Having not worked in a library (ever) and having not taught English (ever), I am here to openly admit that my knowledge of children’s literature is quite limited. Having a book obsessed three year old, I would say that my children’s literature knowledge and strengths currently lie in the early childhood realms. We have a cupboard in our house that we lovingly refer to as “the library”, and it is constantly growing and evolving. I love finding new stories for my older son to love, and I’m working hard on my 1.5 year old who now brings me books and says “read” and then promptly runs away unless it has buttons to push. One of my absolute hands down favourite stories to read with him at the moment is an oldie but a goodie – “The Snail and the Whale” by Julia Donaldson. I love the poetry and the exquisite imagery and illustrations. I love that the snail saves the whale with words. There’s so much to unpack! I just love it. My three year old and I have had some great chats about travel and adventure, feeling small in the big wide world, how even the smallest of creatures can make a huge difference, how sharks are scary :), we’ve spoken of the environment, and having courage. It’s so fantastic and there’s a gorgeous mini film of it on ABC Kids that he loves to watch too.
Personally, I absolutely love reading for pleasure too but I tend to read mainly contemporary adult fiction, otherwise I just read the Harry Potter series (again). I am really looking forward to reading some YA fiction again as I probably haven’t read heaps of it since finishing school myself and it is obviously a very important part of the role of the TL so will assist me immensely in my future career.
In order to increase my professional knowledge, I can subscribe to the blogs that Liz has recommended (including her own), I can ask lots of questions on the discussion forums and draw upon the expertise of others enrolled in the subject, I can ask other TL’s that I know how they upskill, I can use the websites recommended such as CBCA, OZTLNet, NCACL, Read+ etc., and I can read read read read read!