On March 16 SLAV held the “E-Literacy: Think differently, act differently, learn differently” conference at Etihad Stadium. The conference highlighted the importance of the school library and the positive influence librarians can have on the culture of a school. The presentations from the conference can now be found on the SLAV website.
The day began with a presentation by Dr Ross Todd from the Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries at Rutgers University. Dr. Todd spoke passionately about the positive influence that school librarians can have on teaching and learning. His work highlights the role of school librarians as innovative leaders of professional learning. His presentation contains results from studies into effective school libraries and contains many quotes from teachers about the importance of the school library.
Dr. David Howes from V.C.A.A. spoke about the Australian Curriculum and a new Extended investigation study for Unit 3/4 VCE in his presentation. With an emphasis on general capabilities and cross curricular priorities in the Australian Curriculum, the school library will continue to play a critical role as a hub of learning in the school. The importance of documenting this work was highlighted in Pru Mitchell’s presentation, which includes some great tips for keeping evidence of work relating to professional standards. Presentations were also given by three schools about the Web Elements Engaged project. You can find out more about this great project at the WEE project wiki.
Perhaps one quote from the day best sums up the importance of school libraries. Taken from Dr. Ross Todd’s presentation, it reads:
“Libraries are the verbs in the content standards. Wherever verbs such as read, research, analyse, explore, examine, compare, contrast, understand, interpret, investigate, and find appear in the standards, Teacher Librarians and library resources are involved.”(Oxnard Union High School District)