – the silver lining of the lock-down experience has been an extra budget allowance for digital resources, as the school leadership were made aware of their importance.   These resources have been essential in a multitude of scenarios, including easy access for students during multiple online learning phases, during school holidays, or even on weekends when the most eager readers have finished reading the physical books they borrow from the library.

Guiding teachers on how to use digital resources had a significant impact on how these are used in the classrooms. My blog Covid vs. Collections details the change in reading experiences made possible with the introduction of eBooks and demonstrates the variety of new teaching and learning opportunities their use offers.

The fact remains that even if they are a minority, there are children who prefer reading on their devices. Why should the library not cater to their needs? What if this platform can help reluctant readers become life long reading enthusiasts?

E-books have not, by any means, replaced the physical ones. These are still the core of the collection and the most exciting reading experience the library can offer.  However, the opportunity to access a range of eBooks enriches the collection of resources available to students and teachers (Foley, 2012) and widens the audience the librarians can reach and the scope of experiences we can offer.

 

References:

Baron, N. (2015). Words onscreen. New York: Oxford University Press.

Elliott, C. (2010). School library to learning commons: Planning the journey. Synergy, 8(2).
https://slav.vic.edu.au/index.php/Synergy/article/view/v82201010/272

Foley, C. (2012). eBooks for leisure and learning. Scan, 31(4), 6-14.

Holland, B. (2015, January 14). 21st-century libraries: The learning commons. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/21st-century-libraries-learning-commons-beth-holland

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions School Libraries Section Standing Committee. (2015).  IFLA school library guidelines.

Kimmel, S. C. (2014). Developing collections to empower learners. American Association of School Librarians.

Lamb, A. (2011). Bursting with Potential: Mixing a Media Specialist’s Palette. TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 55(4), 27-36. doi: 10.1007/s11528-011-0509-3

Magdolenova, M. [mmagdolen] (2014, April 21). The role of the teacher librarian. Panta Rhei. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/michaela/2014/04/21/principal-support/

Magdolenova, M. [mmagdolen] (2021, May 5). Collections vs. covid. Panta Rhei. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/michaela/2021/05/05/collections-vs-covid/

Magdolenova, M. [mmagdolen] (2021, October 2). Climate – Research Guide https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/michaelaslibraryresearchguide/

South, S. (2017). School libraries as incubators – where good ideas hatch. Scan, 36. https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/professional-learning/scan/past-issues/vol-36–2017/school-libraries-as-incubators-where-good-ideas-hatch-