When it comes to reading and processing information, my preference is paper. I print out all the modules and readings because I like to be able to highlight and make notes so that I can refer back to them later, if need be. My daughters also prefer print over audio, however my husband much prefers audio books. I don’t think there is a difference between older and younger people, it most likely comes down to personal preference. 

After reading and watching about augmented reality and how it is now included in books, I am certainly not up with this change and don’t believe that I use technology any differently to older people. Technology is used very basically, for things like banking, emails, social media and some games – that’s about it. 

As for ebooks in our school, they were very handy in remote learning. We could assign readers for students, they could record their reading, and we could check how they were going. We could also use them for guided reading over zoom. The preference is printed books that students take home for reading now, but once or twice a week we will read an ebook in the classroom. I have been trying to incorporate them a little more in Maths, rather than watching a video. I know that in high school they are still using printed books. I wonder if this comes down to a licence cost and is it more cost effective to have parents buy textbooks rather than the school paying for licences.

Upon reading an article in this subject, I found it interesting to find that students don’t find books interesting when they are recommend it by a teacher librarian. In completing this module it now makes sense as to why. How do we know the students reading ability or their reading age – and what we could be recommending is either be to hard or to easy. 

Physical arrangement of the fiction genre is an important aspect of the library layout. Our school library is just white wooden shelves that hold the majority of fiction books. Junior fiction is organised into red tubs. Senior fiction is on the other side of the library and arranged alphabetically. Having not worked in a library for many years, I do often look at the current school library and it hasn’t changed in the last 5 years that I have worked there. It really frustrates me, because the library could be such a vibrant space if we just moved some shelves around. 

The topic of genrefication was suggested in the module. In one of my subjects I completed an assignment on genrefication and by the end of it, I was on the fence about it. I think that it would be interesting to try that model and see if it makes a difference to our library. I too often see students walking up and down to find a book. Also our Accelerated Reader books are intermixed with the fiction and this is my biggest bug bear. I feel these books should be on their own and in levelled shelves so that students can quickly find a book in their level. 

In one of the articles in this module, it was mentioning about students being in the library and reading – I don’t see that often in our library, I think because it is the same and quite boring. We had students come in to play games at lunchtimes but apparently they were hiding chess pieces so the games cupboard is now locked and the library is quite quiet. I think our library needs to be rearranged and made more exciting so that students want to come in and read. 

I need to investigate what e-resources we have access to in the library as this is another aspect of the collection that I don’t know much about. 

Censorship and challenging fiction 

From ETL503 I know that students should be given the right to access all books but for some schools this may not be the case. I highly believe that as TL’s we should read books to ensure we are happy with the content and make the decision as to whether we would like to include that book. I know this may go against students access all books, but we did need to be confident and knowledgeable about what is on our library shelves. 

The realm of realistic fiction is related to young adult literature and relates to what is happening in their lives. It is subdivided into sub genres, these being: 

• LGBTIQA
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• Multicultural Literature
• Historical fiction

Then we delve into the fiction that is not part of their world but takes them to another world.

• Fantasy Fiction
• Speculative Fiction
• Dystopian Fiction 
• Horror Fiction
• Steampunk

The young adult literature is something that I struggle with. I also know that some of these titles have the potential to be censored as I work in a Christian school. For some fantasy fiction we require parental approval before we can allow a student to borrow that book. I am certainly keen to further my knowledge of these genres.

My Knowledge of Children’s Literature 

Children’s Literature comes in a range of topics and formats. 

• Picture Books like my favourite Pig the Pug. These may also include books with no words like Jennie Baker’s Window. 
• Novels from lower Primary to Senior Fiction. Ones like Billie B Brown, Hey Jack, Ella Diaries, Ella at Eden, The Baxters Kids by Karen Kingsbury, 39 Clues. Wish by Scholastic has some good fiction for tweens. 
• Graphic Novels like the Wings of Fire Series and there are certainly others that my youngest daughter has an interest in. 

Increasing my Professional Knowledge

• Looking up websites such as the CBCA for the latest books that have been nominated for awards. 
• Being more involved with the library and the standing orders that arrive for our perusal and purchase. 
• Using the Goodreads website

I haven’t thought about this question before so I find it hard to answer. In today’s society there appears to be more authors and literature seems to be more readily available. When I reflect on my childhood, what was certainly popular were the golden books, Winnie the Pooh, Disney Princesses and not a lot else. I struggled through high school trying to find novels that I enjoyed – I really only read books because he had to for high school. A favourite was “Looking for Alibrandi” and I am pretty sure it is still on my bookshelf. It wasn’t until I was a young adult that I found Karen Kingsbury and haven’t stopped reading all of her books. 

There appears to be such a range of literature now, I know that our library has shelves and shelves of picture books and it can be tricky to know which are good and what my students will like. Chapter books can be a little harder, especially for students who are in the year 1/2 bracket and aren’t fully ready from leaving picture books but aren’t fully ready for chapter books. What happens with the other end of the spectrum, years 11 and 12? It can be hard to provide literature for those students too. 

Change is being influenced by the voices around us and making sure that everyone is equal and depicted in books. I don’t feel that as a parent you can let your child pick up any book anymore. I think we need to be a little more selective, especially when we may believe in the traditional family values. I also have two very different children that have different interests. One is happy to read “Wings of Fire” and I know she is capable of dealing with the content – the other child won’t touch it all. 

It would be interesting if we could bring books to life, rather than making an app of our favourite characters. In school we were required to read ‘Seven Little Australians” and then we went on an excursion through the city of Sydney. It explained what life was like in that period of history, and we potentially walked through the streets that those people would have walked a hundred or more years ago. Could we do the same for our students today?  Living in Melbourne, we can’t take our students to Sydney but surely there would be some books that we could use and integrate excursions with to bring a book to life.

Is it up to us as teachers and teacher librarians to be the vision for children’s literature and be a driving force for change by bringing books to life and having a happier balance and alternative to always integrating technology.