Scheduling Amidst the Chaos: Initial Thoughts

One of the big challenges I’ve found in jumping from classroom teacher to teacher-librarian has been how to organise myself efficiently. As a classroom teacher work overload was absolutely a struggle, but at least during the day I had a timetable to follow and could move from one activity to the next without having to think too much about it. As a teacher-librarian, my timetable is much more flexible and therefore requires more of my brainpower to stay organised, especially given all the interruptions we have throughout the day!

Trying to stay on top of the interruptions can be a challenge!

As part of my SWOT analysis I’d identified that despite my ambitious vision for the library, I needed more time scheduled to implementing these projects and reflecting on their progress. My wonderful ALIA mentor, Emily, gave me some excellent advice to help overcome some of these challenges. She mentioned a PL she’d done a while back where the presenter was very disciplined in scheduling her time to include all the various tasks that need to be completed. I love a good colour-coded schedule, so thought I’d give it a go to see how it works!

My weapon of choice was Google Calendar. It took a fair while to figure out how to set it up, but now that my regular timetabled classes and duties have been added it should roll over each week. It’s pretty user-friendly and seems to integrate well into my Outlook calendar and personal calendar on my phone, so it doesn’t matter which system my colleagues and suppliers use – I should hopefully have all bases covered.

One of the best features I’ve found so far with this set-up is the time breakdown function. Google Calendar allowed me to create colour-coded tags to keep track of the different tasks I’m scheduling, and then gives me a breakdown of how many hours each week I’m spending on each task as well as how much unscheduled time I have remaining during my working hours. I initially forgot to turn off the notification settings though – big mistake! Being shouted at by my computer every time a new task was about to start was not a great experience!

So far it’s been a great tool to help me feel a bit more in control of the tasks that need to be completed and hasn’t been too hard to stick to for the past few days. It’s been especially useful scheduling specific time to check and respond to emails, which as many teachers know is a huge time-suck! Rather than check everytime I get the ding for a new email, I now close that browser window until the scheduled times and feel so much more productive already.

However, the library is currently closed due to HSC exams so it’ll be interesting to see how things change in a couple of weeks time when we’re back to our regular, unscheduled chaos!

Strategic Planning for Library Success: A SWOT Analysis

One of my professional goals this year was to ensure the ongoing success of the library by creating a strategic plan to guide our operations over the next few years. While I’m a little behind schedule, I’ve finally managed to conduct a SWOT analysis with my lovely library assistant. This was something I’d initially been introduced to during the ETL504 Teacher-Librarian as Leader unit, but not something I felt particularly confident completing without a bit of guidance. I therefore created a planning sheet based on some questions I’d found online and took about half an hour to consider our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

This year I signed up to be part of the ALIA Mentoring Scheme (which is free for members) and I’ve got another meeting this Wednesday with my mentor where I’ll go through this in further detail. I still need to add specific elements from the staff feedback I analysed earlier in the year, but this is a great starting place for me to consider our plan of action moving forward.

CBCA Book Week 2024: A Success!

A few weeks ago I held a belated Book Week in my high school. It was my first time running a week-long celebration of reading and I’m pleased to report that it was a huge success!

I had a variety of activities planned throughout the week, but the two big highlights were the Door Decorating Competition and the Staff vs Students Cosplay Competition. Our faculties went all out to decorate their doors with their favourite books and it was a great way to spark conversations with our students about reading. I took a team of student volunteers with me to judge the winners based on three criteria: 1) creativity; 2) adherence to the theme ‘Reading is Magic’; and 3) overall visual impact. The level of detail on some of these doors was astounding! However, my student judges ultimately decided that the winners were our lovely office staff, who may have got the win by bribing them with fairy bread to match their ‘Fairy Magic’ display. They also wrote a fantastic poem to go along with it, and their display was a delightfuly prominent representation of our school’s positive reading culture for all students and caregivers to see. Sadly, my photography skills don’t do it justice!

I was a bit nervous running the Staff vs Students Cosplay Competition and didn’t really know what to expect. I started a conversation on one of our professional networks to see if anyone had done something similar and got some excellent advice from my colleagues, especially around the logistics of timing, prizes, and associated paperwork. The Head Teacher of the PDHPE faculty, who normally runs a mufti fundraiser for our local AECG, allowed me to piggyback off her event so that all students could dress up in either regular mufti or as a character from their favourite book. This worked brilliantly, as it allowed kids not interested in participating in the competition to still dress up while giving some of our more shy students a chance to dress up without standing out too much. It also removed the logistical difficulty of getting students to change into their costumes at the start of lunch.

I definitely underestimated how keen our school community was to dress up. I was expecting only a few students and staff to participate in the competition, but boy was I wrong! I initially printed only 15 permission notes thinking I’d have plenty of spares but quickly had to print more. In the we had 34 competitors with plenty more dressed up just for fun. I gave staff and students an opportunity to have a photo taken in the library during our first break and had a line up almost the entire length of the library! I was surprised that some of our more disruptive, reticent readers got in on the fun, which goes to show that we never can judge a book by its cover. Even our school executive got in on the fun! At lunch we held the actual competition and we only just made it through everyone in the half-hour break.

Overall I feel like this was such a wonderful experience for our school community. It took a lot of planning and paperwork on my end but it was so much fun and definitely worth the effort. I’ve learned some important lessons and will make some adjustments next year to hopefully help things run more smoothly. The feedback from both staff and students was overwhelmingly positive, and having the visuals through the costumes and door decorations was a fantastic way to promote reading for pleasure. It allowed me to showcase the library as a crucial part of the school community, promote its resources, and to advocate for my work and its continuing importance in a fun way. Most importantly, it was a great opportunity for students to connect with each other in a way that they might not otherwise been able, and it gave some of our shy students a chance to develop a bit more confidence in a safe way. For anyone trying to build a whole-school culture of reading in their own community, I’d highly recommend running similar events!

CBCA Book Week 2024

Our Book Week was delayed this year due to my extended absences and a prior calendar booking for NAIDOC Week activities in Week 5. But the time has finally come for me to run my first ever Book Week, and I’ve put together a variety of different activities to build a culture of reading and encourage my students to engage with the library and literature within our walls.

In addition to the activities open to students, I’m running a Faculty Door Decorating Competition to help increase the visibility of our reading habits across the school and hopefully spark some positive conversations with our students about their own reading identities. A number of staff members have shown interest in this as well as the Cosplay competition, with one colleague commenting that “it’s not often us high school teachers get to have fun with Book Week!” It just goes to show that despite the chaos and lack of time facing teachers, sometimes they’ll jump at the chance to do something fun which builds community spirit – we just have to give them a chance, build positive relationships with our colleagues, and not be scared to put ourselves out there. I can’t wait to see what they produce and am so incredibly grateful for their support!

Guided Inquiry Design: Moving Student Research Beyond Google

It is a truth universally acknowledged that every student in need of information must turn to Google. This easily accessible search engine has revolutionised and democratised the research process and holds so many potential benefits for our students. However, it’s not the sole repository of all knowledge and it’s important for us to show our students that other sources exist and to equip them with the skills to explore outside of their comfort zones.

Many of the Year 7s I’m working with said they find it hard to find more detailed, relevant information when they are researching and noted that they often get overwhelmed by all the options when they search using Google. Therefore, this week I’ll be showing them a variety of other sources they can use as they research for their assessments on Youthful Voices. To help with this, I created an infographic designed to give them a quick overview of some of the different resources we offer in our school. By providing them with a variety of different places to locate their information I’m also hoping to introduce them to the concept of lateral reading and emphasise the importance of cross-checking the information they find.

Next on the research skills agenda is source evaluation, so stay tuned for more on this next week!

Guided Inquiry Design: Year 7’s Thoughts on the Research Process

This term I have the wonderful opportunity to work with one of our Year 7 English classes on a Guided Inquiry unit to help them understand the concept of Youthful Voices. In my last lesson with them I gave them a survey to complete which was based on the School Library Impact Measure (SLIM) survey model. The questions are quite simple:

  1. What do you already know about youthful voices?
  2. How interested are you in this topic on a scale of 1-5 (1 being not very interested, 5 being very interested)?
  3. How much do you feel you already know about this topic (1 being not much, 5 being a lot)?
  4. How confident do you feel about doing research for school or fo your own needs (1 being not very confident, 5 being very confident)?
  5. When you do research, what do you generally find easy to do?
  6. When you do research, what do you generally find difficult to do?

Despite a lot of student absences and technical difficulties, with the help of their class teachers over the last week I’ve been able to get the vast majority of students to complete this survey. Their results are quite interesting! As I’d expect from a class of high achievers, most of the students feel either confident or very confident about their research skills. However, there’s still a number of students who are either ambivalent or still a little unsure about the process.

As expected due to their confidence levels, a lot of students in this class said that finding information is one of the easy aspects of the research process for them. A number were also confident in their abilities to put that information into their own words, write their responses and present their research to the class.

Despite their confidence in finding information, a significant number expressed difficulty in finding more relevant, detailed information. They also found it hard to decide which information was useful for their purposes and which sources are reliable. A number also identified that deciding on a question, putting information into their own words, and writing their responses were difficult aspects of the research process for them.

I’ll be seeing them again shortly and plan to have a brief discussion about their responses. Hopefully this will help alleviate any anxiety students might be feeling about their research, since they will be able to see that their feelings are a natural part of the process. I’m also going to try using these responses to help each student with their individual needs by targeting specific skills as we move through the next few weeks.

Wish me luck!

Guided Inquiry Design: Collaboratively Teaching Inquiry and Research

This term I’ve been fortunate enough to have not just one, but three teachers interested in working with me on an inquiry unit designed to support their curriculum areas while developing our students’ research skills and information fluency. At the start of each year I put out a reminder to our teaching staff about the resources and services I provide to help them and save them time, but I strongly suspect that in the chaos at start of Term 1 many who might be willing are too overwhelmed by everything going on to take up my offers. Last term I put out a survey to assess the needs of my colleagues, with 66% of respondents stating that they’d value one-off or ongoing research lessons. Clearly this survey has sparked something amongst my colleagues, since I’ve spent a fair chunk of time over the last three weeks collaboratively planning inquiry units to help them out!

The two classes I’ll be working with this term are a Year 7 English class exploring a unit on Youthful Voices for their new syllabus and a Year 11 Community and Family Studies class aiming to develop their research skills before they start their research projects in the HSC course. The framework I’ve been using to shape our collaborative units is the Guided Inquiry Design approach I first encountered while retraining as a TL. Back in 2021 I had a lot of fun adjusting one of our existing units on Shakespeare, and it was an enjoyable challenge applying my understanding of this inquiry framework to these new, unfamiliar units.

My first step was to explain the Guided Inquiry process and its benefits to my associates. I therefore created this brief presentation introducing the framework. One day I hope to present it to the entire staff body to showcase the potential of this approach.

During our initial planning meeting, we discussed what outcomes the classroom teacher wanted to meet and what their eventual summative assessments would be; from these we created a series of guiding questions to help structure our students’ initial research. Then, using a planning template I’d made, we made a rough plan for each of the stages of the Guided Inquiry process and allocated responsibility for each aspect of the unit.

As a result of these planning sessions, I now have a very clear understanding of what each teacher wishes to achieve for their class and my role in supporting their vision for the unit. I’m not due to co-teach the Year 11 class until later in the term, but I’ve already been into the Year 7 class to introduce the inquiry unit and discuss their previous experiences of research. To do this, I created another Canva presentation alongside a survey based on the School Library Impact Measure (SLIM) survey model.

Our first lesson with Year 7 was a mixed bag – we had some great discussion about their research experiences but had technical issues with logging into the computers to complete the survey (sidenote: why is it that whenever I book the laptops, half the set decides to update in my hour of need?!). As a result, I didn’t get to give them much time to start exploring some ideas for their research topics, but I did manage to go through some simple Google search tips which their classroom teachers will reinforce in their lessons this week.

Next week I’ll see them again for another research lesson, where I’ll help them formulate their specific inquiry questions using the question stems on the above presentation. As always, the biggest issues when collaboratively planning and teaching a program like this are a lack of time and the number of interruptions we experience. Already I’ve needed to reschedule the two Year 7 lessons due to other programs using the library space or assemblies taking over that lesson, and I have a strong suspicion that the library will be out of action again during our scheduled lesson next week due to exams. But at least we have a plan for how we can support our students, and I’m super excited to see where these two units take me!

Book Week 2024 Activity: Word Cloud Metaphor Race

I’ve returned to work on site part time this term while I continue to recover from my knee injury, which means that I’m not seeing as many of my Wide Reading classes as I’d like. I’m also not able to plan properly for Book Week, coming up very soon in Week 5. Nonetheless, I do what I can when I can, and here’s a little activity I’ve put together to get kids excited for this years theme: Reading is Magic!

Today I had our Tech Elect class which utilises iPads and other innovative technology tools in their lessons. We’ve previously done a bit of work on reader identity and today I presented them with the prompt “If reading is magic, then readers are …”. They then had to come up with as many metaphors to finish the sentence in 2 minutes as they could. To add an element of collaborative competition, I gave them a QR code to a Google Doc they could edit and assigned each student a team; the team with the most unique metaphors at the end of the game won. I’ve previously run similar games in my classroom by having students line up in two teams and write their answers one by one on a whiteboard, but I thought that would be a bit too much chaos in my already chaotic open-plan library space. After reminding the class about the definition of a metaphor, they were off!

I’ve taken their words and placed them into a word cloud; if you couldn’t guess from the words they’ve chosen, this particular class is completing a novel study based around Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. While some words were disqualified because they were not metaphors (leading to another teachable moment on the difference between a description and a metaphor), there were some interesting discussions about what readers are that emerged from this activity. Plus, I’ve now got their word cloud to promote the program on social media and in my annual report. It took a bit longer than I anticipated (largely due to tech issues around scanning the QR code) but is definitely something I’d run again with another class – maybe by removing the competitive element and using a single word cloud generated by a platform like Mentimeter.

If anyone has a fun activity they’re running to build excitement for Book Week 2024, leave a comment below!

Strategic Planning for Library Success: Analysing Staff Feedback

A few weeks ago I gave staff a survey to assess what they want out of their school library. I had 21 responses which, while not representative of the entire staff body, is more than I expected given the chaotic nature of Term 2. It took a while, but I’ve finally analysed their responses and identified several actions I can take moving forward to ensure that the library is effectively supporting teaching and learning.

Library Usage

  1. Usage from most to least common activities (compulsory question)

This data suggests that the most common ways the library is used are:

  • For printing (85%) and technology support (76%)
  • As a spare space for activities (66% and 38%), meetings (80%), and exams (47%)
  • To access wellbeing (52% for a student, 9% for staff)

Disappointingly, activities utilising the library resources or teacher-librarian’s expertise are not currently as popular. However, the most commonly used aspects of the library requiring the teacher-librarian’s expertise are:

  • Borrowing for personal reasons, classroom teaching, students (33%, 28%, 23% respectively) – requires the TL’s expertise in collection development
  • Using the library space with its resources for teaching (23%) – requires the TL’s expertise in collection development and space management
  • Research lessons led by the teacher-librarian (19%) – requires the TL’s expertise in information fluency
  • Collaboratively programming or teaching with the teacher-librarian (14%) – requires the TL’s leadership skills and expertise in reading for information and pleasure
  • Accessioning faculty resources (14%) – requires the SAO’s expertise in collection management

I’d be very interested to know how many teachers of Stage 4 English responded to this survey, since I teach 10 of the 11 classes for year 7 and 8. If these teachers didn’t respond to the survey, then that could explain the low numbers for responses around reading for pleasure and collaborative teaching.

Moving forward:

Ideally, the aspects of the library requiring teacher-librarian expertise should be developed over the next few years to ensure greater value from this role for the school community. This requires active promotion from the TL about their services and developing relationships, especially with new staff, to ensure all staff are aware of what the library offers them.

  1. Barriers to staff usage

Responses to this voluntary question varied. Most respondents stated they had no barriers, but the most common barriers responders when mentioned were:

  • Time 
  • Being unsure about the resources
  • Being unable to access the space due to other classes, exams, or unspecified closures

Moving forward:

While the TL can do little about the time constraints facing staff, it is possible for the TL to better educate staff about the resources available, including professional development on how to make bookings and access the ecatalogue, as well as promotion of resources to support faculty teaching and learning. The teacher-librarian could also use these responses from staff to advocate for an end to whole year exams closing the library for several weeks at a time.

Resource and Curriculum Support Evaluation

  1. Evaluating library resources
Forms response chart. Question title: Do you agree with the following statements?. Number of responses: .

Overall, the responses to this question revealed that staff were satisfied with the accessibility, maintenance, and currency of library resources. However, there was one respondent who felt the library resources were out of date or irrelevant, with 3 others unsure.

Moving forward:

Frequent promotion of library resources would help staff determine the relevance of library resources.

  1. Requested resources

The most frequent request for this voluntary question was for separate study areas, especially for seniors. The next most popular requests were for HSC resources (including study guides, revision, past exams, ARC samples), and an interactive whiteboard. 

Pleasingly, two respondents noted that there was nothing else they felt the library needed.

Moving forward:

It is entirely possible that the TV in the library is already an interactive whiteboard, and this will need to be investigated. Working with the secondary studies teacher, Teaching and Learning faculty, and First Nations co-ordinator, it should be possible to gain extra funds to better resource the existing HSC and Teacher Reference collections while improving the amount of First Nations non-fiction in our collection. Promotion of our existing First Nations non-fiction resources would also support staff in this area.

Separate student study areas – or walling off and staffing supervision of the senior study area during breaks – would be a long term project with significant benefits for the school community. This would also prevent noise from different areas of the library affecting other classes within the space during lesson time.

Collaborative projects for students to work on throughout the term have been trialled before and due to poor student discipline have not worked, though the Nintendo Switch club allows for some collaboration between students and might need to be promoted to staff to ensure they’re aware of this service.

  1. Subject area research tasks

Many staff provided their research topics for this voluntary question. Community and Family Studies, Music and Society and Culture were the most frequently cited subjects with research projects, especially in Stage 6. HSIE and Science also have a number of tasks requiring students to complete independent research. Disappointingly, one respondent did not give their topic but stated the task was “internet based”, revealing a lack of understanding about how modern school libraries can support teaching and learning beyond the provision of books. 

Moving forward:

The introduction of several new Stage 6 syllabus documents provides an opportunity for the TL to support time-poor staff implementing research tasks. The TL should therefore reach out to specific faculty heads to ensure their subject areas are supported and resourced, and should promote their resources to staff.

It would be worthwhile investigating and trialling Learn Path as a way to support staff with their research tasks, and to show that the TL role is not limited to books.

It would also be worthwhile to showcase the Guided Inquiry unit taught with English to show staff other ways the TL can support their work as an information expert. 

  1. Syllabus changes

Staff identified that the following changes have taken place recently which will likely affect our need for updated resources:

  • PDHPE
  • CAFS
  • Dance and Drama texts
  • Senior Geography

Moving forward:

Money should be requested in the 2025-2027 budget submissions to account for these changing needs.

  1. Supporting teaching

Pleasingly, most staff who responded were happy with the way the library supports their teaching and had no further suggestions for improvement. Professional development on the library resources and services was again identified as a way for the TL to support teachers, as was increased access to the resources. The “chaotic” nature of the library was referenced by one respondent who attributed this to “constant turnaround and movement due to learning support and private study”.

Moving forward:

The TL should make professional development and promotion of resources a high priority to ensure staff are aware of the library’s resources and services. Presenting at a staff meeting and/or visiting specific faculties would assist in this. 

The aforementioned walling off of the senior study space would assist in reducing the chaotic feel of the library.

Services Evaluation

  1. Useful services (compulsory question)

The breakdown of services identified as useful according to aspects of the TLs role is:

  • Taking advantage of the TL’s role as information fluency expert and curriculum support
    • One-off or ongoing research lessons (66%)
    • Research skill resources (42%)
    • Digital research pathfinders (38%)
    • Collaboratively planning, teaching, and/or assessing of an inquiry unit (33%)
    • Support integrating digital literacy or ICT into units (28%)
    • Support integrating information literacy and research skills into units (19%)
  • Taking advantage of the TL’s role as literacy leader and pleasure reading advocate
    • Author visits and guest speakers (52%)
    • Targeted library displays supporting subject units (38%)
    • Support integrating literacy strategies into units (33%)
    • Curated book boxes (28%)
    • Book deliveries (14%)
  • Taking advantage of the TL’s development of the library as a wellbeing space
    • Break activities to support social-emotional learning and subject units (42%)
  • Taking advantage of the TL’s skills in collection development and management
    • Accessioning faculty resources (38%)
    • Guided library tours (28%)
  • Taking advantage of the TL’s role as leader and innovative practicioner
    • Professional development for staff (47%)
    • Summaries of current research (28%)

The top 5 services respondents identified as being most useful to them are:

  • One-off or ongoing research lessons (66%)
  • Author visits and guest speakers (52%)
  • Professional development for staff (47%)
  • Research skill resources (42%)
  • Break activities to support social-emotional learning and subject units (42%)

These results reflect the varied nature of the TLs work and wide-ranging value to the school community. 

Moving forward:

The strategic plan should prioritise the top 5 services identified by staff.

Overall Satisfaction

  1. Library currently meets professional and personal needs (compulsory question)

Overall, staff appeared to be satisfied with the library. In total, 17 respondents (81%) identified that they either agreed or strongly agreed that the library meets both their professional and personal needs, while only one respondent strongly disagreed.

Moving forward:

Without knowing the specific individuals and reasons behind the ‘neutral’ and ‘strongly disagree’ categories, it is difficult to assess how to improve library services to ensure their needs are being met. In future surveys it might be beneficial to provide an opportunity for respondents to explain their answer. It is also possible that the person who selected ‘strongly disagree’ misread the options, since this was the first one presented.

  1. Satisfaction with the library resources and services (compulsory) question

The top elements of library operations staff were satisfied with are:

  • Staff assistance (100%)
  • Library environment and space (90%)
  • Availability and accessibility of resources (80%)

This reflects the hard work of library staff over the last few years in creating a welcoming, accessible environment. No respondents were unsatisfied with these elements, though some (10% and 20% respectively) were unsure about the space and accessibility of resources, indicating that they might not use the library frequently or that resources need greater promotion. Overall, over 50% of respondents were satisfied with all elements of the library, with the exception of information literacy and research skills programs and resources (28%).

The least satisfactory elements of library operations as identified by staff are:

  • Library opening hours (28%)
  • Study and collaboration spaces (14%)
  • Information literacy and research skills programs and resources (9%)

This reflects the fact that library opening hours are limited to break times only due to supervision issues, the lack of private study spaces, and a need for improved focus on information literacy.

Staff also identified several areas of library operations that they were unsure about, including:

  • Information literacy and research skills programs and resources (61%)
  • Social-emotional intelligence and positive wellbeing programs (47%)
  • Classroom teaching programs and resources (47%)
  • Reading for pleasure programs and resources (42%)
  • Collection diversity (33%)

This indicates that the library would benefit from greater promotion of its resources and services.

Moving forward:

To improve satisfaction with library opening hours, library staff should investigate the possibility of opening before and after school – this would require either additional staff on supervision or the provision of time-in-lieu for the supervising teacher-librarian. 

To improve satisfaction with the limited study and collaboration spaces, library staff should investigate the possibility of walling off the senior study area and implementing a separate break supervision so senior students can utilise the space without disruption from the lower levels of the library.

To improve satisfaction with information literacy and research skills programs and resources, the teacher-librarian should work with specific faculties to support their research assessments and create resources to support the development of students’ information fluency which can be uploaded to Google Drive for staff to access and a centrally located library website for students to access. 

Increased promotion of all resources and services would benefit library operations in future. This could take the form of a monthly newsletter emailed to all staff, Sentral posts highlighting new resources, show and tells at faculty or staff meetings. Further investigation needs to occur to ensure efficient communication to staff which doesn’t overwhelm or frustrate them by adding to their increasing workloads. 

  1. Additional feedback

Nine of the 21 respondents chose to give additional feedback for this voluntary final question. Of these responses, 66% provided positive comments about how staff enjoy the library, while 33% provided practical suggestions for the future. Interestingly, all three suggestions revolved around opening hours and increasing student access to the library:

  • “It would be nice for the library to be open at 8 or 8:15 in term 2 and 3 for the students who get to school early and it’s cold in the mornings.”
  • “Maybe integrating a duty to support students printing in early mornings when assessments are due. Allowing quieter spaces/silent zones for senior study.”
  • “Library lunch times closed off for exclusive gamers, perhaps more supervision so library is open to all”

These suggestions reflect the value the library space and resources have for our school community, and the important role the teacher-librarian plays in providing this important ‘third space’. 

Moving forward:

In order for the library to be open before and/or after school to provide a social space and access to resources such as printing, either additional supervision would have to be provided by another staff member or time-in-lieu provided to the teacher-librarian. 

The library is currently only closed Friday at lunch for an exclusive gaming group – this is so participating students can eat while they play Dungeons and Dragons due to the 30 minute break limit and so that I can run a game. It is possible that this staff member misunderstood the social clubs schedule and believes that all breaks are only open to participants in these clubs; clearer promotional materials would clear this up. If it’s not a misunderstanding, then an additional playground duty would have to be created to ensure effective supervision while I run a game.

The need for a quiet study space for seniors was again raised, indicating the importance of walling off the senior study area and implementing a new supervision in this area. 

Promoting the Library in Term 2

Sadly, due to my injury and extended recovery I’ve been off for the vast majority of Term 2. The good news is that we live in a connected world, so I’m still able to promote our library and ensure access to its resources through our virtual library and social media platforms!

We’ve recently moved to a different online format for our school’s newsletter. Having the ability to take advantage of the different website features is a game-changer for promoting the library and allows me to be more visual with my content. This term I took the advice of a webinar I attended earlier this year and showcased the reading achievements of our students, giving shout-outs to the hard-working kids who have already completed the Premier’s Reading Challenge and to our top borrowers. I also chose to highlight the books which are currently trending in our library:

The wonderful thing about these presentations is that they are reusable: they can be embedded into the new website format for parents, and I can display them on the library TV during breaks, reading lessons, and meetings to promote the resources to our students and staff throughout next term. Two birds, one presentation!

Since the library has been closed for an extended period, it’s been crucially important to maintain access to our virtual resources where possible. I therefore also created a visual resource to promote our ebooks and audiobooks to our community over the school holidays via our Instagram and Facebook pages:

Hopefully visually showcasing these titles will spark conversations amongst our students, staff, and parents, help normalise reading as a leisure activity, and remind my community that reading can be a social activity.

It’s been a long, disrupted term but it’s finally at an end. To my fellow NSW teachers, happy holidays! Rest up, recharge, and relax!

Engaging Reluctant Readers Through Magazines

As part of my Wide Reading Program, I give students in years 7 and 8 the time to read whatever they want in the library space, free from judgement. As many high school teachers and academic researchers can attest, reading for pleasure falls away in adolescence and by this point teens either see themselves as readers or (increasingly it feels) as non-readers.

Research from Open University’s Reading for Pleasure program shows that a significant barrier to teens forming a positive reading identity is a lack of positive reading experience, whether due to lack of skill, confidence, or enjoyment. So many of my students (particularly the boys) complain that they hate reading, and their experiences up to this point have reinforced that reading isn’t for them because the texts they’ve been given have been boring, too difficult, or they find no reason to focus for long enough to get into it.

This is where I’ve found magazines to be a game changer. The content is usually short, includes visuals to support the written text, caters to a variety of literacy levels, and can be found on a variety of engaging topics that are of genuine interest to my students. Each year I ask students for recommendations on what titles they’d like me to purchase for them, which I’ve found is a powerful way to get students to feel connected to the library and to take ownership of the resources. The most frequent requests are always for car and sports magazines, and loans data from the past 12 months supports my observations about their popularity. As you can see from the chart below, a whopping 68.4% of all magazine borrowed in the past year catered to this interest:

During my Wide Reading lessons so far this year I’ve witnessed whole groups of boys sitting together, reading the articles and discussing what they’re reading. During our Book Talks at the end of these reading sessions, most of the boys will also willingly share information about the articles they’ve read with the whole class, supporting the academic researchers’ claims that social reading can be a powerful motivator in getting reluctant readers on board. My students love it when a new magazine comes in since they often contain new posters, and they race to ask me if they can be the one to take the poster home. Even better, sometimes these reluctant readers even turn into borrowers!

The magazines they read during our lessons might not be counted in my quantifiable loans data which I present to my senior executive staff in my Annual Reports, but they represent something far more valuable – an opportunity for every child to find the joy in reading and to see themselves as a reader.

Reference List:

Open University Reading for Pleasure & World Book Day. Overcoming barriers to RfP – Ep 4: ‘Readers don’t always find it easy to concentrate …’. OURfP &WBD [YouTube]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kquvtflx4U

Strategic Planning for Library Success: Assessing Staff Needs

As part of my strategic planning process, I have to conduct a needs assessment to see how the school library is currently viewed and used by my colleagues. As such, I created a survey using Google Forms with 11 questions focused on four areas:

  • general library usage
  • evaluation of resources and curriculum support
  • evaluation of services
  • overall satisfaction

Survey Questions

  1. In the last 12 months have you used the library to (please select all that apply):*
    • Borrow or utilise resources for personal reasons
    • Borrow or utilise resources for your classroom teaching
    • Bring classes for research lessons led by the teacher-librarian
    • Teach in the library space using the library resources
    • Allow students an opportunity to borrow books
    • Collaboratively program or teach with the teacher-librarian
    • Accession resources to help keep track and reduce losses
    • Attend a meeting
    • Attend or host professional development
    • Host a small group or extra-curricular activity (including those run by external providers)
    • Conduct an exam or supervise a test (including NAPLAN, Check In, exam catch ups)
    • Print resources
    • Access technology support
    • Access wellbeing support for a student
    • Access wellbeing support for yourself
    • Other
  2. What, if anything, stops you from using the library space, resources, and services?
  3. Do you agree with the following statements? Yes/No/Unsure
    • The library’s resources are easy to locate
    • The library’s resources are well-maintained
    • The library’s resources are up-to-date and relevant
  4. What resources would you like to see in the library?
  5. Does your subject area have any research-based assessment tasks? If so, on what topics?
  6. Has your senior syllabus changed in recent years? Do we need to update our senior study guides to reflect these changes?
  7. How can the library better support your teaching?
  8. Would you be interested in the following services offered by library staff (select all that apply)?*
    • One-off or ongoing research lessons delivered by the teacher-librarian
    • Resources teaching specific research skills to use in your classrooms
    • Collaborative planning, teaching and/or assessing of an Inquiry or Project Based Learning unit
    • Support integratign literacy strategies (e.g. Super Six, literary learning) into your units
    • Support integrating information literacy and research skills into your units
    • Support integrating digital literacy or ICT strategies into your units
    • Curated book boxes to support your classroom teaching
    • Curated digital resource lists or pathfinders to support your classroom teaching and assessments
    • Targeted library displays which support your subject units
    • Accessioning faculty resources into the library catalogue to assist with resource management
    • Summaries of current research in an area of your choosing
    • Professional development for staff
    • A guided tour of the library, its resources and how it can support you
    • Personal ‘Uber Books’ delivery or requested magazines or books
    • Author visits and guest speakers
    • Break activities developing social-emotional intelligence or to support curriculum learning
  9. The library currently meets my professional and personal needs.* Strongly disagree/Disagree/Neutral/Agree/Strongly Agree
  10. How satisfied are you with the following aspects of the library?* Satisfied/Unsatisfied/Unsure
    • Collection diversity
    • Availability and accessibility of resources
    • Promotion of resources
    • Technology and equipment
    • Study and collaboration spaces
    • Library environment and ambience
    • Staff assistance and support
    • Library opening hours
    • Programs and resources to develop reading for pleasure
    • Programs and resources to develop information literacy and research skills
    • Programs and resources to develop social-emotional intelligence and positive wellbeing
    • Programs and resources to support classroom teaching
  11. Do you have any other feedback for library staff?

Thoughts So Far

While there were eleven questions in total, only four were required: questions 1, 8, 9, and 10. The rest provide space for optional feedback should staff wish to provide it.

One thing I love about Google Forms as a platform for surveys is that it not only collects the data, but exports to Google Sheets and also formats the data to make analysis easier:

As you can see, I’ve currently got a few responses with interesting feedback which I can’t wait to analyse more fully! I’m already seeing some discussion points which can inform my strategic planning – but that in-depth analysis will have to wait for another post!

Strategic Planning for Library Success: Using AI to Get My Head Around the Process

This year one of the goals on my Professional Development Plan (PDP) was to raise the perceived status, professionalism, and value of the school library by creating a strategic plan with 1, 3, and 5 year goals which align with my school’s broader Strategic Improvement Plan (SIP). This is a complex task which requires a significant investment of both time and mental energy. Since I’m currently still off work due to my aforementioned kneecap dislocation I figured that there’s no time like the present to get started on this gargantuan mission.

My first port of call was to investigate the process of creating a strategic plan, and to do this I revisited the ETL504 Teacher Librarian as Leader readings. After re-examining my notes I decided to run them through ChatGPT to create a simplified summary of the process:

1. Preparation and Planning

A. Form a Planning Committee

  • Include diverse stakeholders: librarians, teachers, administrators, students, and parents.
  • Define roles and responsibilities.

B. Conduct a Needs Assessment

  • Survey students, staff, and parents to gather input on current library services and desired improvements.
  • Analyze usage data (e.g., check-out statistics, digital resource usage).
  • Review current library policies, resources, and programs.

C. Set Clear Objectives

  • Define the purpose and goals of the strategic plan.
  • Ensure alignment with the school’s overall mission and educational goals.

2. Environmental Scan

A. Internal Analysis

  • Evaluate current library resources, staff capabilities, and technology.
  • Assess the library’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis).

B. External Analysis

  • Examine trends in education, technology, and library services.
  • Identify potential partners and resources in the community.

3. Developing the Strategic Plan

A. Vision and Mission Statements

  • Craft or revise the library’s vision and mission statements to reflect long-term goals and core values.

B. Strategic Goals and Objectives

  • Set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals.
  • Focus on areas such as resource acquisition, technology integration, literacy programs, staff development, and community engagement.

C. Action Plans

  • Outline specific actions needed to achieve each strategic goal.
  • Assign responsibilities and set deadlines.

4. Implementation

A. Develop a Timeline

  • Create a detailed timeline for implementing each action plan.
  • Prioritize tasks based on importance and feasibility.

B. Allocate Resources

  • Budget for necessary resources, including materials, technology, and professional development.
  • Seek funding opportunities through grants, donations, and partnerships.

C. Communication

  • Communicate the plan to all stakeholders.
  • Use various platforms (meetings, newsletters, website) to keep the school community informed.

5. Evaluation and Adjustment

A. Monitoring Progress

  • Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure progress toward goals.
  • Regularly review and assess the implementation process.

B. Feedback Mechanism

  • Collect ongoing feedback from users and staff.
  • Adjust the plan as needed based on feedback and changing circumstances.

C. Reporting

  • Provide regular updates to stakeholders on the progress and outcomes.
  • Celebrate successes and acknowledge contributions.

This will be my guide for the next few weeks as I move through the strategic planning process. Already there are some roadblocks arising from the fact that I’m working from home and not on site, such as the difficulty in forming a library committee of interested stakeholders or conducting an environmental scan of the library space. However, one piece of research I found in this initial exploratory stage of my investigation argues that strategic plans are vitally important for a variety of reasons:

  • To develop a flexible roadmap to guide the library’s strategic priorities
  • To clarify your library’s purpose 
  • To set strategic priorities and initiatives 
  • To tailor services to meet the specific needs of your community 
  • To cultivate devoted and enthusiastic champions for your library 
  • To inform resource allocation and where to focus efforts 
  • Use the plan for fundraising, community relations, and attracting employees

I therefore need to do what I can to the best of my ability and try not to worry about the things I can’t control! And now that I have a plan to make my plan, all I have to do is … plan!

Introducing the Wide Reading Program to Students

Last week I posted about the structure of the Wide Reading Program I’ve been trialling for the past few years. This week I thought might be useful to give a bit more detail about how I introduce the program to students.

Activity 1: Brainstorm and Discuss the Benefits of Reading

As we all know, if we simply tell a teenager to do something they’re probably not going to follow our instructions. I’m therefore a big believer in trying to get our students to understand the reasons why we learn certain things, and this is where I start with the Wide Reading Program. In previous years I’ve relied on a class brainstorm and discussion of the benefits of reading for pleasure, but this year I rejigged things to include a Canva presentation which sets things out for my students more explicitly.

This year I found that during the brainstorm and discussion most students were able to easily identify the literacy benefits to reading for pleasure while some said it helped them to learn about things or to relax or escape from their problems. However, I found that very few students recognised the wellbeing benefits. In particular I focus on the idea of reading as developing our ability to empathise with others, since this is inherently relevant to the teen experience. Hopefully seeing the visual in the presentation helped them to recognise the multitude of ways reading can help them in their everyday lives.

My reading lessons are only an hour long, and this year due to the excellent discussion sparked by the Canva visual I found that I didn’t really get to the second and third discussion points regarding why they read or don’t read and what behaviours they count as reading – these ended up being incorporated into subsequent lessons. Next year I’ll likely remove them completely from the lesson to streamline my teaching activities.

Activity 2: Reader Identity Survey

Instead, my priority was to get students to complete the reading habits survey so I could get a better understanding of who they are as readers and how I can best support their reading journey. The first two questions in this survey are based around their reader identity and confidence:

  1. I think I am:
    • A confident reader
    • An OK reader
    • Not a very confident reader
  2. I am:
    • Someone who loves reading
    • Someone who will read if there’s nothing else to do
    • Someone who doesn’t like reading

I’ve previously examined their this year’s results, with most students identifying themselves as OK readers who aren’t that enthusiastic about doing it for fun which is consistent with the research in this area. However, after attending a recent webinar by ALIA on Fostering a Passion for Reading, next year I’ll reword the second question to something like “I really don’t like reading but wish I was better at it” to promote a growth rather than fixed mindset.

The second part of the survey asks students about their reading preferences:

However, this is an indecipherable wall of text for struggling readers and rather difficult to navigate on the devices we used. This screenshot is only capturing half of the options I’ve given them! Next year I’ll therefore either simplify this or remove it; I did actually remove it for our streamed Literacy class and found it worked much better. I originally included it with the intention of using it to find specific books for each student but due to time restraints I haven’t had the opportunity to do this yet and doubt I will find the time in future years.

The third section of the survey is a bit more open-ended and could easily replace this second section to help me get a better idea of who my readers are. It features 3 questions:

  1. What was the last book you remember reading? What did you think of it?
  2. What was the best book you have ever read? Why?
  3. What is your reading goal for 2024? e.g. would you like to read a certain number of books, a certain style of books, books from a specific author or culture etc.?

In future I’d love to work with the classroom teacher to nominate three students each per term to target based on these goals. While this won’t allow us to reach everyone in the class, it will allow us to focus on the kids who might otherwise slip through the cracks.

So there you have it – my first lesson in the Wide Reading Program. If anyone has suggestions on how else I can improve or activities that have worked for you, please leave a comment below! If you’re enjoying these activities, stay tuned for more in coming weeks.

Wide Reading Program: Mission Statement and Guiding Questions

One of the difficulties I’ve found in transitioning from a classroom teacher to the teacher-librarian role is the lack of clarity around our role and what we actually teach. As an English and History teacher I always had a syllabus with specific outcomes to guide my teaching programs, and moving into the TL role felt a little bit like I was lost at sea without a map. While the Information Fluency Framework released recently by the NSW Department of Education provides some structure to our role as information specialists, there isn’t a similar local guideline for our roles promoting reading for pleasure.

To help guide my programming for the Wide Reading Program I’ve been trialling over the past few years, I created a mission statement and a series of inquiry questions. These are still very much in the draft stage but have been useful in directing my teaching and learning activities and helping me focus on specific aspects of developing a positive pleasure reading experience for my students. Ideally each term would focus on a separate concept with a different guiding question each fortnight but, due to the number of interruptions we experience each year, this has yet to be the case.

Mission Statement

This program aims to create a school-wide culture of pleasure reading. Reading for pleasure has repeatedly been shown to improve student literacies and socio-emotional development. Student reading drops off during adolescence for a number of reasons, including lack of access to quality texts, lack of positive reading role-models, lack of time, and lack of confidence in their reading ability. This program aims to address these issues by providing students access to appropriate, self-selected texts and by setting aside a 60 minute period each fortnight to allow students time to explore, share, and value their reading in a socially supported positive learning environment. Through this program we aim to create independent, lifelong readers who are set up for personal and academic success.

Guiding Concepts and Questions

Term 1 Focus Concept: Introduction to the Library and Reading Behaviours

  • How can the library help you achieve your personal best?
  • Why do we read? What are the benefits?
  • Who counts as a reader?
  • What behaviours count as reading?
  • What positive and negative experiences have we had as readers?

Term 2 Focus Concept: Reader Identity

  • What sort of reader am I?
  • What rights do I have as a reader?
  • What barriers prevent us from reading for pleasure?
  • How can we overcome these barriers?
  • How can reading shape our sense of self?

Term 3 Focus Concept: Social Reading and Building a Reading Community

  • How do we find the right book?
  • How does social media influence what we read?
  • How can reading be a social activity?
  • What benefits can reading have on our sense of connection with others?
  • How can we share our reading experiences with others?

Term 4 Focus Concept: Building Reading Stamina and Motivation

  • How can we get the most out of our reading experiences?
  • How can we build our stamina as readers?
  • What motivates us to read and keep reading?
  • How we achieve our personal best through reading?

Over the coming weeks I’ll try to post some activities that have worked for my classes, so stay tuned for more detail about how these guiding questions translate to actual teaching and learning activities!

Making Research Easier With Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence is an amazing, yet terrifying new technology that has the potential to be used for both good and evil in schools. As information specialists, Teacher-Librarians should be leaders in the space surrounding emerging technologies and how they can impact both teaching and learning – a difficult task considering that AI is evolving faster than a Pikachu with a Thunder Stone!

This year I’ve been doing a lot of research into reading for pleasure and investigating the best ways to build a reading culture in my school. As a result, I’ve got some pretty lengthy notes on the topic and it’s getting to the point where it’s all a bit overwhelming and I’m getting lost in the sheer amount of information I’ve gathered.

Enter ChatGPT. Despite it’s potential to cause harm in education, it also has great potential as a tool to maximise our efficiency. I decided to test out its capacity to summarise my notes so far and see whether it could help me make a bit more sense of the mountains of information I’ve gathered.

First Summary:

The research discusses various episodes related to overcoming barriers to reading for pleasure (RfP) as part of the Open University Reading for Pleasure (OURfP) initiative. Here are the key points summarized:

  1. Peer Role Models: Recognize the importance of peer role models in promoting reading for pleasure, especially if students lack role models at home.
  2. Different Reading Behaviors Count: Understand that all reading behaviors are valuable and that there’s a benefit in children seeing diverse reading role models beyond typical fiction lovers.
  3. Creating Communities of Readers: Shared experiences of reading the same books can create powerful communities of readers.
  4. Personalized Recommendations: Know the books students are reading, recommend similar books, relate to their reading experiences, and know the characters they love.
  5. Normalizing Reading Choices: Avoid denigrating students’ reading choices; share the idea of readers’ rights to validate all reading behaviors.
  6. Social Approach to Reading: Foster a culture of safety and non-judgmental reading choices through book talks, reading modeling, and promotion of different interests. Encourage student-led recommendations and involve parents in discussions and modeling.
  7. Factors Affecting Pleasure Reading: Understand the various barriers to pleasure reading, including lack of access to books, time, will, skills, and peer pressure. Address these barriers by increasing access to books, engaging in reading aloud activities, involving parents, and promoting authentic reading experiences.
  8. Synergies in Promoting Reading for Pleasure: These include constructing literate identities, intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy, text access, time and space, social interaction, and role modeling and connected communities.

Overall, the research emphasizes the importance of creating a supportive and inclusive reading environment, promoting diverse reading choices, and fostering positive reader identities among children and young people.

Second Summary

The ALIA Webinar: “Fostering a Passion for Reading” highlights strategies to promote reading culture and engagement, leveraging social media and community involvement. Key points include:

  1. Using Social Media: Social media platforms like Instagram can be powerful tools to connect with the community, promote reading, and engage learners. Schools can use existing popular templates but tailor them to focus on reading. Personal appearances and trending formats can enhance engagement.
  2. Collection Development: Understanding the community’s interests and needs is crucial for effective collection development. This involves community connection, consultation, and gap analysis to ensure a diverse and engaging collection. Weeding, sourcing from trusted suppliers, and regular acquisitions are essential steps in this process.
  3. Programming to Improve Reading Culture: Various programming, including reading lessons, book talks, read-alouds, and themed activities, can help foster a social reading culture. Offering a variety of activities, such as readers’ cups, staff book clubs, and themed weeks, can cater to diverse interests and preferences.
  4. Engaging Reluctant Readers: Strategies to engage reluctant readers include creating a supportive environment through social activities, targeted individual interviews to understand barriers to reading, and promoting a growth mindset towards reading. Programs like “Read with a Mate” aim to encourage social reading and provide personalized recommendations based on individual preferences.

Overall, the webinar emphasizes the importance of leveraging social media, understanding community needs, and implementing diverse programming to foster a passion for reading among students.

Third Summary

The series “Building a School Reading Culture” by Madison Dearnaley explores various aspects of cultivating a reading culture within educational institutions. Here are the key points from each part:

Part 1: Assessing Reading Culture

  • Identifying a school’s reading culture involves observing factors such as library usage, collection layout, time allocated for reading, conversations about reading, and events like Book Week.
  • Dr. Kay Oddone suggests strategically assessing and enacting organizational culture change to foster a reading culture.

Part 2: Understanding Organizational Culture

  • Organizational culture influences how an institution operates and its members’ behavior.
  • Developing a reading culture involves leadership, shared values, and aligning behavior with the desired culture.

Part 3: Strategies for Culture Change

  • Culture change requires time and understanding behavioral drivers.
  • A five-point strategy involves matching change strategies with existing culture, focusing on small behavioral shifts, honoring strengths, integrating formal and informal interventions, and measuring and monitoring progress.

Part 4: Defining Reading Culture

  • A reading culture reflects how members of a school community value and engage with reading.
  • It involves embedding reading across all aspects of school life and promoting reading for pleasure, intrinsic motivation, and autonomy.
  • Strong leadership, a shared vision, and commitment to supporting the library are essential for building a reading culture.

Part 5: Measuring Reading Culture

  • Measurement methods include surveys, data analysis, and review of strategic plans and policies.
  • Key indicators of a strong reading culture include availability, opportunity, encouragement, intrinsic motivation, engagement, and choice.

Part 6: Identifying Reading Culture Characteristics

  • Characteristics of a strong reading culture include providing opportunities for reading, promoting and supporting reading, fostering intrinsic motivation and engagement, and offering choice and autonomy.
  • Measurement involves assessing resources, time allocation, visibility, staff involvement, reader motivation, engagement, and reader-driven collection development.

Part 7: Integrating Reading with School Values

  • Integrating reading with school values such as creativity, global citizenship, entrepreneurship, and well-being can garner support for building a reading culture.
  • Demonstrating the role of reading in achieving broader school goals can help prioritize reading initiatives and gain leadership support.

Each part emphasizes the importance of leadership, shared vision, community engagement, and strategic planning in cultivating a reading culture that supports student achievement and well-being.

Fourth Summary

The article “Getting Students Reading Through Social Media” by Overdrive, Nahomy Ortiz-Garcia, Melanie Wood, KC Boyd, and Amanda Hunt highlights effective strategies for using social media to engage students, staff, and parents in promoting reading. Here are the key points:

  1. Identify Audience and Encourage Interaction:
    • Tailor content to engage with the audience by asking questions and encouraging interaction.
    • Incorporate bite-sized content and involve students in posts to showcase their reading experiences.
  2. Celebrate Reading Milestones:
    • Foster a culture of reading by celebrating reading achievements and milestones.
    • Provide content with educational value and share additional reading resources and learning opportunities.
  3. Strategic Content Posting:
    • Avoid overwhelming the audience by spacing out content and posting at optimal times when the audience is likely to be online and receptive.
  4. Content Ideas:
    • Share school events, curriculum connections, holidays, student interests, and feature authors/illustrators.
    • Make posts interactive and visually appealing to maintain engagement.
  5. Utilize Various Social Media Platforms:
    • Use different social media platforms based on community engagement.
    • Tell a unique story about your library reading program and keep posts concise.
  6. Promotional Strategies:
    • Inform, define, and promote the reading program to parents, colleagues, and policymakers.
    • Use memes, newsletters, usage tutorials, and QR codes/flyers at school events to promote library programs.
  7. Encourage Reading Through Curated Content:
    • Create themed and curated book lists and understand feeder elementary school programming to tailor content accordingly.
    • Engage in community programs and interactive scavenger hunts associated with prizes.
  8. Personal Connection and Visual Appeal:
    • Show your face to build a connection with students, especially if you don’t see them daily.
    • Use fun filters, visuals, and short videos to create exciting and relatable content.
  9. Consistent Content Creation:
    • Set reminders for regular content creation and schedule it into your workday.
    • Experiment with different social media platforms and content formats to find what works best for your audience.
  10. Useful Tools and Apps:
    • Explore apps like CAPCUT for video editing and incorporate features like short video recommendations, trending book lists, author highlights, and new releases to keep the content fresh and engaging.

Implementing these strategies can effectively leverage social media to promote reading and foster a positive reading culture within the school community.

Overall Reflections on ChatGPT as a Research Summary Tool

As you can see, it’s done a fairly decent job of summarising the key points of my research. While ChatGPT does have great potential to save teachers time in this area, there are nonetheless a few limitations I’ve noticed:

  • It can’t directly access or view specific webpages or documents. We therefore can’t simply enter a URL and tell it to summarise the key points of a webpage or pdf.
  • It misidentified my notes as an article. There were other minor errors or parts where the AI failed to identify what I would have argued was the actual key point.
  • It has a word limit for your input, which meant that I had to break my research up into chunks which resulted in the four separate summaries above.
  • I tried to have it amalgamate these four separate summaries but it failed to synthesise the information effectively and instead created a bastardised, repetitive description rather than anything that would be of real use e.g. “Peer Role Models: Importance of peer influence in encouraging RfP.” I therefore didn’t post it here.
  • The input function doesn’t appear to allow for easy formatting of paragraphs. It also didn’t reflect my bullet point hierarchy and therefore my notes were all lumped together.
  • This is only a minor issue, but it took my Australian English spelling and spat it back out as US English e.g. ‘recognise’ became ‘recognize’. This hurt a little.

I was using the free ChatGPT version 3.5. Functionality is quite possibly improved in the upgraded GPT-4. For funsies, I also copied the summaries written by ChatGPT and asked it whether it wrote it to see whether it would potentially pick up on any plagiarism; it correctly identified this content as generated by ChatGPT: “‘Yes, I wrote the summaries you provided in your earlier message.” I’m not sure how effective it would be at picking up content generated by other AI tools, however; this might be an experiment for another day.

Overall, while it certainly saved time summarising my research, this would not be an effective way to create summary notes without having first done the initial note-taking process. We therefore need to caution our students not to rely solely on AI but to still use the old noggin to create their notes first, and always read through to fact check any content generated by these wondrous, alarming, and soon to be ubiqituous tech gremlins.

What Happens When Things Go Wrong: Further Reflections

In my last post, I reflected on how difficult it can be to build relationships, trust, and visibility when things are tough for us both personally and professionally. I was struggling to reconcile the need to do these things when circumstances work against us, and my injury has unfortunately led to continued absences which further damage my ability to be reliable and relevant with every day off.

I recently found a Reddit post from an early career teacher who was struggling with similar feelings of guilt and ineffectiveness due to a bout of the flu. The comments from fellow teachers indicated that this is a widespread problem among our profession, and we often find it hard to put ourselves first in difficult times for fear of failing our students or adding to our co-workers already-intense workloads. I’m far from alone in these thoughts, so I thought for this post I’d share a few things that have helped me recently.

After all, as a wise woman in a fabulous dress told me, sometimes we need to stop and reframe things to put them into a more helpful perspective!

Reframe Our Understandings and Look For ‘Chopportunities’

One thing to consider is what it actually means to be reliable and reframe our understandings. Cambridge dictionary offers the following definitions:

  1. Someone or something that can be trusted or believed because he, she, or it works or behaves well in the way you expect;
  2. Deserving trust; dependable;
  3. Someone you can trust to work hard and do what they say they will do.

ChatGPT offers a similar breakdown: Being reliable means consistently performing a task or fulfilling a duty with accuracy, dependability, and trustworthiness. A reliable person can be counted on to follow through on commitments, meet deadlines, and deliver results consistently. They demonstrate consistency in their actions and behavior, which builds trust and confidence in others.

Interestingly, neither of these sources say anything about showing up 100% of the time. I’ve been lucky that I’m in the position to work from home a few hours each day, so I’m still following through on my commitments and meeting deadlines where possible even if I’m not physically present. Given the circumstances, I’m working to the best of my ability, even if that capacity is somewhat reduced. I’ve previously written about the idea of the ‘chopportunity’ – a challenge that can be reframed as an opportunity. While I might not be physically present to teach classes and support people on site, I can instead view this as an opportunity to get some admin work done without interruption.

Be Kind to Ourselves

However, even if I wasn’t able to work from home, it’s important for educators to remember is that there’s no prize if we sacrifice ourselves upon the altar of teaching! Martyrdom might be a good career move for aspiring saints, but for teachers (and many other professions) sometimes, to be our best selves and to ensure we continue working to our best abilities, we need to take the time to heal. If I need to take a day or a week or even a month to recover from illness or injury, then that’s what is needed. We’re not the Terminator, able to sacrifice ourselves and then resurrect for several sequels. At the end of the day we’re human and need to treat ourselves with kindness (and no, this doesn’t mean ordering Uber Eats).

Watching and redirecting negative self-talk is a big one here. One helpful strategy is to treat yourself like you would a colleague or a friend. Would you criticise them for not running a class when they’re off due to injury or illness? Would you think of them as unreliable for taking the time they need to heal? We wouldn’t talk to others that way and I certainly wouldn’t put up with the kids treating each other poorly in my classroom, so it’s important that we don’t talk to ourselves negatively either.

Don’t Make It Personal

In this instance, I need to remind myself that I’m not letting others down; my circumstances, which are absolutely beyond my control, are letting others down. I’m not the main character in this narrative, and I’m not responsible for the education system which makes it so hard for teachers to take time off without impacting our jobs. I’m an NPC, a cog in the machine, another brick in the wall. My guilt around letting others down therefore is a reflection of systemic issues rather than any personal malice or incompetence. Worrying about not being there for my colleagues and students might be a valid concern, but it’s definitely not helpful to dwell on and forget the wider context of my absence.

Control What You Can

“God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can, and
Wisdom to know the difference.”

I’m not an alcoholic nor am I particularly religious, but there’s a lot of wisdom in the AA Serenity Prayer. Our fears and negative thoughts are often fed by the thought of ‘what if’ which can cause us to spiral. What if my absence makes things harder when I return? What if the lack of access to the library space affects the momentum I’ve built with the library programs? What if teachers won’t trust me and want to work alongside me since they can’t rely on me? I could go on, but it really wouldn’t be helpful. I can’t change what how others respond to my absence or the fact that I can’t physically be present right now.

Instead, I need to focus on ‘what is’ and, in particular, what I can control in this situation. I am supporting my students and colleagues where possible by working from home and teaching online. I am taking the time I need to heal so I minimise the risk of reinjury, especially considering that this isn’t the first time it’s happened at work. I am giving my body what it needs to be able to perform my duties effectively when I return. And, most importantly, my actions (where possible) are still aligning with my values, and I’m celebrating my successes as they come, however big or small they might be. After all, I’m very fortunate in my role to be able to have the impact that I do!

So there you have it – my rambling thoughts on how we can live our best lives even when things go wrong. If anyone reads this and has other tips on how to get through difficult times as teachers, feel free to comment below!


Reliability and Trust: How Can We Keep Going When Things Go Wrong?

The last few weeks have been an emotional and physical rollercoaster! In addition to dealing with the stress of soon having to attend court to testify against an ex-colleague regarding things I reported at the start of my career, I’ve also managed to dislocate my kneecap while putting together a display promoting Shakespeare on our brand new, you beaut shelves, so I’m off work for a bit. Needless to say, I’m not living my best teacher-librarian life right now.

In a world where teacher librarian roles are misunderstood and at risk of being diminished or dismissed, so much of the TL degree emphasised the importance of being accessible to our colleagues, open to collaboration, and presenting ourselves as reliable, trusted experts who can support their work and make their lives easier. Several researchers highlight the importance of trust, reliability and strong relationships as crucial factors in leadership (Branch-Mueller & Rodger, 2022; Ezard, 2015), which is especially important considering that most TL positions are leading from the middle without formal authority (Cox & Korodaj, 2019). Indeed, the International Literacy Association (2022) argued that there are 3 key factors which boost perceptions of teacher-librarians as essential within a school:

  1. Librarians as collaborators.
  2. Librarians as advocates of literacy equity.
  3. Librarians as providers of access.

To advocate effectively for the importance of our role, we therefore need to become important in the eyes of those around us. We need to be visible and position ourselves as essential for both staff and students, to become reliable sources for support and access to resources, and to build strong relationships with all members of our community based on mutual respect, trust, and recognition of what we do.

But what happens when things go wrong? How can we build this trust and these relationships when we can’t be reliable? What happens when staff are willing to work with us, but factors beyond our control threaten to break that trust?

So much has been written about the need to be reliable, trustworthy, collaborative, and supportive, but I couldn’t find much at all on what we can do when circumstances work against us despite our best efforts! It’s so easy to give in to despair when things constantly seem to go wrong, and so hard to be visible when you literally can’t get in to your workplace!

Over the last fortnight I’ve needed to cancel two senior research lessons and my Wide Reading classes, and since I’m not replaced when I’m absent the library has been shut during the breaks, affecting access to the space, its resources, and the safety it offers so many of our students. All the little ways I support teaching and learning at our school – such as mentoring students, de-escalating heightened kids, making sure students aren’t truanting in the library – as well as the big ones like maintaining the collection and providing valuable learning opportunities have come to a halt as a result of my absence.

Each setback represents a step backwards in the progress I’ve made in centering the library within our school community, with loans and visitor data always reflecting how hard it is to bounce back after extended closures. I’ve witnessed the impact of unreliability with previous librarians as both a student and staff member, and I need to ensure that this doesn’t become my reality.

As such, I’ll need to work twice as hard upon my return to catch up on missed work, repair relationships and rebuild trust in my abilities and reliability. After all, how we bounce back from adversity can be a ‘chopportunity’ to showcase our professionalism and advocate for our continued importance to our school community. It’s also important to model resilience to those around us, and to remember to control what we can and try not to worry about the things we can’t.

I also need to remember I’m lucky that I have built strong relationships with various staff members in my school, and although I might feel I’m letting them down they’re generally very understanding about my situation. I’ve been in frequent communication with many of my regular collaborating teachers during my absence, offering up lesson resources and the library space in an attempt to ensure minimal disruption and continued support of their work. I’m attempting to do as much work from home as I can, which will hopefully make the transition back to work onsite a little less overwhelming.

If anyone reading has further suggestions on how to build reliability and trust as a teacher-librarian in need, I’d love to hear them! In the meantime, I’m going to do my best to be like Dory, and just keep swimming!

Library Beautification

Last week was a stressful one, but one big success was the long-awaited installation of our new shelving units in the lower library walkway. I’ve invested a significant amount of time and our library budget in beautifying our library over the past few years, and this was the next step in the process.

When I first came into the library, I managed to scavenge some old desks that were being removed from one of our classrooms and for the last few years they were the site of my new release and themed book displays. While they got the job done, they were messy, didn’t match each other or the rest of the furniture, and required shelf risers to create visual interest. Additionally, students would crawl into the space underneath and staff tended to move the books to sit at the desks during meetings without putting them back afterwards, which created more work for me since I was continuously having to redo the displays.

Before: The old desks which served as a display table – functional but not very aesthetically pleasing.
After: Our beautiful new shelving units!

The new shelves were expensive, but worth every cent! Not only do they now match the other furniture, but they’re easily adjustable to allow for book displays while allowing space for our games to be visible underneath, which will allow me to remove our old, tacky games cupboard. I also love that they have reversible shelves, which means I can have them flat or slanted to create visual interest.

I’m still in the process of adding the finishing touches, but so many people (including our Principal) have taken the time to comment on how nice they look. Along with the new carpet and paint job installed last year, this old 70s library is starting to feel like a modern, professional library! I was so excited I even made a CapCut video to celebrate, which will eventually go on our social media platforms to advertise the space to our school community.

My experience with these shelves just goes to show that our library spaces are important advocacy tools, and creating an inviting, professional-looking space is not just about resource management; it can also go a long way in advertising our own professionalism.

Professional Development and Networking: Reflections on the Greater Macarthur Secondary Education Network Day

For the last two years, my school has done something different for our Term 2 Staff Development Day. Rather than work in our own schools, we’ve taken part in a joint learning opportunity with the 7 schools in our local education network – the Greater Macarthur Secondary Education Network (GMSEN). Last year all schools converged on Oran Park High School to work collaboratively with their faculty groups across this network, while this year each faculty area met at a different school. For me and the other teacher-librarians in our area, this meant a day spent once again at Oran Park High School under the impressive leadership of their TL.

The day included a number of professional learning opportunities to help us maximise our potential in supporting our school communities. The first session was delivered by the State Library of NSW, whose expert librarians showed us a variety of different events, exhibitions, conferences and professional learning opportunities. Their resources are free to access once you’ve signed up for a library card, so it’s well worth the time to show our students (especially our seniors). They provide access to a number of useful databases such as JSTOR, Informit, Gale, and ProQuest which can help our staff and students with their research. I personally access these so often I’ve memorised my library card number!

The HSC Subject Focus is also something I can see being useful for our students, with relevant study guides, exam tips and past responses collated in one easy location for students to access.

One thing I didn’t know about prior to this workshop was the Gale in Context: Opposing Views database. This presents different perspectives on key topics relevant to many of our curriculum units and would be a fantastic resource for our debators, High Potential and Gifted Education program, and students doing independent research projects or major works.

The second session was delivered by our local Clickview consultant. This video-sharing resource is expensive but highly relevant to our work as educators, and allows us to legally show video content to our students (after all, most streaming services’ licences are for personal use only!). The inclusion of the new interactive features and data analysis is a game-changer. for staff looking to check their students’ understanding of assigned learning materials. Their new layout is much more appealing and user-friendly too.

Our third session involved an excursion to the local Oran Park Public Library. One of the TLs at our session is due to start as the new youth librarian here shortly, so it was wonderful to get a tour and see what kinds of resources they offer. The most useful resource from this session was the High School Study Help they provide each week for students which I’ve now advertised to our school community on social media.

The final session was an online webinar on the Information Fluency Framework. I’ve previously stated that I wanted to do more to develop information fluency at my school and this was a great short course introducing the newly released framework. Of particular use were the specific ways TLs can work collaboratively with staff to incorporate the framework and develop our students as fluent consumers and creators of information across the elements of Social, Literate, Innovative, Critical and Ethical inquiry learning. I’m already in discussions with some of our teachers to co-teach a Guided Inquiry Design unit again at the end of the year and look forward to integrating this framework into our lessons more effectively.

Teachers know that not all professional development is created equal; however, this opportunity to develop our capacity as TLs with others in our field was fantastic! I took a lot away from the day’s sessions and I’m looking forward to next year’s GMSEN conference!

Promoting the Library in Term 1

One of the big lessons I took from my TL degree was around the importance of promoting our work as a way of advocating for our value to our communities. There’s no point having an efficiently managed collection or killer programs if no one knows they’re available. Even worse, a lack of visibility means that our hard work goes unnoticed, and our often isolated positions within schools makes us especially vulnerable if we’re not getting out there and spreading the good word. NSW Department of Education schools have recently been hit with new budget cuts, making it even more important that I ensure that my work is understood and valued by those around me, especially by those who hold the power and purse-strings in the school.

In addition to my displays, social media posts, and Annual Reports (which ended up receiving positive feedback from my Principal), in Term 1 I advocated for the library to our wider community in a number of other ways. Last term we moved to a new website platform for our school newsletter, which allowed me to be a bit more creative than our old pdf offerings. I now have an entire page dedicated to library events and news, and used it as an opportunity to promote the Premier’s Reading Challenge as well as our virtual library. Due to the interactive nature of the new platform, I was also able to include a digital presentation, which I’m also aiming to project onto our library display TV using our Apple TV device during the day for visitors to the library space to see.

We do have a school website but it’s controlled by one person, so every time I need to send an update I need to send the info to her then wait for it to be changed which isn’t all that efficient. One of my Head Teachers raised the idea of having a library website that I control linked to our official school site, featuring study guides, video tutorials, and literacy activities. During the ETL512 subject we had a virtual visit with the teacher-librarians from Lake Tuggeranong College who had a similar library website that I found very inspirational. I think this will be a fantastic opportunity to further share my work and showcase my value, and will definitely be a goal of mine in future.

Professional Development: Overcoming Barriers to Reading for Pleasure

While I’m on school holidays and have a little more time, I thought it would be a good opportunity to watch the videos currently available in the Open University Reading for Pleasure and World Book Day webinar series, Overcoming Barriers to Reading for Pleasure.

The first video, ‘Readers Don’t Always See Genuine Role Models‘, featured some interesting discussion about the importance of being positive reading role models for our students, especially if they’re not seeing these role models elsewhere in their lives. One excellent point they raised was that there’s a difference between encouraging students to read and modelling reading. I think most teachers would do the former quite well, but due to time constraints and high workloads the second probably isn’t as common as it should be. They also referenced research from 2009 which suggests that for most younger children, their reading role models are their parents, but after year 6 this changes to peers and teachers holding this key place for our students. Its therefore vitally important that we offer ourselves as potential reading role models for our high school students, to show that that all reading behaviours count and to help them understand that reading is everywhere and they, too, can count as members of the diverse reading community.

The second video, ‘Overcoming Barriers to RfP’, drew more heavily on current research and professional practice in its lengthier discussion. They explored the 6 key aspects of reading for pleasure, as supported by the evidence provided on the World Book Day website:

  1. Being read to regularly
  2. Having books at home and school
  3. Finding time to read
  4. Having trusted help to find a book
  5. Giving children a choice in what to read
  6. Making reading fun

One key element they discussed as having an important role in overcoming barriers to our students’ reading for pleasure was to identify and discuss the barriers to our own pleasure reading. Discussing these barriers as well as the physical and mental spaces that help or hinder our reading can help normalise and destigmatise some of the feelings and behaviours our students experience, such as feeling they don’t have the time to read, like they’re too distracted to get into a book, or that they simply aren’t enjoying a book and want to put it aside.

Some of the specific barriers to reading explored in this webinar include:

  • lack of access to appropriate, interesting books
  • lack of time to read
  • lack of will (especially due to competing interests and activities)
  • lack of skill
  • peer pressure around what does and doesn’t count as reading
  • distraction
  • tiredness

Teresa Cremin provided a summary of her research, arguing that there are four main factors affecting reading for pleasure:

  1. Intrinsic motivation

Cremin revealed that the research repeatedly shows that intrinsic motivation is far more important than extrinsic (external, reward based) or social motivations when it comes to getting students reading. She said that students with intrinsic motivation read because they care about the subject, relate to the characters, and want to know what happens next. She notes that extrinsic motivation, however, dominates in professional practice where we see reading challenges and certificates promoting reading for others, rather than reading for ourselves.

  1. Choice and agency

Cremin referenced data which suggests that only 14% of students chose a text based on a teacher’s recommendations. This highlights the importance of student choice in their reading material, and we therefore need to deveop their ability to browse and select appropriate, interesting texts and to support their choices without judgement.

  1. Informal book talks

This socially motivates readers, which in turn can develop intrinsic motivation to read and allows students to see themselves as part of a wider community of readers. Cremin noted that talking about fiction is almost as important as reading it in the first place, and that “low key, relaxed blether” about books can allow us to reframe reading as a fun social endeavour which links students to the collective, communal reading journey.

  1. Role models

Cremin and the other presenters all emphasised that building relationships with our students is crucial to developing reading for pleasure as a habit amongst our students, and that we need to know our students and their interests in order to champion their emerging reader identities.

Overall, there was a lot of useful information in these two videos, and a number of suggestions to help us incorporate evidence-based strategies into our practice. The good news is that a lot of what I’m doing with the Wide Reading Program lessons is on the right track. Some of the new strategies I noted as possibly being suitable for my context include:

  • Modelling reading and giving students a break while they develop their stamina by having the teacher read aloud from a novel’s right hand page (usually the first page of a chapter) with students reading from the left hand page. I thought that I could also incorporate ICT with this strategy by using the library’s document camera to project the pages to the class.
  • Having a discussion around the types of barriers both students and staff experience with their own reading.
  • Reading blanket: lay out a selection of books on a blanket and use them as a prompt for an informal book talk and student selection of materials. Another activity that could emerge from this is that students could vote on which books they’d prefer to read, followed by a discussion about why.
  • Students could select a number of books they feel should be highlighted through our library’s dynamic shelving. This could help them to feel a sense of ownership within the space while showing them that staff honour and support their reading choices.
  • Students choose a book for staff to read aloud to the class. Due to the fact that classroom teachers support me in these lessons, we could even split the class to ensure more students are satisfied with their grouping’s choice.
  • Engage parents in pleasure reading and as reading role models through a parents book club, breakfasts, parent teacher night discussions, by giving recommendations and allowing parents to borrow books (one presenter said that The Midnight Library never fails her in this regard!)

This is just the tip of the iceberg regarding the research and strategies offered by the Open University’s Reading for Pleasure program. Their website features a plethora of different resources to help educators like myself develop strong pleasure reading programs in our own schools, and as I move forward with my colleagues to create a school-wide culture of reading for pleasure in our own context I have no doubt I’ll be referring to their work quite frequently!

Term 1 2024 Reflections

Term 1 for 2024 has wrapped up, so it’s a good time to pause and reflect on my practice so far this year.

Supporting Teaching and Learning

Supporting teaching and learning across the school is a vital aspect of the teacher-librarian’s role and helps us showcase our value to our colleagues. During Term 1 I was able to display this in four key ways: first, through supporting the NAPLAN testing running in the library; second, through supporting the ongoing programming, implementation, and resourcing of the new 7-10 English syllabus; third, through the provision of one-on-one senior mentoring and assessment assistance; and fourth, through the expansion of the Teacher Reference collection.

However, reflecting on my practice in this area reveals that there’s more I could be doing to support teaching and learning across other curriculum areas, especially if I wish to raise the library’s profile amongst the teaching staff. I have recently conducted a significant weeding of our non-fiction resources, so could restock this collection with more relevant, updated texts to support current teaching units across the school. At the moment my information literacy and research skill lessons are one-off bookings, so I could also approach different faculties to embed these skills into their assessment tasks, or create pathfinders to support staff as they guide students through the research process.

I’ve previously put out surveys to my colleagues asking for feedback on what they teach and what resources they’d like to see from me, as well as asked staff to send me their assessment notifications so I can support their faculties with informative displays and assessment help. However, staff responses are always limited, revealing that when teachers are under the pump and feeling the pressure of heavy workloads they’re unlikely to prioritise such surveys even if they see their value. It therefore might be more effective to visit different staffrooms in person, either by attending different faculty meetings or by booking in time with each Head Teacher to see how best I can support the teaching and learning in their specific curriculum areas. I could also use this time to promote our Teacher Reference section, which isn’t getting much love from our time-poor staff.

Action moving forward: Speak with Head Teachers in person to determine how I can support teaching and learning in their faculties.

Developing a Whole-School Reading Culture

As I’ve discussed previously, some of my colleagues and I are in the early stages of planning a new whole-school reading culture initiative. We’ve made some small progress in this space over the last term and have begun putting together a strategic proposal (inspired by the work I completed during my degree) which we plan to eventually present to the Senior Executives at our school. One of the teachers has also taken the initiative to create a ‘Current Reads’ poster for the English staffroom windows which has already launched several conversations with students about reading for pleasure.

Action moving forward: Collaboratively develop the reading culture initiative proposal.

On my end, I’ve been working on developing a culture of pleasure reading in a number of different ways. This term I’ve been working on developing the Wide Reading Program for years 7 and 8, with all classes bar one participating. As always seems to be the case, these lessons experienced significant interruptions in Term 1, with 51% of lessons needing to be cancelled because of other programs using the library space, staff illness, public holidays, and other whole-school events. As a result, four of the ten participating classes have less than 50% program attendance, with two of those classes having had only one lesson to access the library and its resources.

To ameliorate the impacts of my absences when I was sick, I supported the classroom teachers in running the program themselves by providing the lesson materials. However, staff feedback suggests that the program runs best when I’m at the helm, reinforcing the value of a trained teacher-librarian’s expertise and skill in spreading a passion for reading!

Student feedback so far this term has also been positive. I’ve placed a significant emphasis on trying to build excitement around reading and on highlighting different reading behaviours in an attempt to get students to self-identify as readers. As such, we’ve played a variety of games such as Never Have I Ever and an adapted mad-libs game inspired by Cards Against Humanity which I’m calling Books Against Humanity. In this game students must obtain a variety of quotes from the book they’re reading and in small teams choose the best quote to complete the prompt I give them. There were a lot of laughs at this one, and it was great to see even reluctant readers engage with the task!

In large part due to the Wide Reading Program, our loans stats are strong so far this term. While this is not a hard and fast indication of reading culture, it does give some indication regarding the number of books ending up in student (and staff) hands. During Term 1 we loaned out 1140 resources from our physical and digital collections, surpassing the total loans for some previous years in their entirety. However, this is compared to the 1250 resources we loaned during the same time last year; the down-turn is due in part to falling student enrolments, the number of interruptions leading to the library’s closure, as well as a decrease in digital loans from our virtual library. Another pertinent fact emerging from this data is the increasing popularity of our magazines, with 31 loaned this term compared to only 2 in the same time last year.

Another way I’m trying to build a reading culture is by celebrating reading achievements in our school. I’m updating our Readerboard every month to show the students with the highest number of loans, and giving these students both merit certificates and house points in their roll calls to visibly highlight their achievement and show that we value reading. I’m also in the early stages of planning a celebratory afternoon for the students who finished the Premier’s Reading Challenge last year – they’ve chosen a movie afternoon as their reward, so hopefully other students will see their reward and want to get in on the action too! Another way I can increase participation is by embedding the challenge into the Wide Reading Program through read-alouds, book talks and activities such as the CBCA Shadow Judging.

Action moving forward: Embed PRC resources into the Wide Reading Program and continue developing activities to develop enthusiasm around reading.

Fostering Positive Wellbeing

Our school’s strategic plan has a strong focus on wellbeing; this is therefore an area where I can support the school community while advocating for the value of the library. I recently bought some of Margaret Merga’s books on this topic and intend to add them to our Teacher Reference collection, and can’t wait to read them to gain some more ideas on how to be active in this space.

So far this year, I’ve continued to support social-emotional learning through the provision of social clubs during the breaks. I’ve encouraged students to form their own clubs with my support, and as a result we’ve now added a Trading Card Game Day and Origami Club into our schedule, alongside our regular offerings of the Nintendo Switch Club and Dungeons and Dragons. While the Nerdvana Day didn’t get off the ground this term due to time constraints, this has previously been a great success with students and I will endeavour to make it a priority in Term 2. I have also discussed the possibility of a Year 12 Reading Retreat during their Trial exams to help them relax during this otherwise stressful period.

Action moving forward: Organise the Nerdvana Day and Year 12 Reading Retreat in Term 2.

These clubs and activities have had a significant impact on our daily visitor numbers, with an average 138 students visiting each break. Our biggest day was a whopping 334 students! While these increased visitor numbers contribute to a lot of noise and chaos in the library, they also represent an opportunity for students to be exposed to the reading culture I’m attempting to build, with several students who wouldn’t normally identify as readers borrowing books that they wouldn’t have come into contact with had they not been in the library space. However, the data suggests that our daily visitors and loans were trending down towards the end of term; this is no doubt due to the number of interruptions affecting the library’s ability to open in those later weeks, such as the fact that I’m not replaced when I’m absent. Ensuring continued access to the space is therefore an area for improvement in future.

Action moving forward: Advocate for the library space to be covered like any other playground duty in my absence.

Our Library Monitor program is also expanding, with several students approaching me throughout the term asking if they can join the program. Early in Term 2 I will incorporate these new students into the program and develop their skills as junior librarians in training. Their assistance is vital in helping maintain the library collections, especially as our loans increase.

Action moving forward: Train the incoming library monitors.

Maintaining Effective, Relevant Collections

Collection management is one of the biggest, most underappreciated aspects of our role as teacher-librarians, largely because so much of it is done behind the scenes and is therefore invisible to the majority of our school community. We’ve had an influx of student requests, so in addition to my plans to replace many of the outdated resources weeded over the last few years I’ve had to dedicate a significant portion of my budget to fulfilling these requests. As a result, there’s not a huge amount of money left for future purchases! A more balanced allocation of funds might be prudent in future years. However, one benefit of ordering so much so early in the year has been that we are getting a steady arrival of new resources to process in our systems as stock becomes available. This will hopefully allow us to spread out the accessioning process and reduce the number of orders we need to chase up at the end of the year.

Over the past few years I’ve invested a significant amount of time in updating our collection to ensure it’s relevant to the learning and recreational needs of our school community. When I first started, the fiction and non-fiction collections hadn’t been weeded for several years and the median date of publication was 1981. Last year our average date of publication was 2006, and I’m happy to report that due to my efforts last term this date is now 2010, while our median date is now 1995. While this is still not as up-to-date as I’d like, it’s a significant improvement.

I’m also in the process of cleaning up our catalogue and moving some items to locations where our students and staff are more likely to find them. I’ve set myself the goal of cleaning up 10 catalogue records a day, and while this isn’t always achievable it has made a significant impact on the number of resources with outdated or incorrect catalogue metadata.

Action moving forward: Complete catalogue clean-up.

Progressing with my Professional Development Plan

In NSW Department of Education schools, we are required to have a Professional Development Plan (PDP). This year I’ve set myself three somewhat ambitious goals.

Goal 1: To raise the perceived status, professionalism and value of the school library by ensuring its effective management. This will be achieved by conducting a needs assessment and creating a strategic plan aligned to the school’s Strategic Improvment Plan by the end of Term 3.

This is a huge goal with multiple steps, which is why I’ve set its completion at the end of Term 3. This term I asked for planning time and was knocked back, so have asked for time again in Term 2. I’ve submitted a proposal through my Head Teacher for this planning time to be during the HSC Trial exam period when the library would normally be closed; hopefully my line managers will see the value of this goal and understand my attempts to support the school while minimising disruption.

Action moving forward: Gain approval for planning time in week 9.

Goal 2: To support the diverse needs of our students by working with the Engaged Students for Learning committee to reintroduce a school-wide High Potential and Gifted (HPGE) education initiative.

This is another area where I’ve sadly made limited progress, largely due to the restrictive nature of our committee meeting schedule which has meant we’ve only had one official meeting last term. We were supposed to deliver a presentation during a staff meeting on how to identify and support HPG students, but beyond informal conversations with staff there’s been no movement in this space for me yet.

Action moving forward: Conduct an evaluation of existing HPGE activities with the committee.

Goal 3: To forge strong connections between the library, teaching staff and students by supporting the implementation of the new English syllabus through the expansion of the Wide Reading Program and engagement with research into reading for pleasure and for information.

I feel that this is one area where I have successfully achieved my professional goal. The new English syllabus explicitly references reading for pleasure and our English faculty has embedded the Wide Reading Program into their units as a result of my continued advocacy over the past two years. I’ve also posted previously about my research into reading for pleasure, though more could be done in the information literacy space.

Action moving forward: Continue research into reading for pleasure and information; continue using data and feedback from students and staff to plan engaging activities which provide access and time for self-selected, socially supported reading with the Wide Reading Program.

Research: Creating a School-Wide Reading Culture

A few colleagues and I are interested in developing a school-wide reading culture to support the literacy development of our students. We’re in the early stages of this process and I’ve just started doing some initial research into what works for other schools and how we can proceed within our own setting. From the early responses I’ve received for my inquiries on Facebook and Viva Engage it seems that this is something of interest to a lot of teacher-librarians, but few of us feel that we work in a school with a strong reading culture.

One useful resource I’ve investigated over the last few days is Madison’s Library, who has been on her own journey creating a school reading culture since 2021. I liked how she started her journey by considering how we know whether a school has a reading culture or not, as this forced me to consider my own assumptions about what a reading culture is and what we might already be doing to support pleasure reading and literacy development.

Her examination of organisational culture and climate was also interesting. Some of the research she referenced argues that organisational culture “is the glue that binds people towards a shared vision or goal” (Dearnaley, 2021, paraphrasing Lee, 2020) or “the way things are done in an organisation” (Dearnaley, 2021, paraphrasing Heath, 2021). On the other hand, “If culture is the values, belief systems, motivations and assumptions then climate is the patterns of behaviour, habits and feelings” (Dearnaley, 2021, paraphrasing Randhawa, 2019).

She referenced Katzenbach, Steffan, and Pronely’s 2012 Five Point Strategy for initiating effective cultural change. They argue the need to:

  1. Match the change strategy with the culture
  2. Focus on a few small shifts in behaviour
  3. Honour the strengths of the existing culture
  4. Integrate formal and informal interventions
  5. Measure and monitor cultural evolution

She also refernced Rick’s 2016 CREATE strategy:

  • C – clarify values and organisations culture.
  • R – reinforce the vision, ensuring everyone in the team knows the vision, values and culture code and how these will work towards success.
  • E – empower behaviours that support the values, culture and vision
  • A – align conversations
  • T – target efforts on high impact areas
  • E – emphasise success

She also gave several interesting definitions of what reading culture is, based on current research:

  • A culture of reading is the tangible and visible expression of how all members of the school community value reading and engage with reading (Reading First, 2007)
  • A positive reading culture provides support, encouragement, modelling, resources and opportunities to read for pleasure (Merga & Mason, 2019).
  • Reading is seen and embedded across the school, in all classes, across all areas of the curriculum and the daily life of students (Daniels & Steres, 2011). 
  • A supportive school reading culture is availability, opportunity, encouragement and support for reading (Merga & Mason, 2019).
  • A unique feature of a reading culture is that it promotes reading for leisure, rather than for just academic purposes or educational outcomes (Cochrane et al., 2022)
  • Intrinsic student motivation for reading, reading engagement, autonomy, and student choice are also key features of a strong reading culture (Daniels & Steres, 2011).

She then referenced the work of Daniels and Steres (2011), who suggest three actions towards building a strong reading culture:

  1. Make reading a school-wide goal and priority, allowing time and expectations for reading. 
  2. Provide ongoing support and training to staff to support readers, including how to talk to their students about reading and develop their own reading practices. 
  3. Commit resources, including time and money to ensure access and commitment to reading is evident and supported.

Her conclusion regarding the position of the school library in this cultural change was a profound one for me. She argues that while the library can support a school-wide reading culture, it has to be enacted and owned by all members of the school community. This will be a significant challenge moving forward, since my time-poor teaching colleagues will likely find any initiative proposed in this area as just another thing to add to their workloads, despite their good intentions and understanding of the benefits. Maintaining the momentum, especially with such a time-consuming initiative, will be a challenge for any leader.

References:

Dearnaley, Madison. (2021, October 8). Building a school reading culture – Part 1. Madison’s Library. https://madisonslibrary.com/2021/10/08/building-a-reading-culture-part-1/

Dearnaley, Madison. (2021, October 23). Building a school reading culture – Part 2 organisational culture research. Madison’s Library. https://madisonslibrary.com/2021/10/23/building-a-reading-culture-part-2/

Dearnaley, Madison. (2021, November 3). Building a school reading culture – Part 3 culture change research. Madison’s Library. https://madisonslibrary.com/2021/11/03/building-a-reading-culture-part-3/

Dearnaley, Madison. (2022, June 23). Building a school reading culture – Part 4 what is a reading culture? Madison’s Library. https://madisonslibrary.com/2022/06/23/building-a-reading-culture-part-4/

Dearnaley, Madison. (2022, July 3). Building a school reading culture – Part 5 measuring reading culture. Madison’s Library. https://madisonslibrary.com/2022/07/03/building-a-reading-culture-part-5/

Dearnaley, Madison. (2022, October 6). Building a school reading culture – Part 6 measuring the starting point. Madison’s Library. https://madisonslibrary.com/2023/10/06/building-a-reading-culture-part-6/

Dearnaley, Madison. (2022, October 6). Building a school reading culture – Part 7 reading culture characteristics. Madison’s Library. https://madisonslibrary.com/2023/11/15/building-a-reading-culture-part-7/

New Tool: Playing with CapCut

I’ve been off work sick the last week, and now that I’m finally starting to feel a bit better and have a bit of energy I thought I’d investigate a tool discussed in the social media webinar I did a few weeks ago. CapCut is free to use and so far seems fairly easy as a content creation tool. I have always wondered how all those fun reels on Instagram use existing clips and superimpose them over their own content but it is a mystery no more! CapCut has a fantastic series of templates that made it super easy to create my own fun video in less than 5 minutes.

My Instagram may never be the same! I can’t wait to work with the Student Media Team to create new content promoting the library, or to integrate this tool into my Wide Reading Program to build a culture of reading for pleasure!

Annual Library Report 2023

I’ve just finished another Annual Library Report! This is a time-consuming project but one which I find useful as a reflective tool for my own practice as well as a fantastic way to advocate for my work and the value of the library. I’ve printed out hard copies for our Senior Executive (Principal and Deputy Principals) and emailed a digital copy to all other Head Teachers as well as our School Administration Manager and Business Manager. This year I also included a summary infographic to hopefully whet their appetites to read more.

Having this link on Canva allows me to see how many people actually engage with it; however, even if no one else looks at it, the process of analysing the data and writing the report helps me realise the things I’ve achieved and to hone in on areas to improve in future.

A full copy of the 2023 report can be accessed here.

Professional Development: Overdrive’s Getting Students Reading Through Social Media

I’ve long been interested in harnessing the power of social media to engage my students, so this week I signed up to Overdrive’s webinar Getting Students Reading Through Social Media. The presenters, Amanda Hunt, KC Boyd and Melanie Wood, were fantastic and I came away from this video with so many wonderful ideas about how to incorporate these tools into my practice! Here’s some of the top tips I took from this webinar.

1. Identify our audience and target their interests and needs

Social media can be a fantastic way to engage students, staff and parents to help promote reading for pleasure. Parents in particular can play a positive role in helping kids understand that reading can be a positive activity. However, we need to be delibrate in how we are using this toolset to achieve our aims.

The presenters suggested engaging parents by showcasing their children in the posts, and to increase audience participation by asking questions and including interactive content such as “Leave a comment about your favourite book!” to avoid our posts becoming invisible in the endless scroll cycle. The presenters also emphasised that we should space out our content to avoid overwhelming our audience. to consider the times when they’re more likely to be online and receptive, and to keep our content short and sweet.

Interestingly, the presenters also made the point that local politicians can be targeted as one of our audiences, highlighting the power of social media as an advocacy tool beyond our immediate communities.

2. Post relevant educational but celebratory content

Celebrating milestones and reading achievement was one tip that resonated with me, since a lot of what I’m trying to achieve is focused around building positive reader identity in my students. For instance, I already have a Readerboard in my library which notes our top borrowers each month and across the year; it wouldn’t be too hard to turn this into a social media post, or to update parents on their students’ progress towards the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge.

One of the presenters had an Insta-ready background in their library for students to pose in front of with their current reads; I’ve had my eye on this gorgeous CBCA social media frame, and think that this is something I could definitely incorporate into my own practice to promote personal choice reading material, staff favourites, and recommendations for special events like school programs, faculty topics, featured authors, and upcoming holidays and events.

Tutorials and ‘how-to’ videos were another suggestion for engaging students, staff and parents with the library resources. I hate showing my face on social media, but the presenters made a salient point that being visible helps our students recognise us, and gives us a little mini-celebrity status in our community which helps build connections between us and our audience when we don’t see them every day. Scheduling time and setting reminders for regular content creation was also suggested to ensure consistency in our promotions.

3. Learn through experimentation

Personally, I’m not a massive social media fan. I use Facebook regularly to keep in contact with friends and collegial networks, and during while studying to be a teacher-librarian I created an Instagram account, but I’m a rather private person and still feel very much at sea when it comes to content creation and promotion of my work. The presenters suggested using various social media platforms to tap into whatever your target audience engages with, which is honestly an overwhelming prospect! However, one helpful tip they gave was the ‘Five Minute Promise’ – pick one app you wish to become more familiar with and engage with it for 5 minutes each day. This seems fairly achievable and breaks down an otherwise mammoth task into much smaller, manageable chunks.

Some specific content ideas I could try include…

  • Short video recommendations (particularly useful for students who might be too shy to ask for help)
    • I’m reading…
    • If you liked … try …
    • This person loves …
    • Currently trending …
    • New releases …
    • Author highlights
    • Recently recommended 
  • Use fun filters to create themed content e.g. a zombie filter for horror books
  • Interactive scavenger hunts and reading challenges
  • Connections to feeder primary schools and community events
  • Themed and curated book lists
  • Fun memes encouraging positive interaction with reading
  • Use social media to inform, define and promote reading program; tell our unique story

Encouraging Student Voice and Library Advocacy through Displays

One of the things I try to encourage in my school library is student engagement and voice. This year I’ve got several keen beans who have taken great joy in creating book displays, and I’ve worked with them to create social media posts to promote their efforts and advocate for the importance of the library to our school community. Here’s a selection of some of the posts we’ve created so far.

Our post celebrating Taylor Swift as excitement for her Eras tour swept through the school
We always get asked where the Romance and Horror books are, so to test the demand for genrefication I had some students help create these themed displays. Other students volunteered to make a LGTBQI+ display as well as one celebrating the Year of the Dragon.

It’s wonderful to see students excited about books and wanting to make the space their own!

Adjusting the Wide Reading Program for the Tech Elect Class

While I was completing my Master of Education degree at CSU, I came across some fascinating research about the social elements of reading. This is often seen as a solitary past-time and therefore might be a turn-off for some teenagers, who are going through a development phase of seeking social interactions and determining their identities in these social settings. At the time I started to muse about incorporating more social reading activities it into my Wide Reading Program, but alas! Time was my enemy. While we’re still not exactly on the best terms, I do have a little more of it up my sleeve at the moment and therefore I’m revisiting the idea of leveraging research into social behaviours in this year’s program.

I’m lucky to have the Tech Elect class joining us again. I had them last year when they were in Year 7, and while many students enjoyed the program and found it beneficial, I’m still concerned by the number who did not enjoy the program or who reported a decline in their enjoyment of reading.

This class is a BYOD iPad class and therefore the perfect guinea pigs to trial using technology to boost the social aspect of reading for pleasure. I’ve found that my own reading habits have been positively influenced by social media such as Bookstagram, while Booktok has had an undeniable effect on the reading landscape in the past few years.

This year, I’m hoping to start incorporating these elements by getting students to create a Goodreads account and to use the Goodreads app on their devices. One of my uni lecturers, Krystal Gagen-Spriggs, has worked in this space and written a fascinating article on how she used Goodreads in her own Teacher-Librarian programs.

This will by no means be an easy feat but it is one that I definitely feel has the potential to transform my students’ perceptions of reading behaviours and hopefully will increase their enjoyment of reading for fun.

The Wide Reading Program Returns

Last week the Wide Reading Program started back up for 2024. I had three classes (two year 8, one year 7) come into the library for their first lesson, where we explored the reasons why we are running the program and what the research says about the benefits of reading for pleasure:

During this lesson I ask students to fill out a survey to give me information about their perceived reading ability, their identity as readers, and their reading preferences. Here’s the results from the three classes I’ve seen so far.

There’s no real surprises here; short books, books with images, and books with connections to other media such as movies or TV shows are usually the top picks for my students. Series books are also identified as a popular choice, supporting the academic research in this space. While manga is generally the most popular genre in my library each year, many students aren’t actually aware of what it is, suggesting that dedicated lessons on manga and how to read it would be beneficial.

Their responses for the reader identity question also supports the research I’ve mentioned previously around teen reading habits, which suggests that by the time they reach high school they are increasingly ambivalent to the idea of reading as a leisure activity.

In this survey I ask students to tell me about the last book they’ve read as well as their favourite book. I also ask them to set themselves a reading goal for the year, and plan in a future lesson to get them to reflect on these goals while designing personalised bookmarks to help keep them on track.

This is only my third year running this program (and my first since graduating from the teacher-librarianship Master degree). There’s no formal curriculum to work with and the high staff turnover alongside constant interruptions in the library space have previously made it difficult to assess the program’s efficacy. Fingers crossed that this year I’ll be able to run it more consistently and I’ll be able to gather useful data to inform the program’s future activities.

Professional Development: ASLA February Webinar

Last year I had several requests for books such as Icebreaker and the Twisted Love series. These innocent students had seen these blow up on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram and of course wanted to know what the big deal was.

Therefore, earlier this week I registered for ASLA’s February webinar, “But I saw it on BookTok…” with Emily Feetham. This fantastic professional development resource covered the following issues:

  • The main social media platforms and how algorithms work.
  • Content warnings and age recommendations.
  • How do we as library staff navigate this? How do we encourage age-appropriate reading, without having to resort to censorship?
  • What are the benefits of these platforms and how to best utilize them?
  • “Judge a book by its cover” – can you tell if this book is YA or adult just by the cover/blurb?

Having finally found the time to watch it, I’ve taken a couple of ideas for my future practice. I’ve made it a professional goal to create a collection development and maintenance policy this year, and this webinar reinforced the importance of strong policies regarding what is included in the junior and senior fiction collections, as well as ensuring informed parental consent through the use of permission notes. A lot of books that are popular on platforms such as TikTok include extremely problematic content, so one way to tackle this would be to include infographic bookmarks on, say, domestic violence in a book which features a toxic relationship. Likewise, a display promoting healthy relationships could counter this romanticising of abuse. This webinar also highlighted that many parents don’t realise what their children are reading, so a future parent bulletin article outlining ways to help parents select age-appropriate content would be useful.

The rise of these platforms has made finding the balance between access and censorship difficult. However, informed consent should help ensure students aren’t coming across content they’re not ready for or which might be potentially harmful.

Reflections on Week 1 Advocacy and Successes

School returns in NSW this week! So far I’ve had a few opportunities to advocate for my role and the value of the school library, which I’ve tried to grab with both hands.

This year I’ve been placed under the Head Teacher of Teaching and Learning, and had the fantastic opportunity to sit with her to discuss my vision for the role and a strategic path moving forward.

I also sent out a welcome email to all teaching staff, outlining the various ways I can save them time and support them in their teaching:

  • One-off or ongoing research lessons 
  • Collaborative planning, teaching, and/or assessing of an inquiry or PBL unit (Maria and I had great fun with this last year!)
  • Gamification of units to support engagement
  • Support integrating literacy strategies (e.g. Super Six, literary learning) into your units
  • Support integrating information literacy strategies and research skills into your units
  • Support integrating digital literacy, media literacy, or ICT strategies into your units
  • Curated book boxes to support classroom learning
  • Curated digital resource lists or pathfinders to support classroom learning and assessments
  • Targeted library displays which support your subject units or assessments
  • Accessioning of senior faculty textbooks to keep track of which student has been issued which resource (we currently do this for English and Science)
  • Summaries of current research in an area of your choosing
  • A guided tour of the library, its resources and how it can support you (useful for new staff especially!)
  • Training in how to use our subscriptions such as Clickview or our digital library via Wheelers ePlatform
  • Training in how to use our library catalogue to search our collection or the local library collections for relevant resources
  • Personal delivery of requested magazines or books
  • Collaborative creation and ongoing support of social clubs developing wellbeing and student voice (I’ve previously worked with staff on the Anime Club, Warhammer Days with great success)
  • Targeted one on one support for students who might need assistance developing their study skills

Finally, my hard work over the last two years with the Wide Reading Program has paid off. I currently have 10 year 7 and 8 classes booked in for a fortnightly Wide Reading lesson. This is a significant increase from the 1 class in 2022 and 3 in 2023 who consistently attended. Last year we also had positive feedback from the majority of the students who participated, with positive changes to many students’ reader identity and confidence.

Last year was a outstanding year for borrowing, and we broke our previous best record by 455 books largely due to the engagement created by the Wide Reading Program. I’m excited to see what 2024 holds!

ETL512 Assessment 6: Professional Reflective Portfolio

Part A: Statement of Personal Philosophy

Effective 21st century teacher-librarians require strong interpersonal skills alongside the pedagogical knowledge to teach a multitude of competencies and literacies across different curriculum areas. Through proficient leadership, strategic planning, resource management, and innovative program design, modern teacher-librarians inspire passion for reading for pleasure and information while supporting learning and wellbeing in our communities.

Modern libraries are about people, not just resources. Our ability to form effective relationships with students, staff, parents, and professional networks allows teacher-librarians to meet the diverse educational, wellbeing, and recreational needs of our learning communities and to advocate for our value in an ever-changing information landscape.

Part B: Critical Evaluation

My very first assessment for this degree required me to reflect on my understanding of the role of teacher-librarians in schools (Lysaught, 2021a). For this task, I discussed the roles I focused on as part of my then-recent job application:

Little did I know, but this visual would serve as a prescient highlight to many of the issues explored throughout this course.

The early work completed in ETL401 introduced me to several roles expected of modern teacher-librarians, and as a result of my continued learnings in this degree I have consolidated these varied elements into three key themes.

Theme 1: Resourcing and Inspiring Reading for Pleasure

The first theme, resourcing and inspiring reading for pleasure, in many ways reinforces pre-existing stereotypes about the work of teacher-librarians as predominantly dealing with books. I discussed this misconception in my early blog posts, noting that these perceptions were largely based on community experiences (Lysaught, 2021a; Lysaught, 2021b). As a result of the readings and learning tasks in this degree, I have concluded that teacher-librarians must therefore ensure that we provide a multitude of different experiences to our communities to shape their perceptions of our roles as varied and valuable in an ever-changing modern information landscape.

However, Herring (2007, p.31) noted that fulfilling all the possible roles expected of teacher-librarians at one time is impossible. Anecdotal evidence suggests many teachers still don’t know what information literacy is, let alone a teacher-librarian’s role in developing student proficiency; those few who do often lack the time for collaborative planning and teaching. Rather than stress myself out by fighting an uphill battle and overhauling community perceptions completely, at the start of my teacher-librarian journey I’ve chosen to draw on my strengths as an English teacher and my pre-existing relationships with this faculty to lean into community expectations and show my value to our school by establishing a culture of pleasure reading. Once trust in my abilities as a teacher-librarian and strong relationships are formed through this Trojan horse, the plan is to leverage my success and branch out into other facets of my role, such as information specialist, to further entrench my value to our school community.

Step one in my plan to channel then subvert community expectations was to create a Wide Reading Program for the Stage 4 English classes. To show the value of this program to our school leaders, I aligned it with our Strategic Improvement Plan, foreshadowing the learnings of ETL504 Teacher Librarian as Leader. This program, inspired by the ETL402 Literature Across the Curriculum readings, aims to create a school-wide culture of pleasure reading. Reading for pleasure has repeatedly been shown to improve student literacies and socio-emotional development (Combes & Valli, 2007; Howard, 2011; Allington & Gabriel, 2012; Kid & Castano, 2013; Gaiman, 2013; Wu et al., 2013; Whitten et al., 2016; Ipri & Newman, 2017; Stower & Waring, 2018; Smith, 2019; Merga, 2021; Merga, 2022). Student reading drops off during adolescence for several reasons, including lack of access to quality texts, lack of positive reading role-models, lack of time, and lack of confidence in their reading ability:

This program aims to address these issues by providing students access to appropriate, self-selected texts and by setting aside a 60-minute period each fortnight to allow students time to explore, share, and value their reading in a socially supported positive learning environment (Gibson-Langford & Laycock, 2008; Krashen, 2011; Fisher & Frey, 2018; Merga & Mason, 2019; Allington & McGill-Franzen, 2021). Through this program I aim to create independent, lifelong readers who are set up for personal and academic success.

This initiative was first trialed in 2022, our first year without a school-wide DEAR program. It initially ran with 4 Year 7 classes which dropped back to 2 due to staffing issues and frequent interruptions. Data revealed that overall, the students who participated enjoyed the experience and found it beneficial, and I reported these findings to our Senior Executive via my Annual Library Report (Lysaught, 2023a):

In 2023 the Wide Reading Program was expanded from one teacher to six and now includes our Support Unit and two Year 8 classes, largely due to word of mouth and positive feedback from participating teachers – proving Bonanno’s (2011) argument that we should build relationships with the staff willing to work with us, since others will choose to follow once trust is developed (Crippen & Willows, 2019, p.173).

A crucial element of successfully inspiring reading for pleasure, especially amongst teens asserting their independence and exploring their identity, is the provision of relevant resources which support self-selection of reading materials (Beach et al., 2011; Allington & Gabriel, 2012; Fisher & Frey, 2018). To ensure a robust collection which meets the needs and interests of my patrons, I drew heavily upon the learnings gained in ETL503 Resourcing the Curriculum. Library hygiene is an important element of ensuring an enticing, relevant collection (Fieldhouse & Marshall, 2011), and thus at the end of 2022 I completed a stocktake and significant weed of our Fiction and Quick Reads collections (Lysaught, 2023a). This was the first stocktake since 2018 and the median age of deselected resources was 1999, necessitating a serious update of our collection to ensure continued relevance. This was followed by subsequent stocktakes of our Picture Book and Graphic Novel collections at the start of 2023. Once these stocktakes were completed I introduced dynamic shelving to make the shelves more enticing and facilitate browsing (Bogan, 2022).

 

I also implemented patron-led acquisitions to increase circulation and user connection to the library’s resources (Hughes-Hassell & Mancall, 2005, p.9; Kimmel, 2014; Johnson, 2018; Aaron Cohen Associates, 2020, para.6; Crawford et. al, 2020, p.2), with 49% of newly acquired fiction resources specifically requested by staff and students in 2022 (Lysaught, 2023a). Drawing upon my experiences during my practicum, this year I bought 131 Hi-Lo books for our Quick Reads collection, and plan to use them for future Book Club activities during the Wide Reading lessons (Lysaught, 2023b). I am also in the process of genrefying our Quick Reads collection for easier browsing and selection, trialing the learnings gained in ETL505 Describing and Analysing Educational Resources (Lysaught, 2022a) in one of our popular, manageable collections.

Fisher & Frey (2018) argued that interventions designed to increase reading volume should rely on four factors: access, choice, classroom discussion of texts and book talks. The initiatives described above aimed to incorporate these four factors alongside efficient collection development and management. Loans statistics indicate that circulation has increased on the days when the Wide Reading lessons run, and as a result Oliver data shows we are on track to meet or beat our previous loans records since I became the teacher-librarian in 2020, despite our removal of a whole-school DEAR program in 2022.

Theme 2: Resourcing and Developing Reading for Information

As mentioned above, despite the importance of reading for pleasure in developing literacy, the role of a modern teacher-librarian should expand beyond the realm of books and into the crucial realm of information literacy to avoid the misunderstanding that our roles are limited and unnecessary in modern schools. I personally was guilty of this misconception prior to starting this degree, so I can hardly blame time-poor classroom teachers and senior leaders for not understanding our role, especially if they’ve never seen it in action! It is therefore necessary that we provide a variety of different experiences to our communities to shape their perceptions of our roles and ensure they understand our vital importance in developing our students as ethical, efficient users and creators of information. We cannot risk becoming an “invisible profession” (Valenza, 2010; Bonanno, 2011) and resourcing our libraries to develop information literacy is a path forward for teacher-librarians to show our value in a shifting infosphere increasingly filled with mis- and disinformation (Floridi, 2007, p.59; Lysaught, 2021c).

ASLA 2011. Karen Bonanno, Keynote speaker: A profession at the tipping point: Time to change the game plan from CSU-SIS Learning Centre on Vimeo.

The learnings gained in ETL401 Introduction to Teacher Librarianship were crucial in forcing me to revise my misunderstandings regarding the role of the modern teacher-librarian. For the second assessment I focused on how social media platforms affect our relationship with information, and discovered that improved internet access has changed information-seeking behaviours to favour passive information acquisition which uses the path of least resistance (often relying on social interactions), significantly impacting users’ ability to determine fact from fiction (Bates, 2010; Herbst, 2020; Liu, 2020; Kuhlthau et al., 2021). Teenagers are particularly likely to gain information from online, social sources and, far from being ‘digital natives’ equipped to navigate online information, are uniquely vulnerable to misinformation (Combes, 2009; Jacobson, 2010; O’Connell, 2012; Common Sense Media, 2019; Australian eSafety Commissioner, 2021). As a high-school teacher-librarian, I therefore have an ethical responsibility to ensure that my collections and programs equip my students with the skills and competencies they’ll need to be information literate in an increasingly digital world. Anecdotal evidence suggests that for many secondary classroom teachers, the fact that teacher-librarians don’t teach to a specific curriculum demeans our value. The recently released Information Fluency Framework (NSW Department of Education, 2023) offers an exciting way to legitimise our work moving forward, showcasing that we can be the glue which brings learning areas together, and will form the focus of my professional learning after finishing this degree. In the meantime I will continue to run one-off research skill lessons for my colleagues as requested.

Inquiry learning was another key aspect of our role explored in ETL401. While I had been familiar with concepts such as Project Based Learning from my time as a classroom teacher (Lysaught, 2021d), other methods such as Guided Inquiry Design were eye-opening and revealed a new pedagogy full of potential for my students (Lysaught, 2021e), since information literacy is foundational to inquiry learning (Fitzgerald, 2015). I greatly enjoyed reworking our existing Year 7 Shakespeare unit into a Guided Inquiry Design unit and look forward to the opportunity to co-teach it in future (Lysaught, via Guided Inquiry in Australia, 2020), alongside the digital narrative I created for ETL533.


ETL533 Assessment 4 – Digital Storytelling: A Day in Elizabethan England by Danielle Lysaught (Danielle Lysaught)

However, implementing inquiry learning and developing information literacy programs has not been without significant challenges in reality. Early on I identified that high staff workloads and minimal free time would likely hamper potential attempts to implement collaborative inquiry learning (Lysaught, 2021f). As such, there has been limited staff uptake. However, largely due to the relationships and trust developed through the Wide Reading Program, I have finally been asked to work with one of the English teachers and her Year 8 class in Term 4 on a unit exploring suspenseful narratives. The ETL512 Study Visits emphasised the importance of emotional intelligence and persistence as key traits for teacher-librarians, and my personal experience shows that we must be resilient in the face of setbacks and persist in the hope that we can eventually have the opportunity to showcase our value to our colleagues.

Effective collection management is another crucial aspect to developing information literacy in our community. ETL503 Resourcing the Curriculum and ETL505 Describing and Analysing Educational Resources reinforced the importance of efficient resource management for supporting curriculum learning. In 2021 I completed a stocktake of our non-fiction collections – the first since 2018. The shelves were overflowing, messy, and not conducive to easy selection of relevant material:

Prior to this stocktake, the median date of publication was 1981. I weeded 2468 outdated or damaged resources, almost halving the collection and bringing the median date of publication to 2000 – an improvement, but indicating that there is still significant work to be completed to ensure a current, relevant collection which meets the needs of my staff and students. Foreshadowing the learnings of ETL504, I published the findings from this stocktake in my 2021 Annual Report and shared it with the Senior Executive to highlight the complexities of my role to our school leaders (Lysaught, 2022b).

In 2022 we started accessioning English novels to support their resource management, leading to it becoming our third largest collection:

This year, due to the success of this initiative, we have also had requests from the Science Faculty to assist with the management of their Stage 6 resources. While not without challenges, this provides a way for me to showcase my value to my colleagues, support curriculum learning through effective resource management, and interact with students who would otherwise possibly not utilise the library.

Theme 3: Promotion and Advocacy through Leadership

Two of the most used tags on my blog are ‘promotion’ and ‘advocacy’, so it’s only appropriate that the final theme discussed focuses on these issues.

Early in this degree the readings revealed the importance of advocating for our positions (Lysaught, 2021g), meaning that right from the start I’ve developed an awareness of the importance of perception and relationships in our role. This was consolidated throughout this degree in every unit.

In an early blog post for ETL503 Resourcing the Curriculum I noted that, due to the teacher-librarian’s often poorly defined role and lack of clear curriculum direction, we are often utilised in different ways to support whatever the school requires (Lysaught, 2021h). It is therefore crucial for us to collaborate with our colleagues so that they understand our varied roles, ensuring our continued visibility and effectiveness to our school community. As seen through the frequent ‘promotion’ and ‘advocacy’ tags in my blog, so much of our work gives us the chance to increase our visibility; while it can be tempting to give up in the face of colleagues who view us as having the “cushy job”, we need to change our mindset and instead reframe challenges as “chopportunities” (Weisburg, 2020) and look for ways to make our work seen, valued, and understood (Valenza, 2010; Bonanno, 2011).

My final unit, ETL504 Teacher Librarian as Leader, emphasised the different leadership styles that we can leverage to maximise our effectiveness to our colleagues. Effective leadership, regardless of the approach or title, should focus on building strong relationships with others through mutual trust, respect, and effective communication (Holmes et al., 2012, p.271, 276; Moir et al., 2014, p.37; Ezard, 2015; Gleeson, 2016). My very first blog post had outlined my intent to support both staff and students (Lysaught, 2021i), and thus Servant Leadership appealed to me from the start (Lysaught, 2023c). In particular I was drawn to Servant Leadership due to its focus on empowering and developing others, humility, commitment to growth and community building, highly developed interpersonal skills, stewardship, healing, conceptualisation, and foresight  (Arar & Oplatka, 2022, p.83-87; Crippen & Willows, 2019; p.171-172), and found that its guiding questions – ‘do you want to serve or be served?’ and ‘do those served grow as persons?’ (Blanchard & Broadwell, 2018; Greenleaf, 2008, p.36) – aligned well with my personal traits and values, and could help me support and heal cynical, time-poor staff and to act as mentors for both staff and students (Branch-Mueller & Rodger, 2022, p.46-47; Reinsel Soulen, 2020, p.39-40; Uther & Pickworth, 2014, p.21-23).

As a result of the learnings in this degree, I’ve experimented with a variety of different promotions and advocacy methods. I began this degree in mid-2021 when NSW started online learning followed by cohorting, which made collaboration and promotion particularly challenging early on; this has been further compounded by the current teacher shortage and high staff turnover at our school. Some of the early initiatives I implemented to raise the library’s profile include the Student Media Team, a Babble, Books and Breakfast club working alongside the Wellbeing faculty, and a Staff and Student Book Club (Lysaught, 2021j). While the book club fell apart due to lack of interest and time after online learning finished, the other two initiatives are still going strong. My early attempts at strategic planning appear quite amateurish in hindsight, though the alignment of my initiatives to our Strategic Improvement Plan and promotion of my work through Annual Reports foreshadowed the strategies suggested in ETL504 (Lysaught, 2023d). Our school recently experimented with the idea of holding all Stage 6 exams in the library, which if enacted would necessitate its closure for over 2 months of the school year. I was able to successfully leverage leadership strategies and use visitor and loans data collected each day to show the impact library closures would have on our school community, convincing the decision makers to choose another option:

Looking to the future, I will continue to experiment and expand on the learnings gained from this degree. First I will create a library operations folio to ensure effective management and strategic planning moving forward (Braxton, n.d.; National Library of New Zealand, n.d.; Oberg & Schultz-Jones, 2015). I was particularly inspired by the idea of hooking in new and current staff via mentoring (Cox & Korodaj, 2019; Reinsel Soulen, 2020), and building community ownership through a library committee has been a long-time goal of mine (Lysaught, 2021h). Inspired by ETL505 and the ETL512 study visits, I’d also love to create a library website to increase visibility and support teaching and learning by providing easily accessible pathfinders and research lessons. This journey is a marathon, not a sprint, and this degree has shown countless potential pathways to follow in future.

 

Part C Reflection

At the beginning of this course, we were asked to consider what makes a teacher-librarian (Lysaught, 2021a). My understanding of the role has expanded significantly since those early days:

However, despite the complexity of our role, our work is still widely misunderstood. This degree has shown me that to be seen as professionals, we must act as professionals and take every opportunity to advocate for our role through the work we do in our school communities. The professional standards developed by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and the Australian School Library Association (ASLA) provide a useful framework for evaluating our professional practice and ensuring that we remain relevant and visible to our peers.

As a classroom teacher with experience teaching both the English and History syllabi from Year 7 through to Year 12, including the Extension courses for both subjects, I feel quite confident in my abilities as a teacher with strong professional and pedagogical knowledge who meets the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, many of which align with the ALIA/ASLA Standards through their similar professional domains (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership [AITSL], 2022). While I already had a strong understanding of reading practices, assessment, and ICT, this degree introduced me to the wonders of information literacy and collection management which have allowed me to be even more effective in my classroom practice and developed my understanding of how to support my colleagues more efficiently in my library role.

As a relatively new teacher-librarian, I feel that I still have a fair way to go regarding my professional practice, particularly regarding our role as information specialists. While I believe that I have created an environment where learners are encouraged to engage with our resources for understanding and enjoyment, I need to do more to ensure an information-rich learning environment which meets the needs of my community. I’ve worked hard over the last 2 years to build an environment which fosters positive wellbeing and strong reading culture, and due to these relationships and the trust I’ve developed with our teaching staff I’ve finally got the opportunity in Term 4 to collaboratively develop and teach a Guided Inquiry unit. Likewise, while I’ve previously done some strategic planning and budgeting (Lysaught, 2023d), the skills gained in this course will leave me much better equipped to plan for the future and ensure the library’s continued relevance and value to my school. In Term 4 I therefore intend to create a Library Operations Folio, including strategic and operations plans alongside policies for collection development, ICT use, and potential challenges.

I am already a member of several professional organisations, and fully intend to take advantage of their professional development. This will focus on the development and delivery of information literacy programs and wellbeing programs, broadening my understandings further and allowing me to showcase the potential in our practice to our wider school community.

Advocacy through action and alliances is my path forward in what could otherwise be an isolated, misunderstood role. While building my Wide Reading Program I have relied heavily on the action research process to ensure that my practice is evidence-based, innovative, and meets the needs of my staff and students. I have used this research to showcase my professionalism and the potential of my role to my colleagues, particularly to my school leaders. However, evaluating my work against the ALIA/ASLA standards shows that more could be done to develop my leadership capabilities. ETL504 emphasised the importance of leading from the middle by working with staff as well as students, such as through collaboratively teaching, leading professional development, or running key committees (Green, 2011; Wong; 2012; Wolf et al., 2014; Baker, 2016; Crippen & Willows, 2019; Reinsel Soulen, 2020). High staff turnover makes developing relationships with my colleagues a challenge, but also presents a ‘chopportunity’ (Weisburg, 2020) to exhibit both transformational and servant leadership, hook in new staff, and build a culture of library collaboration and appreciation from the ground up.

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ETL512 Assessment 5: Professional Placement Report

Section 1: About the placement organisation

Wollondilly Library is a small but effective public library in Picton, NSW. It services the widespread Wollondilly LGA, covering approximately 2556 square kilometres and with a population density of 21.83 per square kilometre (ID Community, n.d.). New developments increased the population by 8.6% over five years (NSW Government Office of Local Government, 2023), with two-thirds living in urban settings while one-third rural (Wollondilly Library, n.d.). Wollondilly’s population is predominantly white and Australian-born, with the majority of residents identifying their ancestry as Australian, English, Irish, and Scottish (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], n.d.).

Wollondilly Library’s mission statement reveals its purpose is to provide a range of information and materials to all residents, to encourage curiosity, free inquiry and lifelong learning, and to support the community’s civic, intellectual, and cultural pursuits. The team leader’s perspective is that the library exists to overcome disadvantage.

To encourage ease of browsing in the limited library space, Wollondilly Library has separate collections for Junior and Adult fiction and non-fiction, a Young Adult collection, an Adult Large Print collection, and a variety of magazines and other multimedia resources such as DVDs, CDs and audiobooks. Eresources such as Hoopla, Borrowbox, Mango, and Studiosity also support the various needs of users and supplement the physical collection, though borrowing statistics indicate most patrons (many from older generations) still prefer physical resources. In Wollondilly, 89.6% of residents only speak English at home (ABS, n.d.). As such, most of the collection is in English, though there are resources from the Adult Fiction, Adult Non-fiction and Junior Fiction collections offered in other languages along with access to the inter-library loans service.

Couples with children make up 50.6% of Wollondilly residents, compared with 44.7% of residents in NSW (ABS, n.d.). The team run several programs to provide socialisation for children and their parents while developing early literacy and encouraging positive engagement with the library. Bookbubs (ages 0-2) and Storytime (ages 2-5) run twice a week, while Sensory Storytime catering for users with diverse needs occurs once a month and is looking to expand (Wollondilly Library, 2023a).These programs provide a free activity for families who might otherwise be isolated due to a lack of parent groups in the area, while school holiday programming such as Lego Robotics, Mocktails and Monet, and HSC seminars (Wollondilly Library, 2023a) engage students with continuous learning and support the work done in local schools.

One of the challenges faced by Wollondilly Library staff is its low population density resulting in small funding allocations alongside the expectation to service all members in such a far-flung community. The Wollondilly Mobile Library van visits various locations, while the Home Library Delivery Service ensures access for users who can’t leave their homes due to disability or illness (Wollondilly Library, 2023b). For many patrons using these services, they offer a rare opportunity to engage with other members of the community and if this service did not exist could result in almost complete isolation and cut their access to information dramatically. Community Outreach programs also visit preschools and local shopping centres, ensuring positive interactions between staff and the community they serve.

Wollondilly Library also achieves its mission statement and overcomes disadvantage through its physical space and provision of ICT resources. The study spaces and meeting rooms are utlised by local students, adults, and community groups, while the Local History Room takes advantage of Wollondilly’s unique heritage to further connect with the residents. A welcoming children’s area in the Junior collection space encourages positive interactions through the provision of toys, craft, and Lego. For many residents, these quiet spaces, local history resources, and toys are unavailable without cost elsewhere. Patrons also have access to technology such as printing, computers, wifi, and assistive technology which I witnessed being used for a variety of purposes ranging from study to centrelink applications.

Without Wollondilly Library, many patrons would not be able to access these programs, resources, and services. As a result, their disadvantage would, in countless ways, become further entrenched.

Section 2: Theory into practice

My placement consolidated my understandings of the theories explored in ETL402 Literature Across the Curriculum.

Wollondilly Library’s Book Bubs (0-2 years) and Storytime (2-5 years) programs are aimed at developing early literacy and positive reader identity, while the Sensory Storytime was created in consultation with qualified special education teachers and promotes inclusive literacy practices, noted as a key component of an effective teacher-librarian’s work (Australian School Library Association [ASLA], 2014, p.14). Several adult book clubs run by library staff or by members of the public using library book kits aim to promote pleasure reading for older audiences. The mobile library van allows Wollondilly Library to provide access to users who would be otherwise unable to attend the physical branch location, and I participated in several community outreach programs including preschool visits and mobile storytimes in public spaces. These programs created a positive reading culture in the community which leads to many wide-reaching benefits for individuals and our society. The use of literature to overcome disadvantage was explored in ETL402, and several researchers support the notion that a positive reading culture can negate socio-economic disadvantage (Allington et al., 2021, p.S234; Krashen, 2011, p.7; Whitten et. al., 2016, p.48). While ETL402 focused on literature in schools, many benefits discussed in this subject were evident in the programs offered by Wollondilly Library. For instance, the Storytime program was designed around a specific weekly theme which aimed to engage readers through personal connections to content while developing valuable interpersonal and age-appropriate academic skills (Kidd & Castano, 2013, p.377; Myambo, 2016, para.1, 4; Short, 2018, p.291).

ETL402 revealed enjoyment of reading plays a crucial role in developing a person’s literacy skills and understanding of the world around them, as well as their empathy for the experiences of others (Gaiman, 2013, para. 9-10; Haven, 2007, p.vi; Krashen, 2009, p.20; Ross Johnston, 2014, p.537). I worked closely with the children’s librarian and the library assistants responsible for the Book Bubs and Storytime programs. Together we selected a variety of age-appropriate books to read with the children, including sensory board books for the Book Bubs children and picture books aiming to develop early decoding skills for the Storytime sessions. While these texts developed early literacy skills through their use of rhyme, repetition, and images, the primary consideration for staff was to ensure that the children were having a pleasurable and social reading experience. This reflects the notion explored in ETL402 that if children enjoy reading, literacy will be developed more easily (National Library of New Zealand, n.d.). Barone argues that the recent focus on cognitive elements such as decoding, comprehending and reading fluently in schools has meant that a focus on the pleasure of reading has been pushed aside, and that books are seen purely to develop skilful readers rather than as an end in themselves (2011, p.2). My placement experience emphasised that enjoyment of reading should be the focus, and that I have a responsibility to ensure that my students are engaged on an emotional or intellectual level, since this is what creates an intrinsic motivation that drives us to continue reading (Barone, 2011, p.3). Recent research reveals a strong correlation between reading volume and reading achievement and that the more children read, the higher their achievement levels (Allington et al., 2021, p.S233-S234, p.S236) and it is therefore in our best interests to focus on reading enjoyment with my students in future.

During my placement I was struck by how engaged these young readers were with the act of reading, with all children enjoying being read to or eager to interact with the books themselves. This early enjoyment of reading vastly contrasts with the attitudes presented by my high school students, reflecting the research explored in ETL402 around the decline in reading in the teen years due to:

  • Lack of positive reading role models
  • Burnout from reading programs in primary school
  • Boredom from the use of fiction texts to teach literacy
  • Parents who don’t value reading
  • Lack of time due to jobs, extracurricular activities
  • Competing interests and hobbies
  • Underdeveloped imaginations
  • Misconceptions about who reads for pleasure
  • Lack of exposure to reading
  • Lack of confidence and reading ability
  • Overcrowded curriculum and assessment demands
  • Lack of access and choice of reading materials (Dickenson, 2014, Krashen, 2011, Manuel & Carter, 2015, Whitten et. al., 2016)

Several of these barriers to reading can be ameliorated by programs such as those offered by Wollondilly Library. In particular, the social aspects of Wollondilly Library’s children and adult reading programs reinforces the importance of connection and community in developing reader identity, especially amongst teens whose information behaviours are motivated by social concerns (Jacobson, 2010, p.44). Activities such as Book Bubs, Storytime and the adult book clubs allowed library patrons to engage in conversations around literature, acting as positive reading role models while increasing enjoyment and further solidifying their identities as readers.

Section 3: Critical reflection

Seeing the practical application of the concepts studied in this course has consolidated my understanding of teacher librarianship, particularly around the issues of meeting user needs, reading for pleasure and information, the emergence of libraries as a third space providing wellbeing and other supports, collection development and library management, and the importance of advocacy and promotions.

A key aspect of teacher-librarianship is the importance of understanding and meeting our users’ needs and ensuring that we provide timely access to relevant resources (NSW Department of Education, 2017, p.3, 5, 7, 8). This degree frequently emphasised the continued need for free access to information in the digital age (Bates, 2010, para.58; Kuhlthau et al., 2008, p.3). The Australian Library and Information Association [ALIA] believes that unrestricted access to information is crucial to our freedoms and democracy (2018). Wollondilly Library’s commitment to providing access to residents despite their geographic challenges is evident through their Mobile Library Van and Home Delivery Service. In my setting I am faced with the challenge of increasingly being removed from the library space as it is used for exams, faculty testing, and other workshops. Access to reading materials is a crucial factor in promoting reading for pleasure and developing positive reader identities (Fisher & Frey, 2018, p.89). When staff and student access is cut due to circumstances beyond my control, I can adjust the model provided by Wollondilly Library to ensure that my users’ needs are still being met by encouraging online reservations, classroom deliveries, and mobile book trolleys in the playground.

Reading for pleasure is something that I’ve tried to build at my school over the past year to overcome disadvantage while improving student attainment and empathy (Lysaught, 2022a; Lysaught, 2022b; Lysaught, 2023c; Lysaught, 2023d). Wollondilly Library’s adult Book Club model, which allows groups to borrow up to ten copies of the same novel under one barcode, has inspired me in two ways. First, I can adjust this model to suit my Wide Reading Program by offering disengaged students the choice to read the same high interest, low reading level texts, with a social discussion or literature circle activity to follow. Second, I can utilise the book club kits to create a reading group among staff, which would allow us to promote reading for pleasure and showcase our own reader identities to our students as positive reading role-models.

This degree also emphasised that modern libraries are not just about books. Throughout this course it has become clear that libraries play an important role in providing wellbeing and other supports to our community, often stepping in when other services are inaccessible or unavailable (Aykanian et al., 2020; McKeown, 2016; Merga, 2020). My experience at Wollondilly Library proves this, with users utilising library resources to support centrelink applications and mental health activities. Many patrons also used the meeting room and quiet spaces for work and study, while programs such as Mocktails and Monet or Knit and Yarn provided opportunities for users to form connections with others who have similar interests. This supports the work by Hider et al. (2023, p.3-5), who noted that public library physical spaces are increasingly used as ‘third place’ community hubs which enable democracy and civic engagement. Moving forward, in my school library I can incorporate more social activities such as craft activities and gaming clubs to support student interests, friendships, and overall wellbeing.

Library management was another element where I was able to develop my practical skills. I worked alongside several members of the collections acquisitions team, helping me solidify my understanding of budget management and the importance of workflow procedures. Library hygiene is a key aspect of our role as information specialists (Fieldhouse & Marshall, 2011, p.36; Newsum, 2016, p.201), and I worked with the Children’s Librarian to weed their overcrowded junior fiction and non-fiction collections, ensuring that outdated, offensive, or incorrect resources were removed in order to make way for newer, more relevant additions. This experience showed me that I should trust in my own abilities to evaluate resources according to my selection and de-selection criteria.

Bonanno (2011) states we are at risk of becoming an invisible profession, and the terms ‘advocacy’ and ‘promotions’ are among the most popular keywords on my blog. Working alongside the Programs and Promotions Librarian, I was able to understand the importance of advocacy and promotions in a new light. Her tutelage expanded my understanding of the concept of user avatars to ensure my message reaches its appropriate audience, as well as a focus on three content pillars to ensure that my values are clearly expressed.

Overall, this workplace learning opportunity left me with renewed confidence in my understandings and helped remind me that even though I feel overwhelmed in my role much of the time, I am on the right track! It was especially heartening to note that Wollondilly Library has a team of people who each specialise in one role, whereas I am expected to take on all those tasks in my capacity as a teacher librarian.

 

 

Word count: 2299

References

Albitz, B., Avery, C., & Zabel, D. (Eds.). (2014). Rethinking collection development and management. ABC-CLIO, LLC.

Allington, R. L., & McGill-Franzen, A. M. (2021). Reading Volume and Reading Achievement: A Review of Recent Research. Reading Research Quarterly, 56(1), S231–S238. https://doi.org/10.1002/rrq.404

Australian Bureau of Statistics (n.d.). Wollondilly: 2021 census all persons quickstats. https://abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/LGA18400

Australia Library and Information Association [ALIA] (2018). ALIA free access to information statement. https://read.alia.org.au/alia-free-access-information-statement

Australian School Library Association [ASLA] (2014). Evidence guide for teacher librarians in the highly accomplished career stage: Australian professional standards for teachers.

Aykanian, A., Morton, P., Trawver, K., Victorson, L., Preskitt, S., & Street, K. (2020). Library-Based Field Placements: Meeting the Diverse Needs of Patrons, Including Those Experiencing Homelessness. Journal of Social Work Education, 56(1), S72–S80. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2020.1723757

Barone, D. M. (2011). Children’s literature in the classroom: Engaging lifelong readers. Guilford Press.

Bates, M. J. (2010). Information Behavior. Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences, 3rd Ed. 2381-2391. https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/bates/articles/information-behavior.html

Bonanno, K. (2011). Keynote speaker: A profession at the tipping point. Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/31003940

Dickenson, D. (2014). Children and reading: literature review. University of Western Sydney, Australian Government, and Australia Council for the Arts.

Evans, G. E., & Saponaro, M. Z. (2012). Library and information science text: Collection management basics. ABC-CLIO, LLC.

Fieldhouse, M., Marshall, A. (2011). Collection development in the digital age.

Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2018). Raise reading volume through access, choice, discussion, and book talks. The Reading Teacher, 72(1), 89-97.

Gaiman, N. (2013, October 16). Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/15/neil-gaiman-future-libraries-reading-daydreaming

Gregory, V. L. (2011). Collection development and management for 21st century library collections: An introduction. American Library Association.

Haven, K. F. (2007). Story proof: the science behind the startling power of story. ABC-Clio, LLC.

Hider, P., Garner, J., Wakeling, S., & Jamali Mahmuei, H. R. (2023). “Part of My Daily Life”: The importance of public libraries as physical spaces. Public Library Quarterly, 42(2), 190-219. https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2022.2092347

ID community (n.d.). Wollondilly Shire Council: community profile.

https://profile.id.com.au/wollondilly/about#:~:text=The%202022%20Estimated%20Resident%20Population,21.83%20persons%20per%20square%20km.

Jacobson, Harris, Frances (2010). Found It on the Internet: Coming of Age Online. American Library Association.

Kidd, D. C., & Castano, E. (2013). Reading literary fiction improves theory of mind. Science 342(6156), 377-380.

Krashen, S. D. (2009). Anything but reading. Knowledge Quest 37(5), 8.

Krashen, S. D. (2011). Free voluntary reading. ABC-CLIO, LLC.

Kuhlthau, C. C., Heinstrom, J., & Todd, R. J. (2008). The ‘information search process’ revisited: is the model still useful? Information Research, 13(4). http://informationr.net/ir/13-4/paper355.html

Lysaught, D. (2022a, January 27). ETL402 assessment 2 part b: Reflective blog post. All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2022/01/27/etl402-assessment-2-part-b-reflective-blog-post/

Lysaught, D. (2022b, August 28). ETL533 assessment 2 part b: Critical reflection of digital literature experiences. All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2022/08/28/etl533-assessment-2-part-b-critical-reflection-of-digital-literature-experiences/

Lysaught, D. (2023c, March 5). Annual library report 2022. All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2023/03/05/annual-library-report-2022/

Lysaught, D. (2023d, May 7). ETL504 5.2 & 5.3: Servant leadership. All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2023/05/07/etl504-5-2-5-3-servant-leadership/

Manuel, J., & Carter, D. (2015). Current and historical perspectives on Australian teenagers’ reading practices and preferences. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy 38(2), 115-128.

Mckeown, A. (2016). Overcoming Information Poverty: Investigating the Role of Public Libraries in The Twenty-First Century. Chandos Publishing.

Merga, M. (2020). How Can School Libraries Support Student Wellbeing? Evidence and Implications for Further Research, Journal of Library Administration, 60(6), 660–673, DOI: 10.1080/01930826.2020.1773718

Myambo, M. T. (2016, January 26). How reading fiction can help students understand the real world. The Conversation.  https://theconversation.com/amp/how-reading-fiction-can-help-students-understand-the-real-world-52908

National Library of New Zealand (n.d.). Reading for pleasure – a door to success. https://natlib.govt.nz/schools/reading-engagement/understanding-reading-engagement/reading-for-pleasure-a-door-to-success

Newsum, J. M. (2016). School collection development and resource management in digitally rich environments: An Initial Literature Review. School Libraries Worldwide, 22(1), 97–109.

NSW Department of Education [NSW DoE] (2017). Handbook for School Libraries. https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/learning-across-the-curriculum/school-libraries/your-library

NSW Government Office of Local Government (2023). 2020/2021 Wollondilly. Your Council. https://www.yourcouncil.nsw.gov.au/council-data/wollondilly-1674451854/

Ross Johnston, R. (2014). Literary literacies: digital, cultural, narrative, critical and deep literacies. In Winch, G., Ross Johnston, R., March, P., Ljungdahl, L., & Holliday, M. (eds.) Literacy: Reading, writing and children’s literature.

Short, K. G. (2018). What’s trending in children’s literature and why it matters. Language Arts 95(5), 287-298.

Warner, M. (2013, May). Welcome to the hybrid age of reading. Christian Futures. http://www.christianfutures.com/welcome-to-the-hybrid-age-of-reading-how-we-read-affects-what-we-read

Whitten, C., Labby, S., & Sullivan, S. L. (2016). The impact of pleasure reading on academic success. The Journal of Multidisciplinary Graduate Research 2(4), 48-64.

Wollondilly Library (n.d.). Draft collection development policy.

Wollondilly Library (2023a). Events. https://www.library.wollondilly.nsw.gov.au/events/

Wollondilly Library (2023b). Services. https://www.library.wollondilly.nsw.gov.au/services/

 

ETL504 Assessment 2 Part B: Reflection

This session has been incredibly difficult, with workload pressures leading to burnout. The challenges I’ve faced this session have highlighted the ways that effective leadership can support positive school culture, and this unit emphasised the importance of understanding leadership theory to advocate for our role to ensure effective practice.

One key idea is teacher-librarians should not be held back by their lack of formal leadership position, since good leaders have the vision and skills to inspire others to achieve a common goal and hold perceived influence regardless of title (Bush & Glover, 2014, p.554; Ezard, 2015; Gardner, 2013, p.18-19; Gleeson, 2016; Holmes et al., 2012, p.271, 276; Spencekao, 2013; Sutcliffe, 2013). Rather than relying on official authority, effective teacher-librarians should focus on developing a strong understanding of different leadership styles, integrating their traits to be responsive to their context’s specific needs (Bush & Glover, 2014, p.567; Smith, 2016, p.75-76). I greatly enjoyed learning about these leadership styles and recognised many aspects of Servant Leadership in my own practice (Lysaught, 2023a, 2023b, 2023c) due to its focus on service, community building, and empowering others (Arar & Oplatka, 2022, p.83-87; Blanchard & Broadwell, 2018; Crippen & Willows, 2019, p.171-172; Greenleaf, 2008, p.36). I particularly loved the ‘Continuum of Care’ concept (Reinsel Soulen, 2020), since showcasing my leadership by mentoring staff aligns well with my current position in the Teaching and Learning faculty.

   Image 1: Reinsel Soulen, 2020, p.39

However, despite my natural inclination towards Servant Leadership, this subject taught me it’s important to step outside my comfort zone to ensure effective practice and to be truly responsive to my community’s needs. Moving forward, I plan to also draw on the traits of Instructional and Transformational Leadership, with their focus on improving student outcomes through instructional quality, innovation, and reflective practice (Arar & Oplatka, 2022, p.3-5; Holmes et al., 2012, p.276; Moir et al., 2014, p.36, 39). For instance, these leadership styles can be integrated within our role as technology experts to support time-poor staff and demonstrate our value to our school community (Johnson, 2019):

Image 2: adapted from Johnson, 2019

In schools where misconceptions about our roles abound, ETL504 emphasised the importance of promoting the varied nature of our work and different ways we can leverage these leadership traits to advocate for our positions (Boyd, 2021; Jones, 2021). Reminding staff that our work extends beyond books – especially to technology and wellbeing – and that we can alleviate their workload is a key aspect of leading from the middle which I plan to integrate into my future practice (Lysaught, 2023d, 2023b, 2023e, 2023f). Module 5.3’s self-reflection was useful, identifying that I should improve my practice by leading staff professional learning and continued blogging (Lysaught, 2023f).

ETL504 revealed that ongoing strategic planning projects professionalism (Markless et al., 2016; Wong, 2012); reminding me “don’t get angry, get strategic” (Boyd, 2021).  I’ve improved my planning since my early amateur attempts (Lysaught, 2023h). Change fatigue and innovation overload are real threats in modern education (Clement, 2014; Dilkes et al., 2014; Holmes et al., 2012), and the various models summarised below were incredibly useful for understanding how to successfully manage change, allowing me to move forward in my own setting.

Image 3: Robbins et al., 2006

Image 4: adapted from Chow et al., 2019

Particularly, I found the focus on understanding stakeholder needs useful (Pratt, 2017). The two questions posed by Chow et al. (2019) and understanding resistance (Lancaster, 2019) will be at the forefront of my community consultation moving forward:

Image 5: adapted from Chow et al., 2019

Image 6: adapted from Lancaster, 2019

The importance of developing strong relationships with stakeholders, such as principals, was emphasised and helped me reframe my approach to ensure that my work was relevant to their vision. In future all library initiatives and budget submissions will align with the School Improvement Plan. Previously I’ve created an Annual Library Report, but didn’t know if my efforts were noticed (Lysaught, 2023i, 2023c). Inspired by ETL504, I created a Term 1 Library Snapshot which I published on social media, the newsletter, and library displays (Lysaught, 2023j) and received an email from the Principal thanking me.

Visibility is crucial!

Image 7: adapted from Softlink, 2017, p.3-11

 

 

Word count: 655

 

References:

Arar, K., & Oplatka, I. (2022). Advanced theories of educational leadership. Springer.

Blanchard, K., & Broadwell, R. (2018). Servant leadership in action. Berrett-Koehler.

Boyd, K. C. (2021). Advocacy: 2021 style & beyond. Knowledge Quest, 49(4), 26-31.

Bush, T. & Glover, D. (2014). School leadership models: What do we know? School Leadership and Management, 34(5), 553-571. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2014.928680

Chow, A., Robinson, J., Paulus, L., Griffin, B., Smith, N. Z. & Watterman, A. (2019). From me to we: Seeing is believing. Knowledge Quest, 48(2), pp. E1-E7.

Clement, J. (2014). Managing mandated educational change. School Leadership & Management, 34(1), 39-51. https://doi:10.1080/13632434.2013.813460

Crippen, C. & Willows, J. (2019). Connecting teacher leadership and servant leadership: A synergistic partnership. Journal of Leadership Education, 18(2), pp. 171-180.

Dilkes, J., Cunningham, C. & Gray, J. (2014). The new Australian Curriculum, teachers and change fatigue. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 39(11). https://doi:10.14221/ajte.2014v39n11.4

Ezard, T. (2015). Building trust and collaboration – Tracey Ezard [Video]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/kUkseAdKyek

Gardner, J. W. (2013). The nature of leadership. In M. Grogan (Ed.). The Jossey-Bass reader on educational leadership (3rd ed., pp. 17-27). John Wiley & Sons.

Gleeson, B. (2016, November 9). 10 unique perspectives on what makes a great leader. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/brentgleeson/2016/11/09/10-unique-perspectives-on-what-makes-a-great-leader/#276777b95dd1

Greenleaf, R. K. (2008). Greenleaf on Servant-Leadership: Who Is the Servant-Leader? The International Journal of Servant-Leadership, 4(1), 31–37. https://doi.org/10.33972/ijsl.234

Holmes, K., Clement, J. & Albright, J. (2012). The complex task of leading educational change in schools. School Leadership & Management, 33(3), 270-283.  https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2013.800477

Johnson, D. (2019). The school librarian: Your ultimate digital resource. Educational Leadership, 76(5). https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/the-school-librarian-your-ultimate-digital-resource

Jones, A. (2021, May 6). School library advocacy: The time is now. Knowledge Quest. https://knowledgequest.aasl.org/school-library-advocacy-the-time-is-now/

Lancaster, I. (2019, January 26). 5 strategies for managing change in schools. TeachThought. http://www.teachthought.com/uncategorized/5-strategies-for-managing-change-in-schools/

Lysaught, D. (2023a, March 12). ETL504 2.2 leadership theory. All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2023/03/12/etl504-2-2-leadership-theory/

Lysaught, D. (2023b, March 21). ETL504 2.3: Promoting the teacher-librarian’s visibility and value. All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2023/03/21/etl504-2-3-promoting-the-teacher-librarians-visibility-and-value/

Lysaught, D. (2023c, May 7). ETL504 5.2 & 5.3: Servant leadership. All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2023/05/07/etl504-5-2-5-3-servant-leadership/

Lysaught, D. (2023d, April 8). ETL504 2.3: Leadership concept map. All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2023/04/08/etl504-2-3-leadership-concept-map/

Lysaught, D. (2023e, March 5). ETL504 2.1: Organisation theory introduction. All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2023/03/05/etl504-2-1-organisation-theory-introduction/

Lysaught, D. (2023f, February 25). ETL504 1.1: How school leaders can build hope and prevent teacher burnout. All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2023/02/25/etl504-1-1-how-school-leaders-can-build-hope-and-prevent-teacher-burnout/

Lysaught, D. (2023g, May 7). ETL504 5.3 Future ready librarian self-reflection. All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2023/05/07/etl504-5-3-future-ready-librarian-self-reflection/

Lysaught, D. (2023h, April 27). ETL504 Strategic planning and setting goals: An amateur’s journey. All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2023/04/27/etl504-strategic-planning-and-setting-goals-an-amateurs-journey/

Lysaught, D. (2023i, March 5). Annual library report. All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2023/03/05/annual-library-report-2022/

Lysaught, D. (2023j, May 2). ETL504 Advocacy and visibility. All You Read Is Love. https://thinkspace.csu.edu.au/allyoureadislove/2023/05/02/etl504-advocacy-and-visibility/

Markless, S., Bentley, E., Pavey, S., Shaper, S., Todd, S., Webb, C., & Webb, C. (Carol). (2016). The innovative school librarian (S. Markless, Ed.; Second edition.). Facet.

Moir, S., Hattie, J. & Jansen, C.  (2014). Teacher perspectives of ‘effective’ leadership in schools. Australian Educational Leader, 36(4), 36-40.

Pratt, A. (2017). The challenge of implementing change. SCIS Connections, (103). https://www.scisdata.com/connections/issue-103/the-challenge-of-implementing-change

Reinsel Soulen, R. (2020). The continuum of care. Knowledge Quest, 48(4). 36-42.

Robbins, S.P., Bergman, R., Stagg, I. & Coulter, M. (2006). Foundations of management. Pearson Education. In ETL504 Module 4. Strategic and Operational Planning. Interact 2. https://interact2.csu.edu.au

Smith, B. (2016). The role of leadership style in creating a great school. SELU Research Review Journal, 1(1), 65-78. https://selu.usask.ca/documents/research-and-publications/srrj/SRRJ-1-1-Smith.pdf

Softlink (2017). School libraries share: Ideas for school-wide collaboration. https://www.softlinkint.com/assets/img/banners/Whitepaper_-_School_libraries_share_ideas_for_collaboration.pdf

spencekao. (2013, April 6). Instructional leadership. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efzXDk1–4w

Sutcliffe, J. (2013, September 24). The eight qualities of successful school leaders. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/sep/24/eight-qualities-successful-school-leaders

Wong, T. (2012). Strategic long-range planning. Library Media Connection, 31(2), 22-23.

ETL512 Assessment 2: Post 3 – Study Visit Reflection

Finally, write a 300-word reflection on the overall study visit experience and how it has contributed to your journey as an information professional

The ETL512 Study Visits to West Moreton Anglican College (WMAC), Lake Tuggeranong College (LTC), State Library Victoria’s Rare Book Collection (SLV), and Bundaberg Regional Libraries (BRL) have opened my eyes to the variety of work available to information professionals and revealed that the skills developed in one setting are transferable to a myriad of others. 

My virtual visits to WMAC and LTC were incredibly relevant to my chosen pathway as a high school teacher-librarian. They inspired me with wonderful ideas to incorporate into my future practice by connecting our work developing reading for pleasure and information with our promotions and role advocacy. WMAC’s idea of getting students and staff involved in the CBCA Shadow Judging by linking nominated texts to different KLAs was something I hadn’t previously encountered, and is a wonderful way of linking the library’s work with faculty curricula to promote literary learning. LTC’s staff provided several excellent ideas to build a reading culture by forming strong relationships with students and staff. All staff in each virtual visit emphasised the importance of knowing our users and building strong relationships, and it was inspiring to see practical suggestions for successful implementation which could help me build my library’s profile and promote the value of my resources and services to students, staff, and parents.

The SLV visit was to a setting I hadn’t previously considered, but Wee’s work in collection and exhibition curation sounds quite interesting as a possible future pathway if I decide to leave the education sector. His point about the usefulness of pedagogical knowledge in his library was heartening, as was his point regarding the transfer of skills to different positions. I’m now inspired to experiment with object and digital exhibitions in my own library. 

My visit to BRL paired beautifully with my upcoming workplace learning at a local council library and cemented this as a possible future pathway if I leave education. I was inspired by Harris’ emphasis on integrating new technologies into his programs and his passion for ensuring accessibility, diversity, and inclusivity for all users; as a result, I plan to create my own Gamers’ Club and investigate Virtual Reality for my library programs. This visit highlighted the value of creating strong partnerships between local and school libraries, and in future I aim to work closely with our local library network to ensure maximum benefits for my learning community.

ETL512 Assessment 2: Post 2 – Challenges, Advice, and Pathways to Becoming an Information Professional

Establishing a career in the information sector can often involve taking a variety of pathways. Discuss the examples, pitfalls, barriers and advice provided by agency hosts on their career journey to becoming information professionals. Provide one professional development action you are going to take as a result of the study visits to support your career. Include a short discussion about why and how you will take this action and include examples of possible opportunities for this PD. (500 words)

The hosts at State Library Victoria’s Rare Book Collection (SLV), Lake Tuggeranong College (LTC) and Bundaberg Regional Libraries (BRL) provided valuable points about the challenges and possible pathways into a career in the information sector. 

One key challenge identified by SLV relates to staffing and budgets, threats to libraries worldwide (Morris, 2022; Softlink, 2022, p.6-7; Woodcock, 2023). Wee noted that increasing demand for their services  was not matched by financial or staffing support, and positions were increasingly filled by people without information sciences backgrounds. BRL revealed they’d had programs cut by Council. LTC also recognised hopelessness, exhaustion and feeling unappreciated as significant challenges, echoing research outlining the negative impacts of poor leadership on staff wellbeing (Cross, 2015,p.10, 13; International Literacy Association, 2022, p.5). This devaluation of expertise is replicated in my experience, where only 1/7 local schools has a substantive, full-time, trained teacher-librarian, and our library budget hasn’t increased since 2001. Staff at SLV and LTC recognised that time management and prioritising competing demands was another challenge, with Godfree and Korodaj advising prospective teacher-librarians to view our work as a “marathon, not a sprint”. 

Wee advised that good traits for staff include: love of learning; emotional intelligence; and strong interpersonal skills to deal with the public-facing aspect of the role.  LTC advised that key characteristics of effective teacher-librarians include: persistence; gentleness; emotional intelligence; being pushy in an appealing way; cheerfulness and warmth; maintaining calm under pressure; lateral thinking; authenticity; and knowing when to say no to avoid overstretching yourself. Wee noted that all core skills were transferable to different information settings and clearly there is significant cross-over in desirable personality traits for both settings.

Volunteering was one piece of advice given by both SLV and BRL. Wee and Harris both stated that volunteering allows prospective information professionals to network and develop visibility, improve their skills, and show enthusiasm. All three hosts emphasised the importance of advocacy and promotions in their work. BRL emphasised that providing relevant programs to meet user needs is crucial to their advocacy efforts, while both SLV and LTC affirmed that constant promotions were necessary to ensure that their relevant resources connected with users in a timely, effective manner. 

As a result of these hosts’ emphasis on the importance of advocacy and promotions, I will create a school library strategic plan. This will help me to advocate for my role in a professional manner (Markless et al., 2016, p.87) and implement positive change over 5 years, heeding the ‘marathon’ advice from LTC. Within this strategic plan I intend to focus on increasing the promotion of library resources and services to ensure that my users are aware of how I can support their needs. The NSW Department of Education has a free subscription to LinkedIn Learning, which has many courses on marketing and promotions (such as this one Introducing Social Media Marketing) which I can use to improve my library’s visibility and community engagement. Changing technology will also be a focus of my strategic plan, and as a member of the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) I can access their professional learning (such as this one on Digital Trends). This strategic plan and continued professional development will help develop my key capacities in learning and teaching, management, leadership and collaboration, and community engagement (ALIA & Australian School Libraries Association, 2020, p.1-2).

Word count: 554

 

REFERENCES:

Australian Library and Information Association [ALIA] & Australian School Libraries Association [ASLA]. (2016). ALIA-ASLA statement on teacher librarians in Australia. https://read.alia.org.au/alia-asla-statement-teacher-librarians-australia

Cross, D. (2015). Teacher well-being and its impact on student learning [Slide presentation]. Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia. http://www.research.uwa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/2633590/teacher-wellbeing-and-student.pdf

International Literacy Association. (2022). Librarianship and literacy [Literacy leadership brief]. http://literacyworldwide.org/docs/default-source/where-we-stand/the-essential-leadership-of-school-librarians.pdf

Markless, S., Bentley, E., Pavey, S., Shaper, S., Todd, S., Webb, C., & Webb, C. (Carol). (2016). The innovative school librarian (S. Markless, Ed.; Second edition.). Facet.

Morris, L. (2022, December 21). National Library’s treasure Trove under threat from budget cuts. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/culture/art-and-design/national-library-s-treasure-trove-under-threat-from-budget-cuts-20221212-p5c5m6.html 

Softlink (2022). 2022 Australian and New Zealand school library survey report. https://www.softlinkint.com/resources/reports-and-whitepapers/

Woodcock, C. (2023, January 13). Public library budgets are being slashed. Police have more cash than ever. Vice. https://www.vice.com/en/article/akemgz/public-library-budgets-are-being-slashed-police-have-more-cash-than-ever

ETL512 Assessment 2: Post 1 – Services and Resources to Meet User Needs

Using examples from at least two information agencies you attended, discuss the range of services and resources they provide and how these services and resources are tailored to meet the needs of their users. (500 words)

My virtual visits to Lake Tuggeranong College (LTC), West Moreton Anglican College (WMAC) and Bundaberg Regional Libraries (BRL) provided me with an interesting opportunity to compare the ways school and public libraries are similar and different in the provision of services and resources to meet their users’ needs.

School libraries serve specific school learning communities which consist of students, staff, and parents (Kimmel, 2014, p.31), and aim to meet the educational, cultural, recreational, and professional needs of these users (NSW Department of Education, 2017, p.8). Conversely, public libraries provide free access to information for all community members to enable their participation in society and to contribute to the economic wellbeing of their families and the nation (Australian Library and Information Association [ALIA], 2018, p.1). While both aim to provide free access to a range of services and resources to their users, two key differences exist: firstly, attendance in schools is mandatory, whereas engagement with a public library is optional; and secondly, education is controlled by the state, whereas public libraries facilitate non-coercive, self-directed learning (Foundation for Economic Education & FEEGA, 2019, p.1-2).

Both school libraries visited placed a heavy emphasis on providing services and resources designed to improve their users’ reading, digital, and information literacies, a core expectation of teacher-librarians supporting young people (ALIA, Australian School Libraries Association, & Australian Education Union, 2020, p.1). LTC supported pleasure reading through genrefication and emphasised the need to build strong relationships with students to understand their needs and make them feel supported. LTC also discussed the creation of their library website to support student learning and staff teaching, and the provision of accessible, detailed PowerPoints which develop students’ research, evaluation, and referencing skills. Key to these resources’ success is staff collaboration and consultation, embedding them into classroom activities, and ongoing promotion. 

The need for advocacy and promotion were also discussed during both school visits, highlighting the importance of claiming our space (Bonanno, 2011). LTC noted their practices supporting reading and information literacy were crucial advocacy opportunities, and they frequently promoted their services to parents as well as staff and students. WMAC noted that they raised their library profile by supporting non-traditional tasks (e.g. uniforms), showcasing the library’s value by harnessing the needs of key decision makers and meeting patrons not normally involved with the library. 

BRL also emphasised the importance of customer service, proving that strong relationships are crucial to leadership in both public and educational libraries (Branch-Mueller & Rodger, 2022, p.46-47). Harris discussed the difference between traditional card holders and hidden patrons (e.g. homeless users). Climate-controlled safe spaces and harm reduction work in public libraries supports their role as ‘second responders’ who step in when other services are unavailable or inaccessible (Aykanian et al., 2020, p.S72), reflecting the wellbeing work I encounter in my school library. Harris also emphasised the importance of advocacy and promotions, especially regarding funding. BRL’s provision of technology and IT support (including senior digital literacy programs, digital collections, broadband access, robotics, and 3D printing) reflects the ways modern libraries must stay current with the changing infosphere (Floridi, 2007, p.59). All points discussed supported research regarding the wide variety of services valued by public library users (Hider et al., 2023, p.20-34) and highlighted the similarities with school libraries, despite our different clientele. 

Word count: 543

 

REFERENCES:

Australian Library and Information Association [ALIA]. (2018). Statement on public library services. https://read.alia.org.au/statement-public-library-services

ALIA, Australian School Libraries Association [ASLA], & Australian Education Union [AEU] (2020). Joint statement on school libraries. https://read.alia.org.au/joint-statement-school-libraries

Aykanian, A., Morton, P., Trawver, K., Victorson, L., Preskitt, S., & Street, K. (2020). Library-Based Field Placements: Meeting the Diverse Needs of Patrons, Including Those Experiencing Homelessness. Journal of Social Work Education, 56(1), S72–S80. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2020.1723757

Bonanno, K. (2011). ASLA Keynote Speaker: A profession at the tipping point: time to change the game plan. [Video]. Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/31003940 

Branch-Mueller, J., & Rodger, J. (2022). Single Threads Woven Together in a Tapestry: Dispositions of Teacher-Librarian Leaders. School Libraries Worldwide, 39–49. https://doi.org/10.29173/slw8454

Foundation For Economic Education, & FEEGA. (2019). The Difference Between Public Libraries and Public Schools. ContentEngine LLC, a Florida limited liability company.

Floridi, L. (2007). A Look into the Future Impact of ICT on Our Lives. The Information Society 23(1), 59-64. https://doi.org/10.1080/019722406010599094

Hider, P., Garner, J., Wakeling, S., & Jamali Mahmuei, H. R. (2023). “Part of My Daily Life”: The importance of public libraries as physical spaces. Public Library Quarterly, 42(2), 190-219. https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2022.2092347

Kimmel, S. C. (2014). Developing collections to empower learners. ALA/AASL

NSW Department of Education (2017). Handbook for School Libraries.

ETL504 5.2 & 5.3: Servant Leadership

Scenario: You are in your third year as a teacher librarian in a school where you had to work actively to promote the value and services of the library. Classes come to the library either for relief from face-to-face teaching (primary) or supervision for research (secondary) without planned opportunities for collaborative or shared teaching. As you engage with ETL504 you have evaluated your current library role as that of a servant, rather than a servant leader. You seem to be reacting to the immediate needs and requirements of teachers and students in regard to providing resources, responding to immediate information and digital literacy needs, supporting recreational reading requirements and providing technology support.

Task: Through the lens of servant leadership, identify and share one proactive approach to lead a shift in expectations and responsibilities that will build the capacity of either teachers or students in recreational reading.

It’s scary how accurate the give scenario for this task is – it almost exactly matches my situation! I started in the library in 2021 and when I stepped into the position the big perception of the library’s role in our school was that it’s all about books and reading. Rather than dedicate my non-existent time to pick that fight and battle this misconception while in the depths of Covid disruptions and completing the Masters on top of my library responsibilities and English teaching role, I leaned into this perception to show my value to my school community.

Inspired in large part by the work I completed for ETL402 Literature Across the Curriculum, I decided to start an Action Research Project based around my implementation of a Wide Reading Program for Year 7, 2022. That year our school restructured the timetable and removed DEAR from roll call despite our declining NAPLAN and HSC results, so I aligned this project with our School Plan to give it legitimacy and worked with several English teachers since I was still teaching English classes and part of that faculty despite my relocation to the library. I started with 4 classes but due to staffing issues and constant interruptions only maintained consistent contact with 2 classes.

I sold this as a service to these teachers which would support their teaching units and develop student literacy while saving them time. The reformed English curriculum explicitly references reading for pleasure, so this is another angle I’ve used this year to promote the program and ensure unity between my work in the library and teachers’ work in their classrooms.

Word got around about this program and its benefits, and so this year it has expanded to include 5 Year 7 classes and 2 Year 8 classes, ensuring access to reading materials and positive modelling for 190 teenagers who often otherwise wouldn’t take the time to read for fun.

Knowing what I do now as a result of ETL504, if I could go back in time I would be far more proactive about advertising this program and raising its visibility in the early stages with my Senior Executive to showcase my proactive response to community needs and my leadership potential. I did include comments and data from my research in my Annual Reportwhich I shared with my Head Teachers and the Senior Executive, though it’s hard to say if they even read this document so perhaps other tactics are needed, such as personal invitations to attend lessons, social media marketing, and professional publication of the results. I plan to leverage the success of this program and the trust built with staff and students to build collaborative planning opportunities in future, especially around information fluency and inquiry learning, and thus to slowly but surely change the perception of what a library is all about.

ETL504 5.3 Future Ready Librarian Self-Reflection

One of the tasks in this module was to browse the Future Ready Librarians website. Amongst its myriad of wonderful tools, I found the self-reflection survey and since I love a good survey I thought, why not? Here are my results:

 

From this tool I can identify that I need to work on leading through:

  • the provision of personalised professional learning
  • providing robust infrastructure,
  • teaching and promoting student data and privacy, and
  • curriculum instruction and assessment.

ETL504 Advocacy and Visibility

Inspired by the ETL504 readings about the importance of advocating for what we do and the different stats snapshot infographics posted on the NSW School Library Matters Facebook group, I thought I’d have a crack at designing my own. Hopefully this will help increase my visibility and show the value of my work to the school. As a relatively new TL fumbling my way through each day I‘ll take whatever wins I can!

ETL504 Strategic Planning and Setting Goals: An Amateur’s Journey

As I’m learning about effective ways to identify needs and create strategic plans, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on how far my understanding of strategic and operational planning has developed since I started in the library role at the end of 2020. In the last two weeks of 2020 I did my best to wade through the vast depths of the library space, resources and services and created a table to help me identify everything that the library did and everything that needed to be either fixed, implemented, or reassessed. This was such an overwhelming job and I felt completely unprepared, especially since the library didn’t have any policies or procedures that I could refer back to in my planning. At the time I managed to narrow it down to 5 key priority areas (I’ve deleted the other specifics since the original document went over a whopping 6 pages!):

Priority Area Purpose  Strategies Timeframe
Resource Management

Support Student Learning

Library Promotion

Literacy Improvement

Social Inclusion

In 2021 I had a bit more time and understanding of the library role, and refined this planning by setting 5 key goals which I reflected on in my 2021 Annual Library Report. It’s interesting to see how my chosen priority areas have been refined, and how my reporting of these achievement was simplified to show the value of the library to my school’s Senior Executive:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2022 this planning was further expanded via the brainstorm below. It’s interesting that at this stage of my understanding I’ve started to hone in on specific aspects of each goal. The achievements associated with each goal were reflected on in my 2022 Annual Library Report which was once again given to the Senior Executive.

Looking back on these now, they seem quite amateurish in comparison to the strategic plans explored as part of my studies for ETL504. However, at the time I was almost completely lacking any realistic knowledge of the library roles and responsibilities or of leadership theory, and so these initial attempts at strategic planning were the best I could accomplish with my limited knowledge. Now that I know better, I intend to do better and hopefully the library will flourish as a result!

ETL504 Leadership Styles and Traits

While I was preparing for the first assessment, I thought it would be an interesting experiment to upload my notes on leadership styles and traits to a word cloud generator. This is the result:

It’s interesting to see that words such as learning, colleagues, collaborative, relationships, goals, opportunities, encourage, respect, model, trust, influence, shared, values, and vision stand out as crucial repeated concepts.

ETL504 3.2 + 3.3: Applying Leadership Theory

Scenario:
Recreational borrowing is declining and students’ engagement with the fiction collection has decreased. The collection is currently shelved alphabetically. Genrefication of the fiction collection is being proposed as a strategy to address the issue.

Task:
A) Consider both internal (library) and external (school wide) factors in this element as a response to the change process

B) Identify one leadership style that will facilitate your chosen element to support the change process. Explain the leadership attributes that will be of most value.

 

External factors potentially leading to conflict over proposed genrefication could include:

  • Different or competing personal beliefs held by leaders and teachers regarding the role of the fiction collection
    • Possible solution: present summary of research into the benefits of fiction as a literary learning tool to support the curriculum; show connection between this research and the impacts that increased pleasure reading has on NAPLAN/HSC scores to align the project with the school’s Strategic Improvement Plan; show testimonials and data from other teacher-librarians or public librarians who have genrefied their collections to benefit their communities
  • Lack of communication opportunities
    • Possible solution: in addition to email communication which members of the leadership team can review in their own time, potentially schedule a meeting to present research and make a professional case for the genrefication of the fiction collection; briefly explain process and reasoning to whole staff at a meeting
  •  Limited available time and resources to genrefy the fiction collection (this is especially problematic given current staff shortages and workload issues!)
    • Possible solution: form a student library committee to a) increase student voice and ownership over the project and b) provide students with their own leadership opportunities (in my school, Student Voice is a key component of the Strategic Improvement Plan)

Internal factors which could potentially lead to conflict in this scenario are:

  • Lack of understanding about what genrefication is and how to undertake this process
    • Possible solution: undertake professional learning in this area, read professional articles (such as those in SCIS Connections), seek support from professional networks and other local libraries (both school and public libraries)

To implement a project such as this, I believe that a teacher-librarian would benefit from understanding both Transformational and Distributed leadership styles. We need to ensure that we have the support and buy-in of both official leaders and classroom teachers and can achieve this by providing them with the reasons why this project benefits them as individuals as well as the whole school community. Our colleagues would need to trust that we are capable of achieving this goal and so we would need to project our professionalism and base our plans in research and best-practice at all times. Leading this change by example is another way we can exhibit Transformational leadership. Empowering selected students to assist in the process of genrefication would also display elements of Distributed leadership.

ETL504 3.2: Conflict Resolution Style

Complete the conflict resolution questionnaire and reflect on your responses in your blog.
What is your predominant approach to managing conflict?
Does this match to how you think of yourself?
What areas do you think you need to develop?
My results indicate that my conflict resolution style is a mix of Styles 1, 4, and 5. I have put the traits which I feel apply in bold:

Style I: You tend to avoid conflict at all costs. While in some situations this may be a wise thing to do, there are things that are worth fighting for. Your fear of confrontation and unwillingness to deal with problems may cause you to abdicate from your personal goals and, as weird as it sounds, undermine your relationships with others. If you never confront your interpersonal problems with honesty and openness, your chances to resolve them are slim. This may lead to passive aggressive behavior from both sides; and while you may be able to avoid the confrontation itself, you will be subjecting yourself to continuous dull pain.

Style IV: You equally value your interpersonal relationships and your goals. Because you aren’t ready to give up on any of the two, you use compromise as your preferred strategy. Even if your demand isn’t satisfied 100 percent, it’s still better than nothing, and you get to keep the relationship.

Style V: Your strategy is honesty and openness. You value both relationships and goals and look for a way to work with your opponent for a solution that is honest and satisfactory for both sides. The difference between Style V and Style IV is that Style V is not willing to compromise the truth but, at the same time, they are patient enough to keep digging until they find a better solution that can satisfy everyone involved.

I definitely agree that I try to avoid conflict and that this has led to a number of issues both in my work and personal life. I absolutely place a high value on the relationships I have with the people I work with, and to ensure that these relationships continue to be effective and productive in the workplace I need to develop my confidence and ability to speak up when there is an issue and to advocate effectively for my work instead of letting my frustrations fester.

ETL504 2.3: Leadership Concept Map

A snapshot of leadership between the principal and the teacher librarian.
Present one simple concept map with no more than 5 concepts.

  • Identify one style suitable for a principal that would facilitate leadership in the teacher librarian.
  • Identify a style of leadership that the teacher librarian could adopt to facilitate professional growth in teaching staff to embrace the General Capabilities (or a 21st century skill)
  • Briefly justify each choice in your message.

The styles of leadership I believe would be suitable for a principal facilitating leadership in the teacher-librarian are Transformational and Distributed leadership. Smith (2016) notes that while leaders generally possess strengths in one leadership style over another, the traits of different styles can be utilised to create an effective blend which is flexible and responsive to the specific needs of an organisation. Transformational leaders see the big picture and inspire the members of their organisation to achieve a shared goal, while Distributed leaders empower others to share or develop expertise and to enact change within an organisation. Both styles require high levels of trust and interpersonal skills to encourage participation and buy-in, as well as strong management skills. However, principal’s efforts to be Transformational and/or Distributed leaders can be hampered by external factors such as Departmental policies, changing curriculum documents, and widespread staff shortages.

In a high school setting, Principals and Deputy Principals often form the Senior Executive team. Whereas the Principal’s role is more inspirational, the Deputy role (in my experience at least) seems to be more managerial. The Senior Executive team manages each faculty Head Teacher, and together they form the Executive Leadership team which oversees implementation of the school’s strategic directions and each associated committee within the school, as well as each faculty. Each classroom teacher, auxiliary staff member (including counsellors, tech support, etc.), and the teacher-librarian is managed by a member of this Executive Leadership team. Classroom teachers often exhibit traits of both Instructional and Transactional leadership, since they are crucial in the daily instruction of students and are required to utilise both the reward and punishment aspects of classroom management. Teacher-librarians can support this core work of teaching and learning in many ways by adopting a Servant leader approach, and I’ve previously discussed in my blog some of the ways teacher-librarians can help our time-poor colleagues through this leadership approach.

ETL504 2.3: Promoting the Teacher-Librarian’s Visibility and Value

How can we take the perception of the TL’s role from the keeper and stamper of books in the quiet place to something different?

I think it’s fair to say that as a profession teacher-librarians have an image problem. Way back at the start of this degree I wrote about Bonanno’s keynote speech in which she described teacher-librarians as an ‘invisible profession’ (Lysaught, August 29 2021a) and the misconception that the library is purely about books (Lysaught, August 29 2021b). A 2021 study revealed that in the US, teacher-librarian numbers declined 20% in the past decade (Ingram, July 19, 2021), and this trend of shrinking school libraries is being replicated in Australia (Tidball, February 10, 2023) alongside stagnating or declining budgets, staffing levels, and staff engagement or support (Softlink, 2022, p.6-7).

Maybe, like a good dancer, we make our work look effortless. Maybe too much of what we do is in the background of busy teachers’ days. One thing that’s for sure is that we need to work on improving our visibility and perceived value to our school community if we are to ensure the future of our profession (Weisburg, 2020).

Moir, Hattie and Jansen (2014, p.37) identified a number of key attributes that teachers perceived as important for leaders:

They also state that “Trust is often best developed in team environments, as then there is opportunity for collaboration and shared decision-making, especially when there is a common focus on improving teaching and learning” (p.39). Bush and Glover (2014, p.554) also discuss the idea of leadership as influence rather than stemming from formal authority, which suits teacher-librarians since we often lack official leadership positions in school hierarchies. Both discussions relate beautifully to the work of the teacher-librarian as literacy expert and information specialist, and they highlight a key way that teacher-librarians can both improve their visibility and their perceived value to their school community through collaborative programming, teaching, and assessment which supports the work of time-poor classroom teachers.

The work of Crippen and Willows (2019, p.174) highlights the 10 characteristics of servant-leaders, and teacher-librarians are uniquely placed to assist healing for colleagues overburdened by heavy workloads, administrivia, and poor student behaviour: “Through their actions as servant leaders they are facilitating a healing process and followers often look to them for support when times are difficult or something traumatic has occurred (Barbuto and Wheeler, 2007).” Teacher-librarians can also exhibit the persuasion trait of servant-leaders: “Supovitz (2018) also describes how teacher leaders use strategies such as leading by example, earning their colleagues trust and encouraging and collaborating with their peers.” 

Another area where teacher-librarians can shift the perception of the school community is in the space surrounding emerging or rapidly changing technologies. A 2016 article notes that “By virtue of their training, relationships, systems knowledge, and instructional roles … teacher librarians are ideally suited to lead, teach, and support students and teachers in 21st century schools” (Digital Promise, 2016). Digital literature has the potential to move students from passive consumers to active creators of content while engaging them with the process and ethics of digital content creation (Lysaught, October 4 2022), and Artificial Intelligence is another emerging space where teacher-librarians can position themselves as experts to increase their visibility and perceived value (Lysaught, March 5 2023). It is imperative that we stay current with new and developing technologies to best position ourselves as experts in this field. Our expertise in copyright and the ethics of digital tools alongside our ability to connect the General Capabilities to specific learning programs is invaluable – however, we need to ensure that we’re promoting our abilities in this area and marketing collaborative teaching and planning as a benefit to time-poor teachers rather than just another thing to add to their plates. 

Weisburg (2020) argues that while there are numerous barriers to showcasing our value, as a profession we have no other option. We must make it a priority to develop our visibility and promote our value to our school community or we run the risk of becoming obsolete. Weisburg suggests that teacher-librarians should start by looking for ways to showcase what we’re already doing; social media posts, visible displays, and staff emails can promote this work among the school community, while annual library reports can increase the perception of our professionalism and showcase for senior leaders much of the behind the scenes work that goes into running a library (Lysaught, March 5 2023). Weisburg’s suggestion about speaking at P&C meetings is another interesting one which links well to our aforementioned technology expertise. The most crucial aspect of Weisburg’s article for me was the concept of “chopportunities” – “challenges that can be turned into an opportunity.” So much of what affects the library is decided without our input and while it can be tempting to fall into the “why bother?” disheartened state of mind, for our own protection (and sanity!) reframing these issues as “chopportunities” can be a way to reclaim some sense of agency and showcase the benefits we provide to our school communities. 

 

References:

Bush, T. & Glover, D. (2014). School leadership models: What do we know? School Leadership and Management, 34(5), 553-571. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2014.928680

Crippen, C. & Willows, J. (2019). Connecting teacher leadership and servant leadership: A synergistic partnership. Journal of Leadership Education, 18(2), pp. 171-180. https://journalofleadershiped.org/jole_articles/connecting-teacher-leadership-and-servant-leadership-a-synergistic-partnership/

Digital Promise (2016). The new librarian: Leaders in the digital age. In SCIS Connections, (96). https://www.scisdata.com/connections/issue-96/the-new-librarian-leaders-in-the-digital-age/

Moir, S., Hattie, J. & Jansen, C. (2014). Teacher perspectives of ‘effective’ leadership in schools. Australian Educational Leader, 36(4), 36-40.

Softlink (2022). 2022 Australian and New Zealand school library survey report. https://www.softlinkint.com/resources/reports-and-whitepapers/

Weisburg, H. K. (2020). Leadership: There is no other option. Synergy, 18(1). https://slav.vic.edu.au/index.php/Synergy/article/view/369/364

ETL504 2.2 Leadership Theory

This week I’ve been reading up on different leadership styles and the ways that they can impact school culture and student outcomes. As with all worthwhile things in life, I’ve tried to wrap my head around these new concepts by comparing them to The Lord of the Rings. One does not simply understand these things straight away, so here’s my attempt at analysing the different leadership styles of the LotR characters.

Autocratic leadership: Autocratic leadership is characterised by decisions made from the top with very little input by followers, negatively impacting relationships and job satisfaction. I highly doubt Sauron was consulting with his orc generals, and neither Saruman nor Denethor seem particularly happy in their middle management roles. F for fail in 21st century educational leadership theory.

Transactional leadership: This style is based heavily on following processes and policies, and rewarding or punishing followers based on their performance. Saruman lures Wormtongue with the promise of Eowyn as a reward yet belittles him constantly once he fails at his task. Saruman gets a knife in the back as a result. Don’t lead like Saruman.

Instructional leadership: Instructional leaders lead from a place of official authority and have long range plans for their organisation. However, if you’re not particularly charismatic (or you’re corrupted by the One Ring) you might not be able to inspire the required action from your followers. Poor Boromir. He tried.

Distributed leadership: One of my favourite quotes from this week’s readings was from Harris, who said “empower others to bring things to you.” Elrond absolutely embodies this since he empowers the hobbits to bring the One Ring to Rivendell, and later inspires the Fellowship to volunteer for their mission … quest … thing. Ted Lasso is another pop culture distributed leader that springs to mind.

Laissez-faire (delegative) leadership: I love Gandalf, I really do. But we can’t deny that he has a habit of disappearing at key moments (“Look to my coming on the first light of the fifth day; at dawn, look to the East” – really, dude?). Lucky for Gandalf (and the rest of Middle Earth), he’s got a cracker of a team behind him whom he trusts and empowers to do the right thing when he takes a step back.

Situational leadership: This style requires flexibility and adaptability dependent on the situation, and is often contingent on the followers’ abilities. Frodo goes through a lot and relies heavily on the people around him as he adapts to the needs of his current situation. Lucky for him his Fellowship care for him (though let’s be honest, Aragorn could have totally gone after him if he’d really wanted). However, if the situational leader’s team aren’t top-notch (I’m looking at you, Gollum!) then they might not be as effective and their goals may remain unachieved.

Transformational leadership: Transformational leaders are people who see the big picture and work towards creating a sense of unity and shared vision amongst their team. They lead by example and have to make tough decisions. Aragon, son of Arathorn, Isildur’s Heir is no mere ranger, but even when without his official title manages to instill trust amongst the hobbits, and later puts himself on the line multiple times to serve the greater good.

Servant leadership: This is my personal favourite and one which I aspire to achieve in my own personal practice. Servant leaders put the needs of others first, make ethical decisions and are loyal, people-driven all-round good guys. They genuinely care about the people in their team and as a result engender an environment of high trust and inspire others to work with them. Samwise typifies this style of leadership – he’s not a powerful king or wizard, just a gardener with a heart of gold. When Frodo stumbles he picks him up and gets the job done. His line, “I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you!” seems so pertinent to the teacher-librarian’s role as leader within a school context. Everyone needs a Sam!

ETL504 2.1: Organisation Theory Introduction

Informed by Robinson’s presentation, think about the influences upon a school – structural, cultural and societal and identify a key driver for change in each area that the teacher librarian could respond to through school library programs.

A lot has changed in the 13 years since Robinson’s video was first published to Youtube. When this video was published, Youtube was still a fairly new and groundbreaking platform, Facebook was still a relative baby, Instagram had only just been launched, and TikTok wasn’t even a twinkle in its creators’ eyes. Early in my studies I was introduced to the concept of the changing infosphere (Lysaught, 2021, August 30) and my understanding of these issues and their relationship to the role of the teacher librarian has continued to develop as I’ve moved through this degree.

Since 2010, a multitude of new apps, sites, and other assorted technologies have emerged. The big one causing much consternation in the education community at the moment is the rise of AI tools such as ChatGPT. While there’s a lot of fear and uncertainty about the role artificial intelligence will play in the future of education, I strongly feel that this emerging technology is one area where effective teacher librarians can position themselves as leaders and drivers of innovation in their school communities. While some concerns are not without merit (especially around potential student plagiarism and the ethics of AI), at the moment my experiences have led me to view AI tools such as ChatGPT as a sort of “Google on steroids” and a valuable time-saver for overworked, time-poor teachers. As such, for this reflection I used it to get my head around the idea of what could be meant by structural, cultural and societal influences upon schools. I was rather pleased with the results:

Let’s address some of these influences more directly.

Structural influences upon a school:

  • School funding: obviously a teacher librarian in a school setting (especially one without formal leadership credentials) will have limited impact on the way schools are funded. However, through advocating for our role, our value to our school community and our professionalism I believe that teacher librarians can in some cases successfully apply for a greater slice of the funding pie. I used our 2021 Annual Library Report as evidence to request more funding and was granted additional support for my 2022 Wide Reading Program trial.
  • Curriculum: again, teacher librarians have an extremely limited ability to determine the curriculum set by National and State educational bodies (beyond participation in focus groups and curriculum groups when these documents are reviewed). However, our role within schools has the potential to act as the “glue” which draws together different curriculum areas (Lysaught, 2021, October 5) and the general capabilities (Lysaught, 2021, November 22), and can unite otherwise isolated subject ‘silos’ to ensure cross-curricular learning.
  • School policies: through participation in school-wide teams and committees, teacher librarians can help guide and implement these policies and procedures. For instance in the past I have been a member of our school’s Gifted and Talented Education committee, and when that was dissolved I moved into the Technology in Education committee.
  • Physical facilities: often the physical layout of the school is beyond the teacher librarian’s control; however, we can absolutely make a difference in the design and layout of the library space, and can develop and manage efficient collections which meet the learning and recreational needs of our school community. As noted in my 2022 Annual Library Report (Lysaught, 2023, March 5), 49% of library purchases were patron-led acquisitions to build student and staff ownership over the collection.

Cultural influences upon a school:

  • School culture: building respectful relationships and trust is crucial with both staff and students. Bonanno (2011, via Lysaught, 2021, August 29) emphasises the importance of building relationships with the 10-30% of staff who are likely to work with us to ensure that we are maximising our potential and adding value to our school community efficiently and meaningfully. My own experience has revealed that this takes time, but once I made progress with one teacher and the word spread about how I could help time-poor staff with their work, soon I was inundated with requests. 
  • Diversity: representation matters. Decolonising collections and ensuring inclusivity and diversity in resources and their promotion is one area where teacher librarians can positively affect school culture.
  • Parental involvement: communication to parents and caregivers via channels such as social media and parent bulletins is important for promoting the library as a useful resource centre for their children.

Societal influences upon a school:

  • Community resources: effective promotion of library educational and recreational resources can build a positive school culture where students and staff feel supported, valued and can take ownership of the space. Student-created social media posts is one of my favourite ways of helping promote library resources while encouraging students to take ownership of the space.
  • Economic factors: teacher librarians can’t change the socio-economic demographics of their school community, but they can provide access to tools and resources which can ameliorate the effects of potential disadvantage (Krashen, 2011). The ISCEA value of my school has gone down in the last few years; my implementation of the Wide Reading Program aims in part to mitigate some of the disadvantages our students face by drawing on research into pleasure reading and by providing time and access to reading materials.
  • Political climate: well, ain’t this one a tough nut to crack. It seems that everywhere we look teachers are easy pickings for politicians wanting to stoke the fires of the culture wars for their own gain. However, advocacy and professionalism can go some way towards easing public and political misconceptions about the role of teachers in society. Would it be cheeky of me to add media and digital literacy teaching programs here?

Annual Library Report 2022

One key tool I use to advocate for my school’s library is our Annual Library Report. I give this to all members of the Senior Executive at my school to remind them of the value our library provides to our school learning community. While time-consuming to create, I strongly believe that this is an important promotional tool which projects my image as a professional, a team player and a leader. The full report can be accessed here: https://bit.ly/3Jg1e7k