This is the time of year when my inbox starts to fill up with requests for new TLs and admin asking if I can chat with them about their library, can they come and tour the Larkspur LLC, what suggestions do I have for them moving forward. It's always very flattering and there's nothing I love more than talking about school libraries and how the space can best serve the students and educators in a building.
But I started to think what were my first steps 5 years ago when I moved into the space? How did I approach this new role? What advice would I give someone starting their librarian journey for the first time?
I've been working on a document outlining the details connected to budgeting, purchasing, collection organization and more. I had originally planned to just pass this on to the educator moving into the Larkspur LLC as I move on to a new classroom adventure but I've been asked to share it in numerous ways and so that will come. I think also that parts and pieces of this blog will end up in that document as well. I am hoping it will be a resource or a guide for new (and existing) TLs and not merely a series of boxes to check.
Why?
Every school library is different. Every school librarian brings different strengths and vision into the space. School libraries should be living spaces that grow and adapt with the people that are using it. Creating a vibrant Library Learning Commons is not a set of boxes to be checked and while touring and talking to others is perhaps bot important and necessary, time to sit and reflect on your own space is of the utmost importance.
So where do you start?
Environment As Third Teacher
The use and organization of the physical space of the library should be the teacher librarian's first concern. Until students and educators can comfortably and independently use the space there is no reason to begin to think about integration of maker culture, inquiry based learning, book clubs and other literacy programs. The space must serve the users.
To consider:
How will the sections of the library collection be organized so that students of all ages can find the materials they want? What signage and visuals will help them? Are the shelves arranged so that all students can reach and access the books they want?
In our library we have 6 main sections for the books- non-fiction, chapter books, graphic novels, picture books, dual language, and beginning readers. Each of these sections is in a "nook" or area of it's own so that students can easily identify the books based on where they are located.
Most of the sections have mainly visual (picture) signage to help student browse the shelves independently. We do not use the computer catalogue system in our library to find books. As the school is a K-5 school I wanted students to be able to self-regulate and independently access all materials in the space.
A few decisions I made to support learners in finding their own library materials:
- Beginning readers- theses are the books that the youngest readers most often want to read and that get lost on the big picture book shelves. Using bins and forward facing books students can browse through the super hero, Pete the Cat, Franklin, Barbie, Disney, Trucks and Cars, Elephant and Piggie, Animals, Alphabet books, board books, Early Non-Fiction, Peppa Pig, etc books to find what they are looking for. Each bin is labelled with an image of the types of books that can be found inside as many of the readers of these books are actually pre-readers.
- Picture Books- these are organized by author last name as in all libraries. I did pull out popular authors and create a separate section beside the letter section for ease of finding. For example, Elise Gravel has a smaller section beside the main G section. The same for Ruth Ohi, Robert Munsch, Oliver Jeffers, Mo Willems, Ashley Spires, etc.
- Chapter books and Graphic Novels- the bulk of these two collections are organized by series and not by author. The series are either housed in front facing bins or in sections on the shelf for larger collections (i.e. Dogman). I do not make room for the entire collection on the shelf because once the school year starts and books are circulating you will never need that much shelf space until the library closes at the end of the year. (See picture of the Dogman books and allotted shelf space). Students often want to read through a series and may know the name of the series but not always the author. By organizing these books in series students can quickly find what they want and re-shelving books together is quick. Both the chapter books and graphic novel sections also have a separate section for books organized by author last name. I most often use these books for displays as students rarely need to be encouraged to read books from popular series but may not have considered or been introduced to a stand alone title.
- Non-Fiction- our non-fiction section is mainly organized by the whole number Dewey as in a K-5 school very few of our learners have begun to work with decimals and even fewer have experience with 3 digit numbers!! We have approximately 300 Kindergarten students and 150 Grade 1-2 students that will want to access the non-fiction section so their shelving and signage must work for their needs and allow them to access the books independently. First, I re-organized the non-fiction books to go straight across a shelf rather than zig zag up and down as it often does in public libraries. This allows the shelves to act as a number line and provides a clear sight line when students are looking for books. Each section has a large sign that displays- the whole number Dewey, an arrow pointing in the direction of the books, the label in words and the label in numerous pictures. This allows for all students, including pre-readers and multi-language learners to access the non-fiction section. A student may not yet be ready to read "dinosaur" but they definitely know what a Tyrannosaurus Rex looks like! Bigger sections, like the 599 Animals were split up into small sections like- Bears, Wild Cats, Ocean Mammals etc each with their own label and colour coding for ease of re-shelving.
- Dual Language- our dual language books are organized alphabetically by language and when possible have the dual language on the label. They were moved to be the first section you encounter when you enter the library so that multi-language learners are welcomed as soon as they enter the space.
- Leading Learning- page 34
- I printed out the various continuum from Leading Learning and tracked our progress with my admin during the first 3 years in the school library space.
- Capacity Building Series: The Third Teacher
- Empowered Inquiry Spaces by Trevor Mackenzie
- I would HIGHLY recommended all TLs (and edus) read Inquiry Mindset by Trevor Mackenzie to guide your pedagogy and decision making connected to the school library.
- flexible seating and provocation areas
- encouraging a maker culture that permeates beyond the library walls
- co-planning, co-teaching and co-learning from an inquiry stance
- library programming that instills a love of reading and promotes literacy habits
- virtual library spaces and programming
