Today’s Library: Changing the Way We Operate

Finding a Better Purpose in the Library

Our school library is a hub used for many reasons. At any given time you can walk through and find our fabulous librarian reading aloud to a group of engaged students, parents reading with kids, or students working on assignments at a small pod of computers. What you don’t find very often are children going to the library for a specific purpose. Yes, they love checking out books of all sorts, but is there a particular book they are at the library for? Not necessarily. In fact, in all the years I have taught, there have only been a few times that I asked my students to do such a thing. They could all go to the Fairy tale section and pick out one book, but had they ever been asked to research a book, look up its location, and find it? Not until this last school year.

My students were doing research on pinatas and had to find specific books to help them along with the research process. I was AMAZED to see how oblivious they were to how the library works. I had to ask myself, “Why is this the issue?” There were a number of reasons I came up with:

• At my site, upper grades only go to the library every other week
• The tour of the library and how the library is set-up was given to my students in September
• From the time of the tour and the time of the assignment, there had been no reinforcements of the library set-up
• Often times visits to the library were for student enjoyment of the stories shared and not to find any particular book

After evaluating all these things and so many more (ie. the expectation for Middle School, how is the public library used), I decided to speak with our librarian about what was going on. She too was amazed at how difficult it was for students to find books in a book’s fantasyland. She shared with me that she went to a training where the librarians of the world, probably just San Diego area, talked about how they were transforming their Libraries into Learning Media Centers. Many librarians were making the library more of a place where students could research, find books that they needed and were interested in.

The new look of the library in our minds, as we collaborated, was one where students are not put on a “schedule” to come and hear a story and then check out the closest book they see when it’s just about time to go. Students will have open library time. They will come in with a purpose and use the library as it should be used, as a resource and/or center for learning. If you are working on an author study in class and need more examples, you can come into the library with your research tools in hand, check out your book, sit at a table or comfortable chair, and work independently or in groups. Just as you would at a public library.

Now, after sharing this idea with many primary teachers the idea seemed a bit far-fetched. “How would we send our kids to open time?” “Our kids love the story time!” Yes, there would need to be some serious modeling and expectations put into place for the little guys. This is something to think about when making the transition. Don’t get me wrong, 4th and 5th graders love story time as well. Is it possible to send the librarian to classrooms? Is it possible for the librarian to be seen as an educator just like the rest of us? I would never vow to give up story time. The kids LOVE it! There is, however, a wealth of knowledge and essential information that the librarian can share with all grade levels besides just the story.

While we haven’t gotten the kinks worked out and we have yet to start the year, it is a plan in our minds. The idea of having a place where students can access a variety of resources, work collaboratively on projects, and visit on an as-needed basis is key. 

In order to adapt and better meet the needs of our changing students, we need to change as well.

Click Here for a post from Edudemic offering a number of ways to digitalize and revamp the school library.

How would this library model look in your school? Any suggestions on ways to implement this change?

Your feedback is always welcome!

Thanks for reading!

Smiles,

Kriscia