Creating a vision for a school library

Here are some notes from the unit of work that I completed on creating a vision for a school library:

Vision 2013 - 2015

“The Library supports the school’s vision, value, teaching and learning programs through the creation of a physical and virtual collaborative ‘knowledge commons’ fostering creative, independent and critical lifelong learning skills, through the development of proficiency in information literacy, digital literacy and literature enrichment.”


Objectives

Objectives are measurable (Todd 2007) and clearly articulated to support the vision:

1. The library aims to create a user-centred learning environment where students and staff feel welcomed, safe and challenged to explore their interests and create new understandings and knowledge, staffed by skilled, committed and caring information professionals.
   
2. The library empowers students and teachers to be 21st Century learners and effective users of ideas and information, acknowledging that critical thinking, inquiry-based learning and digital citizenship are central life skills.
   
3. The library collaborates with the school community to assist in the planning of enriched curriculum experiences to meet the individual learning needs of its community.
   
4. The library provides a wide range of relevant multi-modal resources, services and technology that are relevant to the School’s curriculum, values, beliefs and recreational needs.
   
5. The library aims to cultivate a culture of literature enjoyment and enrichment, encouraging an awareness of the variety and diversity of reading genre and formats and encouraging engagement in literature enrichment activities. 

Needs Analysis

The future workplace will require expert thinking and complex communications rather than the routine manual and cognitive work of the past (Trilling and Fadel, 2009).  

21st Century learners need to engage with information actively rather than passively; showing the ability to problem solving, collaborate, look for deeper meaning, adapt their thinking, work in teams and different cultural settings, adapt to technology and demonstrate innovation and enterprise thinking (Hay and Todd, 2010). 

Teachers are exploring different ways of teaching knowledge, concepts and skills. The use of tools such as computer games provide an alternative to traditional teaching methods (Wright and Skidmore, 2010). The 21st century library needs to feature fluid design, a blended learning environment, include capacity for critical thinking, lead as a centre for innovation, allow pedagogy to drive learning environments, allow seamless search interfaces to a multi-modal collection and encourage literary enrichment (Hay and Todd, 2010; Sankey, M., Birch, D. & Gardiner, M., 2010) . 

Areas of concern are listed and outline a possible action to be investigated, which will deliver maximum impact towards meeting the goals of the vision.  

Identified Need	Current Practice	Best Practice	Potential Actions
1.      Strong collection addressing needs of the implementation of the Australian Curriculum (English, History, Mathematics and Science Learning Areas) (ACARA, 2011a).  Multi-modal resources add strength to the collections usefulness (Hughe, Hassell and Mancall, 2005).	TL’s reactive to curriculum needs, often waits until approached before sourcing resources.	Client-focused TLs proactive in meeting needs, “sharing the workload” with teachers (ALIA and ASLA, 2004). TLs provide a valuable role in curriculum development and resourcing with multi-modal resources that meet learner needs (Johnson, 2007; Shenton, 2009).	·       Develop strategy for working closely with subject leaders to ensure sourcing of multi-modal resources for new curriculum. ·       TLs well informed of curriculum changes and pedagogical changes due to new Australian Curriculum. ·       Evaluate and articulate Collection policy is clearly articulated to the teaching staff .
2.      Supporting teachers to understand pedagogy; linking Australian Curriculum Shaping documents to all curriculum areas (ACARA, 2011a).	Teachers only approach the library for resource provision not pedagogical support.	TL’s well informed (ALIA and ASLA, 2004) and proactive in being involved in curriculum planning and roll out (Kuhlthau and Manitoes 2010).	·       TL’s included in information loop and are proactive at collaborating with teachers on curriculum developments at school.
3.      Encourage teachers to collaboratively develop curriculum that encourages higher order thinking skills, (Kuhlthau and Manitoes 2010), discouraging ‘cut and paste’ tasks (Todd 1998)	Curriculum development occurs in staffrooms or at home and the TL’s are involved as an afterthought.	Teachers see TL’s as information specialists to support curriculum development (Kuhlthau and Manitoes 2010; Purcell 2010).	·       Establish a flexible collaborative space where teachers can work on curriculum and have access to both TLs and collection.
4.      Collaborative development of inquiry-based learning tasks engage students in building information literacy skills whilst addressing the new Australian Curriculum capabilities.	Current tasks created without reference to information literacy standards. Students struggle with sourcing and evaluating relevancy of information (Shenton, 2007). Ubiquitous computing has led to ineffective use of search engines (OLCH, 2011).	Inquiry-based learning tasks are created in collaboration with TL ensuring appropriate support for information literacy standards. Effectiveness of information literacy skills are increased when taught within a context and pedagogical framework (Grafstein 2002). Model excellence through collaboration and providing teachers with scaffolding that will support a critical thinking curriculum.	·       Collaboratively work with teachers to develop pedagogically strong inquiry-based learning tasks, which encourage higher order thinking and information literacy skills (Todd, 2012). ·       Develop a toolkit of strategies that staff can use as part of their lesson planning. ·       Development of an Information Literacy Scope and Sequence to support an integrated approach Langford (1998). ·       Encourage use of specialized online database resources to increase the quality of student research (Herring 2011).
5.      Digital literacy curriculum supports values of the school developing contributing citizens of the 21st Century.	No current digital literacy strategy or expectation for teachers to address levels of competency.	Curriculum is integrated with opportunities for students to develop digital literacies	·       Develop a digital literacy strategy that encourages use of wide range of technologies and behaviors supportive of 21st Century learning.
6.      Flexible repository of resources to support critical thinking, information and digital literacy.	Resources disorganized on school network drives, no mechanism to measure their use or appropriateness.	Tools to support the learning environment are organized to meet the needs of the students and teachers.	·       Identify how students and teachers want to access resources and develop flexible repository via library homepage.
7.      Flexible learning environment addressing learning needs of the students.	Learning areas within the library are fixed and inflexible. Students with laptops or tablets often jostle for power point’s to do work.	Provide areas and utilities so that students can use a range of appropriate technologies to enhance learning (Combes, 2010).	·       Investigate how library can adapt the current learning environment to meet the flexible needs of students and teachers.
8.      Encourage confident, creative and critical thinking (ACARA, 2012; MCEETYA, 2008) through the provision of inspirational experiences within the curriculum and library.	Teachers often rely on traditional resources to create learning experiences for students.	Provide students with the tools and environment to foster creativity, and resources that inspire creative thinking. Install décor that is quirky, thought provoking and relevant drawing upon the school community for support.	·       Create an environment within the library that encourages serendipitous learning through interior design, resource placement and points of interest
9.      All students should have ubiquitous access to technology and online resources to build effective ICT skills (Winzenried, 2010).	Students can only get access to electronic resources via desktops, net books or their own laptops (Years 9-11).	Enable all students to BYOD (bring their own device) to access the school network and library resources.	·       Collaborate with the Information Technology department to identify steps needed to have a school that supports BYOD (quote).
10.    Professionally develop staff on Web 2.0 tools can be used to complement their curriculum.	Limited  and minimal use of Web 2.0 tools throughout the curriculum.	Teachers can draw upon a wide range of Web 2.0 tools to make learning interactive, dynamic and engaging (Herring, 2011; O’Connell, 2008).	·       Develop a professional development plan (CBAM) to implement a range of Web 2.0 tools into the curriculum.
11.    Catering for individual learning needs	TL’s address learning needs on a one to one basis. It is assumed that every student uses the same modes of resources for their assignments.	Using questioning to ascertain learning styles. Constructive feedback to classroom teachers to ensure that there is follow-up.  Multi-modal resources are provided to meet their individual learning needs (Shenton, 2009).	·       Development of a shared discourse for questioning students about learning needs. ·       Development of an Individual Learning Needs Policy. ·       Utilization and promotion of multimodal formats (Brooks Kirkland, 2011).
12.    Provide a flexible ‘knowledge commons’ space in which students can congregate and work on collaborative assignments.	Library is open from 7.30am – 5.30pm, but closed at recess when many students need it.	‘Knowledge commons’ is open at different times throughout the year to cater for the needs of the students and teachers.	·       Develop a strategy to move the library towards supporting a ‘knowledge commons’ by evaluating the teacher and student needs, policies and procedures.
13.    Provision of resources available in a range of flexible or multi-modal formats to cater for individual learning styles.	Curriculum resources are provided mainly in hardcopy.	Resources are accessible in a range of formats including e-book, audio books, and interactive websites.	·       Collaborate with the subject teachers to choose and integrate the use of appropriate multi-modal resources.
14.    Encourage confident, creative and critical thinking (ACARA, 2012; MCEETYA, 2008) through the provision of inspirational experiences within the curriculum and library.	Teachers often rely on traditional resources to create learning experiences for students.	Provide students with the tools and environment to foster creativity, and resources that inspire creative thinking. Install décor that is quirky, thought provoking and relevant drawing upon the school community for support.	·       Create an environment within the library that encourages serendipitous learning through interior design, resource placement and points of interest
15.    All students should have ubiquitous access to technology and online resources to build effective ICT skills (Winzenried, 2010).	Students can only get access to electronic resources via desktops, net books or their own laptops (Years 9-11).	Enable all students to BYOD (bring their own device) to access the school network and library resources.	·       Collaborate with the Information Technology department to identify steps needed to have a school that supports BYOD (quote).
16.    Professionally develop staff on Web 2.0 tools can be used to complement their curriculum.	Limited  and minimal use of Web 2.0 tools throughout the curriculum.	Teachers can draw upon a wide range of Web 2.0 tools to make learning interactive, dynamic and engaging (Herring, 2011; O’Connell, 2008).	·       Develop a professional development plan (CBAM) to implement a range of Web 2.0 tools into the curriculum.
17.    Catering for individual learning needs	TL’s address learning needs on a one to one basis. It is assumed that every student uses the same modes of resources for their assignments.	Using questioning to ascertain learning styles. Constructive feedback to classroom teachers to ensure that there is follow-up.  Multi-modal resources are provided to meet their individual learning needs (Shenton, 2009).	·       Development of a shared discourse for questioning students about learning needs. ·       Development of an Individual Learning Needs Policy. ·       Utilization and promotion of multimodal formats (Brooks Kirkland, 2011).
18.    Provide a flexible ‘knowledge commons’ space in which students can congregate and work on collaborative assignments.	Library is open from 7.30am – 5.30pm, but closed at recess when many students need it.	‘Knowledge commons’ is open at different times throughout the year to cater for the needs of the students and teachers.	·       Develop a strategy to move the library towards supporting a ‘knowledge commons’ by evaluating the teacher and student needs, policies and procedures.
19.    Provision of resources available in a range of flexible or multi-modal formats to cater for individual learning styles.	Curriculum resources are provided mainly in hardcopy.	Resources are accessible in a range of formats including e-book, audio books, and interactive websites.	·       Collaborate with the subject teachers to choose and integrate the use of appropriate multi-modal resources.

Technology and physical property

The current Library space supports three teaching spaces and access to 15 desktop machines and a class set of netbooks. All students in Years 9 – 11 have 1:1 technology access and in 2014 Year 7 students will have an iPad as part of their learning toolkit. This access to technology will impact on the way in which students gain access to library based resources, the utilities that they access from within the library and how they move around the library.  As the resource landscape is moving towards digital formats, we need to be mindful of the learning needs of the students and the need for information to be presented to them in a range of modes and formats.

The physical library, space is no longer a place for silent study, but a space to seek information, engage in recreation, teach, learn, connect with people and contemplate ideas and concepts (Peterson 2005). Not only should the physical space change, but the operational strategy behind the library needs to change. Increased hours, break away spaces, quiet spaces and spaces for eating and socializing are all needed (Hay and Todd, 2005)

Strategies for Managing the Change Process

It is important for the TL’s to be transparent in how they go about their work and achieve their goals (Todd 2007). The current strategies for managing change in the Library do not allow for accountability or continuous improvement of products or services. Managing change within an organization is complex.  Investigations and project management plans should allow the Library team to work towards the vision.

0 Preparation

• Consult with representatives from each of the stakeholder groups in the school community; School Executive, Heads of Faculty, Teaching and Non-teaching staff and students.
• Define the timeframe for the Vision.
• Develop milestones that will be used to evaluate the progress.

1 First Year

• Establish a satisfaction survey that can be used to evaluate the progress of the vision.
• Effectively communicate the vision to all stakeholders via a range of mediums (online, offline, newsletters).
• Establish a strategy for a positive working collaborative relationship with teachers on curriculum projects. This might involve team teaching, curriculum planning or training teachers. Manage documentation to effectively work with curriculum faculties.
• Identify areas of the curriculum that need to be resourced by evaluating the appropriateness of the collection to ensure that it meets the client needs.
• Identify appropriate Web 2.0 tools that can be integrated into the current curriculum.
• Provide faculties with intranet pathfinder pages on the intranet which aggregating digital and physical resources to encourage the development of critical thinking skills.
• Continue to maintain the library homepage ensuring that displays relevant and inspiring links. Be mindful of the need for students and teachers to have access to Australian curriculum resources.
• Start to develop an information literacy scope and sequence listing key learning indicators that can be integrated into the curriculum.
• Establish a working document to support the English Faculty Reading Circles program.
• Establish a communications marketing strategy to raise awareness of the role of the library in the school.
• Engage merchandising skills to draw students into and through the library providing points of interest based on curriculum and community needs. For example, Ancient Egypt corner or a display for Daffodil Day.
• Evaluate the appropriateness of operational constrains such as library opening hours, teacher access to TL’s, processes and procedures for gaining access to resources.
• Evaluate the physical environment of the library with the view to making it more interesting, relaxing and conducive to creativity.
• Create professional development plans for all personnel to ensure that they are well trained to move the library towards the vision.

2 Second Year

In addition to maintaining the initiatives that were started in the First Year: 

• Investigate how initiatives in First Year can be improved or changed.
• Engage marketing strategy to raise the profile of the library within the school community.
• Investigate ways in which the school community can get involved in the library (Boyd 2006).
• Plan and implement a literature festival in conjunction with the English Faculty.
• Evaluate the professional development plans and the opportunities for TL staff.
• Evaluate use of Web 2.0 tools and do a review of the digital landscape to identify effective tools.
• Continue to add to the interior design of the library. Purchase furniture that can be re-located into the new ‘knowledge hub’.

3 Third Year

• Evaluate the effectiveness of initiatives that have been implemented and then supported in the first and second years of the strategy plan.
• Evaluate physical and technology resources to ensure that they meet the ongoing needs of the library (in collaboration with the IT faculty.
• Commence an evaluation of the current vision statement
• Review education literature that might influence the direction of the next Vision Statement.

Evaluation strategies 

Both quantitative and qualitative techniques will be used including surveys, catalogue statistics, library web site (statistics), incidental and informal feedback from both teachers and students. This strategy uses empirical evidence to support claims of positive impact and increased effectiveness (Todd, 2007; Boyd 2006).

Objective  #	Evaluation Strategies
1	·       Increase in satisfaction when using library. ·       Increase in the use of the library measured through physical and virtual access. ·       Increase in the demand and use of resources through borrowing and internal operations ·       Increase in the use of library website and access to external databases
2	·       Increase in students using appropriate research tools rather than Google to solve information problems. ·       Increase in TL working collaboratively with classroom teachers to enhance inquiry based activities in the classroom (Purcell 2010). ·       A shift in the way that students view the usefulness of the library for completing assignments and studying.
3	·       TL’s increased leverage of the school community for curriculum planning. ·       Increased reliance on TL’s to provide enrichment for modified or enhanced work requirements.
4	·       Increase in the range of multi-modal resources available. ·       Increase in the number of resources supporting the implementation of the Australian Curriculum English, History and Science domains.
5	·       Increase in the availability of literature enrichment activities including guest speakers, book clubs or writing workshops. ·       Increase in the range of literary genres that students are reading and access to library homepage genre pages. ·       Increased involvement in the English Faculty Reading Circles program.

References

ACARA (2011a). Progress of the Australian Curriculum. Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). Retrieved December 29, 2012, from http://www.acara.edu.au/curriculum/curriculum.html

ACARA. (2011b), School X My School Web Site, http://www.myschool.edu.au/, Accessed on 20 March, 2012.

The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and Australian School

Library Association (ASLA). (2004). Standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians. Retrieved September 11, 2012 from http://www.alia.org.au/policies/teacher-librarian.standards.html

Joanne H. Boelke, (1995) "Quality Improvement in Libraries: Total Quality Management and Related Approaches”, Irene P. Godden, in (ed.) Advances in Librarianship (Advances in Librarianship, Volume 19), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp.

Boyd, S. (2006). The connected library: A handbook for engaging users. Hawthorn, Vic.: Utopia Press.

Donham, J. (2005). Leadership. In Enhancing teaching and learning : a leadership guide for school library media specialists (2nd ed.) (p. 295-305). New York: Neal-Schuman. 

The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) and Australian School 

Library Association (ASLA). (2004). Standards of professional excellence for teacher librarians. 

Grafstein, A. (2002). A disciplined approach to Information Literacy. The Journal of Academic Librarianship: Jul 2002,. Vol. 28, Number 4, p. 197-204. EBSCO

Goleman, D. (2002). The New Leaders: Transforming the art of leadership into the science of results.

Hartzell, G. (2002, November). Controlling your own destiny: why vision and mission statements are indispensable. (Building Influence). School Library Journal, 48(11), 37. 

Hay, L., & Todd, R. (2010). School Libraries 21C. NSW: NSW Department of Education and Training. Curriculum K-12 Directorate. School Libraries and Information Literacy Unit.

Herring, J. (2011). Improving students’ web use and information literacy: A Guide for teachers and teacher librarians. London:Facet.

Hughes-Hassell, S; Mancall, J. (2005). Collection Management for Youth: Responding to the Needs of Learners. Retrieved from CSU Ebook Library.

Institute for the Future (IFTF) (2011). Future Work Skills 2020. Phoenix, USA: University of Phoenix Research Institute.

Jenkins, H. (2006). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: media education for the 21st century. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/collections/2346520/John-D-and-Catherine-T-MacArthur-Foundation-Reports-on-Digital-Media-and-Learning.

Kuhlthau, C., and L. Maniotes. (2010). Building Guided Inquiry Teams for 21st-Century Learners. School Library Monthly, January 1, 18-21.  

Langford, L. (1999). The information literate school community : [Electronic resource] best practice. Information literacy? Seeking clarification, ch. 4, p. 43-54, 1999  CSU Reserve

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Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA). (2008). Learning in an online world: Pedagogy Strategy. Retrieved December 28, 2012 

OLCH (2011). Perceptions of Libraries, 2010. Context and Community. Dublin, Ohio. 

Peterson, C. (2005). Space Designed for lifelong learning: The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Joint-Use Library. In Library as place rethinking roles, rethinking space. Washington, DC: Council on Library and Information Resources.

Purcell, M. (2010). All Librarians do is check out books right? A look at the roles of the school library media specialist. Library Media Connection 29(3), 30-33

Sankey, M., Birch, D. & Gardiner, M. (2010). Engaging students through multimodal learning environments: The journey continues. In C.H. Steel, M.J. Keppell, P. Gerbic & S. Housego (Eds.), Curriculum, technology & transformation for an unknown future. Proceedings ascilite Sydney 2010 (pp.852-863). 

Shenton, A. (2007). The paradoxical world of young people’s information behavior. School Libraries Worldwide, 13(2), 1-17. 

Shenton, A. K. (2009). Is the all-electronic route a sensible option for the modern school library? New Library World, 110(11), 487-497. 

Todd, R. (1998). WWW, critical literacies and learning outcomes. Teacher Librarian; Nov/Dec 1998; 26, 2; ProQuest Library Science pg. 16

Todd, R. J. (2007). Evidence-based practice and school libraries. In S. Hughes-Hassell & V. H. Harada (Eds.), School reform and the school library media specialist (pp. 57-78). Westport, Conn: Libraries Unlimited.

Todd, R. (2012). School libraries as pedagogical centres. Scan, 31(3), 27-36

Trilling, B., Fadel, C., & Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2009). 21st century skills: Learning for life in our times. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass [Kindle Edition]

Winzenried, A. (2010). Visionary leaders for Information. Wagga Wagga: Centre for information studies

Wright, P., & Skidmore, D. (2010). Multiliteracies and Games: Do Cybergamers Dream of Pedagogic Sheep?. In D. Pullen, C. Gitsaki, & M. Baguley (Eds.), Technoliteracy, Discourse, and Social Practice: Frameworks and Applications in the Digital Age (pp. 220-231). Hershey, PA