This week was a huge week with the resumption of full time schooling in NSW after two months.
As an educator, it has been great to see the atmosphere back to what it has been. The kids appreciate being back even if they dread school and teachers can go back to normal.
For our school libraries, library lessons can resume in our primary schools and students in our secondary schools can utilise the library collections and learning spaces that the library has to offer.
There will be changes in the way that school libraries are managed for the time being. For example, there will have to be limits on the capacity of the library, especially during busy periods such as recess and lunch. Even in normal times, library capacity is often a discussion point for teacher librarians especially in terms of supervision ratios, and being required to accomodate so many in what can be a limited space.
We will also have to quarantine returned books to minimise the spread of the virus and that will reduce accessiblity for some items. Some activities e.g. board games cannot be provided to minimise the spread of COVID-19
While the changes will slow or limit the way library services are provided, I am sure that students will be able to accept the inconvenience. Our public libraries are still closed in NSW at the time of writing this article, and that also has caused inconvenience. Some students find comfort in studying in the local library after school and for bookworms, access to fewer books.
The global pandemic is not over, but we are so fortunate that in Australia, we have been able to bring the virus under control. There will be more people infected as time progresses, but I have faith that we will control this.
