PASSIONATE ABOUT SCHOOL LIBRARIES
It’s a question I absolutely love. “How did you get into your role and is that something I can do?”
Working in a school libraries is the best job in the world (I’m biased, but just try and prove me wrong!). Yet becoming someone who works in a school library is a path shrouded in mystery. I know I certainly didn’t realise it was an option that was open to me until much later on in my search for a career that felt right and fit me.
It’s a question I absolutely love. “How did you get into your role and is that something I can do?”
Working in a school libraries is the best job in the world (I’m biased, but just try and prove me wrong!). Yet becoming someone who works in a school library is a path shrouded in mystery. I know I certainly didn’t realise it was an option that was open to me until much later on in my search for a career that felt right and fit me.
Halfway through the year. Not sure if that feels good, exciting or just exhausting. Either way, it’s always a great time to get inspired and learn something. Here’s your list of professional learning opportunities for all school library staff.
Talking about advocating for school libraries is one of my favourite things to do. I was honoured to have the opportunity to present the closing keynote at the School Library Association of South Australia Conference on the Power of Advocating for the School Library. In the session? Here are the resources and further reading I referenced. Not able to make it to the conference? Reading these will give you a bit of an insight into what we discussed.
If there was one thing I would suggest every single school library to enact it’s to move to a student-driven collection development. It is the most powerful process I know to increase engagement with a school library, support reading for pleasure and improve the collections in a school library. Who better to decide what to have on the bookshelves than the students and staff who are going to be reading those books.
Thank you to everyone who reached out and offered their kind words of support and understanding to my message in last month’s PL list. I am happy to report that these lists will continue for the time being. I love being able to put them together and ensuring I make time for them also brings a little more balance into my life between work and other things I love to do. So, here is your Professional Learning list for June 2024.
We are all aware of barriers. Some are for our benefit and safety – Railings to prevent falling from tall buildings, metal strips along roads to reduce the impact of crashes. However, other barriers are societal problems that cause great harm – stairs instead of ramps, door widths inaccessible to wheelchairs.
Barriers exist in our school libraries as well. In her presentation with EduWebinar in early 2023, Krystal Gagen-Spriggs shared research around influencing reading culture and spoke about the importance of removing barriers to promote reading and prevent readercide. I love that word. Readercide. Though, of course, I don’t like what it represents, but I do think it captures so accurately the severity of the act and the fact that it is an act, it’s something we do, intentionally or otherwise, to the students or staff who frequent (or avoid) our space. Killing a love or interest in reading. Killing the desire to be seen or identify as a reader.
May the Fourth Be With You. Yep, that means I am sending this on the 4th and that means it’s quite a few days late. Some months just seem to throw everything they’ve got at you. That was the past three weeks for me. So, it’s made me question if putting these lists together is achievable anymore. I’d love to hear from you. Do they help or are they something you could do without? I’d love to know. For now, I am thinking this might be the last of these lists I curate. So, here’s a (shorter) list of webinars, podcasts and articles for school library staff professional learning.
Manga. My students just love it, can’t get enough of it. But interest has dropped slightly recently and I realised it was time to update our collection to reinvigorate the love.
Advocacy, it’s a word I use a lot. It is vitally important for school libraries and school library staff to advocate for their spaces, services and positions. But sometimes I think we believe advocacy just refers to the big actions – writing a letter to the principal or school board about securing funding for the school library, or fighting against censorship. And yes, these big things are definitely advocacy and most definitely super important. But that’s not all advocacy is. Here are a few little things I think count as advocacy, little things that can be done every day to advocate for your school library.
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