Search

This paper explores how the operations of an academy library got transfigured during closures due to COVID-19. The author offers tips on how to maintain access to resources, how to engage students in learning, and support academy staff. This paper reflect how the GEMS Modern Academy school library promoted reading during distance learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published literature acknowledges the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education in various educational institutions and its contributions to the future of a nation's economy. This paper focuses on successful library STEM-based programs that were undertaken from August to September 2019 for school-aged users in a public library. This paper also explores users' perceptions in attending STEM-based activities in the library as well as their feedback on how future library programs on STEM could further be improved. These findings seek to provide new perspectives for librarians, educators, teachers, and staff in creating opportunities for STEM-based initiatives in an informal learning environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the role of school libraries in the provision of distinctive collections of folktales and the importance of folktales in the development of students' cultural awareness. This study evaluates the influence of folktales and the result of methodology taken in the school library during a specific period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

KBANZSL, the Knowledge Bank of Australia and New Zealand School Libraries, is an open access knowledge bank collating key documents, collections and other resources for and about Australian and New Zealand school libraries and teacher librarianship. The resource was created in response to recommendations from the Australian Parliament over a decade ago but still highly relevant in today's educational climate. KBANZSL holds strong potential in supporting advocacy, professional development, and research for school libraries and teacher librarianship in the Oceania region and beyond. This paper shares ways KBANZSL can be used for research and advocacy projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the need for and the requirements of international collaboration as a means of improving school library education in Japan. In 2008, in an official report by the Central Council on Education, the learning process was defined as "acquirement, application, and inquiry." Since then, Japanese teachers have become especially interested in "inquiry," a word that used to be uncommon in the country's educational system. This major trend in Japanese education and in the development of information technologies has increased the expectation that students should have a variety of learning resources available to them with help from professional school library staff. At the same time, however, Japanese school librarianship has a significant problem with its training. Most school library education programs are offered at the undergraduate level with the goal of training students who will receive the national certificate for shisho-kyoyu--literally, librarian-teachers. Universities seem to lack incentives to improve their curricula because the certificate is regulated by the School Library Law, and school librarianship in Japan largely remains locally/nationally determined. To explore the issue, a small group of volunteers, including the authors of this paper, planned the International School Librarians' Forum of East Asia 2018, which held three workshops in English in Japan. After each workshop, an online survey was conducted among approximately 20 participants to evaluate the demand for advanced training such as the workshops they attended. Finally, ideas of how to improve education for school librarianship worldwide by connecting programs such as the one in Japan with leading exemplary programs in the world are discussed, with reference to the survey results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper consists of research on the perception of school librarians in the professional public. The paper has shown that the problem of insufficient visibility of the school librarian's field is not of such importance in its professional public, contrary to the opinion of school librarians, and that the image of school librarians is positive, somewhat more positive in the educational public than in the library public. The paper also provides recommendations regarding the development of a communication strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to show the current position of the school librarians in Serbia, including proposals in a way that can be improved. The paper includes reviews of the individual activities of Serbian Associations of School Librarians (SASL), which, from the establishment in 2006 has attempted to empower and gather school librarians, unfortunately, without a success. The position of school librarians in Serbia today is often marginalized, but librarians themselves are partly responsible because they have not imposed themselves as leaders of educational-practice in improving the quality of teaching in their schools. The position of school librarians was further exacerbated by the regulations of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, passed in 2015, because they reduced the number of librarians in elementary schools, and in 2018 in secondary schools, too. The basic problem of the state, the negative natural increase and the poor demographic situation, caused a long-term decrease in the number of students, and thus also contributed to the reduction of the number of teachers who became technological surpluses. That problem was often solved by taking several teachers into the school library and given them a part of the librarians' standard. In this way, on one side, we have librarians without too much interest in the work of a school librarian, and on the other we have librarians who have been unemployed. How can, in such working conditions, school librarians in Serbia can be encouraged to work autonomously and interactively, empowered or motivated to improve their own quality of work? Each school librarian should receive concrete testimonies for continuing self-evaluation processes that show, confirm, illustrate and document his weaknesses and shortcomings, but at the same time emphasize the quality and good patterns of the set goals. He needs to see specific needs and create specific conditions in the library in which he works, in order to be able to work more successfully. A school librarian should encourage, exploit, and browse through the media good ideas, visions and strategies in order to popularize the book, reading, the culture of using the library, since creating an active user creates an active consumer of a culture that will always recognize the true value of the book, knowledge, information and libraries. The most important thing is that a school librarian, following the vision that leads to success and recognition, realizes that he needs to gain the trust and reputation on the basis of his continuing work. Part of the recent activities of Serbian Associations of School Librarians stimulates, engages and brings librarians together, working with teachers, parents, members of the local community, activating pupils for reading, as well as researching, expressing and affirming creativity. By strengthening own professional capacities, gathering and empowering, a school librarian should realize that he can transform himself into a leader in the realization of cultural activities, not just in school, but also in the local community, even at the state level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By now we've probably all seen the image of a phone on Social Media with a sticky note on it warning us that whilst it may be bringing us closer to those far away is it taking us away from those sitting next to us. Is this true in school libraries? In our determination to be at the forefront of technology are we neglecting other forms of connectedness? Re-imagine. Library spaces, library roles, library programs. How can both the physical and digital libraries become the hub of the school? Re-discover. Bring back tried and true activities. Maker Mondays don't always have to be about Technology. Concurrent activities have something for everyone. Re-connect. To students, staff, local and global communities. The libraries at an Australian International College have constantly been evolving since 2010. From a 1970's dark Senior building and a Junior classroom to the centres of their respective campuses as an Inquiry Centre and a Learning Commons. The paper will outline how Library facilities have been reinvented with 2 purpose built buildings. The Inquiry Centre with the PYP at its heart and the Learning Commons serving to provide a third space for patrons. Changes and improvements to provision of Library Services will be outlined. Changes explored will be the introduction of a comprehensive suite of digital databases, how research and referencing is embedded in each Unit and how Digital Technology is enhancing learning. Advocacy and promotion is important in all libraries and some examples of how this is achieved will be showcased. Using the LMS at the school to link to newsfeeds, embed databases into unit pages and inform parents of events will be explained. Celebrating success is so important and how Library Services ensure this is a regular feature will also be shown. In conclusion, the paper will outline the importance of collaborating at the school, local community and global levels. According to data from ALIA (Australian Library and Information Association) in 2017, there were 9,444 schools in Australia and almost all schools have a library of some description. The best school libraries have qualified library staff and provide a range of services to students, including safer online experiences, group discovery based learning and study spaces, and more electronic learning. (Australian Libraries State of the Nation Report, 2019). The libraries at Kardinia International College have constantly been evolving since 2010. From a 1970's dark Senior building and a Junior classroom to the centres of their respective campuses as an Inquiry Centre and a Learning Commons. Spaces, roles and programs have been reimagined, tried and true methods have been rediscovered and meaningful connections have been established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the topic of applying the concept of gamification in the educational process. The definition of the concept is presented, as well as its description and application. The second part of the paper presents several ICT tools, which can aid in applying gamification in the classroom environment, as well as offers suggestions for activities using these tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the meaning of the recently drafted National Policy for Library and Information Services (NPLIS) for school librarianship in South Africa. It argues that, after years of failed advocacy, a convergence of thinking across the LIS ecosystem enabled the policy project and gives new hope for the transformation of the school library sector. The investigations throughout 2017 sought to find out from a wide range of role-players what and whose behaviour they believed should be changed. The paper describes our evidence-gathering across the country and how the data were analysed into broad themes around which the policy was built. The paper pulls out the threads on school LIS policy but also highlights the principles that tie them to the overarching policy. Thus, the insistence on an ecosystems approach calls for innovative strategies to counter long-established silo-thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bilingual reading enhances children's cognitive skills and nurtures them to be proficient bilinguals. This paper examines Malay-English bilingual students' reading habits and preference in both Malay and English reading and the Malay collection in school libraries to identify ways to increase bilingual children's reading engagement. Data collection from two Singapore primary schools consists of surveys, interviews, focus groups and library observations. It was found that students' reading preferences are influenced by their struggle to comprehend the Malay text and consequently, they find Malay books less appealing. In terms of relevance and visibility, the quality of the book collection is vital to encourage students' reading engagement. Finally, this paper discusses suggestions and strategies in promoting primary school students' bilingual reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes the activity "Happened on this day...", and shows this activity was presented to students. Activity consists of two lists with description of events and people. The first list shows list of events with short description and names of people who were born or died on the particular day, the description of them in a few words and the year they were born or died. The second list provides descriptions of important people with their photo. The aim of the activity is to familiarize students with various information that can be considered a part of a general culture, and for which there is no particular class and also that information provided is linked to their living environment. A short survey was conducted for this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to show the possibilities of collaborative and partnership approaches of school libraries to achieve librarians' professional development and interchange ideas in order to inculcate 21st century learning skills. This paper displays opportunities for school librarians to become proactive in providing support across their services through a highly professional network platform. It outlines and discusses the last two years of successful professional experience of GEMS Library Network. This network could play a pivotal role in support of various library practices and professional development of its member librarians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bibliographic metadata that represents resources for children and young adults is important in providing access to these materials for school library users. In school library systems this bibliographic metadata exists in the form of records that are usually created in collaboration between publishers and cataloging agencies. Children's and Young Adults' Cataloging (CYAC) Program has been working at the Library of Congress since the 1960s to provide services for school and public libraries. This paper reports analysis of genre and subject representation in bibliographic metadata for fiction books created by the CYAC program. This metadata is important for discovery and supports genrefication efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines blog posts shared on a popular school librarian association website. Posts were written by school librarians, school library supervisors, book authors, and school library educators in various settings. The website posts were searched using the term COVID-19. The search returned 89 results written between March 2020 and June 2021. The analysis focused on the topics that were mentioned the most, according to the categories associated with the blog posts. A review of how the posts evolved is also presented. Results suggest that the most important topics that the readers of the blog needed to endure the pandemic included student engagement, teaching models, leadership, and advocacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To be able to secure an evidence-based development of the library service at a large upper secondary school in Norway, a multi method study was conducted to map the use of the library. Findings show that the library is used a lot by the students from all different branches. The main use is by students working on schoolwork sitting together with others. A stable part of the users prefers to work in the quiet area. Both teachers and students expressed a high degree of satisfaction with the library staff and emphasised the importance of the librarians' presence and availability for the users, both professionally and as responsible adults. Teachers and students alike perceived the library space as an attractive and very important physical place for students to work. A discussion of strengths and challenges of adequate methods for mapping school library use is included. Most research on school libraries concentrate on student achievement and cooperation between librarians and teachers. These are of course essential areas of concern and importance when it comes to discussing the position and function of school libraries. Nevertheless, the use of the libraries has had much less focus yet constitutes an important research area to understand the health of any library and its services. In this article we present results from a study of the use of an upper secondary school library. From 2016 to 2019, several studies were conducted relating to the use of the library at a Norwegian upper secondary school. These studies were a cooperative project between staff at the library and the Oslo Metropolitan University. The school management staff were also involved in choosing the research focus of the study. In this paper, the methods used and some of the findings are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computational thinking is a way of formulating a problem so that a computer can find a solution. It involves looking for patterns within multiple sets of data and using algorithmic thinking to find solutions. In this way, it becomes a critical literacy for future-ready youth. In this paper the authors share partial results from a National Forum on Computational Thinking funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, explaining computational thinking, exploring cross-cultural connections of the story sequence, and sharing how computational thinking can be used to create and analyze a story within the context of this story sequence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the preliminary results of a 2020/2021 research project about open schooling, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and outdoor learning in Europe and the role of school libraries in implementation and development of Open Education Resources (OER). School librarians support learners who have been unable to access schooling, but also the learners who are in school, but are not learning effectively. School librarians as Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and educational experts have all important skills to support teachers and students in development and using an OER. Innovative distance learning needs to be established for monitoring, evaluation, quality assurance, and continuous improvement. The SDGs could be achieved only if local communities ensure open access to education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies an educator-focused theory of professional behavior to the work of school librarians. The goal was to understand the motivations and dispositions of librarians who choose to perform extra-role work behaviors. The researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with eight school librarians who actively volunteered with either a regional professional organization or a young adult literature festival. Findings emphasized the reciprocal relationship between participants' emotional connectedness to the school community with their tendency to voluntarily assist and innovate for the well-being of the organization. Implications include the need for greater mentorship of pre-service librarians as well as additional networking opportunities for practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most countries, the introduction of computer technology in schools has seen the role of school libraries transformed. Adoption of new technologies are now seen to be enhancing school libraries' ability to perform their mission, vision and role, that is, providing learners access to a wide range of reading material to enable them to acquire knowledge as well as ability to read books online. This paper will address the impact computer technology is having on rural school learners at Katsande Primary School. It will explain how embracing of computer technology has influenced learners concerning achieving quality education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings from a study of the experiences of six female teacher-librarians who are now in leadership positions as assistant principals and school/university consultants. These TL leaders were working as district consultants, assistant principals, and as a university teaching and learning consultant. All TL leaders had classroom experience, teacher-librarianship experience, and had been teacher leaders in their schools. The TL leaders were using their unique skills and experiences to provide professional development and instructional leadership. More research is needed about how the experience of being a teacher-librarian shapes formal leadership roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurial skills are among the most important elements of development of each individual, both on a business plan and in any other segment of life. To be an innovative, creative and active member of society and community, prepared to constantly develop existing and create new knowledge and skills, are the fundamental determinants of overall social and economic progress. The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of the impact of school library on development of entrepreneurial skills of each individual, which should be encouraged through education from the earliest age in order for the young person to develop a thinking ability that leads to success, inventive solutions to any life problem, worked-out planning and organization strategies, real risk acceptance and responsible behavior towards oneself and society before starting an independent life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on a recently-published pedagogical statement about the role of school libraries and librarians for specific inquiry-focused curricula, this paper looks at how school librarians used the documentation in individual situations. Experiences and perceptions of individual librarians resulted in analysis of specific uses of the document: informing school leadership teams, contribution to developing school library and librarian roles and documentation, including job descriptions, and aiding preparation for school evaluation by the curriculum organization concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to give an overall picture of STEM activities in school curriculums supported by school librarians in primary schools in Croatia. Qualitative content analysis was the research methodology used to examine Croatian primary school curriculums, which are the main planning documents for all school activities. There are 904 primary schools in Croatia, according to the official list provided by the Ministry of Science and Education in Croatia (Ministarstvo znanosti i obrazovanja Republike Hrvatske, 2019). The research examined the curriculum documents available on the official web pages of 854 Croatian primary schools. The research findings, based on school year 2018/2019, give a general picture of STEM activities in school curriculum, involving librarians, in six categories: science, green libraries, technology, engineering, mathematics, and extracurricular activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A subset of international scholarship from the full Causality: School Libraries and Student Success corpus comprising empirical studies conducted in non-American locations (n=47) are examined for: geographic distribution, publication outlets, citations, data collection and analysis methods, and research strands. The majority of papers used one experimental design or two or more methods for quasi-experimental design approach for data collection, and used at least one or more often two or more data analysis methods. Six categories describe the research: learning environment, student attributes, teacher and school leadership characteristics, instructional interventions, academic skill development, and external factors for achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This ongoing research builds on investigations undertaken by Medina & Todd (2016, 2017) that focus on children's safety in online environments. As part of scholarly traditions centering on information and digital literacy, an emerging discourse and arena of research and service development is centering on the concept of digital wellbeing. Digital wellbeing is defined as the capacity of individuals to look after personal health, safety, relationships and work-life balance in digital settings. This paper, focusing on the specific aspect of digital safety as one dimension of digital wellbeing, presents an examination current challenges, theoretical perspectives and approaches to research, methods and potential instructional interventions in relation to children's conceptions and practices of safety in online environments. It will present current findings and provide perspectives on moving forward with the research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will present the Miriam College Lower and Middle Schools' Library Media Center reading program entitled Read and Learn @ the Library. The presentation will focus on the different library activities for the students across Grades 1 to 8. The purpose of the presentation is to share the different reading programs of the library that promotes reading and students' love for books. The activities presented encouraged the students that reading is enjoyable and worthwhile. The reading program infuse some playful elements that makes reading and learning more fun and engaging among students. This also supports network between teachers, librarians, and story writers and solicit their active assistance in promoting good reading habits of the students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today's society is described as a digital society or information society (Burke, 2012; Guribye, 2005; Warschauer & Matuchniak, 2010). This change has influenced all parts of society. In the digital society gaps have arisen. In the beginning it was mostly about who had access to digital technology and who had not. Today it is talked about "a second digital divide", also embracing student ability to use digital resources support net. School's compensational mission becomes an important part in this context (Warschauer, 2010; Warschauer, 2002). This paper will present a process of development, successful in our school; a cooperation between Pedagogical centre, teachers and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]