School Libraries: Breathe In the Change Together

I love when my reading, listening and learning all converge on each other in a natural and organic way. 

It's my own little happy place. 

My serendipity.

On Friday night I was listening to a OnEd Mentors podcast episode on VoicEd Radio called Thinking About Change as I was making dinner for my children and waiting for my husband to come home for the weekend.

There were many good questions posed and ideas expressed throughout the conversation and I recommend that all educators take some time to listen to it as we are indeed heading into times of change. There is a lot of uncertainty and worry in the air these days. 

What will the cuts to education look like?
What will they mean for the future of our students?
How will we support the needs of our students with less?

And these are all valid worries because without a doubt there will be cuts to the education system and we will have less. 

The only unknown question is-

How will we breathe in these changes and come out the other side stronger?

I have also been working my way through The Library Book by Susan Orlean which details the history of the Los Angeles Public Library and the devastating fire that took place at the Central Branch. I really enjoyed this book as it weaves the history of the library in Los Angeles, the history and role of libraries in our society overall, a look into the mindsets of various city librarians, and how libraries continue to adapt to change as society needs. Libraries have become more that a storehouse of books. Libraries are open and welcoming gathering places. Libraries offer support to new immigrants. Libraries offer a refuge to the homeless. Libraries are places to take risks and learn about new and developing technologies. Libraries are a glimpse into the best of what a society can be.

As I listened to Noa, Mark, and Stephen discuss how we navigate the turbulent waters of change and use the metaphor of remaining below the surface of the water where it's calmer and being able to gaze up at the choppy waves and know we will be okay, I was really struck by how profound and important a belief this is for all of us moving forward. We will be okay. We have what we need to continue honing our best practices, to continue to innovate for our students, to deepen our capacity and empower our students. We can do all of these because we have each other.

Yes, I know that sounds corny but hear me out.

In the summer when the Truth and Reconciliation sessions were cancelled and the Health curriculum was repealed back to the 1998 version people were angry and upset but that didn't stop anyone from continuing their journey to honour the calls to action. If anything I think more people have committed to reading books, having discussions and learning more about Indigenous history and culture to fill in the gaps. The recent #21Things book chat on Twitter is an excellent example of that. In regards to the Health curriculum, by repealing the curriculum and the subsequent "consultation", it has only brought a deeper awareness to the public's commitment to support the  LGBTQ+ community within our schools and society at large. 

If we continue to lean into each other, to talk together, to breathe in the change together, we can remain below the turbulent waves of the unknown.

School libraries are also open and welcoming gathering places. As cuts to professional development opportunities happen we can work together to build our own capacity. After all, teachers are experts in education. We can seek out and lead our own learning opportunities. Right now there are two different book chats happening with the staff at my school- In This Together: Fifteen Stories of Reconciliation and Making Math Meaningful. These books chats are happening in the LLC which then also leads to co-planning and co-teaching opportunities. Our Professional Learning Networks (PLNs) are a vast repository of knowledge. Working together to move everyone's learning forward will not stop because of any cuts to education. We can lean into the change and support each other to innovate for our students. 

Our school libraries offer a place of refuge, a place to build self-regulation skills, to develop a growth mindset, to calm ourselves when needed. School libraries promote risk taking, a maker mindset and innovation. Our school libraries can be places of change. 

We just need to gather and breathe it in together.