CBCA Book Week: Symphony of Stories

At my school, the library ran a program of activities for Book Week, featuring competitions with prizes on offer.

Our highlights included:

1. Book, Song or Both - A series of titles was listed, and students had to determine whether each title was a book, a song, or both.
2. Bohemian Rhapsody - Words and phrases from Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen were scrambled, and students had to decode them
3. Favourite Book or Reading Confession - 10 teachers provided either their favourite book or their reading confession, and students had to decide for each teacher if they had a favourite book or confession and then matched either the book or confession.
4. She Needs a New Book - Students were invited to nominate a character from any book and recommend a book to feature that character in, providing reasons for their choice.
5. 1 Star Character Review - It gave students a chance to list why any character from any book deserved a one-star rating.
6. What's in her bag? - Students nominate a character of their choice from any book and list five items that you would find in their bag. 

We also had a Book Week quiz, which concluded the week on the Friday. 

While our activities may not be as extravagant as other schools, it does show that you can still put on a good Book Week program of activities for students. Some of our competitions received a good number of entries, and even a few Year 12 students decided to have a go to let off some steam after the HSC Trial Exams. 

Take Home Assessments - NSW HSC

From as early as next term, Year 12 students in New South Wales could be barred from undertaking take-home assessments as part of their Higher School Certificate Studies. The first cohort to be affected would be the Year 12 cohort for 2027.

I can understand the reasoning behind the decision - that students have increasingly outsourced assessment tasks to Artifcial Intelligence (AI) and that as a result, students wont develop skills in knowledge, critical thinking but also the ability to locate, select and communicate information. Ultimately it affects the originality of the work submitted; it is not a true reflection of what the student really knows or can demonstrate.

I was reminded of a conversation I had with an English Teacher last year. They knew the students had used AI to prepare their work but couldnt mark their work down, as they could not prove that the work submitted was not truely a students own work. It was a case of there was "nothing that they could do". 

But a different conversation this week also got me thinking too. If universities are now encouraging or supporting the use of AI (as long as its within appropriate and ethical boundaries), shouldn't students be entitled to the same, not to mention the need to be educated on it?

Schools have also begun implementing their own approaches or strategies to encourage the responsible use of AI in assessment tasks. Some even require students to record when AI was used and how it was used to construct their work as proof of originality. 

There was a teacher at my school last year, who asked her students to assess whether or not an AI generated essay would conform to the marking criteria for a question. The students discovered that AI may look on the surface to provide them the perfect essay, but didn't necessarily answer the question. This is like university students who pay others to prepare an essay but still dont receive full marks because the work didnt answer the question. 

I do think we need to educate our students on responsible use of AI, especially as teacher librarians. AI can help in many ways e.g. helping one to organise information, organise notes, provide scaffolds, proof read written work. Shouldnt we encourage it if it helps us collect information and help us organise it. I think even keeping records of chats etc in a chatbot can help. At the end of the day, one should not rely on a chatbot to do all the writing

Member's Reading Room, Parliament House Brisbane

During the recent school holidays, I went to Brisbane to attend State of Origin III, which New South Wales won convincingly, and to spend some time away from home.

I decided to do a free tour of Parliament House in Brisbane. I had previously done the tour back in 2006, but armed with a better camera, I wanted to capture the building itself. Generally, in these tours, photography is allowed as long as people are not in it.

The tour included a visit to the Members' Reading Room, which acted as the original parliamentary library until 1979, when it was relocated to the Parliamentary Annexe Building.

It is located between the Legislative Assembly and the now non-existent Legislative Council. For Queensland MPs, they can use the reading room to make phone calls and undertake work. The books and resources on the shelves have been digitised.

In preparing this entry, I had no photos of the reading room from the 2006 visit. I cannot recall whether I was shown the room back then.

Below are some photos I took of the reading room. 

Nostalgia and Books

Nostalgia is gaining popularity at the moment as people seek a sense of longing for a past period, place, or experience.

It may be in the music that you listen to, e.g., a preference for pop songs from the 1980s and 1990s.

It may be in having a meal at a place that holds good memories, e.g., the revival of Pizza Hut dine-in stores in the United States, decked out in 1980s decor, or a hotel chain seeking to revive Sizzler Restaurants here in Sydney.

It may be reading a book published during a particular period.

It may be rereading a childhood book favourite of yours, e.g. Harry Potter or The Hunger Games.

For those who love their history, like me, it may be books containing photos of Sydney from decades past, such as Retro Sydney or Australia Remember When? series. 

How can we support it in our school libraries? It got me thinking.

My colleague has for many years supported classic novels and has given its own permanent book display. We have permanent display shelves to promote the classics. Not only do they challenge readers, but they also allow one to truly appreciate literary works over time and the period in which they were written. 

If you want to pick a specific time period, e.g. 1980s - Do a display promoting literary works of the 1980s and/or current novels set in that decade. You might be surprised by how many current novels were set in the recent past. Family of Liars (E. Lockart) was set in 1987.   

I'd also recommend that libraries purchase books such as Retro Sydney or Australia Remember When? . They are good for students to understand what Australian Society was like and how it has evolved over time. Interestingly, some books are spin-offs of social media pages tracing history. The Australia Remember When? series is inspired by the Facebook Group of the same name. 

And finally, my website - Fab Sydney Flashbacks has its place in nostalgia as well. It's a resource in itself with newspaper clippings of how Sydney has evolved since the end of World War II. It focuses on Urban Development, but each week I post an old real estate advertisement that was published in newspapers, giving an insight into how affordable housing was in the past (even if it didn't feel like it because in the old days, it was much harder to get a bank loan and for those who lived in the 1980s, Interest Rates of 17%). 

I even run a Remember This? series twice a year, focusing on old retail advertisements, advertisements for television and radio shows and stations or even events of interest. 

Students doing studies of the urban setting in Sydney for Geography will enjoy learning our recent past, and those with a love for history can enjoy what life was like a generation or two, or even three generations ago. 

The pitch to sell your book

During the School Library Association of NSW (SLANSW) Summit at Abbotsleigh last month, one speaker, Kate Temple (author), outlined obstacles she felt were preventing modern classics from being created.

One of the points raised was that publishers have overwhelmed booksellers with titles they should sell. For example, Kate mentioned that Gleebooks (Glebe) receives visits from 14 sales representatives per month, pitching up to 100 children's books per publisher. 

In this instance, if each of the 14 agents pitches 100 children's books, that would be around 1,400 books per month, or up to 16,800 per year.

Amazing figure?

I can understand how the booksellers feel, because how is one able to fit so many new titles in and amongst the shelves of their store, and amongst existing titles, particularly if floorspace is small or if they want to focus on specialising in the sale of specific books, as a number do, especially independent book stores.

But at the same time, it reminds us that there are, in fact, more people than we think who are actually pursuing writing, whether it may be creative or sharing their knowledge of a topic that is very dear to them. It is a positive for society, and we are in fact richer for it

Consider how many are rejected when they submit a book manuscript, just to be considered for publication. 

Sadly, though, the competition it creates means that few will "make it", particularly given limited shelf space. It's the same with any cultural pursuit, whether it is in music or art. 

Some might say that the push to publish many different titles and to increase turnover in what is stocked is a barrier to books published today becoming classics.

I'll let time be the judge of whether a book is a classic. Did anyone foresee that Harry Potter would become what it is now, a classic, thirty years ago? Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was rejected by 12 publishers and initially had a print run of 500 in 1997. At the time, its publisher, Bloomsbury, was an unknown publisher. It has since sold 600 million copies, and Bloomsbury is a well-known publisher with Harry Potter as its flagship product

I was in Year 8 in 1999, and I first heard of Harry Potter in an English Lesson with my teacher, Mrs Morrissey, who mentioned she had read it and encouraged those in my class to read it. I don't remember any active advertising of it. By 1999, three books in the seven-book series had been published. 

It gained momentum from there, with the first major coverage in the press as I recall for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2000. It spawned films, merchandising and even its own series of Lego sets.

The market may be overloaded with books, but there will be ones that stand out and will be passed down to future generations. I come from the generation that grew up with Harry Potter, and I do recommend the books to my Gen Z students. 

And how old was I when I read Harry Potter? 33 . I am not a fan of fantasy books or a fan of magic, but the reality of my work sometimes forces me to leave my reading comfort zone because I do need to be able to recommend books to my students.  I was motivated by the continued appeal, as I saw kids continue to read the series decades later, and by my mid-thirties, I had come to appreciate how significant it had become to my generation growing up, but the writing itself and being able to read a masterpiece. 

SLANSW Summit - May 2026

Back on May 16, I attended a School Library Summit at the senior campus of Abbotsleigh School at Wahroonga.

I have not missed a summit since they began in their current format in 2018, and this one would rate as the best I've attended to date.

The summit was literacy-focused on the theme All the Literacies: Read, Discern, Discover. 

The speakers were excellent and made us reflect on how we promote literature, how we promote a positive reading culture, the benefits of reading (educational and well-being), how we promote deeper reading, and, for me, how can we improve information literacy to help our students counter misinformation. 

For me, the key "take-away" points from the summit were:

• Focus on developing the cultural diversity of my school's picture collection, given the wide range of cultures represented in my school's student population.
• Use picture books to promote intercultural understanding.
• Acquire and promote picture books that promote diversity across society, e.g. disability.
• Experiment with fun and engaging strategies to encourage students to read. Consider running an audit of how reading is encouraged at the school.
• What strategies could I identify to improve information literacy to effectively counter misinformation?
• Poor reading is associated with lower well-being, according to research. The question I need to ask back at school is how I can respond and apply a research model focused on six strategies to support reading engagement.
• Books of nostalgic appeal are gaining popularity. We have a classics display stand (permanent display) with a selection of classic novels. How can we enhance the appeal of classics, or even popular reads from certain periods, e.g. Millennials or Generation X?

Hobbiton, New Zealand

Here is something different, yet it's educational, whether you are young or old.

During the school holidays, I had the opportunity to visit Hobbiton in New Zealand's Waikato region which acted as a film set for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy as based on the novels by J. R. R. Tolkien. Below are some of the many photos I took during a two-hour guided tour.

If you wish to find out more about the tours, click here. If staying in Auckland, it's just a two-hour journey or around ninety minutes if staying in Rotorua.

Even if you haven't read the book and/or seen the films, you will enjoy it. I actually did feel that I was in Middle-earth itself. 

As part of the tour, you get to explore an actual Hobbit House. I think regular humans would find it quite cozy to live in it.

Back at school, it was interesting even amongst the bookworms that lurk in the library that they had no idea that one could tour the Hobbiton set itself not to mention itse existence. The challenge is, how do tempt them to make a visit if they visit New Zealand. 

Unread Books

 

Source: Gilmour, C. 2026. "Hoard habit to break: Confessions of bibliomaniac". The Sun Herald, February 22: 37.

I read this article a few weeks ago, and like Cherie (and many others), I like to buy books because I want to read them, but sometimes time catches up with us. The late Clive James (1939-2019), I remember, admitted in a newspaper feature years ago that he had many books he had bought but never had time to read. It has been the same with me. Quite often, I am distracted by the offerings of local libraries and even the school library (whether I want to read it for enjoyment or for my work).

Some suggest that there are people who "hoard" books and that it's a bad thing, especially if the books remain unread. Studies have shown that households that have their own libraries can foster reading and literacy skills in children. Just having books around may tempt a person to read. I'll admit, one reason I enjoyed reading as a child was shaped by the presence of books in my house, particularly the bookshelf in one of our corridors at home or even books in the homes of family members. It was my way of passing the time, especially since I was not a social kid and could get bored easily.

School Libraries can sometimes be seen as hoarding books, though there are mechanisms in place, such as weeding, that allow for a well-maintained, utilised and current collection. Sometimes schools that have engaged in significant weeding of a collection can still be labelled hoarders, but the question has to be asked: why? Space on shelves has been freed up, sometimes shelves even removed, and more space is available for other uses, but a fail grade is still issued. 

Reflecting on Cherie's quote:

Unread books represent the electric promise of knowledge or stories yet to be known

There are unread books in our libraries. Some may have been popular a few years ago and well borrowed, but have lost their appeal, while some books simply never are borrowed at all. What could we do to promote them?

• A book display "If you enjoyed reading xxx, you will enjoy this one."
• In a thematic book display, promote the well-read, but add a few of the unread ones or ones that have been unread for some time
• Non-fiction - promote their usage more actively if you do not already do so
• Include them on a reading list as recommended reads. Students do love to read books that have been recommended to them.

Also, studies have shown that students are also more likely to engage with books if they work in the presence of them, e.g. the campfire layout of school libraries where students can work at tables with books on shelves surrounding them 

NSW Premier's Reading Challenge - 2026

The last time I devoted an entry to the NSW Premier's Challenge (PRC) was in 2018. I did make references to the PRC in 2023 and 2024. In 2023, I had mentioned that there were no spine labels to identify PRC Books while commenting on Genre Labels on the spines of books and in 2024, I mentioned PRC medals being presented to students as part of the school's annual presentation day at the Sydney Opera House.

Firstly, I can mention that last year I finished labelling the spines with books featured in the NSW Premier's Reading Challenge in 2025. I had done this largely unassisted, carefully going through our fiction collection, item by item. We had countless books that were meant to be listed as PRC books, but because they had a different ISBN number from the one officially listed on SCIS, I had to manually add them in OLIVER.

This also meant that I could update the PRC lists and also created a general list to consolidate the reading lists for secondary schools into one list. In effect, I doubled the number of available items with a PRC listing. I estimate around 1000 books in the fiction collection at my school are in the PRC.

I designed my own label using Microsoft Word and an RAECO template and applied it as a standard label to all PRC books, since the Year 5-6 reading list can also be accessed by secondary school students. Any PRC Books that were not Year 5-6, Years 7-9 and Year 9+ were not stickered.

Feel free to email me at fabian.amuso@det.nsw.edu.au if you would like a copy to use when labelling PRC items in your collections.

For our PRC display, just having the label on it has saved time setting it up.

In 2024, I also began presenting Gold and Platinum awards at our school assemblies each year. I enjoy the opportunity to recognise the students who commit themselves over a sustained period of time. It is an advocacy tool in itself, encouraging students to challenge themselves to set reading goals and realise that reading for pleasure can be rewarding. You can be rewarded for reading regularly. For some students, it may be the only time they are recognised at a whole-school level for their efforts in anything. 

Let's see what 2026 brings. I know one student who has not participated for a few years wants to give it a go this year, and I feel encouraged when a student seeks assistance with filling out their reading records, even at this early stage.

What I am also encouraged to is how its easier to participate than ever e.g. books read aloud by teachers in high school count towards the total of 20 books read, whereas it was previously for primary school participants only, an additional month added for students to participate and complete the challenge but also only needing to read just 10 books from the official list (down from 15).

How Australia’s university students are using to AI to cheat their way to a degree (The Weekend Australian Magazine Article)

On February 7, The Weekend Australian Magazine published a feature by Ros Thomas focusing on the reliance by University Students on artificial intelligence (AI) to help them complete assessment tasks, especially essays and take-home exams.

It is concerning because it could produce university graduates with next to no knowledge of their field, relying entirely on AI to complete their assessment tasks. They are, in fact, not showing their lecturer or marker what they really know about a topic, because they let the computer do "the talking" for them. 

They also lose the opportunity to develop skills in critical thinking and information skills, such as how to locate, select, and communicate their knowledge, thoughts, and ideas on a topic. Finding information that is relevant, reliable and trustworthy is part of the process as well, particularly in a world where information can easily deceive and mislead us. We need to be able to filter truth from untruth.

While some may have been able to use AI to mould the perfect assignment, AI is not perfect either.  Thomas refers to an account by one student in which incorrect information appeared in a group assignment they had worked on with AI. They, along with another member, had just three hours left before submission and had to rewrite their assignment to ensure they could land a good mark.

From my own experience using AI, I have had to hold AI to account when it omits information, incorrectly quotes information, or provides inaccurate information. More frustrating is wanting a direct quote from a document, only for AI to reword it or ignore it altogether. Even asking for academic papers on a topic (even relating to Teacher Librarianship) has yielded inaccurate results. I still get results that may not answer the question. AI models have improved in reliability, but they can still be inaccurate. There are times my prompts are ignored.

Even in our schools, we face the same situation where students rely on AI to complete homework or research tasks. 

Whether at the school or tertiary level, we need to ensure we set standards for how we use AI. I am not against AI because, in my role, it can simplify tasks. It can help me organise library research lessons or recommend books for a reluctant reader based on the profile I give them (and even upload a reading list or a catalogue listing of books). I then have to check to ensure what I got is accurate. 

If I need to write a report, it can provide a scaffold, template, or draft that I can then tweak to suit what I want to write or present.

It leaves me thinking, what can I teach my students to do? I think I'd have to emphasise the following to encourage AI to be useful, while still encouraging critical thinking and the information skills process.

• Checking the usefulness and reliability of information provided by a chatbot - Is it relevant? Is it correct?
• Organising summaries of notes
• Proofreading written content. Tools such as Grammarly have AI embedded in it. I have found that it has improved my writing skills after regular use of it. 
• Summaries of Pdf files. 
• Fact Checking - Checking to make sure AI-generated summaries are correct. If searching for content, conduct a usefulness and reliability check - Does it answer the research question
• Scaffolding - helping the student to organise their information
• Avoiding situations where one copies and pastes AI-generated content into an assessment task
• Expecting students to edit and reedit written work to ensure that the content complies with assessment requirements and marking criteria, and that it is expressed in their own words. I'd encourage them to think of themselves as the marker and consider what the marker might think of their work. Do they use a word in which they don't know the meaning or usage? I'd tell them not to use it and that teachers know how they typically write. 

These are a few ideas. You may have other ideas.

The first week of students back

The first week of classes for students is over. Being in a NSW public school, classes resumed last Monday (2 February), which was Week 2 of term (Week one was allocated for staff development days).

At 8 am on Monday, I opened the library doors for the first time in 2026. There is always at least one student, and sometimes several, waiting outside. This time, no one was waiting, and even on the previous first days, there would be at least one student outside. I still remember 2024 and meeting two year 7 students on that very first day and introducing myself to them. They are regulars to this day and one loves a chat.

It was certainly quiet, but interestingly, those who came came to borrow, especially for our 20-minute READ sessions that we run schoolwise each day, along with a massive number of returns which extended into the week. The Library Prefects were overloaded with returns. It was great that those who borrowed were generally prompt in returning their holiday loans.

Which day of the week could I say felt that activity was back to normal - Thursday. Sydney had its hottest day since January 10, with temperatures reaching 35 degrees. My school would have its temperatures linked to Sydney Olympic Park, which had a reading of just under 39 degrees. The heat pushed everyone indoors, and an air-conditioned library provides comfort. Friday was cooler, yet the crowds remained.

As the week progressed, the work piled up for our students. Students need to get the work done and I give them the space that they need to get it done. 

I will concede a few regulars have yet to come back that use the library and hopefully they do come back. One gets used to their presence, even to where they choose to sit.

I am looking forward to doing the Year 7 orientation sessions with my colleague in the next few weeks as it gives us a chance to meet them. I did have a chance to meet some of them informally at their orientation back in December as I supervised them completing activities around the school. We have seen a few use it, but I've had to reach out to them via Sentral to tell them that they are welcome and if they want to borrow, to start doing so.

Don't forget NSW Premier's Reading Challenge is around the corner as well - February 23.

The importance of Professional Development Plans

In NSW public schools, every employee is expected to prepare a Professional Development Plan (PDP), a process that allows a teacher to grow and develop in their teaching practice.

Catholic and Independent schools may have their own PDP frameworks in place, but recently, I have had an opportunity to reflect on its importance as I reflect on my 2025 PDP but also consider the PDP in 2026.

I have come to value its importance in 2025, because I can use it as a benchmark to determine if I am professionally growing in my practice as a teacher. If not it gives me an opportunity to identify why it was not met and what I can do to address it.

This year, with the aid of ChatGPT, was able to organise reflective statements that were thorough to explain either how the goal was met or why it wasnt met along with what I learnt. If I did fail, I reflected on why.

As a teacher librarian, it gives me the opportunity to be able to identify areas that I'd like to work on, not just in my professional practice but for the library itself. I have been thinking about my 2026 goals and what I want to do and how to meet it because I feel that the doors will open for me to be able to achieve those goals and hence grow the library.

The Primary Libraries: Creative Collaboration website has some ideas that you may wish to consider in development of your PDP. Even if you don't work in a NSW public school, you may wish to consider them in your own setting or modify them as needed. 

Schools Cataloguing Community of Practice

Last month, In posted an entry relating to cataloguing different editions under one SCIS Record.

SCIS Connections (Term 4, 2025), features an article by Renate Beilharz. A networking group (Schools Cataloguing Community of Practice) has been created for library staff in schools to discuss cataloguing within professional settings. Questions such as what I raised on online forums (i.e. multiple editions under one entry) can be discussed as well.

If interested, send an email to education@alia.org.au with 'Schools Cataloguing CoP' in the subject line.

Advocating for better library budgets

Back in 2020, Jan Sheridan's research paper School Library Funding, Staffing and Resourcing - A 10 Year Review was published in ACCESS (Australian School Library Association). It encompasses three areas relating to school libraries:

• Funding
• Staffing
• Resourcing

This entry focuses on the funding of school libraries.

Over the years, working in various schools before gaining permanency has provided me with valuable insight into how different schools approach funding of school libraries, the processes involved and even how different teacher librarians approach their budget submissions. This, combined with the processes involved in my permanent role, has provided me with a what-to-do-and-what-not-to-do list.

It feels like I am preaching to the converted, but there is a need for a reminder, and also in a manner that keeps it simple. This blog is not just a place to reflect or share what I put into it, but to simplify what is out there in terms of research.

I read the reasons why school library budgets were increased, e.g. new principals, new resources to accommodate new curriculum and one-off grants.

But I felt one reason was missing for increased budgets - advocacy

Why?

I have found that advocacy can be used to secure increased funding for a library. Consider the data that is taken to a budget meeting - loan records, resource acquisitions, quotes for equipment and much more. Surveys and feedback have their place as well. 

Even if you are not asked to justify why you want xxx for your library, make sure you do. Take the initiative to do so. For those in systematic schools, especially public schools, make sure your supervisor or Head Teacher is briefed before any meeting to discuss funding. If they know what you want, they are more likely to be able to press your argument forward. It will likely pay off for you.

Whereas if you request a figure and provide no justification, the answer is likely to shift to "no," even if the requested figure is low or conservative. 

Connect it to school initiatives and strategic plans. Does your school have a wide reading program? Establish connections. Relate it to school outcomes—how does the funding help the school achieve the outcome? Consider the connections to curriculum outcomes? How will they be met?

I know of one (now retired) teacher librarian who took the initiative to itemise every item that they needed for the library, especially with stationery. I would also suggest that, as purchases are made for items such as stationery, you keep a record of what you do use and refer to invoices to help you estimate how much they would cost if purchased. You may keep this in a procedures or processes guide or create a system that works best for you. 

Merging different editions under one SCIS Record & local practice in School Libraries

After a recent discussion with a colleague, I was curious whether it would be acceptable to merge different editions of a title into a single SCIS record and whether any schools engage in this practice. 

I posted a request for advice on the OZTL-Net form, along with a Yammer Group for NSW Public School library staff to obtain different perspectives.

A big thank you to the dozen or so who responded to my request in either group and enjoyed reading through each insight. I felt the need to share a summary of those responses with the broader professional community

The majority of responses favoured merging records, though the approaches and circumstances varied by school and its particular needs. Based on my responses, the reasons given were:

• Some want to know how many copies of a particular title are available, not the smaller details, e.g., the edition number or ISBN.
• Simplifies the search process
• Feedback from library users, e.g. if there are two copies of the same title, why do they appear twice in a search result? This included one response of placing the students first.
• Ability to merge catalogue records from SCIS

Some who did posed their own rules, e.g., it would apply to specific sets or collections, such as class sets, or would only create separate copies if the edition was distinct, e.g., an illustrated edition. One would create separate entries if the covers were different, i.e. if the same cover had different ISBN numbers, they were still merged together.

I was given one tip, and I would recommend it: If merging different editions, make sure that there is a documented process for doing it.

There were a few responses suggesting they prefer not to, and, if so, it was because they preferred separate records; in that case, it would come down to having correct data and bibliographic records.

I will take the ideas on board and work towards a practice that best suits my school and our needs. 

Literacy and Science: A high potential and gifted education (HGPE) collaboration

My colleague Lara Curtis has recently had an article published in the current edition of ACCESS by the Australian School Library Association.

Her article focuses on a collaborative project between her and a teacher in the Science faculty at my school. This involved a Year 8 Science class working on a project to present a short film in which they explain various systems in the human body.

The collaboration involved allocating one Science lesson on a weekly basis as a literacy lesson. Like in an English lesson, there were a text in focus (Cells at Work by Akane Shimizu, a manga series serialised between 2015-2021). Extracts were selected and students analysed the text as they would in their study of English along with a factual analysis. It also introduced many students to Manga texts, which itself is a unique form of storytelling. Apart from developing critical thinking skills, it would also support development of ethical storytelling skills.

As Lara's colleague, I am very proud of her efforts in delivering this project. I look forward to seeing where the delivery of the jnit goes. I hope I can contribute to it or even adapt this to another subject area.

R U OK Day

R U OK Day will be on Thursday, September 11. My school decided to bring the day forward by two weeks to enable the Year 11 students to partake in the day ahead of their Preliminary Exams next week. 

Our Library Prefects run the Book Club, which meets fortnightly, and one of our Year 12 Library Prefects conceived the idea of operating a stall where students could make their own bookmarks, complete a quiz, but also write a message on a bookmark that they could insert into any book in the library, ready to be discovered in surprise by the next borrower.

The stall was part of a student-led and run fete that was held yesterday (August 28), running alongside other activities such as a BBQ, wet sponge throwing at (volunteer) teachers.

Our strongest response came from the junior students who were more keen to engage in making their own bookmarks. For those who did, they were able to use textas and pencils to come up with a bookmark that could be truly theirs as opposed to one that would be "mass produced" or "manufactured". Each bookmark featured an object, such as a flower or an elephant, made with pipe cleaners and then pasted onto the cardboard.

The rest was up to the individual. 

Below are some pictures of what was organised for the students.

Raising Readers - Megan Daley

The Sydney Weekend magazine in The Daily Telegraph (July 26-27, 2025) recently published an extract by Megan Daley, author of Raising Readers: How to Nurture a Child's Love of Books. A new edition of her 2019 book has just been published. 

She believes in the Science of Reading, which draws from neuroscience, linguistics, and cognitive psychology, asserting that reading and writing are not natural skills like speaking but need deliberate teaching.

Daley also suggests parents:

• Advocate for evidence-based literacy instruction
• Understand how reading works
• Support children at home with rich oral and print language environments
• Collaborate with educators and specialists (e.g., speech pathologists, psychologists)

For me, this reinforces what I see in the library each day. Children need more than access to books. They need explicit support and encouragement to become confident readers. The research is important, but so too is the human side of teaching — the conversations, the joy of sharing stories, and the chance to guide a student towards a book that sparks their interest.

As teacher librarians, we can bridge research and practice. We create spaces where reading feels valued, support colleagues in evidence-based literacy, and help families see the vital role they play. Each child who moves from “learning to read” to “reading to learn” is a reminder that raising readers is both science and art.

Decline in Reading ("Good Weekend" Magazine Article - 5 July 2025)

An article was published recently in Good Weekend Magazine (The Sydney Morning Herald/The Age) on July 5 that raised concerns about the decline in reading amongst Australians, particularly school students. 

A number of issues associated with reading and literacy were raised, which included the following:

• 29% of secondary school students no longer read for pleasure.
• Year 9 writing standards have slipped to the standard of a primary schooler.
• As many as one in three students in a typical classroom struggle with reading.
• Debates over how reading should be taught.
• Under-resourcing of school libraries and, in some schools, the removal of their libraries altogether.
• Decline in reading for leisure has resulted in poorer writing skills.
• Less critical engagement with texts in the classroom as a result of less reading.
• Difficulty in publishing successful titles. Fewer and fewer titles are being released each year that become "best sellers"

The role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Social Media was also explored, and the impact it has on reading and writing, e.g. ChatGPT can produce essays that cannot be detected as being AI-generated. 

A warning is given: if we as a nation fail to address the decline in reading and literacy skills, there will be significant social and economic consequences in the years ahead. 

I have always believed that reading underpins success in life.  I believe that reading is an essential skill that one should possess, as it forms a foundation for success in learning and active participation in society. 

This article will assist in library advocacy, particularly in highlighting the importance of reading to ones broader development, but also to boost reading and writing skills.

Reference:

Callaghan, G., 2025, ‘A ticking time bomb’: How Australia’s reading slump is making us stupid, The Sydney Morning Herald, viewed 1 August 2025, <https://www.smh.com.au/national/a-ticking-time-bomb-how-australia-s-reading-slump-is-making-us-stupid-20250501-p5lvoe.html>.

Collaboration and team teaching with teacher librarians and classroom teachers

In the current issue of SCIS Connections (#133, Term 2 2025), Vicki Bennett wrote about how she is applying evidence-based practice to collaborate with classroom teachers and engage in team teaching at one primary school she works at, referred to as "School B" to highlight its benefits as part of research in teacher librarian practice.

This stood out for me from reading the article because it is a fundamental part of our role: 

Collaborating with the teacher librarian empowers teachers and students by enhancing their knowledge and skill sets.

As part of her research, Vicki is trying to highlight the benefits that stem from collaboration and team teaching with students over a longer period each week, focusing on School B. It means that she can provide more support to the students and provide content that aligns with the curriclum. 

Her research is ongoing. 

Also, the article highlighted the need for access to research material from Australia. While it is beneficial to have access to overseas practices, Australian material is likely to be more relevant, as it aligns more closely with the Australian curriculum and education system.