Networks for School Library Staff – Part 2 in the Professional Learning Series
Welcome to Part 2 in my Professional Learning Series, where I will talk about the regular sources of inspiration I turn to for professional development. You can find the rest of the series here.
Networking is an important part of professional learning (and let’s face it, often de-stressing) for any professional. However, many school library staff work in isolation. They might be the only school library team staff member, or perhaps if they are lucky to work in a team, the only teacher librarian or library technician at the school. Whether working in a large team or by yourself, it is important to connect with others. Not only for inspiration and ideas gathering but for those casual chats, those moments of shared understanding that only another library staff member would understand (like, yes of course you found that item being used as a bookmark, or of course you are run off your feet as the library is the busiest place in the school!).
I believe, whether you are a head of library, teacher librarian, library technician, library aide or other, you should be learning and up-skilling constantly. There is always something we can learn, something new we can try. I find that learning is what keeps me excited about working in a school library. But sometimes it can be hard to find professional development or learning opportunities specifically for school librarians. It’s also hard to find the time. We in school libraries are so busy, when do we actually have the time to sit and read or watch? I’m going to share my top favourite resources for finding professional development for school library staff and share some tips on how I fit them all into my schedule.
