Weeding and why do we need a collection when we have the internet?

As a new TL I have disposed of some books by putting them in the staffroom and asking people to help themselves. They then got thrown in the dumpster but all of this was done without a policy or process to follow. I can see the value now of a weeding policy and am looking forward to the mid semester break to turf some very old tired and unborrowed books out!

In our school library where we have few computers and most of these are very old, we still use print resources for research as well as internet. We only have 5 computers for 30 kids, so a lot of our information literacy involves research using encyclopaedias and non-fiction books. We have a good collection which provides appropriate easily accessed information. Reading for enjoyment is totally supported and encouraged and fiction books will live on forever I hope in our school collection. Posters, charts, C.D.s, DVDs, and ephemera will always be valuable adjuncts in the learning process and thus will also be valuable additions in our school library collection.

Todays walk

Today I had coffee and a walk with my old friend and my now mentor, Lyn. We discussed how years ago she had managed to whittle the RFF that she had been doing from All Stages down to just Early Stage One and stage One. The rest of the library time was available for flexible scheduling and the best and most effective teaching that she did had been done during this time. She had worked on one teacher at a time to instill in them the positive benefits of collaborative resource based teaching and word spread rapidly with teachers lining up to have their classes booked in to the library for some team teaching and Resource Based Learning. Unfortunately for her a new principal came along who didnt believe in flexible scheduling or who had a tight budget and she replaced the flexible library time with the RFF that exists today. This is so common with the local schools around here and a new paradigm needs to be brought in to change this. i feel that this course is equipping me with the courage and information to help bring this about. We laughed at how easy I thought the job was when I first started and at her remark that it was a Pandora's box. I sent her an sms a few weeks later that said "The Pandora's box has just been opened. I am still rummaging around the Pandora's box and there is not a bottom to it as far as I can see, but I feel that I am becoming more knowledgeable and better and better equipped to deal with and cater for a busy school library and the creation of an information literate school community. Oh and by the way great news i got 29.5 in my first assignment . I'm not dumb after all. In fact I made it to the top 30% in the course. Well done me !

A late addition to the last blog is that when stage 3 did have a planning meeting, they did discuss what I could do in the library (without me of course) and they decided that this term, I could concentrate on information skills process (DET one of course), In isolation of course, as that is what has been done before and what is expected. I can see that my first job is to inform the staff at a staff or a stage meeting, the value of collaborative planning and linking the acquisition of information skills to the curriculum and to what they are studying in the classroom. Ass 1 has been sent via EASTS both for 503 and 401. A quarter of the way there and loving it! 503 was more time consuming than expected but it was very valuable examining and using the different selection criteria in a relevant fashion. Ass 1 for 401 was a very timely assignment and gave me great insight into the role of the TL in creating the ILSC. I now have a clear idea of where I am with it and some strategies that I can use to help to address the obstacle at my school, that is the lack of commitment to and total vision for the creation of an ILSC at my school. It will be a slow path , But if I can get there step by step with a vision in mind, starting with getting one open teacher at a time to collaboratively plan, then to show or display the results to other interested non- threatened parties , I will slowly achieve the task of getting the rest of staff on board. the principal and the executive should also bed my first port of call.

Blog On and a set back

I started a TL Blog for our school as we dont have a School webpage to put pertinent educational links on it. My tech expert at school had a brilliant idea and decided my School TL blog , would be easily accessed by teachers if we could put it as a link on My Library. Guess what you can and we did! You now go to my particular school's "My Library " page thru the portal and click an educational link, which will take you to my Blog without having to type in a website for a blog page. Another amazing step for woman (librarian ) Kind. ....... ...A step back on another note however is that all of the stages had a planning day at the end of the term. I was not invited to one stages planning day as I guess my job is not seen as in conjunction with but superfluous to and outside the curriculum and it would have cost money to replace me as I do RF F and would have to be replaced. My role is a classic textbook case and my work is cut out for me to change things and make people aware, starting with the principal, of just what the TL can do for you !