Madison's Library

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Tag: Librarians (Page 1 of 4)

Professional Learning: May 2021

April 28, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Professional Learning Opportunities May 2021

Here is my list of professional learning opportunities for May 2021. Some of them are time sensitive, others are just what has come to my attention this month. It’s a way to help me keep track of things that I find or that are recommended to me. They mostly are for school librarians or the school library setting, but many are transferable to any library or education setting.

Looking for more resources? Check out my Professional Learning Series.  

Last month’s Professional Learning list.

Most of the opportunities below are free and easily accessibly by following the links, others are require a fee.  If you have any suggestions or links, I’d love to hear from you. Comment below or contact me here. 

Publications and Websites

I’ve just recently discovered Rachael Yates’ website. She is the Primary eLearning Facilitator at St Peter’s Lutheran College. She has some great articles and tips about tech use for children and teens and tech tips for teachers. Check out her website EducationalTechAndInnovation

Reading in the Age of Distrust by Alison J Head. Are educators equipping students with the analytical and deep reading skills they need for the future?

State of America’s Libraries Report 2021 – featuring the ways that libraries across sectors in the USA responded to the COVID-19 crisis.

April 2021 edition of the School Library Journal. The SLJ is currently enabling free digital access to their journal library. Once you enter your details in the link here, you’ll get access to the current and previous editions. The April 2021 edition features the School Librarians of the Year in the US.

Library and Information Week via ALIA. 17-23 May 2021. Access lots of free resources and tips for promoting your library programs on social media.

ACCESS from ASLA, Vol 35, Issue 1, March 2021 is available for members or via subscription on the ASLA website.

 

Conferences, Courses, Webinars, Podcasts and Meet Ups

National Education Summit. This one is for June, but it’s time to put it on your radar now. The Building Capacity School Libraries conference is spread over two days (5 and 6 June 2021) and has a great list of presenters (I might be biased, as I am one of them). There is a fee involved and this event is face-to-face in Brisbane. Find out more here. 

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Ramblings: School Libraries During and Post COVID-19 Webinar Series

April 23, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Webinar Series – School Libraries During and Post COVID-19

School libraries reacted quickly to COVID-19 and the lockdowns and changes to schooling systems from 2020 and into 2021.

EduWebinar put together two free webinars about school libraries and the way they quickly pivoted to continue to serve their school communities during COVID-19. I was proud to be part of the first webinar. You can view both webinars on the EduWebinar website, as well as access the fantastic range of resources listed there.

While your school may not be as effected by lockdowns or COVID in general, there are many great ideas and programs that the presenters share.

 

Ramblings: Library Design Resources

April 8, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Library Design Resources

I am extremely excited that my new school is building a new school library in the next few years. While I have entered at a time when first designs have already been created and the general idea of the space is already known, there is a long road ahead as we finalise the library design and what the space will look like. I’d like to document this journey on my website. 

Following librarians on networks and social media, there seems to be a wonderful trend of school libraries being renovated or redesigned. Hopefully this is a sign that school libraries and their staff are being valued by their school leadership and communities.

I needed a place to start collecting the library design ideas and research I was finding. I’m putting it here in a hope it might be helpful for others as well. Continue reading

Professional Learning: April 2021

March 29, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Professional Learning Opportunities April 2021

Here is my list of professional learning opportunities for April 2021. Some of them are time sensitive to April, others are just what has come to my attention this month. It’s a way to help me keep track of things that I find or that are recommended to me. They mostly are for school librarians or the school library setting, but many are transferable to any library or education setting.

Looking for more resources? Check out my Professional Learning Series.  

Most of the opportunities below are free and easily accessibly by following the links, others are require a fee.  If you have any suggestions or links, I’d love to hear from you. Comment below or contact me here. 

Publications

STEM ED Magazine Issue 2 – 10 April 2021.

When Kids Say “I’m Not a Reader”: How librarians can disrupt traumatic reading practices. KQED. 

Conferences, Webinars, Podcasts and Meet Ups

Librarians & Dragons presents Dragons and Zombies. A face-to-face event about gamification, role-play games and escape rooms. Brisbane. 24 April 2021.

Australian Media Literacy Research Symposium – Face to face in Canberra, 13 April 2021

ASLA Keys To Learning Conference – 12-13 April 2021, online.

Future Ready Librarian Challenges

Our Primary Libraries 2021: Collective Collaboration 3 – 28th April 2021. Online

ALCC Copyright Training workshops and webinars – 15th April 2021, Brisbane and online.

STEM2021 On Demand. Free. Online. Starts 19th April 2021 but retain access to all keynotes and presentations until 31 December 2021.

Future Skills, Future Schools, Future Libraries with Karen Bonanno, National Director, Eduwebinar – 28th April 2021, 7pm. Online.

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Book Week 2021: Useful Links

March 6, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Book Week 2021 – Useful Links

I love Book Week. Working across a few libraries in the past few years, I have found that despite the different cultures and focus of the library, Book Week remained the highlight of the library calendar. Yet, despite the fun, it does take a lot of work and a lot of planning. Fortunately, there are lots of resources available to help.

The theme for Book Week 2021 is Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds. #OWNWOW

When pulling together a plan for Book Week, it can be a little overwhelming, so I am sharing a few helpful links I’ve come across.

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Professional Learning: March 2021

March 4, 2021 / / 1 Comment

Professional Learning Opportunities March 2021

If you followed my blog or know me at all, you’ve probably noticed that I enjoy professional development. I enjoy learning and I enjoy my work. Putting the two together is just the most addictive combination for me.

You might have seen my Professional Learning Series, where I shared my favourite resources for finding a variety of professional learning opportunities. However, these past few months I have been struggling to keep track of all the professional learning opportunities that I have seen, had emailed to me, been offered or want to investigate. I’ve been writing them down as I came across them, so I thought I would share them here each month, adding links and resources as I come across them.

Here are my picks for March 2021. Most of them are free and easily accessibly by following the links. Most are online, with just a few being paid face-face events. If you know of any more, I’d love to hear from you. Comment below or contact me here. 

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Book Week: Announcing a New Pinterest Board

February 15, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Book Week – Announcing a New Pinterest Board

A few months ago I launched a new Facebook group, where school library enthusiasts could connect chat about their plans for Book Week. If you would like to join our growing group, please find us under  Aussie Book Week: Displays, Events, Activities and Planning
However, I realise that Facebook isn’t everyone’s thing (it’s not really my thing either, if I am honest) so I also created a shared Pinterest Board. https://www.pinterest.com.au/madisonslibrary/aussie-book-week/  Hopefully this board will give the team on Facebook as well as those who do not wish to use Facebook a place to join and share ideas about Book Week.

Just request to join the board and start pinning.

Please leave any suggestions for the Group or Board, comments or ideas and feedback below. This is an experiment that I hopes help us coordinate a massive event and makes it a little easier for library staff. All feedback welcomed.

Ramblings: Social Media for School Libraries series

February 10, 2021 / / 0 Comments
Social Media Series

Social Media for School Libraries series

Social media accounts for school libraries are something of which I am hugely supportive. Many school libraries have now joined in and have a social media account or two. I am in no way an expert, but I thought I would share my reasoning behind my thoughts and the steps I have been through to create my school libraries social media accounts and what I do to create content each week. In this series I'll also share some of my favourite school library social media accounts to follow and gain inspiration from, as well as some further reading and research.

Why social media for school libraries?

Connection. Marketing. Communication. Promotion. Networking. Ensuring parents, students, staff and leadership know what's going on in the library.

So often, the role of the school librarian now includes that of marketing director and advocate. If we do not promote our libraries and our roles they will continue to go unnoticed. Social media is an easy way to spread the word about the amazing things happing in your library, as well as the everyday awesomeness.

It's also a great way to connect with your students, parents and fellow staff members.

Promoting the school library is so important. Even more so in today's climate of disappearing school libraries and the undervaluing of school library staff. Social media accounts allow an insight into the daily happenings of the school library. It creates excitement and engagement. It also meets students where they are. Most teens are on social media of some sort and connecting with them in that environment can allow modelling of good conduct and positive social media engagement.

 

Connection

Networking

Advocacy

Promotion

Part 1 of the series is all about Getting Started. Maybe you need some ideas about where to start, want help around writing a social media policy document or are unsure about which social media channel to choose. I'll discuss how I approached these first steps. We'll also talk about creating a brand and I'll share some of my favourite resources for learning about branding for your school library.

In Part 2, we'll talk about creating content and making a way for this to be easy and manageable. I'll share my favourite scheduling resources and templates.

Part 3 will give you some inspiration for your own social media accounts. I'll share my top favourite social media influences, school libraries you can follow and lots of further reading.

Social Media Getting Started

Coming soon

Book Week: Announcing a New Facebook Group

January 3, 2021 / / 1 Comment

Book Week – Announcing a New Facebook Group

As a school librarian, I’ve always wanted a place to connect with other library staff and chat about plans for Book Week. How were they interpreting the theme? Did they run a Book Fair every Book Week? What sort of activities did they run each year?
This year, I decided to try a Facebook Group, thanks to a comment someone shared about having a collaborative space to share ideas. I have created this Group for like-minded library staff and teachers and book professionals to share ideas, inspiration and other details about Book Week. You will find it under Aussie Book Week: Displays, Events, Activities and Planning

You can request to join the group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/aussiebookweek

Please leave any suggestions for the Group, comments or ideas and feedback below. This is an experiment that I hopes help us coordinate a massive event and makes it a little easier for library staff. All feedback welcomed. And if Facebook isn’t your thing (coz it’s really, really not my thing), let me know if another platform might suit you – perhaps we could create a collaborative Pinterest board?

Ramblings: Two Goodbyes and a Hello

December 11, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Two Goodbyes and a Hello

The end of 2020 has been a bit of a busy, wild and yet very exciting time. Coming to the end of 2020, it has come time to say goodbye to two schools and hello to a brand new school and school library.

Two Goodbyes

I took on a long service leave contract at a Junior School Library in Term 4, 2020. This short-term contract was such a wonderful opportunity and I loved getting to know a new student body, group of teachers and fantastic, amazing library staff. Despite only being there for 9 short weeks, it was lovely taking library classes each week and getting to know the students and what they loved to read. It is always so interesting and inspiring to see how other school libraries are run and what they promote. I loved how visually appealing this Junior School Library is. Honestly gorgeous. I also learnt a lot about using beautiful artwork and nice frames to highlight literature in a very classy and appealing way.  The library had a great aesthetic that I can attribute to a wonderful teacher library and library aide. It was a privilege and pleasure to step into this role and while it was sad to say goodbye at the end of the term, it was a wonderful term. I want to thank the school community and leadership who were so welcoming, the teacher librarian who very trustingly let me step into the role and the amazing library aide who helped me through the entire process.

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