New online book club for school library staff - What next?

Running an online book club

Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash

Well, it has been and gone. My first attempt to create some professional development for school library staff. After a sudden and inexplicably impulsive suggestion that I wanted to set up an online book club I found myself having to put my money where my mouth was. Too many of my twitter friends thought it was a great idea so I had to find a way to make it work. 

My plan, well I didn't really have a plan, and to be honest I still don't! Was to create a platform for book suggestions and provide an area for discussion. I have joined in several twitter chats and felt that this was something that I could do but also wanted to provide a platform for those who don't use social media. This was why Padlet was chosen. I was not sure whether to post the link open to all or keep it for those that asked for it and have currently decided to keep it closed.  I may be wrong but this feels like a little like signing up for it which gives it a little more status. If you want to join in after reading this, either email me at ehutchinson@library.gg or follow me on twitter @elizabethutch. Be aware that I don't automatically follow back so you will need to post a message to me saying that you want to join. At that point, I will follow you and give you the link to the Padlet. 

The first discussion took place on the 23rd January both on the Padlet and on twitter. We had chosen to read Reading by Right by Joy Court. After 2 hours of moderating I was shattered. I did learn a lot from the experience and will be making changes to the next one. I have also had some very useful feedback too that will be taken into consideration too. 

My thoughts on the first discussion 

• I need to consider my focus for my questions. Am I wanting to engage in school library discussion or more about the book? I think this was a little difficult with the first book Reading by Right by Joy Court as it had very specific chapters and it lent itself to linking what we do in practice. This meant that it was possible to join in the conversation even if you hadn't read the book. I don't think this will be the case with every book so will monitor as we work our way through the next few books. 

• I had far too many questions. 10 in an hour does not lend itself to a good discussion. I was moving to the next question just as an interesting discussion was starting on Padlet. On Twitter, I did not have time to join in the discussion myself as I was too busy getting the next question ready. I felt that I could not change this once it had started because I had already posted a link to the questions out on Twitter. I could, however, have some reserve questions in future! (Thanks, Janet!)

• I need to sit at a desk and not the kitchen table as I was aching after I had finished 2hrs of talking on the computer...

• Is the Padlet the best platform for this discussion? We had to keep refreshing in order to see other peoples comments and it felt a little disjointed although I am not sure if there is a platform that would give us what we need. I don't intend to change it for now as it may be that we just need to get used to it. 

• I also need to think about keeping a 'request only' link to the Padlet. I am not sure if it will get too big to have a proper discussion if too many people are involved. Will I have time to keep adding people? I think I will have to monitor to see how this goes. 

• Twitter, this worked well but I just need fewer questions and maybe someone else moderating with me. One person to ping out the questions and another to respond to comment might work better. Looking for volunteers :)  

• The books need to be reasonably priced, most of the time. I had not thought about this at all and chose the first one on book suggestions and votes. I don't want to be restricted by price all of the time as there will be some really useful books that we should be reading that will have a higher price. I will try to make sure that at least every other book is one everyone can afford to buy.

• This is a very useful thing to do and there is a need for this kind of #PD for school library staff

Where next?

I am very pleased with the enthusiasm for this book club. I do feel that there is a need to continue it. I hope that everyone taking part will suggest books or if not at least vote for what they would like to read. I don't want to feel like I am making all the decisions and so far that is not the case. 

If you have any feedback on the last discussion or any suggestions please feel free to comment below. This is very much our book club and I will try, as best I can, to make it worthwhile for everyone taking part. 

In house professional development for teachers. Start with your school library.

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We all assume that teachers know and understand the value of school libraries. We would hope that they encourage their students to check out books, use the online resources and credit what they find. Although there are many teachers that do, there are also an equal many that don't. We regularly talk about advocacy in the librarian world, how we should be out there reminding teachers about the support they can get from the school librarian but there is only so much one school librarian can do in a school to encourage use. In many schools this advocacy is through talking to teachers individually which can be very time consuming. 

I recently took part in a twitter chat about teachers Professional Development (PD) and the question was  "What professional development should teachers have to assure we are eliminating the achievement gap? #satchat" and my response was this:- 

All teachers should know and understand how their school library and librarian can support teaching and learning. Do you? #satchat

How can we achieve this? Once a year the school librarian should be asked to provide compulsory PD to all teaching staff to:-

·       Remind and inform teachers, who do use the library, about new resources and lessons available

·       Inform new teachers to the school about what the school library provides and to let them know  about the collaborative teaching available.

If this happens student attainment will increase. How do I know this? There have been several studies about this, this one especially is worth reading.  

Williams, D; Wavell, C; Morrison, K (2013) SCHOOL LIBRARIES on LEARNING. Robert Gordon University Institute for Management, Governance & Society (IMaGeS)

Teachers can't use something they don't know about so it is up to the senior leadership team to ensure that a resource they are paying for gets used to it’s full advantage. Not all teachers feel comfortable with using the school library catalogue or online resources and that is where the school librarian can support them and their students in the classroom.


Collaborative teaching with the school librarian can lead to impressive student learning, we just need to make sure that teachers know how to start the conversation with the school librarian and to open the doors of their classroom to extra resources and support and PD is the perfect starting point.

School's Library Service in Guernsey recently ran a whole inset day on raising accademic attainment through your school library. Read about it here.

7 skills you should be looking for in your school librarian #SLAYLG17

Having just returned from #SLAYLG17 conference where I presented a workshop on change management alongside school librarian Terri McCargar @liberryan, I was reminded of the diversity and expertise of school librarians, the need for us to help schools and teachers understand the benefits of working with us and the importance of our own advocacy. The list of our skills are vast but it still seems that many still have to fight too hard to get teachers to understand our role.

As far as I see it, the problem is that the skills of a school librarian have become so diverse and adaptable, at the point of need, that it is almost impossible to stand, one next to the other, and see the same thing. As schools do not understand the role, school librarians have had to find a way to demonstrate what they can do at every opportunity. If a teacher is interested in promoting literacy and the library the school librarian will focus on that, if the school wants to increase the use of online resources they can also do that, if research skills are the focus they can do that, if a school is interested in communicating with others across the world a school librarian will be able to set this up too. There is no set of expectations or understanding of the role from school to school. It's not even a statutory obligation for English schools to have libraries and qualified librarians. If the role has become so diverse how do we explain what we do?

If you employ any other professional you know what their skill set is and what they are being employed to do but this, sadly, is not the same for school librarians and is maybe why many schools still think that a school librarian is a keeper of books in a room. They employ 'school librarians' to issue and return the books, to keep the library tidy, buy a new book and online resources and to keep control of the students during lunchtime and they would not dream of giving them a budget to manage. This is NOT a school librarian this is a library assistant, who quite rightly should be paid term time only and on a support staff/admin wage. School librarians agree that you do not need a professional qualification to do this job.

If a school needs a Maths or science teacher they would not employ a teaching assistant and a law firm would not employ an unqualified lawyer, likewise a qualified teacher or lawyer would not work for low pay. If you want to be able to employ the best, you have to pay the right wages.

A qualified librarian has a degree in information and library studies and many have gone on to masters level too. Continuing their professional development you will find many librarians are also chartered. This high level of academia is important in the role of school librarianship as the skill set to support teaching and learning is critical but is sadly wasted in many schools. In a recent report by the literacy trust, they stated that "Evidence collected by Williams, Wavell and Morrison (2013) also shows that one of the elements of the library that contributes to the impact on learning is a qualified full-time librarian who is proactive and has managerial status" this can only happen if Headteachers and the senior management teams understand and support the role of the school librarian.

So why is it so hard to understand what a school librarian can do? Teachers have many different skills but fundamentally their role is to teach the subject they specialise in. This is the same for librarians. Many have different areas of expertise but fundamentally they are there to teach information literacy and encourage reading for pleasure. Both of which will make a difference to academic attainment.

What should schools be looking for in a school librarian?

First and foremost you are looking for someone:-

1  who knows and understands their role within the curriculum

2  who is happy to work alongside teachers in the classroom

3  who can help the school integrate information literacy into the curriculum

4  who can train teachers in information and digital literacy and support teaching and learning

Secondly, you are looking for someone:-

5. who will inspire your students to read more

6. who has ideas to engage your students and make your school library a welcoming place to be

7. who can empower your students to become independent learners through reading for pleasure and information literacy

However, if schools want this they have to ensure that the school librarian is paid equivalent to full-time teachers. That they are also supported and respected as a Head of Department with a departmental budget and in an ideal world have access to a library assistant to run the library on a day to day basis so that they can work alongside teachers and students within the classroom.

How to make sure your teachers know what the school librarian does?

•   Make sure you and your SLT understand the role of the school librarian. Have you employed a professional or a library assistant?

•   embed information literacy into your school curriculum policy

•   ensure your school library is mentioned in your literacy policy, how are they supporting your curriculum goals?

•   invite the school librarian into Head of Department meetings. If they do not know what is going on they will not be able to support the teachers or the students

•   Ask the librarian to run training sessions on how to use the school library and its resources for both teachers and students

There is so much more to do, to ensure that all students have access to good quality school libraries with qualified librarians.  By meeting and talking to so many passionate librarians with different skills at  #SLAYLG17 I am delighted to say that there is some brilliant collaborations going on out there and I am proud to be part of this profession.

Update: I have moved to a new website where you can read more blogs about school libraries and librarians. Take a look here

Reference

Teravainen, A. and Clark, C. (2017). School Libraries A literature review of current provision and evidence of impact. [online] National Literacy Trust. Available at: http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/assets/0004/1275/School_Libraries_2017_-_Final.pdf [Accessed 1 Jul. 2017].

Williams, D., Wavell, C., & Morrison, K. (2013). Impact of school libraries on learning: Critical review of published evidence to inform the Scottish education community. Robert Gordon University. Retrieved from http://scottishlibraries.org/wp- content/uploads/2015/05/SLIC_RGU_Impact_of_School_Libraries_2013.pdf