Envisioning school libraries

I loved reading Noel McDonough’s observations of a typical lunchtime in his secondary library, on the School Libraries & Information Literacy Unit‘s School Libraries 21C blog.

It sounded very much like the scene in my primary school library on any day. I can’t imagine a day when school libraries have vanished completely.

When he says “Although ‘libris’ means book – a book is just a piece of technology for the storage and retrieval of data from which we glean and construct knowledge”, Noel is exactly right. We can only guess what the next few years of advancements in mobile phones, iPods, interactive whiteboards (IWBs), and electronic paper, are going to bring us.

Worryingly, I do see the gap between digital natives and some older digital immigrants getting wider and wider, and I’m so glad I keep being brave enough to explore some of what Web 2.0 has to offer, but knowing there’s so much more out there, and more to come.

When I was editor of “Scan”, we made a point of asking, with every new article that was commissioned, how new technologies and changing pedagogy improved student outcomes. Applying that same question to my daily life as a teacher librarian has certainly helped me keep perspective on what new things I need to try out first, and to prioritise them.

I also have come to believe that using Web 2.0 in my daily life, outside of the education workplace, is what has allowed me to build personal confidence to use new ICT tools with students.

I look forward to the unfolding discussions.

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