Library Monitors in 2018

I wrote about library monitors last year as I began to introduce it in one school while in caretaker mode. Twelve months, I am doing it again at another school.

For the time being, I am based at Strathfield Girls High School and have in collaboration with the school's Learning and Engagement Faculty worked on creating a library monitor program to promote leadership opportunities for students but also to allow students to engage in community service.

Two students will oversee the monitors as "Student Librarians" who will coordinate the monitors e.g. train them etc.

Since the opportunity has availed, I have had a great response with 10 dedicated students already signing up. Apart from typical monitor duties like manning the circulation desk and shelving, they have been working with me to place genre labels on our fiction items as part of the Premier's Reading Challenge. We have had a production line where I (or a monitor under supervision) for instance will scan the item in OLIVER, then identify the genre/s. If there are cataloging issues or a genre cannot be determine, they are pulled aside so I can do some further research in between breaks before advising the monitors through a Post It notice.

Once stickered, they are contacted before being marked off.

It has proven to be a good exercise, because I have found 150 books that were not correctly labelled on OLIVER to add to 251 books that did not have a PRC sticker placed on them in the first place. Over 400 books are now on the school's PRC that there were not there.

I have also had to spend some time also updating cataloging records with a genre as I felt that they were being overlooked in SCIS uncatalogued records.

The introduction of library monitors has also had a spin off in that a book club is being created to meet once a week next term. A group of monitors will facilitate activities etc. I am keen to see how it goes.

I will have to update everyone further on this.

This BOOK Changed My Life

Trinity Grammar in Sydney recently produced a set of video clips inviting students and staff to identify the book that changed their lives.

It's worth viewing. Click here to view it.

I have been left to answer the question myself. Was there a book that I learn't something whether it is about myself or others? Did it help me make a crucial decision in life? Has there been a book that has come to define my career?

If I was asked this question, I would I have to say that the book that has stuck out most was Matilda by Roald Dahl.

Why?

• Matilda has a love for books, just like me. She likes to spend time in the library, just like me.
• The quest for independence in life.
• As a kid, I could relate to her sense of maturity and thinking.
• Just like me, she was an academic achiever. 

I think the book empowers me to overcome the demons that one faces in life, and the difficulties in human relationships, but being able to overcome them. 

Newspapers in the library - 2018

Two years ago, I reflected on the need for students to access newspapers in the school library and use it to support their learning.

My current school used to provide newspapers to students, but no longer do.

However, I am in the process of seeking the return of at least one daily newspaper.

I am currently surveying staff who have rallied behind the idea. I have asked them to identify which newspaper/s should be available and then asked them if they would use each of the major newspapers in the classroom. I am looking forward to what the survey results are.

It is encouraging to see classroom teachers valuing the relevance of newspapers to student learning!!!