Well, it is almost the end of another term break. For me, the term break is a chance to slow down, take lots of walks and naps, plan for the term ahead, and dive back into my professional reading and writing, something that I tend to drop during the busyness of the term.
Professional reading and viewing, whether that’s going back to some of those articles and blog posts that I’ve collated from my professional learning lists, reading professional association newsletters or journals, or just scrolling the socials for interesting pieces and ideas, is one way I top up my creativity and professional practice. It helps me to reflect on what else I could be doing in the school library and what the current big trends are, and take some time to admire the work of others in the school library profession. Last week I particularly enjoyed the latest edition of ALIA’s Incite, the September edition of ASLA’s Access, the Three Sphere’s of Library Skills website and articles by Mali Jorm (I’m a big fan), and Kay Oddone’s three-post series on Leadership.
Holiday school library visit
This week I had the pleasure and privilege of visiting the Innovation Hub and library at Immanuel Lutheran College, Buderim. A massive thank you to the team there for hosting me, showing me their spaces, and graciously sharing their ideas with me. I had such a fun time exploring their recording set up, beautiful collection and reading and teaching spaces, discovering their latest 3D prints, and had the most wonderful welcome from a personalised message on their interactive floor. I particularly loved the Lego and Kiwi Co creations on display that students had constructed, the LED lighting and fish (a library pet I might have a chance at keeping alive), and the way they create interactive media for their floors and screens. I’ve been inspired, something I really needed, and have lots of ideas I’d love to try. If you’d like to learn more about this space, register for Kelly Dunham’s webinar on the 15th of October with EduWebinar. It’s sure to be packed full of amazing ideas you can try in your own library space.
The term break is also when I pick back up my pencil -literally, I am a big users of a pencil and blank paper. I use it for planning, reflecting, and writing. It’s such a cathartic process, to reflect on the term and to think about things that have happened, both good and challenging. I enjoy taking the time to look back on the goals I had for the term, those I didn’t achieve (most of them), the things I did get to tick off my list, and some of the challenges I overcame. I also reset for the term ahead and decide what I want to focus on this term.
The past term
Term 3 is always the biggest one in the Australian school calendar, chock full of events, not least of which is Book Week. Term 3 is also a big term for us in my school library. The secondary classes switch into their history units, so we host museum incursions and research skill classes, and prepare resources and research guides. We also host many of the touring international groups that visit our school in term 3, running makerspace sessions for the groups and our building provides the space for their orientation and farewell sessions, art classes, and animal encounters (Bumpy the wombat is a regular visitor in our school library, and yes, I do mean a real-life wombat, along with snakes, crocodiles, lizards, possums and other Australian wildlife). Term 3 also contains Morphing Week, something unique to our school, where all the junior classes focus on a particular theme for the week, with lots of special guest visitors to host and prototyping and craft projects that happen in our makerspace.
Makerspace
The makerspace has also hosted a variety of classes this term, including the Prep science unit. We supported VR sessions for science and history, relaunched book clubs, refined our list of lunchtime activities and I welcomed two new members to the team (not an increase in staff, just a vacant position being replaced by two part-time staff members) and it was such a relief to be back to a full staff group. As a team, we’ve reviewed our library strategic plan against the school’s new strategic plan, looked at areas we need to improve, worked through WHS risk assessments and audits, and continued to adapt the buildings and space to student needs and worked around areas closed due to water damage.
Book Week
Of course, Term 3 means Book of the Year celebrations in library lessons, Book Week competitions and activities, and this year also featured an author visit. I was so delighted to welcome Sophie Beer to our school. Her presentations were phenomenal, and it was awesome to see her inspire and connect with our Year 6, 7 and 8 students, as well as run a digital illustration workshop for secondary students and staff.
Library Reports
Library loans were up 26% overall this term and up 72% in the secondary library compared to this time last year. We hosted 1,979 bookings in the Innovation Precinct and our catalogue was viewed 18,000 times, with research guides provided for design technology, science, history and English units. I provided 3 reports to the principal and school council, and managed to make all 3 school newsletter deadlines. Of course, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. The reality is that there were plenty of challenges, and I make sure I take the time and space to reflect on those too and how I worked through them.
Goals
I had lots of goals for the term, too many on reflection. I managed to tick off a big one, hosting an author visit. But mostly the goals got left behind in the busyness of the term. That said, we as a team did achieve so much and I’m so proud of the library team and their work. My goals for Term 4 are fewer and more strategic this time. I want to create an audit of the library as a whole. It’s been five years since I started at my current school and much has changed, so it would be good data to have to guide what to focus on next year. My other goal is to focus on my own professional reading and writing more consistently and support my team in their professional development. And I am always striving towards that balance between time spent on work and things that help me to reflect, relax and switch off. Three goals, one for each area of my vision. Each do have their own subset of objectives to help me achieve them, and I like to map out steps towards reaching these goals. I’ve got some fun library lessons planned for the Year 6, 7, 8 and 9 students this term, supporting their reading for pleasure and multimodal skills. I also have some ideas for drawing from the design thinking process and increasing our student voice in the library. I’m excited to see how they work out.
What were your reflections on last term and what are your goals for the term ahead?