Category Archives: School libraries

SLAV Virtual Book Club List June 18th, 2020

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We were delighted to welcome so many of you to our second SLAV Virtual Book Club for 2020. Thank you for joining us and for your participation.

As promised we are sharing the list of titles discussed below. Members were invited to share their favourite Australian titles, whether they are new releases or perhaps, overlooked gems. We have so many wonderful Australian writers for young people of all ages, it was very difficult to cover them all with only an hour to discuss!

We have linked each title through to the Readings Website. Please keep in mind that if an item is out of stock, it may take some time to become available again, particularly if it is coming from overseas.

Disclaimer: The lists generated as a result of Book Club discussions are not, by any means, an exhaustive list of all titles or authors for each genre/category discussed. Nor will all titles be suitable for all libraries. We advise staff discretion when referencing these lists, to properly confirm individual title suitability for individual libraries, school and students needs. These are suggested titles only, shared by our members and inclusion on, or exclusion from, a list does not suggest SLAV endorsement or rejection of a title.

Australian Middle Fiction Discussed

Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai
E-boy by Anh Do
Sophia and the Corner Park Clubhouse by Davina Bell
Game On Series by George Ivanoff
Angel Creek by Sally Rippin
Threads of Magic by Alison Croggon
Nice Girls Don’t Play Footy by Kathy Helidoniotis

Australian YA or Adult Fiction Discussed 

How to Grow a Family Tree by Eliza Henry Jones
Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club Series – Alison Goodman

Take Three Girls by Cath Crowley, Simone Howell and Fiona Wood
The Diamond Hunter by Fiona Mc Intosh
The Yield by Tara June Winch
The Ghost and the Bounty Hunter by Adam Courtenay
Exploded View by Carrie Tiffany
Mateship with Birds by Carrie Tiffany
The Medoran Chronicles by Lynette Noni
Everywhere, Everything, Everyone by Katie Warner
The Unlisted Series (ABC TV tie-in) by Chris Kunz and Justine Flynn
The Aurora Cycle by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
The End of the World is Bigger Than Love by Davina Bell
Ghost Bird by Lisa Fuller
Deep Water by Sarah Epstein
Ashala Wolf Series by Ambelin Kwaymullina
My Place (abridged Young Readers Edition) by Sally Morgan
The White Girl by Tony Birch

More Middle Grade and YA Australian Authors (to name only a few…)

Will Kostakis

Leanne Hall

Jane Godwin

Adrian Beck 

Felice Arena 

Nicole Hayes

Robert Newton

Tim Pegler

Melina Marchetta

Emily Bitto

Ceridwen Dovey 

Sonya Hartnett 

Resources for selecting Australian Fiction

The Readings Children’s Book Prize

The Readings Young Adult Book Prize

The Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction

The CBCA 

Inside A Dog 

 

 

 

 

Share Your COVID-19 School Library Experience

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From the team at Students Need School Libraries –

COVID-19. It changed Term 1, 2020. It changed the way students and school staff approach Term 2, 2020. It changed the way we view education. It changed the world. What it didn’t change was the need for school libraries run by a qualified and passionate school library team.

We want to know and share what school libraries or school library teams have been focusing on during this COVID crisis. It might look a little different from the usual, but it’s even more important during this time of change and upheaval.

The Task: We want to know what you, as a library staff member or library team, have been focusing on during this COVID crisis.

The Goal: To continue sharing the word about the importance of school libraries and school library staff. Schools are blessed to have you. And the schools without you are probably wishing they did have you right about now.

What you would need to do: Take 5 minutes to respond to the questions below or write a short paragraph about how your school library is responding to the COVID crisis and email it to blog@studentsneedschoollibraries.org.au Anyone involved in school libraries in any way is welcome to respond, from school library staff to parents or students, authors running virtual visits or publishers providing access to resources.

We will feature responses on the Students Need School Libraries Website and social media pages and we hope to share the stories around the world in collaboration with our international colleagues. We hope we can rally around each together during this time to support each other, our students, school staff and the wider community. Please let us know if you have any other ideas you would like to share.

Snapshot of a School Library during COVID-19.

  1. What has been the focus for your school library/ role during the COVID-19 crisis?
  2. What major tasks have you achieved?
  3. What has been the result for staff and/or students?
  4. What other information would you like readers to know?
  • Do you give permission for this information to be shared beyond the Students Need School Libraries website and social media, for example in an articles for a school library journal? Yes/No/I’d need to be contacted first
  • Would you like this posted anonymously: Yes/No. If no, please answer the questions below.
    • Your role/s:
    • Your school:

You can find more information here. https://studentsneedschoollibraries.org.au/blog/share-your-covid-19-school-library-experience/

NEW! Discussion Forum

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SLAV have started a Discussion Forum where members can share and discuss ideas and resources. To start off, we have created four threads that respond to the current crisis. They are:

Online learning resources
Safety precautions in school libraries
Tasks for working remotely
Wide reading lessons online

We have also created an open forum that allows you to pose a question, on any topic, to the SLAV Community.

The Discussion Forum can be accessed via the link below. The system will prompt you to sign in with your SLAV member username (the email address we have for you in our system) and the password you have set.

Once in the forum it is just a matter of replying to one of the threads to start sharing and contributing.

You can tick a box to receive emails about new posts. Join the Discussion Forum HERE.

Professional Learning Resource Round Up

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As we all respond to the directives and guidelines in relation to COVID – 19 our association is working hard to ensure we are doing all we can to support our members.

With some schools needing to close for indefinite periods of time there may be a need for your school library staff to indicate ways they are exploring professional learning during a period of school closure or changed operations.

To assist, we have created this post, listing a range of professional learning opportunities made available to members.

A range of presentations from past Professional Learning Events can be accessed via the SLAV Member Login page HERE.

Over the past two years we have created podcasts of all of our Reading Forum events as well recording a selection of presentations given at our major conferences. These podcasts are available to anyone online and can be accessed HERE.

Synergy is our online, research based, journal. The most recent edition of the journal is closed to members only but all other editions of the journal are made freely available in light of the Associations interest in being collegiate and supportive of the wider professional community. We encourage you to explore the wealth of information from current and past editions HERE. 

Digital issues of our publication – FYI – can be accessed HERE. 

As a SLAV member, you also have access to resources from the International Association of School Librarianship through our partner membership status. There are some wonderful resources to be accessed on the IASL website and we encourage you to find time to explore them. Login details are available on our Member Login page.

Finally, a word on our 2020 Professional Learning Calendar. As we advised in our most recent newsletter we are doing all we can to ensure we are keeping our members and presenters safe, and are responding to guidelines and directives accordingly.

Events – cancellations and postponements

Our March 23 conference has been cancelled.

The IB workshop to be held in conjunction with DATTA Vic at Kardinia College on April 16 has been cancelled.

Our May Masterclass in conjunction with LMERC – Powering Learning: Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives has been moved to September 4.

Our May 29 Conference – School Libraries: Powering Primary has been moved to September 14.

The National Education Summit on August 28 and 29 at MCEC, a strand of which we are a partner in providing, has been postponed to a later date yet to be announced.

All other Reading Forums, Workshops and Masterclasses

The remainder of our program are events that are to be held in school venues. At present we are continuing to plan and offer these events on the understanding that a decision will be made a month to two weeks out from each as to whether they are to go ahead. As it is very difficult to know exactly where we will be in two months’ time this approach is hopefully the best response in unknown times.

If you have any queries about this, please contact the SLAV office on 0477 439 593 or email slav@slav.org.au

We encourage all members to stay in touch with each other in these challenging times. Our branch structure is an excellent source of local support.  We encourage you to reach out and offer collegiate advice wherever you can and to ask if you need help or assistance. Our social media platforms can also be a source of connection. Please do reach out, we are open to assisting you in any way we can.

Redesigning thinking in school libraries

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notosh

As school libraries forge a new future, it’s clearly apparent that no two libraries are the same.  Whilst we can exchange ideas and hold discussions on ‘what works’ for us, defining the role of a school library is an exercise in knowing what is best for our own community.

Last week, at the SLAV workshop Redesigning thinking in Libraries, Hamish Curry of NoTosh guided library staff through a design thinking approach to exploring the future possibilities for their libraries and schools.  With an explicit focus on the areas of Mindset, Skillset, and Toolset, delegates were led through a critical and creative process learning to think deeply and constructively.  They thought through the current position of their school library and explored possibilities from different angles and through various lenses.

The room buzzed with energy as throughout the day they used words such as ‘and’, rather than ‘but’, to shake off the limitations we often place on our own thinking.  Delegates learnt about ‘ideation’ and ‘actions’ and the ‘7 spaces’ concept.  By the end of the day new ideas had been formed along with the conviction to put them into practice.

Hamish is an old friend of SLAV, having previously collaborated through his role in the Education Team at State Library of Victoria.  The new knowledge he brought from No Tosh is timely inspiration and guidance for school library staff charged with the responsibility of re-envisaging the traditional school library service.

This Storify captures some of the Twitter feed shared via #slavconf.  Thanks to delegates who tweeted from the workshop enabling the capture of this valuable record.

Hamish’s presentation is available in the member’s area of the SLAV website.

Libraries reinvented: No.1 of the top 10 list

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maker

Last week a headline in eSchool News caught my eye – Top 10 of 2014, No 1: Libraries reinvented.  I tend to ignore social media notifications citing the Top 5, 10, 20 or 120 of the best tips, tools and everything you can imagine, but this one was a pleasant surprise worth investigating as it said:

Each year, the eSchool News editors compile 10 of the most influential ed-tech developments and examine how those topics dominated K–12 ed-tech conversations.  No. 1 on our list for 2014 is the new role of school libraries.

School libraries have evolved from quiet places to read books into bustling centers [sic] of collaboration, learning, and research. School librarians are emerging as leaders as they help teachers learn valuable technology integration skills. They also teach students how to research and evaluate information.

Many of us associated with school libraries have been focussing on the evolving role of school library personnel, and the function of the library within the school community for some time.  It’s interesting to note that eSchool News has made this selection because the ‘new role of school libraries’ has dominated K–12 ed-tech conversations during 2014.  This is good news. Mentioned in the post are two articles:

Here in Australia, potential and actual change in school libraries has been documented in School Library Assoc of Victoria (SLAV) publications, and those of other relevant organisations. Examples of articles in SLAV’s Synergy journal  (all but most recent edition is open source) which support the new model of school library and have guided the work of many of us in school libraries are:

I have to agree with Doug Johnson in his commentary of the eSchool news article however when he says, ‘Be warned – this phoenix will not be the same-old, same-old bird of the past, but a new creation, technology-infused, best practices-drive, with a new kind of librarian in the lead.’

School libraries are a vital resource in the life of a student – if they’ve moved into the 21st century.  They are exciting places of instruction, support and learning that students can call their own.   They are both physical and digital environments which are part of the life of the school through a range of learning and recreational activities.   Most importantly, they are lead by progressive, open minded individuals with a collaborative attitude and the courage to change.

What’s happening in your school library? Be a library leader today!  It may sound cliche but this truly is a time for school libraries to show a new face on the future but be warned…. it’s not the ‘same-old bird’.