School Libraries 21C

12 responses so far ↓

• 1    lynhay // Jun 10, 2009 at 2:16 pm

  We hope some NSWDET schools take the opportunity to use this SchoolLibraries21C forum as a platform to explore the future role of the school library and teacher librarian within their school. Ideas presented under focus areas:

  1. Future of school libraries http://schoollibraries21c.edublogs.org/group-1-questions/

  and

  2. School library of the future http://schoollibraries21c.edublogs.org/group-2-questions/

  can help inform this discussion at the local school level.

  A school community then needs to address the question, “How do we get there?”

  Your answers to this question is what we would like to share as part of this discussion thread.

  What strategies, initiatives and support is required at the school level to actualise this vision ?

• 2    Cheryl Barnier // Jun 10, 2009 at 6:40 pm

  This is a response from the discussion forum at the South West Sydney Region Teacher Librarians and Library School Administration Officers’ Conference on 10 June 2009.
  I will admit to adding a few thought of my own along the way. Please accept that any inadequacy of this summary is the fault of the writer and make sure that you add your own personal response on the blog. Cheryl Barnier Fairvale High School

  3b) What strategies / initiatives / support can occur at the school level?

  · Library and Technology committee should be separate bodies. Teacher Librarians should not have to be technicians.
  · Provision of adequate technology maintenance staff to allow the Teacher librarian to get on with working with staff and students.
  · Hardware needs to be upgraded – no more should the library be on the bottom of the ‘food chain’ for computer roll-outs.
  · More money / staff needs to be allocated for the school library to reach its potential

• 3    Judy Hall, Principal // Jun 15, 2009 at 2:18 pm

  Develop regional groups (blogs) to enable networking of teacher librarians.
  Ensure that teacher librarians are involved in school planning – especially at technology and curriculum level .

• 4    Lisa Haller, TL Canterbury Public & Alison Lockhart Annandale North Public // Jun 17, 2009 at 12:09 pm

  For the teacher librarian and libraries to perform their specialist roles in a primary school we believe the following need to be in place at the school:

  TLs need to be regarded as professionals with specialist skills of immense value to school communities

  Schools and their Executive need to have a thorough understanding of the TL role and the impact it can have on student learning

  TLs need to be closely involved in policy making, school plans and future direction of the school.

  Libraries need to be a priority in regards to computer technology infrastructure and hardware. The most current computer technology in the school needs to also be available and used in the school library.

  TLs need to be part of the collaborative planning process each term with class teachers to ensure students are engaged in relevant and integrated learning opportunities.

  TLs should be used appropriately within a school so the school community benefits from their expertise as an information literacy specialist

  The TL role must not be limited to providing RFF. The complexity of information literacy today requires the specialist skills of both the TL and the class teacher to fully support students’ learning needs and to make the most out of the library experiences for students. A TL in isolation left to do RFF encourages the library program to be an isolated one and one that can easily fail to achieve what it may even be trying to do.

  There needs to be adequate and consistent library assistant time allocation so the TL is able to devote time to the larger role. Ideally these people should be trained.

  The time allocated for library management and administrative role by the TL needs to be sufficient and consistent across primary schools. There needs to be time to plan, source resources, evaluate resources, develop the school collection including print and digital resources.

  TLs should have the opportunity to attend relevant and regular professional development courses and network meetings. All TLs should be given the opportunity to attend ASLA state conferences.

  There should be a 3 year plan for the library. The TL should be involved in the budget decisions. The budget needs to be based on a formula that assures equitable access to resources for all students across schools and communities and not reliant on P&C fundraising.

  TLs need to have the same amount of breaks as teachers. An equitable duty roster has to be in place if the library is to be open before and after school and lunchtime (and it’s a good idea that they are!).

• 5    Jane Gee // Jun 21, 2009 at 10:12 am

  I believe there is most definitely a need for libraries in the 21 C. There have been many examples of the great things we can do in libraries right from being a safe haven at lunch time through to cutting edge ICT integration into KLAs. We progress through teaching the skills required to use books and computers, properly and effectively.
  We need to maintain our use of books for both research and literature at the same time as embracing the use of interactive whiteboards, blogs, wikis etc.that are the way of the world for the young people we teach.

  My concern is – Are there sufficient principals in schools that see the need for a library to function in the 21st C in the same way we do? We try valiantly to keep our executive abreast of new approaches to engage the kids, we communicate what is happening in other places but if there is no real belief and understanding of what we are trying to do, then there is no commitment to making it work.

  In order to have a well functioning library in the 21st C, there needs to be all round recognition of and commitment to a library that integrates the latest technology effectively into KLAs, sufficient support time for clerical staff and adequate administration time so that collections can be maintained and advanced appropriately, to meet learning needs and best practice standards.

  Many principals and other staff members may not be aware of the potential scope of the capabilities of a library as a multi- faceted resource in relation to the learning and development of educational programs that research has proven to be beneficial to students.

• 6    Lee Cutler // Jun 23, 2009 at 10:01 am

  This is a group round table response from the Northern Tablelands Teacher Librarian group. The school involved are a mixture or rural Public, Central and High schools plus a few Private schools in the area who meet every term.

  - Involvement with committees within the school eg KLA’s, parent, Executive
  - An effective Library Policy
  - Initiate programs eg DEAR, Peer tutoring (The data from our Peer Tutoring students in Year 7 shows that they are improved in the Ella / NAPLAN testing)
  - Attend various meetings such as Faculty or support groups
  - Setting assessment tasks and assignments based on quality teaching
  - Support the Quality Teaching Framework
  - Be collaborative in teaching
  - Collect data to analyse and to gain evidence to see if you have attained the goals that you have set
  - Assume leaderships roles within the school

• 7    Diane Ridley - Teacher Librarian NSW Gov school // Jun 23, 2009 at 12:29 pm

  Here its important to know your school & gain the professional support of the Principal, Executive & wider school community.

  It can be a difficult journey to keep the library relevant to the school, especially with onging changes/developments in technology. However, if we know our school community, the school’s plans & our knowledge is current, then we can find our nich & use our skills effectively. We can not be all things to all people (especially in public schools where there is 1 T/L in high schools & part time T/L in most primary schools where RFF is expected) but we can use our individual skills to benefit our school.

  The Principal needs to support the professional development of the T/L & accept & understand the role of the T/L within the school. As well, the library should properly resourced (administration assistance & technology) & supported financially so the library can respond to the needs of the school.

  Of course we need to be supported by the school. It pains me that SASS time is up to the Principal as a T/L can not do his/her job effectively if they are not supported. All too often a T/L is pressured to do other tasks that is not part of their position (RFF & class room teacher) so the ability of the T/L to professionally serve their school is diminished. We can be an easy target to alleviate timtable/classroom issues within the school & this is associated with the continual budget squeeze by the Government.

  The knowledge of the T/L can assist the school. The T/L is one of the few teachers ion the school to get a wide overview of the student body & needs. The same could be said of classroom teachers. Our knowledge here assist in planning, teaching & professional development of staff.

• 8    Lyn Hay // Jun 25, 2009 at 1:51 pm

  Contributions to date highlight principal support of TLs and school libraries as critical to the success and future vision of school libraries.

  It would be great to receive more contributions from principals with regard to this question, as well as hearing from principal-TL teams who have been successful in developing a strong professional partnership in building a vision for their school library.

  Lyn Hay
  School of Information Studies
  Charles Sturt University

• 9    Helen Lee // Jul 1, 2009 at 2:41 pm

  This is a joint response from the Selective Schools TL network meeting 30th June. The notes are very brief, please accept my full apologies if they are not complete.

  * A shared vision for the library between the Principal, TL and other stakeholders to see the library as a whole school resource centre.
  * Principal and head teacher support for the TL, library and its services.
  * Support for planning time for teachers/TLs to collaborate on information skills within the curriculum.
  * Reasonable expectation of a timeline for change inplemented in the library due to the changing needs of a school.
  * a library policy that reflects the particular needs of that school.
  * A reasonable understanding of the need for trained SAOs in the library, and an equitable time allowed for their duties there.
  * support for TLs to go to network meetings and other professional development opportunities.
  * faculty support for acertaining needs for new resources in the school.
  Helen Lee
  SSTL Network Contact person
  St George Girls HS TL

• 10    Ross Todd // Jul 2, 2009 at 11:29 pm

  In the available research on school principal support for school libraries, there is quite a diversity of actions that principals take to support school libraries. Take a look at this list – are there priorities? Are there additional ones?
  • appropriate professional qualifications of library staff
  • professional development / training of library staff
  • staffing support in the library
  • the physical library facility
  • student access to the library
  • scheduling of the school library for class use
  • school library’s open hours, including after school
  • use of the school library for non-library curriculum activities
  • instructional collaboration of classroom teachers and school librarians
  • reading enrichment / literature promotion activities provided through the school library
  • teaching of information literacy competencies
  • assigning school librarians to key building committees that impact on student achievement
  • library resources
  • library budget
  • library collection development
  • provision of information technology
  • integration of information technology with classroom and/or library learning
  • advocacy support e.g. at school board meetings
  • moral support
  • professional evaluation of school librarians
  • additional funding beyond allocated budget

• 11    DET high school T-L // Jul 6, 2009 at 11:42 am

  1. provide a library assistant(s) who works in the library full-time regularly and NOT at the discretion of the principal NOR the head clerical person. Provide trained relief library assistant when assistant is absent so that T-L does not provide de facto clerical relief just to keep library operational and can instead teach etc

  2. recognise that the T-L teachs, instructs & supports student learning whenever the library is open before school, breaks, lunchtimes & after school. If teachers rostered into library as a PGD then they MUST actively supervise student behaviour and not read newspaper, talk to (& distract) library staff from helping students etc

  3. allow T-L to close library when committee meetings (e.g. curriculum, technology, student welfare, etc) are on during lunchtimes OR roster a teacher onto “Library duty” where they ACTIVELY teach, instruct & support student learning

  4. allow T-L to attend & contribute to executive meetings as T-L has wide overview of student learning needs & curricula

  5. have the school library be top of the list to receive new technology etc as the library is used by whole school and stop giving the library technology cast-offs to use or store

  6. STOP using the library as a defacto hall/meeting room/display area during class times and after hours as it disrupts student learning and class access to the library

  7. consult the T-L about any possible changes to the use of the library via implementation of new technology (e.g. interactive whiteboards, installation of school fileservers), commandeering of discussion rooms etc (e.g. for storage, staffrooms, fileserver rooms) as it will affect availability of teaching and learning spaces

  8. always use correct title for the T-L in all documents, public communications and not as the “librarian”

• 12    ianmclean // Jul 30, 2009 at 11:46 am

  Without a doubt, provision of time for collaborative planning between teacher librarians and teachers is crucial, both now and in the future.

  I’ve been fortunate (or worked hard to change the situation) that collaboration is valued by all/most staff members in my various schools. In those primary schools where TLs are used for total Release-from-Face-to-Face teaching, then collaborative planning should still be happening – and if time is not granted within school hours, then I guess it is one of those out-of-hours things, like staff meetings. (If it takes the teacher librarian turning on an afternoon tea to coerce teachers to come and share their programming plans, then so be it.) Use every strategy until you find one that works.

  From experience, I’ve found that my relationships with executive staff can be the key to getting things changed, especially in areas such as school tone and culture. The Principal is sometimes too far removed from class programs, but many executives are doing a teaching load in addition to their executive, administrative and supervisory roles. TLs and executive staff achieving excellent results in collaborative work in the library can lead to good teaching models. If TLs can win over executive staffmembers, the job is half done.

  I hear of schools where the staff do not always work as a team. There are ways to ensure that team building continues to evolve. Again, strong leadership from the executive is paramount. Good communication is also essential, and that’s another element that needs to keep evolving, and being reevaluated all the time.

  Hardware-wise, ensuring that the school library isn’t the place for unwanted, outdated technology would also be of high prority. This can be a difficult one to win, but again, a school with a supportive, open staff at least paves the way for the case to be made.

  Had I not worn my advocacy hat, I’m not so sure the first (and only) IWB in my school would have made it to the library. The portable building wobbles, the ceiling is low… but my point of view was received and understood by the people who make the decisions. And it probably helped that I had a wall prepared for its arrival, in anticipation!

  Embedding the provision of time into the School Plan, for ongoing evaluation of programs (through evidence-based practice), collaborative teaching, ICT, staff communication, Again, this is surely a leadership (and school community) issue, and if it’s not happening, one lone TL is not going to feel they can change anything singlehandedly, and nor should they. Mind you, neither should they just shrug and give up the good fight.

  Thanks Colleen, Ross and Lyn for a great opportunity with this blog!

  Ian McLean
  Teacher-librarian
  Penrith PS, NSW

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