From the beginning of this course, I have been looking at the reference section in our library. Is it functional? Is it up to date? Are students using it? What is its purpose? What needs to be weeded? Why do we have a reference section in elementary? Are there better resources? The list of questions seems to go on and on.
As much of the information over the past few weeks shared has been connected to policy and various guidelines some of which are directly connected to British Columbia, I decided that I needed to dig further into my Alberta Education curriculum to see what I could find relating to Learning Commons and reference services and materials.
Alberta however is going through some major transitions right now. We are on the horizon of adopting a new K-4 curriculum for optional implementation in September 2019, but our Alberta Education website is also slowing moving over to a different web format so resources can also be difficult to locate.
I was able to come across this Learning Commons Policy and Guidelines. I found the policy and guidelines very interesting as some aspects were directly related to the importance of reference sources and services. Most notably ensuring students have access to quality resources in both digital and print to address all student learning needs (Alberta Education, 2014).
Learning Commons Policy and Guidelines
To meet and address the student learning needs, the Library Learning Commons must have the materials available to meet the curious and intrigued minds of our students. Our advances in society are made through the curiosity of individuals. The library can provide that starting point for our students to seek out information, answer their inquiry questions and challenge their thinking. From much of the reading through this theme, a recurring thought came through for me and that was the importance of relationships.
The teacher librarian must develop effective relationships with all stakeholders. Reidling, Shake and Houston (2013) share about the importance of reference interviews and how the “reference interview still involves human relations, communications and interaction with the student” (p. 105). If we as teacher librarians do not have those relationships with students they will not feel comfortable approaching us with their questions for research projects or reader’s advisory. The same is true for the educators we work with. Building those relationships with our colleagues is key to the success of the Library Learning Commons.
I found the role of the teacher librarian information in module 6 very interesting as my school district does not have a job description currently for teacher librarians. As my school is the only one currently with a teacher librarian role we are currently creating this job description. I look forward to sharing this with my current administration. My administration has been very involved in learning more about Library Learning Commons and how to effectively support all students in our school to provide equal access. After last year’s creation of a Library Learning Commons Leadership Committee, my administration decided to put a greater focus on budget allocations. My administration even put budget lines in for fiction and non-fiction. Again this is where relationships is so key in managing and evaluating reference sources and materials. The more involved you can get your administration in the Library Learning Commons, the more they will understand the need for certain resources or also the cost in attaining some resources. Open communication and sharing of information about the Library Learning Commons is key.
After working through Assignment 1, I realized how much more work is required in our Library Learning Commons. Since I started my position in September, I have worked hard to continually weed the collection mostly just based on age alone. I have also spent a tremendous amount of time with our First Nations, Metis and Inuit consultant reviewing our resources in this area to ensure appropriate information. As my school gets closer to moving into our new location, I know more time will have to be devoted to collection development as we will be focused on what needs to be weeded as well as what will need to be purchased in our new location.
Finally, when evaluating reference services, I feel the biggest challenge or hurdle to overcome in my building right now is the continuation of building relationships. There are many teachers in my building who are utilizing the services I can provide such as working with students on information literacy, how to access our digital resources, how to find resources in our library though using the OPAC system. Teachers are also feeling more comfortable with asking me to pull resources based on what they are currently teaching. However, I still have teachers in the building who have not accessed any services that I can provide. I know this is an area I need to continue to work on and look forward to talking with my administration on how we can evaluate the success of whether having a teacher librarian this school year enhanced the Library Learning Commons.
References
Learning Commons Policy and Guidelines. (2014). Retrieved from https://education.alberta.ca/learning-commons/learning-commons/
Riedling, A., Shake, L., & Houston, C. (2013). Reference skills for the school librarian(3rd ed.). Santa Barbara, California: Linworth, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC.
