Section 1: About the placement organisation
I undertook my placement at Amity College High School Library. Amity College is a K- 12 Co-educational, independent school built in 1996 in South- west suburb of Sydney. The total number of enrolment is 1570 students. Amity College has 3 campuses in Sydney; Prestons, Illawarra and Auburn.
There are three libraries at Prestons campus; one for primary students, Boys High School library and Girls High School library. All the three campuses has a well-resourced library with a set budget for each library every year. This shows that school library plays an integral role at Amity College. The librarians are currently reviewing their library policy, working on libguides and are also under the process of designing a new library website. Subscription to SCIS, Click view and Destiny is managed by the teacher librarian. Weeding is an ongoing activity and is done by respective librarians in each library.
The school has a BYOD policy for High school students. The school provides Wi-Fi access to students in order to support BYOD learning environment. The library also has an AV room. The school has a separate IT Department and all the technological issues are dealt by them.
The library promotes lot of reading activities in both Primary and High School libraries through events such as Book tasting, Australian Reading Hour, Premier’s Reading Challenge, and competitions and by displaying new titles. The collection includes academic books as well as recreational reading books.
Teachers, Head teachers and teacher librarians’ work together to build the school library collection. Resource selection is also evidence-driven with a combination of shelf-ready publisher subscription packages, resource usage report analysis and patron-driven acquisitions. As a result, the collection is well-rounded and satisfies all users’ needs. There is also a suggestion box for students to recommend books. The library has an interactive library management system and a library kiosk, which is very popular among students. Students use kiosk to place holds, write reviews and recommendations and also to search up items in the catalogue.
The library has variety of formats such as print materials, DVD and graphic novels to cater to different learning needs. It is essential to provide students with variety of formats and resources because school libraries that provide an array of engaging high-quality materials enable students to choose books that appeal to their individual interests, reading preferences, and abilities. Non-fiction is not very popular among students in High School except some cooking books, Record Breakers book and magazines. Magazines are not allowed to borrow but can be used in the library. There is a separate section for Teachers Reference books. The school also runs Turkish and Arabic language classes and the library has language books. The collection meets the diverse needs of the staff and students.
The Fiction section of the library is generified. The genres are Fantasy, Adventure, Biography, Humour, Graphic Novels, Mystery, Science Fiction, Horror, Diary, Crime, Supernatural, School, Sports Fiction and Animal Stories. Humour and Graphic Novels are the most popular genres among students.
The library staff from all the campuses meet once a term to collaborate on projects, exchange ideas and update on library events, activities and also professional training. The meeting agenda is shared on Google Drive so staff can add any agenda items and discuss in the meeting. The minutes is recorded and shared with the Principals and other librarians. All the librarians work congenially and with passion to meet the goals.
Section 2: Theory into practice
During my placement, I could understand the difference in the way the high school library operates as compared to a primary school library. The range of collection, activities and the displays in the library caters the needs of the girls in the High school. I had the opportunity to experience and also get involve in a wide range of activities in the High School library.
The library is a busy place as it is in the midst of the school office, computer lab, IT help desk and study rooms. The library also provides service such as printing, photocopying, laminating and loaning laptops to students. I also assisted the librarian in performing number of desk duties such as check in/ check out of books, shelving, photo copying and assisting students in completing their Premier’s Reading Challenge log. The library provides a safe place in which students can interact with their peers and access the available library resources Amity College uses Destiny as their Library system. Students place holds for their items, write reviews and recommendations for the books and the librarian approve it before it is published. My knowledge of the system was beneficial as I was able to work independently with needing guidance from the librarian to keep the holds ready for the students and teachers. To encourage students’ reading and borrowing, the new resources were displayed in the library.
The library was refurbished recently with all modern furniture that suits the needs of a modern, flexible and accessible environment. Year 12 students are allocated a study period in the library under the librarian’s supervision. During ETL 504, in my Discussion Paper on Future Ready School Library, I had emphasised the importance of flexible seating. I have seen how this library has transformed from traditional seating arrangement to future oriented hub of learning. This has created opportunities for all learners to collaborate and work together.
During ETL 505 I learnt about key concepts and principles of information resource description. During this subject, I gained the understanding of some cataloguing concepts such as metadata, Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR), and Resource Description and Access (RDA). I had very limited experience on how to access resources using the Schools Catalogue Information Service (SCIS) and no experience on cataloguing the items that are not listed on SCIS. Through this placement, I was able to understand the rules, guidelines and standards require in describing, analysing and organising resources. I also had an opportunity to understand the cataloguing of DVD’s and Periodicals (Magazines).
However, the school does not have any e books for staff or students. This year’s Pandemic has proved that technology is of utmost importance in these times. During remote learning, students did not have any exposure to reading and therefore I believe that the school must invest in e books and familiarise students with the digital formats of books to provide equity of access to all resources. I had a personal enthusiasm for learning about cataloguing and I think that was my biggest achievement.
During the time of placement, there were few resources that were urgent requirements from some teachers. This has helped me understand how to set priorities. One of my professional goals was to observe and understand how the librarians prioritises meeting the expectations of its students and teachers.
The library has a large room where the teachers’ resources are stored. Over a period of time, with the access to digital resources, the borrowing for teacher’s resources have declined. To prepare for stock take of teachers’ resources, a lot of items were weeded on the basis of library’s weeding policy. The resources that were not located were marked missing. The planning is underway to use this space in more productive way rather than occupying it for the unused resources.
Next year, Amity College will open its campus in Leppington too. The Boys’ High School will be moving to Leppington Campus and Prestons campus will be expanded. This means the libraries will be expanded too. The Principal asked Mrs Bashir to come up with a plan for the future library. I was fortunate to be a part of the planning process and gave my input. I suggested that the library can have glass walls with a designated area to collaborate, communicate and share.
Finally, the school is going to organise Book tasting with social distancing in the first week of August. A lot of time and efforts go in the planning and preparation of the event. I assisted the librarian in making posters, bookmarks and the activity cards to promote the event. This reminds me of the research project I undertook for EER 500 where the research outlines the need to advocate the library and the activities as mentioned in Australian Schools Library association (2018), one of the roles of the librarian is to promote services in the library. The main purpose of this activity is to motivate the reluctant readers and also to expose all students to a variety of genres. As a teacher librarian I am very much interested in this topic of promoting the school libraries. Today’s libraries are about more than books- they are valuable centres for people to access information and learn new skills.
Section 3: Critical reflection
This placement has given me a diverse and varied experience. I was able to compare and contrast the way the Primary and High School library operates especially the students’ cohort. Whenever the office admin staff is away, my supervisor also fills up the role of the administrative staff. I highly value the organisation skills of my supervisor and her passion for library.
I have great emotional attachment to all the items in my library but now I have already started decluttering my desk and collection after understanding the weeding process and doing a lot of weeding during my placement. Some of the weeded items were put on sale for a gold coin donation. All the proceeds raised will go for purchasing library supplies. This experience will allow me to keep my bookshelves and materials neat and orderly.
My supervisor is responsible for ordering textbooks and study guides for Amity College’s Girls High School library as well as Boys High School library. I saw the excel sheets she uses for record keeping with all her notes written for her reference. This process gave me an insight into how the school libraries support the curriculum and the teachers in a High school.
During my placement review meeting with my supervisor, she stressed the importance of building a good connection with all the stakeholders and advocacy. The librarian has built a very good rapport with staff and students and hence the library is a welcoming place for all. In healthy and productive interpersonal relationships between teachers and students, students feel close to their teacher and they trust and value him or her.
One of my tasks also involved going through the series books and ordering the missing copies from Booktopia. I realised how important it is to regularly do this to keep the collection updated.
Research has proved that school library has a positive impact on students’ achievement. It was a pleasure to see that the staff and students value the library as heart of the school that makes a difference by building capacity for lifelong learners. It is evident that a librarian wears many hats in the smooth functioning of a library.
It is very motivating that during my placement meeting, my supervisor Mrs Bashir remarked positively about my work. I had first-hand experience in working collaboratively in a high school library and achieving my professional goals. I look forward to applying my new knowledge and skills in my professional life.