Make the library a social space for teens 

To attract teens into the library and to encourage reading, libraries need to be social spaces, along with relevant, diverse, and appealing fiction and non-fiction and magazines. Examining both traditional print reading and online reading technologies to explore how they can synergistically contribute to fostering reading habits among adolescents within the reading environment of a school. Pleasure remains an important motivation for adolescents, and students are motivated to read when they have a wide variety of books to choose from and see value in reading (Moje et al., 2008). Research has shown that reading is also very much a social activity for adolescents. Adolescents are motivated to read when they have good reasons to, which includes reading to interact with others in their social networks (Moje et al., 2008). Adolescents are also more likely to talk about books when they have been frequently exposed to books and have peers who are similarly interested in reading (Merga, McRae, & Rutherford, 2018). Moreover, students with reading peers find it easier to locate reading materials because they are more likely to receive recommendations from their friends (Ivey, 2014).

This sociability around books is not limited to face-to-face socializing. Technology can afford opportunities otherwise unavailable in physical spaces. In a study of adolescents’ reading habits in Poland, Zasacka (2017) found that adolescents used the internet to search for information about books not required for school, second after peer recommendations. For example, recommendations on Goodreads  and shared highlights on Kindle’s Popular Highlights function allows individuals who do not know each other personally to engage in dialogue around books. 

Moje, E. B., Overby, M., Tysvaer, N. M., & Morris, K. (2008). The complex world of adolescent literacy: myths, motivations, and mysteries. Harvard Educational Review, 78(1), 107–154. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.78.1.54468j6204x24157 

This sentence has made me think a lot: ‘The Teacher Librarian should have a thorough understanding of the broader information landscape.’ 

What would a secondary school student understand the ‘broader information landscape’ to be? And I started to consider the cultural status of different types of information, and would this mean that a high school student’s idea of the types of information in a ‘broader information landscape’ would be grossly different from mine, or say, their first-choice university or future employer? 

What would this mean for the teacher librarian? I revisited French sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu’s work on the concept of cultural capital – where the non-financial social assets (which includes the ‘type’ or status of information that a person is familiar with) influences a person’s social mobility and success. This information can range from education credentials, knowledge, skills, talents, abilities and cultural awareness.  

Regarding information, Bourdieu recognises that certain types of information can be associated with cultural capital, influencing individuals’ social standing and opportunities. I would argue that with so much of an Australian students’ future lying on the ATAR score, the most pertinent to Australian schools, and TLs would be the distinction between information from high vs low culture. High culture would include classical literature, art and philosophy often associated with higher social classes. Whereas low would include pop culture and I would like to also add the trends and memes on which much understanding and enjoyment of social media would depend. 

With this in mind, I wonder if it is important for a TL to be concurrent with both high and low culture, and would it be advisable for students to have an awareness of such a classification system? 

Medvetz, T., & Sallaz, J. J. (2018). The Oxford Handbook of Pierre Bourdieu. In Oxford University Press eBooks. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199357192.001.0001 

The role of teacher librarians (TLs) has for a long time been recognised as a promotor of literacy (Lance, 2023). Meanwhile, the internet was predicted by many to lead to the demise of the library as an academic source (Odlyzko, 1995) or a supplier of paper books (Kinney, 2010) but it seems instead that it has just differentiated the TL’s role. After reading through the modules, I asked Chat GPT if the role of the TL would end up being susceptible to automation. The bot suggested that AI is unlikely to replace TLs as it acknowledged that AI cannot offer the personalized service that librarians provide (Chat GPT, personal communication, 2023).  

Online texts have expanded the TL’s responsibilities in working with different formats as school libraries often house more digital than physical resources (as could be argued of many households) leading to an evolved meaning of the concept of ‘literacy’ in the digital age. This shift has given ‘literacy’ a whole new meaning in the digital era. According to reports, academic librarians are expected to dive deeper into digital services and online resources by 2030 (Merga, 2020. Scholars have been talking a lot about the new roles TLs are taking on, from being advocates to managing all sorts of things like content, knowledge, and even web design (Halder, 2009; cited in Momoh and Lanre, 2019). It’s like the job got more complex, demanding extra skills to keep up.   

Effective search strategies now extend beyond the Google search bar to include advanced techniques, while resource-based learning encourages students to gather and compare information critically. Anderson’s analysis (2006) emphasizes the importance of these key concepts in upskilling learners for success in a knowledge-driven society, highlighting the need not only for knowledge acquisition but also an understanding of how knowledge is socially organized. I was struck by Floridi’s (2007) point that now the idea of common knowledge has arguably grown in size because so much information is available. I would argue that this evolution of information literacy concepts, paralleling advancements in information technologies, will continue to be affected by chat GPT, which is depending on online content for its output (Saravanan, 2023).  

The obvious link between chat GPT and plagiarism has been the most recent point of the discussion (Perkins, 2023; Halaweh, 2023; Cotton, Cotton and Shipway, 2023; Azouley, Hirst and Reches, 2023).  However, I would argue that the advancement of study aid tools could very quickly introduce another new role for the TL as not only do TLs need to address the use of AI chatbots in assessments and research, moving away from mere plagiarism detection toward fostering constructive relationships with technology but also to foster an appreciation for creativity and originality.   

My current work on a university preparatory course has highlighted for me students’ dependence on technology. The students initially were shocked to be asked to write their assessments without their suite of translation tools, chat GPT, predictive text and other extensions and plug-ins. The general consensus was that this type of writing was common practice at education institutes in Asia (my students are Chinese international students.) Therefore, TLs also need to promote the creation of honest, original and creative texts.  

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References  

Andersen, J. (2006). The public sphere and discursive activities: information literacy as sociopolitical skills. Journal of Documentation, 62(2), 213–228. https://doi.org/10.1108/00220410610653307  

Azoulay, R., Hirst, T. and Reches, S. (2023). Let’s Do It Ourselves: Ensuring Academic Integrity in the Age of ChatGPT and Beyond. [online] www.techrxiv.org. doi:https://doi.org/10.36227/techrxiv.24194874.v1.  

Chat GPT, personal communication, 2023.  

Cotton, D.R.E., Cotton, P.A. and Shipway, J.R. (2023). Chatting and cheating: Ensuring academic integrity in the era of ChatGPT. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, pp.1–12. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2023.2190148.  

Floridi, L. (2007). A look into the future impact of ICT on our lives. The Information Society, 23(1), 59-64. https://doi.org/10.1080/01972240601059094  

Halaweh, M. (2023). ChatGPT in education: Strategies for responsible implementation. Aau.ac.ae. [online] doi:https://doi.org/1309517X.  

Lance, K. C. (2023, March 15). Why school librarians matter: What years of research tell us – kappanonline.org. kappanonline.org. https://kappanonline.org/lance-kachel-school-librarians-matter-years-research/  

Kinney, B. (2010). The internet, public libraries, and the digital divide. Public Library Quarterly, 29(2), 104–161. https://doi.org/10.1080/01616841003779718  

Merga, M. K. (2020). What is the literacy supportive role of the school librarian in the United Kingdom? Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 53(4), 601–614. https://doi.org/10.1177/0961000620964569  

Momoh, E. O., & Lanre, F. A. (2019). The evolving roles of libraries and librarians in the 21st century. Library Philosophy and Practice. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/2867/?utm_source=digitalcommons.unl.edu%2Flibphilprac%2F2867&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages  

Perkins, M. (2023). Academic integrity considerations of AI Large Language Models in the post-pandemic era: ChatGPT and beyond. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 20(2). doi:https://doi.org/10.53761/1.20.02.07.  

Odlyzko, A. (1995). Tragic loss or good riddance? The impending demise of traditional scholarly journals. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 42(1), 71–122. https://doi.org/10.1006/ijhc.1995.1004  

Saravanan, A. S. (2023). The Limitations of Chat GPT. Medium.  https://medium.com/@asarav/the-limitations-of-chat-gpt-8b73f5859bb4