Global Perspectives on School Libraries: Projects and Practices 9783110232219, 9783110232202

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International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions Fédération Internationale des Associations de Bibliothécaires et des Bibliothèques Internationaler Verband der bibliothekarischen Vereine und Institutionen Международная Федерация Библиотечных Ассоциаций и Учреждений Federación Internacional de Asociaciones de Bibliotecarios y Bibliotecas

࿖䰙೒к佚णӮϢᴎᵘ㘨ড়Ӯ

ΕΎΒΘϜϤϟ΍ ΕΎδγΆϣϭ ΕΎϴόϤΠϟ ϲϟϭΪϟ΍ ΩΎΤΗϻ΍ About IFLA

www.ifla.org

IFLA (The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) is the leading international body representing the interests of library and information services and their users. It is the global voice of the library and information profession. IFLA provides information specialists throughout the world with a forum for exchanging ideas and promoting international cooperation, research, and development in all fields of library activity and information service. IFLA is one of the means through which libraries, information centres, and information professionals worldwide can formulate their goals, exert their influence as a group, protect their interests, and find solutions to global problems. IFLA’s aims, objectives, and professional programme can only be fulfilled with the cooperation and active involvement of its members and affiliates. Currently, approximately 1,600 associations, institutions and individuals, from widely divergent cultural backgrounds, are working together to further the goals of the Federation and to promote librarianship on a global level. Through its formal membership, IFLA directly or indirectly represents some 500,000 library and information professionals worldwide. IFLA pursues its aims through a variety of channels, including the publication of a major journal, as well as guidelines, reports and monographs on a wide range of topics. IFLA organizes workshops and seminars around the world to enhance professional practice and increase awareness of the growing importance of libraries in the digital age. All this is done in collaboration with a number of other non-governmental organizations, funding bodies and international agencies such as UNESCO and WIPO. IFLANET, the Federation’s website, is a prime source of information about IFLA, its policies and activities: www.ifla.org Library and information professionals gather annually at the IFLA World Library and Information Congress, held in August each year in cities around the world. IFLA was founded in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1927 at an international conference of national library directors. IFLA was registered in the Netherlands in 1971. The Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Royal Library), the national library of the Netherlands, in The Hague, generously provides the facilities for our headquarters. Regional offices are located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Pretoria, South Africa; and Singapore.

IFLA Publications 148

Global Perspectives on School Libraries Projects and Practices

Edited by Luisa Marquardt and Dianne Oberg Foreword by Randi Lundvall (IFLA SLRC) and Diljit Singh (IASL)

De Gruyter Saur

IFLA Publications edited by Sjoerd Koopman

ISBN 978-3-11-023220-2 e-ISBN 978-3-11-023221-9 ISSN 0344-6891 Cover image: Pupils enjoying reading through the Lubuto Library Project, Zambia; Students campaigning for “1 school, 1 library, 1 librarian”, South Africa (source: Equal Education NGO, 2010); Reading Hour in Alverca. Primary School Quinta da Vala, Portugal; Surfing&Searching at “Gymnasia Skole n. 56” in Petersburg, Russia (photo by Lui.Mar, 2010); Logos (top right): IASL SLRC, IASL; GiggleIT; ISLM. (Image idea by Lui.Mar. Image mash-up by Alessio Oriani, 2011). Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/ Boston © 2011 by International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, The Hague, The Netherlands ∞ Printed on permanent paper The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard – Permanence of Paper for Publications and Documents in Libraries and Archives ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R1997) Typesetting: Michael Peschke, Berlin Printing and binding: Strauss GmbH, Mörlenbach Printed in Germany www.degruyter.com

Table of Contents Foreword Randi Lundvall and Diljit Singh Messages from the Sponsoring Associations .................................................

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Introduction Luisa Marquardt School Libraries: Joint Efforts for a Key Role ...............................................

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Part 1 School Library Education and Implementation Models Glória Bastos, Elsa Conde and Rosa Martins A Self-Evaluation Model for School Libraries in Portugal ......................... 11 Labibah Zain, Marwiyah and Sri Rohyanti Zulaikha Building a Model School Library at Madrasah Tsanawiyah Negeri Piyungan in Yogyakarta, Indonesia ........................................... 22 Sonja Špiranec and Mihaela Banek Zorica Developing Understanding of Information Literacy within the Croatian School Environment ................................................................. 33 Jennifer L. Branch and Joanne de Groot Personal Learning Networks and Participatory Culture: Getting Teacher-Librarians Connected in the 21st Century ................. 44 Eeva Kurttila-Matero, Maija-Leena Huotari and Terttu Kortelainen A New Operational Culture: The Case of the School Library in the Information Society Project in Oulu, Finland ............................. 57 Barbara Schultz-Jones Assessing School Library Learning Environments ...................................... 71

Part 2 Promoting Literacies through the School Library Susan La Marca, Sandra Hardinge and Lyn Pucius Reading Opens All Doors: An Integrated Reading Program at Genazzano College in Melbourne, Australia ..................................... 85 Andree-Jeanne Tötemeyer Fun with Readathon: Helping Namibian Children to Love Books ............. 96 Virginia W. Dike, Margaret N. Ngwuchukwu and Grace U. Onyebuchi Developing Information Literacy through Primary School Libraries in Nigeria ....................................................... 108 Kathryn Massingill Manck, Patricia Carmichael and Barbara Combes GiggleIT and Global Citizenship: School Libraries, Literacy and Laughter ............................................................................................ 118

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Judy O’Connell ‘Body in the Library’: A Cross-Curriculum Transliteracy Project ............. 130 Margaret Baffour-Awuah HIV/AIDS Corners in Botswana Schools and Libraries .............................. 140

Part 3 School Libraries for All Marian Koren School Libraries and Human Rights ............................................................. 153 Ray Doiron Camels, Burros, Elephants, Boats and Trucks: Bringing Books and Literacy to Children in Remote Communities ................................ 159 Margaret Baffour-Awuah Botswana’s Book Box Service to Primary Schools ..................................... 168 Ivanka Stričević and Ivana Perić Participation of Croatian School Librarians in Teaching Children with Intellectual Disabilities ................................................................... 177 Stacy Langner, Jane Kinney Meyers and Mary M. Wagner Lubuto Library Project: Bringing Knowledge to Zambian Children .......... 188

Part 4 Expanding the Reach of School Libraries through Technology Diane GallowaySolowan Providing Web Based Online Reference Resources for Schools: An Alberta Success Story ........................................................................ 201 Ana Ester Rossaroli The Belgrano Day School Model Project: Using Mobile Technology in a School Library in Argentina ............................................................ 212 Sarah Pavey Information Literacy on the Move: Mobile Learning with Netvibes, QR Codes and More ................................................................................ 223 Margaret Simkin Web 2.0 and Our School Library at The Hamilton and Alexander College in Victoria, Australia ............................................... 232

Part 5 Government Initiatives for School Library Development Helle Barrett, Bibi Eriksson and Maria Gunnarsson Contassot The School Library as a Tool to Empower Literacy and Improve Schools: A Swedish Government Initiative .......................................................... 245 Siri Ingvaldsen Focus on Reading Education and Information Literacy: The Norwegian School Library Program ............................................... 254

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Liisa Niinikangas and Esa Poikela Seize the Day! Developing School Libraries in Finland ............................. 264 Maria José Vitorino A Long Walk to Significant School Libraries for All: Government Policies in Portugal, 1986-2010 ........................................ 278

Part 6 Organizations for School Library Advocacy and Development Lourense H. Das ENSIL: Advocacy of School Libraries in the Educational Context ............ 287 Tricia Adams SLA: Using Evidence to Move Forward ...................................................... 299 Tatiana Zhukova RuSLA: Policymaker for School Library Development .............................. 308 Randi Lundvall IFLA SLRC: Developing Policy and Guidelines ......................................... 319 Dianne Oberg IASL: Sustaining the Vision for 40 Years .................................................... 325 Luisa Marquardt and Dianne Oberg Afterword ........................................................................................................ 334 Index .................................................................................................................. 335

Foreword Messages from the Sponsoring Associations As Chair of IFLA School Libraries and Resource Centers Section, it is my privilege to welcome the publication of this book and to congratulate the two associations, the editors and the authors who have contributed to its existence as a joint publication between IFLA SLRC Section and IASL. The governing bodies of IASL and IFLA have acknowledged the importance of working together now and in the future to better meet the professional needs of those within or interested in the school library and information sector. An agreement of collaboration was formed in 2006 and this publication is one of the outcomes. Working together for the enhancement of school libraries worldwide is essential in the 21st century and of mutual benefit to both associations and their members. Randi Lundvall Chair IFLA School Libraries and Resource Centers Section

Collaboration is a key element for moving forward in today’s world. As we strive to develop school librarianship in this complex and technological world, we need to work together. In today’s globalized society, where events in one part of the world affect many of us and yet provide opportunities for learning, we need to work in partnership with other like-minded people and organizations. This book is a tangible product of collaboration between two like-minded organizations – the IFLA School Libraries and Resource Centres Section and the International Association of School Librarianship. Both these organizations are dedicated to the development of school librarianship worldwide, and are continually exploring ways of working together towards attaining their visions. This volume contains chapters on a diversity of topics related to school librarianship, contributed by authors from various parts of the world. Each of

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the authors is well known in his or her part of the world, and in some cases, internationally. They have shared their knowledge and experiences for a wider global audience. I have known the editors of this book, Luisa Marquardt and Dianne Oberg, for many years. They are dedicated and have worked hard for many years for the development of school librarianship; this book is yet another manifestation of their enthusiasm and passion. The book will be a useful addition to many libraries and personal collections. The experiences and ideas presented in here can serve as a wonderful platform for learning, as stimulation for ideas for further development, and for connections to be made. As we strive to create a better future for our children through school librarianship, I welcome this book. Diljit Singh President International Association of School Librarianship

International Association of School Librarianship

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions

IFLA – School Libraries and Resource Centres Section 11

Introduction School Libraries: Joint Efforts for a Key Role Luisa Marquardt Università degli Studi “Roma Tre,” Rome, Italy In 2010, when the 76th IFLA WLIC (World Library and Information Conference) was taking place in Gothenburg, Sweden (http://www.ifla.org/ifla76) , and this publication was at last turning from being a proposal to being a real project, the 25th “International Year of Youth” was launched on the theme “Dialogue and Mutual Understanding” (United Nations, 2009). Worldwide, many events are being promoted within this general framework in order to contribute, through new generations, to the construction of a world of peace, of mutual understanding, and of sustainable development, consistent with the aims of the United Nations and UNESCO. This ambitious goal cannot be achieved without education, proper policies and adequate investments in education and culture, but this is still in many countries a great challenge and concern. The paradox of our era–on the one hand, the globalisation process which affects production, trade, and labour markets and, on the other hand, the emerging growth in importance of the role of local territories and contexts as a hub of learning, innovation and quality--underlines the need for effective education for all, in order to enable each individual to become an informed citizen, through the acquisition of life skills, information literacy, flexibility, and the provision of enhanced opportunities of employability, as an ongoing process. The lifelong learning approach in education, which implies the learner’s personal responsibility in his/her own learning process, does not automatically mean that states, governments, and local authorities have little or no responsibility in funding education or that education can be considered just a matter of the workings of the knowledge market. Neither can the school library be considered as an internal affair of the school: in a time of general economic recession and financial shortage, there is the risk that the establishment and the development of the school library can be perceived as “optional.” In other than a few countries, school libraries and school librarianship suffer from a double “ancillarity”--both from the educational world and the library and information world. In many parts of the world, school librarianship is not recognised as a profession (yet): it may be perceived as a “stranger” in the school universe or a “Cinderella” in the library universe.

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Such perceptions about the school library and about the school librarian / information specialist change when the school library is able to demonstrate its transformational function through evidence. When the school library is a stimulating learning environment, it is able to provoke curiosity, interest, questions: the bases of investigation, creativity and, then, innovation. Nevertheless, despite over forty years of evidence (see, e.g., IASL, School Libraries Make a Difference), school libraries have had to prove again and again their worth, to show their active role in the school community, to position themselves to gain consideration, support and funds, in order to develop effective and better school library programs, and so too have school library professionals and school library associations. School librarianship can be considered a fruitful intersection between Education and LIS (Library and Information Science), an intersection where these fields, their disciplines, their theories, methodologies and practices meet and are put into action. Through services, programs and activities, school libraries and school librarians foster the transformational process of information seeking and usage into new knowledge, new and deep insight, new skills and competences.

The IASL - IFLA SLRC Joint Book Project Bearing clearly in mind the need for enhancement and recognition of the school library as a vibrant learning environment and the school librarian as a qualified and knowledgeable professional, a proposal was discussed and an agreement signed to establish a joint steering committee of the IASL and the IFLA School Libraries and Resource Centers (IASL/IFLA, 2006). This initiative, designed to develop a fruitful collaboration between the two Associations, came about as a result of work done by Professor James Henri and the late Professor Anne Clyde. IFLA SLRC and IASL have joined forces to lend their global and international voices towards some common goals. This publication aims to be a concrete sign of the collaboration--like the joint preconference meetings held in Abano Terme (Italy) in 2009 and Kingston (Jamaica) in 2011--a step towards further initiatives for strengthening the school library profession and for increasing the awareness of school administrators and other school library stakeholders throughout the world. In a year that celebrates the Youth and the 40th Anniversary of the IASL, a year before the 35th Anniversary of the IFLA SLRC Section, this book showcases school library projects and practices from around the globe. The book attends to the concept of competence, which has been shifting more and more to the one of “key competence” (see, for example, European Commission). Key competences include many complex literacies, e.g., information, media, visual, and health literacies (see, for example, Asselin & Doiron, 2008) which are emerging as a vital component of the education of not only the individual,

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but for the community as a whole. The projects and practices presented in this book are not necessarily the “coolest” ones or the ones that employ, for example, the most enhanced ICT. The book also gives attention to projects and practices addressing the challenges of supporting basic literacy, including contexts where many children cannot or do not access formal instruction on a regular basis. Futurist Thomas Frey says that “The future is where our children live.” How can this future be shaped if our children live and grow up in a deprived environment, if they grow up illiterate or unsatisfactorily literate, or if they are digitally immersed but unable to use digital tools and information in a critical and creative way? How can a society of peace and mutual understanding can be built up if there are no or little education, scarce learning and cultural opportunities, underdeveloped library and information services? Paul Zurkowski in 1974 observed that “In our age of information overabundance, being information literate means being able to find what is known or knowable about any subject” (Zurkowski, p. 23); estimating the information literate population at that time to be one person out of six, he identified information literacy as the top priority to be achieved nationwide in the United States in the next ten years. Over 20 years later, information literacy was still being presented as a “key challenge to educators and to educational authorities” (Todd, 1996, p. 35). Many library associations (e.g., ALA-AASL, ANZIL, ACRL, SCONUL, etc.) and countries have developed information literacy standards and models and implemented projects: nevertheless, information literacy remains a big challenge in most parts of the world. Furthermore, when some schools have started already exploring and experiencing the features and the opportunities of e-book readers and mobile technologies in promoting reading and enhancing information literacy, others are in deprived situations and can hardly offer, even a reasonable choice of print titles to their pupils: even though literacy is a “gateway enabling individuals to learn new skills in both the classroom and the workplace, while assuming their rights and responsibilities in society” (UNESCO 2010b), “with some 796 million adults lacking minimum literacy skills, literacy for all remains an elusive target” (UNESCO Education, 2010), and basic literacy remains in many parts of the world a big challenge as well. School and local communities have a great responsibility in this: they have a relevant role to play as a vital part of the “learning regions” where the global challenges can be faced through local resources and creativity, learning regions where an innovation culture can be built (see, for example, University of Toronto’s PROGRIS project). An “innovative school librarian” is therefore required: an information school specialist who is able to be an integral element of the teaching team, to connect and involve the stakeholders within and outside the school, to re-think in a critical way his/her profession, to manage the change (Markless, 2009), who is able to create that “third space” where the personal knowledge and experience gained outside the school and school curriculum content meet and

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combine, so that the authentic learning takes place in an effective and motivating way (Kuhlthau, Maniotes & Caspari, 2007). This happens when “the library is a place for the students to bring their individual and varied experiences, the problems and the questions, and to discuss and pursue them so that new light may be thrown on them--particularly new light from the experience of others, the accumulated wisdom of the world garnered, arranged and displayed in the library” (Ranganathan, 1973, p. 79-80), as the famous “father” of the Five Laws of Library Science observed in his lectures, inspired by John Dewey’s theories, given to school librarians in the 1930s where he emphasized “the prepotent place to be given to a school library” (p. 15).

Concluding Thoughts The projects and practices described in this book may inspire communities to invest in school libraries and to implement them as vital and effective means in the learning process, personal, cultural and social development and to invest in the education, training, and recognition of school librarians. Students protesting and fasting for “1 School, 1 Library, 1 Librarian” (Equal Education, 2009), students of Library Science and of Architecture working together and developing innovative school library programs (Die Schulbibliothek, 2011), associations advocating for effective and efficient school libraries, researchers and practitioners providing new theoretical and practical insights, school teachers and librarians planning together and linking the school curriculum and the school library program, school leadership, administrators and governments funding and sustaining school library programs—all these are different voices of the same effort, building blocks of an effective and motivating learning process towards responsible and active participation and citizenship. Those who want to get more information and ideas should visit the informative websites of the IASL (http://www.iasl-online-org) and the IFLA SLRC (http://www.ifla.org/en/school-libraries-resource-centers) and, better still, join one or both of these professional forums, to share their wisdom, their practice, their ideas (and doubts), and to play an active role there, actively “sustaining the vision.”

References American Association of School Librarians. (2007). Standards for the 21st Century Learner, Chicago, IL: ALA-AASL, at URL: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/ aasl/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/AASL_Learning_Standards_2007.pdf (access date: 9.04. 2011).

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Asselin, M., & Doiron, R. (Eds.). (2008). New learners, new literacies, new libraries. School Libraries Worldwide, vol. 14, no. 2 [Special Theme Issue], at URL: http://schoollibrariesworldwide-vol14no2.blogspot.com/ (access date: 9.04. 2011). Die Schulbibliothek - ein studentisches Projekt an der HTWK Leipzig. (2011, March 1720). Leipziger Buchmesse Halle 2 (Stand D 301), Leipzig, HTWK, at URL: http://www.dieschulbibliothek.de/ (access date: 9.04. 2011). Equal Education. (2009), 1 School, 1 Library, 1 Librarian Campaign, at URL: http:// www.equaleducation.org.za/overview_librariescampaign (access date: 9.04. 2011). European Commission. Education and Culture DG. (2007), Key Competences: A European Framework. Bruxelles: European Commission, at URL: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/ education_culture/publ/pdf/ll-learning/keycomp_en.pdf (access date: 9.04. 2011). IASL (International Association of School Librarianship). School Libraries Make a Difference to Student Achievement, at URL: http://www.iasl-online.org/advocacy/make-adifference.html (access date: 9.04. 2011). IASL/IFLA (International Association of School Librarianship – International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions). (2006). IASL – IFLA Joint Working Party Proposal, at URL: http://www.ifla.org/node/920 (access date: 9.04. 2011). Kuhlthau, C. C., Maniotes, L. K., & Caspari A. K. (2007). Guided inquiry: Learning in the 21st Century. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited. Markless, S. (Ed.). (2009). The innovative school librarian: Thinking outside the box. London: Facet Publishing. Ranganathan, S.R. (1973). New education and school library: Experience of half a century […]. Delhi: Vikas. Todd, R. (1996). Integrated information skills instruction: Does it make a difference? In L. A. Clyde (Ed.), Sustaining the vision: A collection of articles ad papers on research in school librarianship in honor of Jean E. Lowrie. Edited by Laurel A. Clyde for the International Association of School Librarianship. Castle Rock, CO: Hi Willow Research and Publishing. UNESCO Education. (2010). Literacy. Paris : UNESCO, at URL: http://www.unesco.org/ new/en/education/themes/education-building-blocks/literacy/ (access date: 9.04. 2011). UNESCO Institute for Statistics. (2010). LAMP Literacy Project. Paris: UNESCO, at URL: http://www.uis.unesco.org/ev.php?URL_ID=6409&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SE CTION=201 (access date: 9.04. 2011). United Nations. (2009, December 18). Resolution ARES 64/134, at URL: http://daccessdds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N09/469/87/PDF/N0946987.pdf?OpenElement University of Toronto. (1998). PROGRIS – Program on Globalization and Regional Innovation Systems at the Munk School of Global Affairs [directed by Prof. David A. Wolfe], at URL: http://www.utoronto.ca/progris/about_us/index.html (access date: 9.04. 2011). Zurkowski, P. G. (1974). The information service environment relationships and priorities. Related Paper no. 5. Washington. DC: National Commission on Libraries and Information Science.

Author Note Luisa Marquardt teaches Library and Information Science at the Faculty of Education, University “Roma Tre.” She worked as a chartered librarian for over 20 years and as a librarians’ educator as well; she has been professionally

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involved in school libraries, school librarianship and information literacy since late 1970s, takes part in work and research groups; contributes to library journals; translated the IFLA-UNESCO School Library Manifesto into Italian; edited the Italian edition of the IFLA Guidelines for school libraries (1995, 1998, 2004); collaborated with the Interuniversity Supercomputing Consortium CASPUR (http://www.caspur.it) and the Goethe Institut Italien. She is Director of a small but active community library, the “Biblioteca Statuario” (http://bibliostatuario.wordpress.com) and a member of several associations (e.g., AIB, AIDA, IASL, IFLA, LAG Schulbibliotheken) and groups (e.g., ENSIL). She is Director Europe for IASL 2009-2012 and a member of the IFLA SLRC. Her postal address is Dr Luisa Marquardt, Università degli Studi “Roma Tre,” Facoltà di Scienze della Formazione, via Milazzo 11/b – 00185, Roma, Italy. E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Webpage: https://formazione.uniroma3.it/docente/lmarquardt/

Part 1 School Library Education and Implementation Models

A Self-Evaluation Model for School Libraries in Portugal Glória Bastos Universidade Aberta (Open University), Portugal

Elsa Conde and Rosa Martins School Libraries Network, Ministry of Education, Portugal

Abstract This chapter presents a project developed by the Portuguese School Libraries Network aimed at establishing a Self-Evaluation Model for School Libraries. The context from which the Self-Evaluation Model originated is described indepth, with a particular focus on the different stages of implementation and the incorporation of feedback obtained from schools. Additionally, the chapter introduces some of the solutions found to tackle issues related to the scale and scope of the intervention: the Self-Evaluation Model was applied at national level, across several levels of education, and it entailed the use of e-learning for country-wide staff training purposes. The objectives of each phase of implementation are outlined and discussed with reference to resources, procedures and outcomes generated. The chapter closes with a reflection on the impact of the Self-Evaluation Model on future action and on its added value to international practice.

Keywords Portugal; School Libraries Network; Rede de Bibliotecas Escolares (RBE); Self-Evaluation Model; Teacher librarian training; School library education.

Introduction In 1996, the Portuguese Ministry of Education created the Portuguese School Libraries Network program (RBE/SLN), aimed at establishing and developing school libraries in primary and basic schools (ages 6-14; mandatory education) and in secondary schools (ages 15-17).The delivery of a quality school library media program is a priority for the School Libraries Network (SLN), which now faces a new operational stage after having developed a significant number of school libraries and reaching the majority of students in the country: 100%

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of basic school students (ages 11-14) and 92% of secondary education students (ages 15-17) benefit from a school library operating in accordance with SLN’s guidelines. Portuguese school libraries, for both basic and secondary education, now have appropriate facilities with high quality resources and a growing number of skilled library staff. Staff training was one of the key issues faced by the SLN. The coordinator of the school library is a trained teacher who has received complementary instruction on school librarianship (at different levels: continuing education, postgraduate and master programs). Research has demonstrated that having a full-time teacher-librarian (TL)--with solid training in the field, a stable professional situation and a good amount of time spent working with students and teachers--is critical for the maintenance of the school library program, but that was not the situation in Portuguese Schools, where most teacher-librarians were only allocated between 8 to 14 hours per week to work in the school library. There was a discrepancy between the highquality guidelines produced by SLN and the reality of everyday life in schools, and teacher-librarians could not do quality work in the time they had available (Bastos, 2006). In the last four years, the circumstances have changed. The central administration acknowledged that the school library and a highly skilled teacherlibrarian were pivotal for the implementation of several educational reforms and programs launched recently, including the National Reading Plan (2007) and the ICT Plan for Education (2008). Therefore, a number of schools began to benefit from a fulltime teacher librarian (100 TLs in 2007-2008 and 500 TLs in 2008-2009). Concurrently, SLN was aware that the sustainability of the program depended on ensuring ongoing investment and on informing stakeholders about how the school library contributes to success in education through improving teaching, learning and student performance. As a consequence, it became of utmost importance to gather objective information on how school libraries develop and operate and on how they contribute to effective student learning and to the goals of lifelong learning. The evaluation of school libraries appeared to be essential, and the creation of an evaluation model was a response to this need. On July 2009 an official document was issued to clearly establish quality criteria in the selection of the teacher-librarian, thus ensuring an important sense of stability and continuity to the job. The position is now tenured for a minimum period of four years, whereas before the selection of the teacherlibrarian was made on an annual basis. The former annual nomination scheme was a source of several other problems: although some recommendations existed (not mandatory), published by the SLN regarding the constitution of library staff, some schools did not fully consider these aspects and appointed their school library’s coordinator based only on the administrative allocation of working hours. Naturally, all of these aspects influenced classroom teachers’ perceptions of the teacher-librarian. Nevertheless, the Portuguese teacher-

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librarians are, in general, excellent professionals, with good qualifications (both in curriculum subjects and in librarianship), and they conduct quality work with students and teachers. However, the role of the TL is a very demanding one, and he/she needs the institutional and personal conditions to uphold a strong position within the school’s organization. The job description of the TL is also part of the official document, and it clearly shows that the school library must be integrated into the pedagogical activities of the school, particularly concerning reading promotion, reading skills, information literacy and digital abilities as well cross-disciplinary competences, all integrated into the curriculum content. These connections between the school library and curriculum are considered a key issue, and it is expected that classroom teachers and the teacher who is responsible for the school library will work collaboratively to find the best ways to promote success. Moreover, the teacher-librarian’s job description is aligned with the selfevaluation model since the domains under evaluation intersect with the items presented in the official document. The Self-Evaluation Model (Bastos & Martins, 2009; Conde & Martins, 2010) is the result of previous study and analysis of existing models (in particular, the English model) and of, more specifically, the Portuguese schools’ teaching and learning settings. The model combines four domains that represent essential areas for the accomplishment of school libraries’ teaching and learning objectives. Some of the features are characteristic of the Portuguese reality, but they are all directed towards critical teaching and learning dimensions of school libraries: (1) Supporting Curriculum Development; (2) Promoting reading and literacy; (3) Projects, Partnerships, Open-ended and Community-oriented Activities; and (4) School Library Management. Key concepts such as value, impact and evidence-based practice have supported the way in which the Self-Evaluation Model was conceived (Cronin, 1982; McKenzie, 1989; Todd, 2008). Great emphasis was placed in determining how processes contribute to the achievement of a larger goal, which would be confirmed by the accomplishment of specific quality-embedded outcomes. Resources and processes are important only in the measure of their added value and contribution to developing teaching and learning. This type of analysis is in itself a basic principle of good management and a pivotal instrument for project development, contributing greatly to the wider recognition and affirmation of the school library’s role. It also allows a sharper understanding of how well the mission and objectives set for the school library are being accomplished, since it helps in the identification of good and poor practice and of required action. This self-evaluation model is an example of an action-research process, as it endeavors to establish a relationship between processes and the impact or value they generate. Typically, such a process involves: (1) identification of a problem; (2) evidence collection; (3) scrutiny, evaluation and interpretation of evidence; and (4) knowledge generation to guide future action (Markless & Steatfield, 2006).

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These perspectives informed the conception and structure of the SelfEvaluation Model. Because the SLN intended national coverage for the model, the instrument had to be tailored so that it could be easily adopted across all school libraries in Portugal. The aim was to help school libraries with the evaluation process and to give schools and teacher librarians an instrument that could assist them with internal analysis, whilst pointing to key aspects that should be taken into consideration. Ultimately, SLN decided to produce a document to facilitate self-evaluation, using performance indicators. Additionally, descriptions and perspectives on the school library’s operation and its connections within the school were also included (Bastos & Martins, 2009; Conde & Martins, 2010, SLN, 2010a). The implementation of the Self-Evaluation Model was not without problems, as the following section describes. Our focus is on strategies and steps conducted by the steering group which we believe can be used as examples of good practice in similar implementation contexts.

Implementation of an Evaluation Model: Challenges and Strategies As we have outlined, the School Libraries Self-Evaluation Model was created by SLN in response to the emergent need of developing an evaluation instrument that could effectively generate uncontested acknowledgement of school libraries’ impact and value, whilst contributing to quality of service provision through action planning and continuous improvement cycles. The application of the model in the field was preceded by a series of steps planned and executed by a specialized steering group, which culminated in the drafting of a final document that could respond to the characteristics and the needs of Portuguese school libraries. To ensure the sound development of the project, the steering group was committed to identify the difficulties and the positive aspects in the implementation of the Self-Evaluation Model through environmental scanning and to deploy timely training and advocacy to enlarge stakeholders’ knowledge base, their understanding of the Self-Evaluation Model, and their acceptance of its implications.

Advocacy and Testing Phase The implementation of the Self-Evaluation Model began with a pilot phase (years 2008 and 2009), which corresponded to the introduction of a first version of the Model. This phase was designed to specifically address schools of all levels which were allocated a full time teacher librarian. A total of 120 schools corresponded to this purposive selection criterion and therefore constituted the population for the intervention.

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Experimentation with the Model’s features was preceded by meetings with executive directors and teacher librarians in schools in all Regional Directorates of Education. The purpose of these meetings was to introduce stakeholders to the overarching principles sustaining the process of school libraries’ self-evaluation and to the core concepts and affordances of the Model. The presence of schools’ executive directors was particularly important in that it signalled the engagement of schools as a whole towards the improvement of school libraries and a commitment of management to getting the process of evaluation started. However, the implementation of a model conceived to operate as an instrument for country-wide use across all levels of education (school libraries from basic education to upper secondary education, from 6 to 17 year old students) was not without problems. The greatest obstacles detected were: a lack of established practice in evaluation; a lack of skills in collecting, developing instruments, analyzing evidence and reporting performance; and difficulties in combating detected weaknesses through transformative action plans. Another distinctive feature of the piloting phase was the selection of a specific domain of the school library’s action to evaluate. The SLN recommended schools initiated the evaluation process by addressing Domain A Supporting Curriculum Development, which includes subsections A.1: Articulating the School Library with the Curriculum, Pedagogic Structures and Teaching Staff, and A.2: Developing Information Literacy Skills. Domain A evaluates the level of curricular negotiation taking place between the school library, the school’s pedagogical management board and the teachers in order to advance an integrated approach to literacies development. The decision to recommend the evaluation of this domain stemmed from the general perception that school libraries struggle to fully develop it and may face difficulties in assessing performance accordingly. Despite the persistence of some problems, the feedback obtained was clearly positive, with stakeholders involved in evaluating this domain demonstrating advanced understanding of the Model as an instrument of advocacy, able to produce and disseminate evidence of the school libraries’ pedagogical role. At the end of this two-year-long piloting phase, the steering group has made a revision of the initial version of the Model, based on feedback and evidence collected from stakeholders. These data informed the conceptualization of a finalised version, which was published in 2010.

Training Process Across the period of time spanning 2008 to 2010, SLN has implemented an inservice training module about the Self-Evaluation Model for teacher librarians. The national coverage of the Model required the training of teacher

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librarians from all over the country, and e-learning was the best way to reach a large number of TLs. This strategy has enabled teachers from different parts of the country to discuss and understand the Self-Evaluation Model, becoming more prepared to implement it in their own schools. The training module was based on a “virtual classroom” (using an LMS such as Moodle and exploring all the technological and pedagogical affordances of the system) and on two face-to-face workshops which provided participants with the opportunity to build a “real” learning community. The module had a more theoretical component, based on the discussion of the main concepts implied in the Self-Evaluation Model--the ideas of quality and value, impact and evidence-based practice--and a practical dimension concerned with the application of the Model. In 2008, 100 teacher librarians benefited from initial training and an international seminar on evaluation took place with invited specialists Ross Todd, Kathy Lemaire, David Stretfield and Nancy Everhart. In the academic year of 2009-2010, a total of 1080 participants, spread across 35 classes, benefited from training. The figure increased again by the end of 2010, with additional 240 trainees. The training of teacher librarians is itself being subject to external evaluation conducted by Ana Maximino through a master’s research project supervised by Lisbon Institute of Education’s Angela Rodrigues. Questionnaires have already been administered and the preliminary data analysis indicates that a large majority (90%) of those inquired rating the training highly (ratings of 3 or 4, using a Likert scale where 3 and 4 indicate the highest levels of satisfaction) and considered that the provision of training contributed to a better understanding of the Model, to an adequate framing of professional practice, and to the acquisition and development of quality methods, techniques and instruments. We can therefore claim that the existence of a piloting phase, the incremental application of Model, and the simultaneous training opportunities offered by SLN have all contributed to a steadily understanding and acceptance of the Model’s proposed value by schools and teacher librarians.

Support and Monitoring The academic year 2010-2011 began a new cycle of evaluation. Evaluation cycles are designed to develop within a 4-year framework, to better respond to the 4-tiered organisation of the Model and to the recommendation that school libraries should restrict evaluation to a single domain each year. Concurrently, other important supportive measures were taken. The support and monitoring of the application of the Model in school libraries is performed by SLN via email and a FAQ service and also with the help of more than 50 regional teacher librarian advisors. These advisors have been working

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in close proximity with schools, feeding back implementation difficulties to School Libraries Network. Furthermore, SLN responded with the creation of a web-based application designed to help schools understand the use of evidence collection tools (namely, the technical processing of data gathered); to assemble information concerning the number of schools undergoing the process; and to report and record results of their self-evaluation. At the end of every academic year, school libraries submit a selfevaluation report which identifies strengths and weaknesses and which sets objectives and improvement targets for forthcoming years. After a cycle of 4 years has elapsed, all domains of action identified in the Model will have been evaluated, providing an overall vision of service provision quality. The foundations of a new cycle of evaluation are also launched, since a clearer awareness of areas requiring either continued supportive action or new strategic development has been solidly identified by evidence.

Assessment and Evaluation The external accreditation of schools’ internal evaluation--of which the School Libraries’ Self Evaluation Model is a constituent part--is performed by the General Inspection of Education, with whom SLN has regular contacts. It is expected that a greater sensibility of inspection teams towards the role of the school library leads to its inclusion in the appraisal of school’s global performance. In fact, the association of the Model with the wider process of school’s evaluation and its further integration within the framework of the General Inspection’s external evaluation reports is crucial in building momentum and in providing school libraries with increased visibility across schools, especially across sectors not traditionally familiar with its value. We are in the position to claim that this process is evolving in a positive way, with an increasing number of General Inspection’s reports devoting specific sections to the school library and to its performance results. Moreover, it is important to state that beyond a strong commitment to setting quality standards against which performance can be checked and assessed, the Model operates as a normative instrument with great pedagogical potential, as outlined by SLN’s external evaluation report: the Model aims “to give schools an instrument that guides self-appraisal of performance, whilst pedagogically setting quality standards through systematic provision of up-to date guidelines of excellent performance” (2010b, p. 39). Consequently, the Model has become a pivotal instrument for informed decision-making, collecting intelligence that helps the School Libraries Network’s executive board evaluate the benefits of investment and plan the sustainable development of the program.

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On the basis of the findings above, we can appreciate how the implementation strategy generated positive outcomes at three different levels: (1) The first level relates to the model’s implementation process itself. The option for a piloting phase with consultations with participants (teacher librarians) has contributed to a larger involvement with tasks and work stages, as well as to a greater commitment to the project’s success. (2) The second level concerns impact achieved in terms of raising the school library’s profile within the school context. With the introduction of the Self-Evaluation Model, the visibility of the school library increased. Concurrently, the institutionalization of the TL position in 2009 has underlined the responsibility inherent to the post. In a recent master’s thesis supervised at the Open University by Gloria Bastos, the issue of leadership was the focus of inquiry, with the most frequent ideas related to the introduction of the SelfEvaluation Model being ‘improvement,’ ‘change,’ and ‘opportunity.’ (3) A third level is related to the role of the Self-Evaluation Model as a framework for action and a source of quality standards that are readily available to the TL, informing the planning and execution of activities in the school context.

Lessons Learned and Future Development Throughout the process of implementation, several structural and organizational factors of the Portuguese educational environment have been acting as catalysts and facilitators, contributing decisively to acceptance of the Model and to positive outcomes: I.

The fact that the Portuguese education system is still heavily centralized, with the Ministry of Education controlling to a great extent the development of projects and policies, facilitated school’s recognition of the Model and its benefits. Concurrently, it triggered the involvement of stakeholders, which led to a smooth application; II. A pervasive culture of evaluation contributed to the wide acceptance of the Model, and its inception coincided with an unprecedented turn to evaluation policy and practice across the public sector. The most significant factors were the concurrent development of a new teacher evaluation model and a school results-based funding scheme. III. The introduction of new legislation, officially recognizing and accrediting the position of teacher librarian; IV. The existence of regional teacher librarian advisors who act in the field and assist libraries with the implementation of the Model. Nonetheless, the application of the Model has also faced a number of constraints. These difficulties were mostly related to the fact this new tool re-

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quired the internalization of concepts and practices not entirely familiar to all stakeholders: I.

The Model is centered on the concept of evidence-based practice. However, there was a recognized lack of knowledge or record of practice of such concepts; II. The Model requires competences in managing and interpreting evidence, and teacher librarians were not proficient in the execution of those skills; III. Schools and teacher librarians required specialized assistance to monitor the development of their work. The strategies that were followed, namely the option for a piloting phase emphasizing consultation with stakeholders and the intensive training of a great number of TL, contributed to a greater engagement of all parties and a commitment to a successful implementation of the evaluation model. As mentioned above, the development of a staff training plan, using elearning, was a critical factor in the successful implementation of the model. However, new issues are being identified and lines of action are currently under preparation to strengthen the quality of content and policy guidelines available and to disseminate best practice through the development of communities of practice. A reflection about the structure and complexity of the Model and about the number of indicators under evaluation is also required at the end of the first cycle of evaluation (2010/11-2013/14). Overall, and considering its impact in practice, the main outputs of the School Libraries Self-Evaluation Model are: • • • •

•

a growth in number and quality of skilled staff, more knowledgeable in the process of evaluation and continuous improvement cycles; school librarians being forced to think out of the box, working collaboratively and creating multi-level relationships within the school and very importantly with management boards; the establishment of a series of core principles related to proactively seeking good practice and the alignment of the library’s services with the curriculum; the embedding of results in the wider school evaluation process capitalizes the management board’s attention. It can moreover operate as an advocacy tool, providing evidence of the school library’s value and practice; and a greater recognition of the school libraries’ value emerges as a consequence of different agents’ validation of practice and processes, namely the General Inspection’s.

The Model was designed to raise the profile of school libraries and strengthen their contribution towards educational objectives. Several studies have outlined the impact of resources and the way they are applied in teaching and

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learning situations to enhance educational success. Gamoran, Secada, and Marrett (2000), in particular, stress that “resources matter for learning when teachers apply resources in their classroom teaching” (p. 46). It is therefore fundamental to underline that the value of a school library goes well beyond the physical availability of equipment and resources. The real value and impact in students’ learning derives to a great extend from what teachers do with them and from how they align their use with outcomes, hence the need to develop performance assessment instruments, to promote evaluation processes, and to encourage reflection about evaluation. Sustainable development of school libraries in Portugal will require a continuous stream of tangible evidence of benefits, a mature provision of tools and the availability of advice and support in close proximity to schools. Moreover, it will require policy that ensures no break in continuity of employment for full-time teacher librarians.

References Bastos, G. (2006). Challenging school libraries in Portugal: Compromise, consideration, communication, and collaboration. In The Multiple Faces of Literacy: Reading, Knowing, Doing, Selected Papers from the 35th Annual Conference of the International Association of School Librarianship, Lisbon, Portugal [CD-ROM]. Bastos, G., & Martins, R. (2009). Portuguese School Libraries: The design and implementation of a Self Evaluation Model. In Preparing Pupils and Students for the Future: School Libraries in the Picture, Selected Papers from the 38th Annual Conference of the International Association of School Librarianship and the 13th International Forum on Research in School Librarianship, AbanoTerme, Padua, Italy. Conde, E., & Martins, R. (2010). Portuguese school libraries: The design and Implementation of a Self Evaluation Model. In Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries: Theory and Applications, Proceedings of the International Conference on QQML2009, Chania, Greece. New Jersey: World Scientific Publishing. Cram, J. (1999). Six impossible things before breakfast: A multidimensional approach to measuring the value of libraries. Third Northumbria International Conference on Performance Measurement in Libraries and Information Services, 27-31 August, at URL: http://www.alia.org.au/~jcram/six_things.html> (access date 20.05.2009) Cronin, B. (1982). performance measurement and information management. Aslib Proceedings1982, vol. 34, no. 5, p. 227-36. Gamoran, A., Secada, W., & Marrett, C. (2000). The organizational context of teaching and learning: Changing theoretical perspectives. In M. Hallinan (Ed.), Handbook of the sociology of education (pp. 37-64). New York: Springer. Mackenzie, G. (1990). Performance measurement. In L. Maurice (Ed.), Academic library management (pp. 196-205). London: The Library Association. Markless, S., & Steatfield, D. (2006). Evaluating the impact of your library. London: Facet Publishing. School Libraries Network. (2010a). School Libraries Self Evaluation Model, at URL: http://www.rbe.min-edu.pt/np4/76

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School Libraries Network. (2010b). School Libraries Network Program Evaluation, by António Firmino da Costa et al., at URL: http://www.rbe.min-edu.pt/np4/?newsId=592 &fileName=9789727423194.pdf Todd, R. (2008). The evidence-based manifesto for school librarians. School Library Journal, at URL: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6545434.html (access date 20.05.2009)

Author Notes Glória Bastos is a Professor at the Department of Education and Distance Learning, Universidade Aberta (Portuguese Open University). She has a PhD in children’s literature and coordinates the first master for teacher-librarians (e-learning). She has published several books and articles on children’s literature, reading promotion and on school libraries. She belongs to the scientific board of the National Reading Plan and is co-author of the new national curriculum for Portuguese language in elementary education. She was consultant and co-responsible for the School Library Self-Evaluation Model. Contact: [email protected] ; [email protected] Elsa Conde has a BA in History, a post-graduate course in Documentation Sciences and a master’s degree in Multimedia Educational Communication. She held teaching duties between 1980 and 1995. In 1997 she joined the School Libraries Network Program and works as a School Library Advisor. She was co-responsible for the School Library Self-Evaluation Model. Since 1996 she also has worked as a trainer in the area of libraries, especially in terms of e-learning training. Contact: [email protected] Rosa Martins has a BA in History and post-graduate courses in Education and in Information Management and Digital Libraries. She has worked as a School Library Advisor at the School Libraries Network Office, Ministry of Education, since 2000. Her research interests are school libraries’ impact in the learning process and school libraries evaluation; she is one of the persons responsible for the School Library Self-Evaluation Model. Contact: [email protected] ; [email protected]

Building a Model School Library at Madrasah Tsanawiyah Negeri Piyungan in Yogyakarta, Indonesia Labibah Zain, Marwiyah, and Sri Rohyanti Zulaikha UIN (Universitas Islam Negeri) Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Abstract This chapter describes the project of building a model school library at Madrasah Tsanawiyah Negeri (MTsN) Piyungan Bantul in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The problems that the project addresses include: building a library room, providing library facilities, improving library collection, intergrating library into teaching-learning processes, accessing school budget to support school library, and finding a teacher librarian to promote library as a learning center to teachers, students, and staffs. This project was successful in initiating library training required for those who will run a school library. This project also contributed to developing local content subject entitled PPMB (Pengembangan dan Penalaran Minat Baca—Reading Habit Promotion) which has now become one of the required subjects in the curriculum of MTsN Piyungan.

Key Words Indonesia; Madrasah libraries; Teacher librarian training; Library promotion; Reading promotion; Principals; Parents.

Introduction School libraries contribute much to the success of education, as can be seen in the UNESCO School Library Manifesto: the school library provides information and ideas that are fundamental to functioning successfully in today’s information and knowledge-based society, and the school library equips students with long-life learning skills and develops the imagination to enable them to live as responsible citizens. According to the data issued by Education Management Information System of the Department of Religious Affairs in Indonesia (2001), out of around

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36,105 madrasahs (Islamic Schools under the supervision of the Ministry of Religious Affairs), ranging from Ibtidaiyah level to Aliyah level, only around 12,637 madrasahs (35%) have school libraries. Madrasahs of the Ibtitidaiyah level have the smallest percentage (26.34%), while those of the Aliyah level have the biggest percentage (around 55.4%). According to the Department of Religious Affairs Yogyakarta, there are 432 madrasahs in Yogyakarta, and only a few of them have school libraries. We have done preliminary research concerning this matter and identified the following problems: 1. A great number of madrasahs do not have school libraries. 2. In most cases, school libraries are not well-developed and function merely as book storage. 3. Some school libraries are properly run but are not integrated into learning-teaching activities. 4. There are not any professional librarians; most of the school libraries are run by teachers and some are run by administrators. 5. Working as a librarian is considered as of a lower level job than working as a teacher; that is why most people are not interested in it. 6. The collections are mostly weak and unguided. 7. The services are not standard due to the lack of qualified workers. 8. Most school libraries are poorly funded. 9. A great number of madrasahs do not have rooms specifically designed for library. 10. Principals have not realized of the importance of library. Our project was aimed at uncovering the problems faced in running school libraries properly. It was carried out at Madrasah Tsanawiyah Piyungan, an Islamic Junior High School located in Piyungan, Bantul, Yogyakarta. The school was chosen as a research site because Madrasah Tsanawiyah Piyungan is not located in the city but also not in the remote area and also because the madrasah has a group of people who are willing to change, especially the principal, library staff and coordinator, and some of the teachers. The project involved some lecturers from Library and Information Studies in the Faculty of Adab and was cooperatively funded by Ministry of Religious Affairs and by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The project went on for two years (2004-2006) and was continued in the year following with promotional activities, reaching out to the other madrasahs in Yogyakarta. The project was focused on developing school library management. It provided the school library staff members with training on how to manage library collection and on how to develop a library automation system. Librarianship training was also provided for the teachers, focusing on how to make use of library for their learning-teaching activities and on how to encourage students to build strong reading habits. The principal was also informed about

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the library’s contribution to the success of learning-teaching activities and about how the development of school library is highly dependent on both the school principal’s political will and school library funds. In addition, the project also helped the library staff and library manager to develop the library collection. The staff were happy with the changes as they realized that a good school library contributes much to the school’s accreditation rating. Thanks to the project, the poor library changed into a library with high quality collections that invites more library users and readers. And thanks to the principal’s strong political will, the library is getting more and more developed. It has new, larger room with better facilities made possible by the library funding that the school got from the local MORA and from the students’ parents.

Literature Review A Study of Libraries for Basic Education had been conducted at four school libraries by LIS Program of Faculty of Adab, Universitas Islam Negeri (Islamic State University) Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta (Ilmu Perpustakaan dan Informasi—Library and Information Studies, 2006). This research showed that the use of libraries in these four schools in East Java has been quite good, as indicated by library rooms, school budgets for book acquisition, textbooks from the government, book exchanges, and the learning-teaching process using library collection. In these four schools, the teachers asked their students to visit the libraries and explore the collections to support their learningteaching processes. They brought the students to the libraries five times a month for studying Bahasa Indonesia (the Indonesian language) and once a month to study Social Science. The organizational structure and strategic planning of these libraries were well-documented, addressing collection development policy, library facilities, budgeting, human resources, and library services and administration. Another survey was done earlier by FKBA (Forum Kajian Budaya dan Agama—Forum on Cultural and Religious Studies). The survey focused on the school library empowerment in six provinces, namely West Java, Central Java, East Java, Lampung, West Nusa Tenggara, and South Kalimantan (FKBA, 2002). This survey found that school libraries in these areas were not well-managed: uncomfortable library rooms, limited library collections, untrained human resources, poor facilities and networking. Based on this evidence, FKBA conducted some training, followed with monitoring and evaluation. As a result, the school libraries had shown some progress as indicated by better library collections and better-trained staff (usually teachers who have taken librarianship training) and by the rise of the principals’ political will to improve their libraries.

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Description of the Project This project described in this chapter was carried out under the management of a bigger project of IISEP (IAIN-Indonesian Social Equity Project), a fiveyear program funded by CIDA and MORA, running from 2001 to 2006. One of the project’s major programs was developing madrasah libraries. The libraries project began with preliminary research at some madrasahs in Yogyakarta to find a madrasah which could become a model for the project. Considering its location and potential, MTsN Piyungan was chosen, and at the same time the school became the partner of the LIS Program of Faculty of Adab of UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta.

Aims and Objectives of the Project The project was designed to promote: 1. social equity for grass root community through enhancing the quality of the library. 2. the implementation of school library. 3. the use of library in madreasahs to support learning-teaching processes. 4. the reading habit for madrasah students.

Strategies and Resources Used to Develop the Project There were two strategies used for developing madrasah libraries: first, providing the school with facilities needed to run a library in a manner that is close to ideal, and second, providing the school staff and teachers with library training. The trainers used as their reference the book, Perpustakaan Sekolah: Petunjuk untuk membina, memakai, dan memlihara perpustakaan di sekolah (Perpustakaan Nasional, 1995) and the Decision of the Chief of National Library of Indonesian Republic, number 72, of the year 1999, about Technical Guidance of Functional Position of Librarians and Its Credit Mark. Since the program had a library science basis, relevant human resouces—some lecturers at LIS Program of Faculty of Adab, in this case—were involved in working out the program.

Outcomes of the Project According to the Guidance issued by National Library, an ideal school library is to function:

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1. as a learning-teaching center 2. to help students get their from-the-class knowledge clarified and widened and to enble them to do library research. 3. to develop students’ reading habits, interests, and competences. 4. to help students develop their interests, talents, and hobbies. 5. to help students become accustomed to information searching. 6. as a place where students can find heathy, recreative material such as fiction books. 7. to increase learning opportunities for students. In broad terms, there are seven important areas to be noted in running a school library: 1. Room/Place: A library building should be at a quiet place in the centre of the school building so that either students or teachers find it easy to get at the library. A library building should have specific rooms with specific functions: collection room, reading room, processing room, user service rooms (reference, circulation, new books display). 2. Facilities: Normally, a library will need furniture such as reading tables and chairs, circulation table, lockers, book shelves, magazine shelves, newspaper shelves, study carrel, catalogue drawers, dictionary shleves, atlas shleves, and information board. For processing materials, there must be computers, cupboards, library tables, and some shelves for books being processed. 3. Developing Collections of Library Material: Library collection development is highly dependent on library material selection and available funds. Basically, developing of library material can be done in several ways: by buying, by exchanging, by taking gifts, and by selfcollection producing. No matter which way we take to develop library material, it is important for us to make accurate selection according to the goal of library. Important criteria for selecting books/materials are as follows: • The books should help students answer in-the-class questions, questions in daily conversation, and personal curiousity. • The books should contain accurate information. • The books should be useful for deeper investigation of what is taught/discussed in the class. Normally, a class discussion touches only general points, and students are invited to get further information from books and other library materials. Since students must have text books of their own, a library should not provide this type of books. • The books should help students be well-informed of knowledge development. • The books should contain ethical values. • Preference should go to the books written by relevant experts.

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4.

5.

6.

7.

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Preference should go to the books written in a so simple, systematic way that students can understand easily. • Preference should go to the books published by authoritative publisher that is concerned with specific subjects or readers. Collection: There are various types of library materials that a library should have. The most common library material is books, and they vary in form (Fiction, Non-fiction, Reference). A Junior High School (SMP) library should have 70% fiction and 30% non-fiction, with the following criteria/specification: • Basic Collection. To start with, a library should have about 10 titles for each student. The basic collection can be afforded in 5 years and constitutes 50% of the minimum amount of collection that should be afforded in 10 years. • Developing Collection. When the basic collection is completed, a library should annually increase its collection by an additional 10% of the total collection in order to reach the targeted minimum collection. Library Material Processing: Library material processing includes such activities as library material inspecting, inventory, classification, call numbering, cataloguing, and finishing. The standard/guidance used for classification is Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC). Library material processing is done not only for books but also for the other library materials such as magazines, audio material, and so on. Library Services: Library services are aimed at presenting/delivering information to support the teaching-learning activities and as a mean of recreation for all of the school’s citizens by using library materials. Library services include: • Book loan • Supporting class activities • Providng students and individual teachers with information sources and answering students’ or teachers’ questions about various types of school • Offering “library hours” • Educating students to be able to search for information • Training students to explore the usage of library materials and how to do a research tasks as instructed by the teachers. Human Resources: A school library should have staff to develop the library and to develop students’ reading interest. In addition, in order to be able to help students and teachers, a teacher-librairan should know the school’s plan of learning-teaching activities.

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Library Condition Prior to the Project Prior to the preliminary research, and before it was taken as the partner of LIS Program of Faculty of Adab, the conditions of the school library of MTsN Piyungan were as follows: 1. Size and Location. The library was too small for 360 students and 70 staff members. Also, because the library was far away from the place where the teaching-learning activities went on, students did not have time to use the library at the break time (15 minutes). This situation indicated that the principal and teachers were not fully aware of the importance of the school library. 2. Facilities. Basically, the minimum facilities needed by a school library was fulfilled, but these facilities were not fully used. 3. Collection. The school library is at least 10 titles for one person, or a a minimum of 1000 titles in various subjects. The school library of MTsN Piyungan had 2030 books, but most of them were text books received from the Department of Religious Affairs or from the Department of National Education. 4. Library Material Development. There was no significant role played by the library in developing its collection, and the school had no funds for the library. 5. Library Material Processing. Library materials were not processed using the standard procedures. 6. Library Staff. The library support staff included a graduate of threeyear program in Library Science and a helpful Senior High School graduate. 7. Library Services. Having very limited collections, the library was using a closed access system. Book lending service was only focused on text book lending.

The Program for Developing the Library The fundamental problem faced by the school library of MTsN Piyungan was that the library was not conceived of, or treated as, a teaching library supporting the in-the-class learning activity. Therefore, IISEP emphasized acquiring appropriate collection and supporting facilities and also conducting library training for library staff and some teachers (the library coordinators-to-be). Acquiring library collections and facilities. From interviews with students of MTsN Piyungan, we knew that the poor collection of the library was responsible for students’ disinterest in the library. The project, therefore, helped the school library of MTsN Piyungan to get more collections of library materials, both fiction and non-fiction, and by showing staff how to choose materials by using selection criteria. This was intended to stimulate and moti-

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vate the school to increase the library collection and facilities. In addition, the Project provided computers and programs to support library automation and also provided the necessary training. Training library staff. The project gave training to the library staffs and to some teachers (who would be teacher-librarians/library coordinators). Some of the training focused on collection development: 1. How to use selection tools such as national bibliography, publisher’s catalogues, list of readings, and book reviews such as Mata Baca. 2. How to select fiction and non-fiction collections by using criteria as mentioned in the Guidance for Managing School Libraries (1995). 3. How to find alternative ways of developing library materials such as cooperating with other schools or producing some library materials locally such as creating clipping files. 4. How to develop library funding, by sending proposals to the local government that is responsible for the development of madrasahs (MAPENDA), or convincing the principal to allocate some funds for the library from the BOS fund (the budget provided by Indonesian Government to support school to run teaching and learning activities), and also encouraging the school to send funding proposals to private companies that are concerned with library development such as the Coca Cola Company. Some of the training focused on cataloguing and classification in order to take advantage of library automation, which made book processing more efficient and effective. Library staff were given training on using a modified form of DDC (with three-digit call numbers) because the collection was small and users would find it easier to use a simpler catalogue. Changing from closed access to open access. The closed access system used in the library service was one reason why students were not interested in the library. The project provoked the school to change system into the open access and to provide the needed supporting infrastructures for open access. A bigger room or building was needed that would enable the staffs to separate the collection room from the reading and librarian room. Responding to the project’s suggestion, the school gave one classroom to be used as collection room and librarian room. The design of the room was made interesting. The walls were painted light yellow, and some decorations were made using attractive posters. And, because MTsn Piyungan is an Islamic institution, some Islamic slogans were also made. The reading room was made available for students who wanted to feel comfortable while reading. With more interesting rooms, the library invites more users. The Project also promoted library visits by involving teachers. In this way, the library was beginning position itself as a place for the learning-teaching process. Initiating the possibility of a madrasah teaching library would make the library more than a place for keeping the collection. The first important step would be using the library for teaching

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some subjects such as Bahasa Indonesia or Social Science. By cooperating with teachers, the library provided a schedule for library visits. Realizing the idea of a teaching library. An important next step was approaching the policy makers to help them realize that a library could be a teaching library. What was expcted from this session was that the principal would welcome the idea of the library as a teaching library and would therefore give priority to library development. Some achievements made in this session were important decisions concerning the following matters: • • • •

Collection development: set aside budgets for books, promote book donation (policy) More flexible teaching style: using library collections and other facilities Provide more appropriate rooms or building for the library Provide more facilities

Assessment and Evaluation To assess the success of the project, monitoring and evaluation have been done each semester (2004-2007) by the LIS Program, and, in the integrated cases such as this one, by the project management—the CIDA representative, MORA, and UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta. In monitoring and evaluating the project, the evaluator team compared the conditions before and after the project. The evaluator team found the following progress in the school library at Madrasah Tsanawiyah Negeri (MTsN): 1. Human Resources: There is a library coordinator as teacher librarian. (In the Indonesian context, a teacher librarian is someone who has obtained library certificate by taking training on librarianship such as library management, collection development, processing, library services, preservation, and information literacy). 2. The quantity of the library collection has increased, from 2030 items (23 titles) consisting of only textbooks, to 35,000 items (355 titles), divided between 75% non-fiction items including books and audio visual items and 25% fiction items. 3. The library building is larger (from 98m2 to 136m2), is in a more strategic location (from the corner of the school, to the visible room located at the centre of the school), and has more comfortable facilities (from limited tables and bad air circulation, to a comfortable carpeted room equipped with two fans). 4. The collection development has been funded by school operational budget (BOS) and book donation by the graduating students. 5. A new course with local content is being offered. The name of the course is Pengembangan dan Penalaran Minat Baca (Reading Promotion)

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The project was completed in 2007 but MTsN Piyungan and LIS Program continue to communicate with each other.

Conclusion The program of building a model school library at MTsN Piyungan was started by analyzing the problems, followed by activities to solve the problems, including library consultation and training, and finally by monitoring and evaluation. There were some obstacles in doing this project such as some teachers’ resistance to changing their mindset that a library is not just a book repository but a basic and crucial part of the learning-teaching process in school. However, when the school principal started to be aware of the importance of the library, she took action to improve the library. Therefore, it is important to involve school principals in library seminars to make them aware of library issues in the educational context. It is also recomended that LIS Program of Faculty of Adab continues its monitoring and evaluation program to ensure that the school maintains excellent library management and continues to integrate the library into the learning-teaching processes.

References Departemen Agama. (2001). Education Management Information System (EMIS) Binbaga Depag dalam Laporan Utama: Menelusuri Problem Perpustakaan Madrasah. Jurnal Masyarakat Pendidikan, vol.1 no.4. Forum Kajian Budaya dan Agama.(2002). Penelitian pemberdayaan Perpustakaan madrasah : Kajian Pemberdayaan Perpustakaan di 6 propinsi. Yogyakarta: Forum Kajian Budaya dan Agama. International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions School Libraries and Resource Centers Section. (2006). IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto, at URL: http://archive.ifla.org/VII/s11/pubs/manifest.htm (access date : 28.11.2010) Jamaludin (Ed.). Madrasah menggugat, madrasah digugat. Jakarta: EMIS Ditjen Baga Islam Depag. Perpustakaan Nasional. (1995). Pedoman penyelenggaraan perpustakan sekolah. Jakarta : Perpusnas. Program Studi Ilmu Perpustakaan dan Informasi. (2006). Penelitian perpustakaan sekolah pada pendidikan dasar : kajian penelitian di 4 Perpustakaan Madrasah. Yogyakarta: Progran Studi Ilmu Perpustakaan dan Informasi. Umam, Saiful dan Arief Subhan (Ed.). (2002). Bekerja bersama madrasah membangun model pendidikan di Indonesia. Jakarta Basic Education Project (BEP) bekejasama dengan Indonesian Institute for Society Empowerment (INSEP).

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Author Notes Labibah Zain, MLIS, has been teaching at UIN Sunan Kalijaga since 1994. Her area of expertise is Library Management. She has published short stories in several Indonesian newspaper and magazines and is a founder of Indonesian blogger community “blogfam dot com.” She can be reached at this email: [email protected] Marwiyah, MLIS, worked as an academic librarian for 2 years (1999-2001). She has been the director of the three-year LIS Diploma program since 2009 and has been teaching at UIN Sunan Kalijaga since 2004. Her area of expertise is School Librarianship. She can be reached at this email: [email protected] Sri Rohyanti Zulaikha, MSI, worked as an academic librarian for one year (1998-1999) and was an academic library director at UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta in 2008. Since 2000, she has been teaching at UIN Sunan Kalijaga. Her area of expertise is Information Literacy. She can be reached at this email: [email protected]

Developing Understanding of Information Literacy within the Croatian School Environment Sonja Špiranec and Mihaela Banek Zorica University of Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract This chapter presents efforts made to promote information literacy among school library practitioners and the wider school community in Croatia. The authors present results of the pilot project carried out with the Education and Teacher Training Agency in advocating and developing understanding of information literacy within the Croatian school environment. The workshop linked educational sessions with the observations and suggestions of participants in order to form a platform for creating a national information literacy agenda for school communities. The aim of the project “Information Literacy in School Libraries” was to show how a bottom-up approach developed through a collaborative process that included different representatives from the school community could be used in formulating sustainable and real-life strategies for promotion and advancement of information literacy in Croatia.

Keywords Croatia; Information literacy; Train-the-trainers; Implementation strategies; Community-building; Pedagogy.

Background In recent years a lot has been discussed about necessary changes in educational sector caused by technological and societal changes. School libraries have gradually become more recognized as essential for the successful educational process in a knowledge society. In Croatia, having a school library staffed with a library professional has been part of the educational tradition for a long time. School libraries in Croatia have a good legal foundation; it is prescribed by law, the 2008 Act on Education in Primary and Secondary Schools, that every school has to have a school library with a librarian who has a university library degree. This has created a large number of school li-

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brary professionals (around 1400 primary and secondary school librarians) working in the field. Nevertheless, in Croatia and in many other European countries, it appears that having an educated professional in the school library does not equal having a school community with a substantial and sustained commitment to the library and, vice versa, a school library as an educational centre of the school community. In the last two decades, changes in the educational environment were necessary in response to the requirements of a global society. Those changes are reflected in curriculum reforms that are occurring worldwide and that share common conceptions, even if the terminology varies. These changes have started with various strategic national policies. The central principle of these policies was to develop lifelong learners with intellectual abilities of reasoning, critical thinking, creative problem-solving, decision-making, independent learning and the responsible use of information. These national policies have provided the arguments for introducing information literacy (IL) into classrooms. These arguments have been supported by numerous studies confirming that the effectiveness of learning depends on competencies in accessing, evaluating, synthesizing, communicating and ethically using information (see, for example, Bruce, 2000; Limberg, 1999; Kuhlthau, 1993). Learning and knowledge are both complex concepts that raise complex issues but both are inextricably linked with information. How a school thinks about information will ultimately shape attitudes and approaches to learning and knowledge building (Henri, 2005). Due to the correlations between IL and changes in the educational sector, its congruency with contemporary educational goals (promoting critical thinking skills and developing the capacity for lifelong learning), and its potential to respond to different issues arising in new learning environments, one could expect that information literacy would be recognized as central to the mission of all the levels of education and therefore would be expressed in accredited curricula. Yet, the day-to-day working reality of school librarians does not confirm such a perception. Although the school has been buffeted by waves of educational innovations, some features of schools remain highly resistant to change (Oberg, 2009). Although the reasons for that are complex and often context-specific, in general school reform research suggests that schools that want to improve student learning need to develop collaborative cultures and build up structures to facilitate people working together (Newmann & Wehlage, 1995, as cited in Oberg). Creating collaborative cultures certainly takes time, and in some cases more time is needed than in others. Countries without the tradition of partnerships between school libraries and teachers--and this is the case in many European countries--are facing many obstacles in implementing IL across the school. Spiranec and Pejova (2010) analyzed the current state of IL not only in Croatia but across the region of South-East Europe (SEE) and found the following problems:

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• • •

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the majority of libraries offer education and training for users, but only a minor percentage of them offer information literacy training specifically, and the majority of libraries carry out only the simplest and most fundamental forms of introduction to the library and information resources; initiatives in information literacy are almost exclusively left to the librarians alone, without the active partnership of the wider community; the evaluation of the courses as well as the assessment of the acquired information literacy knowledge of the students are very weak; and the support of teaching staff in these endeavours is very low.

The overall conclusion of the studies conducted in the SEE region was that IL activities are still weak, undefined, unrecognized, underestimated and unrewarded. The results realized in Croatia in a similar survey that included the state of IL in the educational domain, i.e., university and school librarians, showed comparable results: • •

• •

•

user education in general is still a peripheral rather than a central concern; most instruction in these libraries has been conducted on an ad hoc, informal or individual basis; responses regarding methodical, organizational features or the content of the provided educational activities revealed the general lack of systematic procedures and content quality, and remedying these deficiencies would require the development of written and widely published educational programs and mission statements, and also would require the ongoing periodic evaluation and assessment of these practices; the majority of libraries carry out only rather elementary and basic forms of introduction to library and information resources; probably the greatest challenge represents the prevailing confusion between information literacy and computer literacy. Unfortunately, librarians and other information professionals still tend to treat computer and information literacy as one and the same concept; and the majority of respondents claimed that they don't feel professionally prepared for providing training or IL courses (Lasic-Lazic, Špiranec & Banek Zorica, 2006).

A major reason for this unfavourable state is the low acceptance of the concept and status of a teacher-librarian. In many South-East European countries, librarians are not perceived as teaching personnel even in cases when they have educational qualifications but, rather, as lower level supporting personnel. Librarians are usually not assertive about their teaching capabilities and responsibilities and have to struggle to get their voices heard in the classroom. This circumstance has heavily inhibited the idea of information literacy which embodies the idea of teacher-librarian collaboration at its very core (Spiranec & Pejova, 2010).

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Description of the Project The Project: Aims, Objectives and Methodology Having in mind the results of previous research, coupled with context-specific variables of the school sector, the Department of Information Sciences at the University of Zagreb, which offers various LIS studies and educates librarians and information professionals, undertook major efforts in order to bring IL to the attention of the school library profession and the school community in general. Due to the general lack of written and widely published educational programs, mission statement or policy on information literacy on national level, the majority of school libraries in Croatia provide only simplest and most fundamental forms of user education oriented more towards library literacy and not information literacy. Diagnosing the emerging problem and trying to find a solution to the problem an idea for the pilot project came through. The purpose of the pilot project was to promote IL among school library practitioners in Croatia but also to help the wider school community to think about IL and to see it as a tool for the realization of current educational reforms. In order to do this, the target audience of the workshop could not be restricted to school librarians but would include the wider IL/school community. Education of practitioners was seen as model of training the trainers and additional value for their recognition as the crucial factors of educational process in the eyes of the whole school community. In order to reach the wider community, the workshop facilitators approached the Education and Teacher Training Agency who agreed to participate in the project. The alliance with this institution gave the project an important strategic dimension. The Education and Teacher Training Agency is a public institution responsible for the provision of professional and advisory support in the area of general education in Croatia; it is an agency of the Ministry of Education. Its main scope lies in providing professional and advisory assistance in education, monitoring and improvement of education, the participation in the preparation of the national curriculum, organizing and implementing in-service training of pre-school, primary and secondary school teachers, school counselors, and principals. The support of such an institution guaranteed that the workshops would have a strong voice and impact in the wider school community. Examining theoretical frameworks, scanning current education problems and IL issues, and researching best case scenarios brought us to the creation and organisation of the set of materials to be offered at beginners and advanced levels. The materials were developed by capitalizing upon participation at UNESCO’s Training-the-Trainers Workshop held in Ankara in 2008 (Kurbanoglu, 2010) and tailored to specific needs and issues arising in the context of the Croatian school community. The project developed a comprehensive workshop rationale with several considerations in mind. Foremost was

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that IL is not just a library issue, but an issue for the whole educational/school community and society as well. Therefore, the results of the workshop had to be developed through a cooperative and collaborative process that included representatives from different stakeholders (librarians, headmasters, IL researchers/LIS teachers, public librarians, representatives from the teacher training agency). In 2010, eight workshops with a regional scope were organized with the prospect of organizing several more in 2011 which would cover the two Croatian regions that were not included in the first cycle of workshops. The target audience of six workshops were teacher-librarians while two of the workshops were organized for other members of the school community–teachers, librarians, headmasters, and representatives of the Ministry of Education responsible for teacher-training. The heterogeneity of this latter group of participants brought in different perspectives and viewpoints which proved to be highly beneficial for the workshop outcomes. In total, the series of workshops were attended by 250 participants although some of the participants, namely school librarians, attended more than one workshop (beginners and advanced) due to their high motivation and interest in IL. The aims and objectives of the workshop were twofold: educational outcomes relating to IL awareness and know-how; and the formulation and articulation of a national IL strategy and priorities. The educational outcomes were accomplished by a combination of presentations, demonstrations, handson activities and exercises. The second aim, namely to define national priorities of IL actions and activities, was accomplished by group work. Through self-reflecting analysis and group discussions about major obstacles in delivering information literacy at schools, the participants identified a set of obstacles. After the initial discussion, workshop participants were asked to propose a set of solutions for the perceived problems and barriers in offering information literacy. During the two group activities transcripts of the discussions were made. The different statements relating to major obstacles in making IL a schoolwide issue were summarized into ten points and these were organized into four main categories: 1. Educational policy issues • no room for IL in the curriculum, lack of time for IL due to curriculum overload • lack of a national IL standard or curriculum • IL not articulated/recognized/mentioned within the curriculum 2. Financial/administrative issues • lack of resources (time, space and equipment) 3. Institutional change • lack of commitment for information literacy across the school community • resistance to change, • rewards for participation in the IL program

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4. Competencies • confusion of information literacy with IT competency, among teachers and even among librarians • need for educating teachers • familiarity of teachers with the IL concept The majority of participants perceived strategic issues as a major obstacle in implementing IL in schools. Without adequate frameworks, librarians were not sure where to start with their IL activities, how to justify such activities or how to promote or advocate them. Those issues were identified as the most immediate to remedy. The most frequently mentioned issues are shown in Table 1.

After agreeing on a set of obstacles, participants were encouraged, by methods of self-analysis and experience derived from every-day work situations, to propose solutions to perceived obstacles in the development and implementation of IL programs. The participants stressed following issues in their discussions: • • • • • •

awareness-raising of teachers and headmasters education of teachers about IL concepts and outcomes integration of IL across the curriculum investments in infrastructure and resources verification of a national IL program/curriculum developing an IL standard

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develop and teach an IL curriculum that is integrated with core subject areas need for teachers to reinforce the IL skills thought by librarians fostering solid understanding of IL across the school community.

It is interesting to highlight that solutions elicited in the group work which involved other important IL agents and stakeholders (headmasters, community librarians, teachers) were much wider in scope. Beside the above stated issues, the groups consisting of representatives from the wider community highlighted additional points: • • • • • • •

creation of IL taskforces on the school community level need for illustrating and highlighting correlations between IL and educational reforms (promoting IL as a vehicle of educational reforms) making more clear how to integrate IL into subject-specific content strengthening and institutionalising collaborative efforts, fostering cooperation with teachers, developing mechanisms for articulation within the curriculum, school mission and strategic plans institutionalizing the collaboration with public librarians, defining modes of this collaboration involvement of parents into IL discussions and actions.

The discussions opened new views on current situation and visualized further steps that needed to be taken. According to the statements and arguments of participants, the creation of an IL curriculum and a set of standards seems to be a priority for improvement of IL in Croatia.

Workshop Outcomes Apart from fulfilling educational aims, i.e., to prepare teacher-librarians for their roles in building up an information literate school community, the aim of the workshop was to define a solid and sustainable IL framework based on real-life problems and situations from the perspective of professionals and through discussion of different school community members. Hence, the workshop outcomes can be identified in three areas: educational aims; building up communities; and defining sustainable bottom-up strategies from practitioners’ viewpoint. Educational aims. After completing either beginners or advanced workshop (in some cases school librarians were attending both) participants have gathered insight into the field of information literacy and its implementation into the curriculum. Practical examples oriented towards standards, performance indicators, learning outcomes, the creation of a successful IL programs, evaluation of information and information literacy perception and communication were appropriately taken from the everyday practice and the body of

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knowledge accredited by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports and implemented in schools. Participants were encouraged to further develop materials received either by themselves or by joining forces and sharing best examples. The two workshops that hosted the wider school community were to a large extent advocacy-related and oriented towards demonstrating the correlation between educational reforms and IL and the meaning of IL for learning success. Building up communities. The two workshops held for management and information personnel, i.e., head masters, school librarians and public librarians, brought some new perspectives into the workshops and gave the learning events additional value. This type of workshop brought closer connections between the key elements of successful educational process. Communication between principals and school librarians and their insight into current obstacles and possible solutions was seen as a good practice in fostering dialogue and helping transfer the ideas and understandings of information literacy into everyday educational practice. Defining sustainable bottom-up strategies from practitioners’ viewpoint. Major obstacles to IL in the context of school libraries were elicited during group discussion, and possible solutions to obstacles were proposed. After identifying main inhibiting IL factors, the participants then proposed solutions. These agreed-upon points were transformed into a realistic IL agenda for school libraries. As a written outcome of the workshop, the following strategic steps were agreed upon: 1. Development of a national IL standard. A taskforce will be formed consisting of highly motivated and interested workshop participants who will work on the standard. Representatives from the Education and Teacher-training Agency will communicate this result of this work to the Ministry of Education in order to verify i.e. the standards i.e. to accredit the standard. 2. The workshop facilitators, together with interested workshop participants will work on a book that illustrate best practices of IL instruction within schools, including exercises 3. With the support of the Education and Teacher Training Agency, IL will become a part of continuing education seminars for teachers

Lessons Learned and Recommendations Practice has shown that there is still a lot of misunderstanding of the term information literacy being mixed with computer literacy and library skills. Progressive advocacy of information literacy shows results in recognition of the problem and comprehending this kind of literacy as one of the solutions to the successful educational reform. Insight into the school librarian’s position and their view of the problem as well as their suggestions of how to create

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possible solutions to the problem, both on general and individual level, is seen as an excellent foundation for creating national strategies, standards or programs. The main premise of the set of workshops was that the process of devising strategies or programs should not be completely left to decision-makers that don’t have insight into the priorities, real-life problems and issues that school librarians face in their every-day practice. Furthermore, the viewpoints of different stakeholders and the wider school community should be incorporated into any IL strategy and, finally, the workshop organizers believed in “striking while the iron is hot,” that is, coupling educational and motivational sessions with observations and proposals of participants as the basis for further steps in creating IL agenda. Instead of creating top-down strategies that may be detached from realworld professional situations, that may be restricted to the viewpoints of decision-makers or just one segment of a wider community, it is important to provide a platform of different voices and perspectives. This was accomplished through the design of the workshops. The applied methodology proved to be fruitful, sustainable and comprehensive; it will therefore provide a model for future IL workshops, based on following guidelines: 1. the linking of learning events with critical analysis and self-analysis of the current situation involves and motivates the learner 2. dealing with difficult points and proposing solutions tailored to the perceived problems of practitioners will help to suggest future directions and form a practical basis for creating an IL agenda 3. embracing the wider community–not just librarians, but other constituents of IL school community as well. The educational-analytical-operational framework of the workshops proved to be useful for developing the knowledge of teacher-librarians and also others involved in supporting effective school libraries, i.e., headmasters and public librarians. By working through multi-perspective alliances in this way, librarians can have far more influence on high-level decision-making than they can as individuals in creating solutions tailored to their immediate professional need. Finally, the most important thing about IL in school environments is that IL is not a library issue, but an educational issue. Without addressing IL as an educational objective and implementing a methodological approach to information literacy programs, schools will be unable to produce individuals qualified to function successfully in the information workplace, i.e., their future work and life environment. However perfect the IL instruction of a school library may be, if it is not a school community issue, IL will rest on the margins of interest and will certainly not fulfill the promises and potentials of IL. The series of workshops organized under the auspice of the Education and Teacher Training Agency and the University LIS Department gives greater importance to such proactive actions and creates one of the possible solutions

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to the problem starting from the practical and not only the theoretical point of view.

References Henri, J. (2005). What is an information literate school community and what are the implications for teacher librarians? Unpublished chapter, at URL: http://www.cite.hku.hk/ people/jhenri/doc/InformationLiterateSchoolCommunity.pdf (access date: 26.01.2011) Kurbanoglu, S. (2009) Report of the UNESCO "Training the Trainers in Information Literacy" ("TTT") Workshop Ankara, Turkey, September 3-5, 2008. International Information and Library Review, vol. 41, no. 4, p. 252-256. Lasić-Lazić, J., Špiranec, S., & Banek Zorica, M. (2006). Information literacy: the backbone of curricular school reforms in Croatia. In Ana Bela Martins [et al.] (Eds.), The multiple faces of literacy: Reading, knowing, doing. Lisbon, Portugal: IASL. Oberg, D. (2009). Libraries in schools: Essential context for studying organizational change and culture. Library Trends, vol. 58, no. 1, p. 9-25. Špiranec, S., & Banek Zorica, M. (2010). Information Literacy 2.0: Hype or discourse refinement? Journal of Documentation, vol. 66, no. 1, p. 140-153. Špiranec, S., & Pejova, Z. (2010). Information literacy in South-East Europe: Formulating strategic initiatives, making reforms and introducing best practices. International Information and Library Review, vol. 42, no. 2, p. 75-83.

Author Notes Sonja Špiranec ([email protected]) is an Assistant professor at the Department of Information Sciences, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb. She holds a PhD in Information Sciences & librarianship from the University of Zagreb. She is engaged in undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate teaching, mentoring and research in the area of information retrieval, evaluation of information, information literacy, scientific communication and Web 2.0. In 2008 she has published a textbook on information literacy in Croatian. She has participated in numerous international conferences and workshops and received in 2010 the annual national award for using social software in education. Mihaela Banek Zorica, PhD ([email protected]) is an Assistant professor at Department of Information Sciences, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, where she teaches subjects related to knowledge organization, e-learning, school libraries, and information literacy. She has been working on several international and national projects. Her research interests are on e-learning, repositories, knowledge organization, school libraries and information literacy on which she has published several papers, book chapters and books. In 2010 she received IASL school librarianship award and

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University of Zagreb e-learning award for course with the best utilization of social software in e-learning.

Personal Learning Networks and Participatory Culture: Getting Teacher-Librarians Connected in the 21st Century Jennifer L. Branch and Joanne de Groot University of Alberta, Canada

Abstract This chapter explores the implementation of courses and assignments that prepare students in a teacher-librarianship program to work with 21st century technologies and with the ideas behind participatory culture and connectivism. The authors explain the development of information and communication technology courses for teacher-librarianship education, the first forays in Web 2.0, and the evolving thinking and reading about participatory culture, connectivism and personal learning networks. The purpose of these changes was to encourage students in the Teacher-Librarianship by Distance Learning program at the University of Alberta to create personal learning networks and to participate in global conversations about teaching, 21st century learning, school libraries and technologies. The authors recommend that education programs for teacher-librarians incorporate assignments, assessments and opportunities for exploration of Web 2.0 tools and that instructors in these programs model the creation and maintenance of personal learning networks using social media.

Keywords Canada; School library education; Web 2.0; Technology; Distance education; Personal learning networks; Participatory culture; Connectivism.

Introduction For teacher-librarians to be effective educators in the 21st century, they need to be familiar and comfortable with Web 2.0. Also known as the Read-Write Web, Web 2.0 refers to the web-based tools that are readily available and used to create, communicate and collaborate with others. Blogs, wikis, photo and

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video sharing sites (e.g., Blogger, PBWiki, Flickr and Youtube), production tools (e.g., Animoto, Voicethread, Prezi) and social networking (e.g., Facebook and Twitter) are all examples of Web 2.0 tools. Our approach in the Teacher-Librarianship by Distance Learning program at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada is to expose students (practicing teachers and teacher-librarians) to a variety of Web 2.0 tools in their program and to provide activities, assignments, and assessments that help them become active participants in online environments. The Pew Internet & American Life Project “has found that 64% of online teens ages 12-17 have participated in one or more among a wide range of content-creating activities on the internet, up from 57% of online teens in a similar survey at the end of 2004” (Lenhart, Madden, Rankin Macgill, & Smith, 2007, para. 2). Helping teachers and teacher-librarians understand the digital experiences of young people must be a part of graduate education in teacher-librarianship. These online experiences are part of participatory culture and are defined by Jenkins et al. (2006) as: A culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one’s creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to the novices. A participatory culture is also one in which members believe their contributions matter, and feel some degree of social connection with one another (at the least they care what other people think about what they have created). (p. 3)

The foundation of participatory culture is the connections made with and between others. Siemens (2005) proposed connectivism as a new learning theory for the digital age. The principles of connectivism are as follows: • • • • • • • •

Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions. Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources. Learning may reside in non-human appliances. Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known. Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning. Ability to see connections between fields, ideas, and concepts is a core skill. Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities. Decision-making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality. While there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision. (Connectivism section, para. 3)

These two ideas, participatory culture and connectivism, form the foundation of the project/practice we have implemented at the University of Alberta to

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prepare teacher-librarians for their work in schools and school libraries in the 21st century.

Review of the Literature A review of the literature on how teachers are learning to use Web 2.0 in their classrooms found very little research on the topic, although more has been written from a professional or practical perspective. Oliver (2007) reports on a redesign of a graduate-level technology integration course, and some student feedback is included in this article. Wright and Wilson (2007) also discuss the design of a master technology teacher program. Neither of these articles are research but they focus on the professional and practical issues related to this kind of course. A study by Groth, Dunlap, and Kidd (2007) looked at preservice teachers, university instructors, and technology education. In this study, the technology was integrated into a curriculum course, rather than as a stand-alone technology course. The researchers found that modelling, support, and practical applications of technology “in an atmosphere that fostered exploration and reduced the fear of failure” (p. 381) were instrumental in changing instructional practice. University instructors must strive toward exemplary technology integration in pre-service classes in order to prepare educators to effectively integrate technology into their classrooms. Online learning adds another level of complexity to professional development experiences. Dede (2006) noted that when teachers choose the focus and time of their learning (such as when they do online professional development) this promotes teacher-ownership of that learning. Research on the unique professional learning needs of teacher-librarians indicates that “interaction with other school library professionals is not a regular occurrence” (Mardis & Hoffman, 2008, Online focus groups as a motivator for decreasing educator isolation section, para. 2). Providing opportunities for teacher-librarians to reflect and connect resulted in both “a sense of shared circumstances (I am not the only one like this) and the opportunity to learn of successful strategies for school librar[ies] that had immediate relevance (I want to try that out here)” (Mardis & Hoffman, Online focus groups as a motivator for decreasing educator isolation section, para. 2). Research in the area of technology integration in schools and by teachers is vast. Studies have provided a list of factors that can affect the use of technology in schools. Levin and Wadmany (2008) found that “teachers’ training courses, workshops, and support session monitoring should be coordinated and sustained over time to empower teachers and show them what they need to know and what they can achieve” (p. 259). The researchers also found that training by authorities is only one part of a professional development plan. There is a need for formal training at early stages; however, at subsequent stages in their professional growth, teachers will require educational opportu-

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nities that facilitate collaboration with colleagues on authentic routine classroom issues as well as personal and self-inquiry accompanied by mentorship, sometimes in addition to, but mainly instead of, authoritative training. Further research on professional development for technology integration highlights other factors including convenient access to computers, appropriate infrastructure, thoughtful planning for the use of technology and exposing teachers to using technology as a productivity tool (Hope, 1998; Smerdon et al., 2000). Leadership and a strong sense of school needs are also key to the successful integration of technology (Hardy, 1998). Sherry, Billig, Tavalin, and Gibson (2000) highlight the importance of guidance from specialist mentors and online resources while Zhao and Frank (2003) acknowledge the challenge of the changing nature of the technology itself. Challenges may also include teacher burnout, lack of time to learn and explore new technologies, and the way staff development is offered and supported in schools and school districts (Weikart & Marrapodi, 1999).

Description of the Project The Teacher-Librarianship by Distance Learning (TLDL) program at the University of Alberta has been providing online educational opportunities for teachers and teacher-librarians for almost 15 years. To be accepted into the Master of Education program, students need to be qualified teachers (Bachelor of Education degree) and have a minimum of one year of successful teaching experience. Most of our students are already working in school libraries and come into the program to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to build successful school library programs. A few students every year come into the program wanting to be teacher-librarians but not working in a library. This is a drastic shift from twenty years ago when the majority of students were not working in school libraries when enrolled in our teacher-librarianship education programs. As an online program, technology is woven into the fabric of each course, with students completing all of their course work and assignments online. This is the story of the project. Joanne had been teaching our required technology class, EDES 545 Information Technologies for Learning, for three years. Jennifer had just come back from parental leave and was teaching EDES 545 for the first time. It was an exciting time in terms of new technologies to explore. Jennifer had blogged while living in Salzburg on her unpaid parental leave to keep in touch with family and friends. Joanne created a Voicethread of her children singing Happy Birthday to their Granddad, Jennifer was reconnecting with old friends on Facebook, Joanne was reading blogs written by leading experts in the fields of libraries and education, and we shared bookmarks on Delicious. After just a few weeks of teaching, it became clear that the students in that Fall 2007 course seemed VERY reluctant to try the new tools. In fact, when given choice in

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Jennifer L. Branch and Joanne de Groot assignments, only one student chose to explore blogs, wikis and podcasts. While Joanne and I were learning on our own to create podcasts, building wikis, social bookmarking, sharing photos on Picasa and Flickr, and blogging for personal and professional purposes, our graduate students were only interested in PowerPoint or webquests. We realized we had a problem. EDES 545 was the only “technology” class in the entire Teacher-Librarianship by Distance Learning program. How could we send our graduates out into school libraries as leaders in inquiry, resources, technology and multiple literacies if all they were learning about was PowerPoint? Our conversations that fall, as Jennifer taught the course, started to revolve around the need for teacher-librarians to be leaders in terms of learning new technologies. We knew that teacher-librarians should be supporting teachers and students as they used these new and emerging tools for collaboration, resource-sharing and organization, information access (think Wikipedia), and the creation, presentation and sharing of new knowledge. What we needed to do was help our teacher-librarians become not only comfortable with some current Web 2.0 tools but also willing and able to try other new tools as they were developed. And for that we needed a new approach. PLAY! We had come to realize over the previous few years that the way we were integrating new and emerging technologies into our own lives was by playing with them. It was clear to us that the reason that some young people were becoming so skilled in integrating new and emerging technologies into their own lives was because they were taking a playful approach. We quickly realized that there were really two components to helping our teacher-librarians become school leaders in the area of technology integration for teaching and learning. The first was that our graduate students needed to play with the tools themselves – to imagine how they might use the tools for their personal and professional lives. Then, and only then, could they start to imagine how they would use these tools in their schools, libraries and classrooms. To do this we introduced a new course, Exploring Web 2.0 for Teaching and Learning, and then revamped our EDES 545 class to focus on the integration of technology into schools and libraries. The Web 2.0 course became a pre-requisite for EDES 545. To develop the new course we looked to very interesting work being done in the United States to help library staff learn more about Web 2.0. The program called “Learning 2.0” was developed by the Charlotte Mecklenberg County Library System and had librarians complete 23 things as part of their workday. We felt that this model was one that would work with teacher-librarians. From this program, we selected tools that we felt were important for our teacherlibrarians to play with. Our key resource at the time and to this day continues to be Richardson’s Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Now in its third edition, the book provides our students with a starting point for learning about the tools and thinking about the implications for teaching and learning. We have to admit, before we go much further, that we didn’t really know all that much about Web 2.0 ourselves! We knew that it was important for schools and classrooms but we were learning as we went along. We were playing with the new technologies and we felt that our teacher-librarians needed to be doing the same thing. We were not experts! In the Winter of 2008, Jennifer taught the new class for the first time. Those first students knew very little about these new tools; many hadn’t even heard of the term Web 2.0. Those first few weeks were very scary for the students. Playing with the technologies was a new concept. However, students quickly adapted to the weekly schedule of read/research, play and blog about it.

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The first offering of this new course was a success. Students in the program were playing with these new technologies, thinking critically about them and sharing their new learning with other teachers in their schools and districts. They were becoming leaders in the field of technology and were seen as the local experts in the areas of Web 2.0 and technology in schools. Students from that first offering of the Web 2.0 course have reported that they have been asked to give workshops for their colleagues, they have used Web 2.0 tools (e.g., blogs, wikis, podcasts, and Voicethread) with their students, and some have even maintained the blogs that they started for the course. The Web 2.0 course has been taught in almost every term since that first iteration of the course in Winter 2008. More than 100 students have taken the course in that time, including students from other programs within the Faculty of Education. The main assignment is a series of blog posts on different Web 2.0 tools. The assignment has remained fairly consistent since the beginning of the course. The assignment is described to students in this way: Each week, you will explore different Web 2.0 tools to learn more about them and imagine how you might use them in your own learning and in the work you do with students. You will then write a weekly blog post (or a week's worth of blog posts if that is an easier way for you to manage your writing) that highlights your learning about that particular tool and reflects on the implications for teaching and learning. You will also be responsible for demonstrating your use of each tool (e.g., posting pictures to a photo sharing site and linking to that on your blog). Each student is responsible for setting up their own blog using one of the many free or inexpensive blog publishing tools available online (e.g., Wordpress, Blogger, Blogspot, etc.). The topics that are explored in the blog posts include: • • • • • • • • •

Introductory blog - Introduce yourself and set up your blog - comment on the process of doing this, the blog publishing tool you chose and why, and comments related to the evaluation criteria below. Blog # 1 - Explore photo sharing sites - such as Flicker or Picasso (or others) Blog # 2 - Explore YouTube and Teacher Tube and other video sharing sites Blog # 3 - Explore social bookmarking sites - such as diigo (watch “Social Bookmarking in Plain English” on YouTube for a great overview) Blog # 4 - Explore podcasting (and create a podcast to post on your blog) Blog # 5 - Explore Wikis (watch “Wikis in Plain English” on YouTube for a great overview) Blog # 6 - Explore multimedia sharing / mashup sites - and Voicethread or Animoto Blog # 7 - Explore social networking sites Blog # 8 - Explore twitter

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• •

Blog # 9 - Explore blogging and blogs for professional development (including exploration of RSS & blog aggregators) Final Reflection - Discuss the highlights and lowlights of your learning. Briefly talk about your future plans--where do I go from here in terms of learning about technologies and integrating technologies into my classroom/library/school. Consider what tool(s) you will want to share with your colleagues in schools and/or libraries. Reflect on why this tool would be beneficial for other teachers and librarians to learn about. Highlight a couple of the key things you learned from others in the class. Reflect on the whole process - from day 1 to the end of the class.

Over the last few years the course has continued to evolve to reflect the most current trends in Web 2.0 technology and to incorporate our own changing understandings of ‘best practice.’ For example, we developed a comprehensive rubric to assess student blog posts (see http://tldl.pbworks.com/w/page/ 4059591/FrontPage). The rubric was useful for a number of reasons. First, it allowed the two primary instructors to maintain consistency across sections when assessing assignments. Second, the rubric helped make the assessment of the blogs more transparent and encouraged our students to think critically about a particular Web 2.0 tool’s benefits both professionally and personally. And finally, the rubric clearly identified the expectations for students from the beginning of the course. While we made changes to the course itself, including the assessment of student work, it did not take long for us to notice other changes. Students who had completed the Web 2.0 class were using their new knowledge and experience to collaborate with other students in other classes (e.g., using wikis and Skype), present their new understandings (e.g., using Voicethread, Animoto, Prezi, Slideshare), share resources (e.g., using class Delicious or Diigo links, Evernote), and develop connections with others (e.g., using blogging, Twitter and RSS Feeds). These students who had completed the Web 2.0 course were demonstrating the power of Web 2.0. They were no longer passive consumers of information: they were now producers, collaborators, communicators, and creators who were becoming active participants in this new online culture. Students who had not taken the Web 2.0 class were seeing their fellow students sharing ideas, resources, content and new Web 2.0 tools. It became apparent that the Web 2.0 course was changing how we were teaching and learning across courses throughout the whole program. In response to the experiences of students who had completed the Web 2.0 class, the class that serves as the introduction to the profession and the program (EDES 540 The Leadership Role of the Teacher-Librarian) was revised to include an expectation that students follow a core selection of blogs and Twitter feeds written by leading thinkers in the areas of school libraries, technology, inquiry, resources for children and young adults, leadership, and multiple literacies. Links to TED talks, webinars, online conferences and live feed

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videos were shared as part of course content in many of our classes (see http://tldl.pbworks.com/w/page/4059591/FrontPage). It was no longer enough for students to support ideas with research and professional articles and books. It became an expectation that students also integrate a variety of social media into their discussion posts, written assignments and presentations. This meant changing our assessment rubrics and expectations. New rubrics were created to ensure that social media was included in assignments and in general discussions. For example, we now use a common participation rubric across all courses in the TLDL program that evaluates how well students incorporate social media into their overall participation in the course. As our students followed blogs and Twitter as part of courses, we saw the ideas of connectivism start to be lived in our program. Discussions about how to build and maintain personal learning networks started to happen. The amount of beginning content (e.g., formal lecture notes) in our online classes started to decrease, and we moved to a more connectivist approach. Classes were “emergent, distributed, chaotic, fragmented, non sequential and contextualized” (Anderson, 2010, slide 35). We modelled to our students that our personal professional learning networks, both face-to-face and virtual, were becoming more and more important in the way we learned. We blog, follow Twitter feeds and tweet out ideas, read blogs from our Google Reader accounts, participate in the conversations on those blogs, and add those ideas to our courses as they happen. We talk about how to manage our feeds, prune our blog list, and create a positive digital presence to help build social capital. While we did this, we also made it an expectation that our students needed to be creating personal learning networks to be successful in the program. We hoped the knowledge and skills built in the program would enable our students to sustain their personal learning networks after they graduated. By providing these experiences to our students (as learners), we believe that they will be better able to act as technology leaders in their schools and school libraries. In this way, we model and demonstrate our belief in the importance of connectivism and participatory culture as one way of thinking about learning and knowledge.

Aims and Objectives The aims of the redevelopment of courses, assignments and assessments were to encourage teacher-librarians to play with a variety of Web 2.0 tools as learners, to develop personal learning networks and to participate in global conversations about teaching, 21st century learning, school libraries and technology. Our objectives for the students were to: • •

develop an understanding of new and emerging Web 2.0 technologies demonstrate their proficiency with these new technologies

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• • • • •

begin to understand how these new technologies can be used in schools and libraries with students develop a familiarity with professional and research literature related to technology in schools and libraries connect online--through blogs, wikis, twitter, webinars, Youtube, podcasts to leading thinkers, writers, practitioners participate in the global conversation develop a personal learning network

Audience and Population Reached The audience reached for this project includes all of the Master of Education students in the Teacher-Librarianship by Distance Learning program as well as other students in MEd programs in Information Technology Integration and in Educational Studies at the University of Alberta. The course has been taught to 125 students to date. One instructor taught an early version of this course in the Fall 2007. It was a disappointing experience because the students seemed so reluctant to explore new technologies. We realized that we were going to need to push students to explore Web 2.0 tools. The revised course was first taught January to April 2008. We have now taught about 12 sections of the course. We believe strongly in helping our students built personal learning networks and will continue to model this as part of our teaching and assessment.

Human and Financial Resources This was a small project with big impact. Two instructors co-developed, taught individually and together, and they carried out several research projects to better understand the student experience in the class and program. The two instructors model how to build and maintain personal learning networks in their own work and learning. This idea is based on the National Education Technology Standards for Teachers (ISTE, 2008) where teachers are expected to “model digital-age work and learning” (para. 3). We believe it is essential that “teachers exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes representative of an innovative professional in a global and digital society” (para. 3). The development of the course itself was carried out as part of the teaching responsibilities of the instructors, without any special or additional financial resources. We were awarded a Teaching and Learning Enhancement Grant from the University of Alberta to support research on the class and to attend a conference to present the findings. This was a small grant of less than $6000CAD. For the size of our program (about 80 master’s students), this course is sustainable with two instructors plus others who could teach it if required.

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Developing personal learning networks, learning skills in Web 2.0 and sharing ideas is free in participatory culture. Students who have completed the course have found it very applicable. We have received good evaluations for the course, have heard great transformative stories, and see our students making a difference in schools. Teacher-librarians are bringing new ideas and skills back into their school community and are doing professional development for other teachers. Former students are seen as leaders in new and emerging technologies.

Monitoring and Assessment As instructors, we meet regularly using Web 2.0 tools to discuss the program, classes, assignments, and assessments. We have completed several small research projects to learn more about the learning experiences of students in the course and the longer-term implications of completing the course for the personal and professional lives of students. We are currently exploring the personal professional development experiences of teacher-librarians across Canada. We are interested in how teacher-librarians build the professional learning networks and how they bring disparate professional development opportunities into their work in school libraries. A piece of the study will be to determine if and how they are building professional learning networks--both faceto-face and digital.

Conclusions Students who have completed the Web 2.0 class are much more open to new and emerging technologies. They are connected. They continue to follow and read blogs, and some are really seeing benefits of Twitter--although not all students are giving Twitter a fair chance. The two instructors constantly model these expectations by building their personal learning networks. We expect students to blog, tweet, share links, participate in online conferences and webinars, follow RSS feeds and participate in conversations. We notice that students are developing personal learning networks including those in the program and those outside of the course--bloggers and Twitter users. Students are providing professional development sessions for teachers in their own districts and at association conferences. Some students have received comments from other leading bloggers in the field. Students are continuing to blog personally and are also blogging with their students or creating classroom blogs that are then used as exemplars. We get the sense that our students are seeing that their personal learning network is meeting their personal professional development needs and that they are demonstrating that they need to be life long learners. Students are more open to

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playing with Web 2.0 tools and taking the time to learn the tools for their personal use before thinking about integrating the tools into their own schools and libraries. We see students using information and connections in later assignments in the program. This is apparent in the places where students are finding information--podcasts, blogs, Youtube videos and webinars--in addition to traditional print and online sources. Students are using Web 2.0 tools to present ideas, information and assignments and also to connect with other students in later courses in the program. The redesign of our required “technology” class into an inquiry into Web 2.0 was a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to resistance by students to explore new and emerging technology tools. We had no idea the profound implications that class would have on how we live and teach and work in the program. As we learned with the students, we realized the power of connecting with others and of participating online in content creation, discussions, and advocacy. We strongly recommend that education programs for teacher-librarians incorporate activities, assignments, and assessments that explore Web 2.0 tools. We also encourage instructors in these programs to model the creation and maintenance of personal learning networks using social media. It should also be an expectation in education programs for teacher-librarians that students are connecting to leading thinkers, conferences, webinars and other learning experiences using social media.

References Anderson, T. (2010, April 14). Three generations of distance education pedagogy [Webinar], at URL: http://cider.athabascau.ca/CIDERSessions/sessionarchive (access date: 14.02.2011) Charlotte Mecklenberg County Library System. (2011). Learning 2.0: Expanding minds, empowering individuals, enriching the community, at URL: http://plcmcl2about.blogspot.com/ (access date: 12.01.2011) Dede, C. (Ed.). Online professional development for teachers: Emerging models and methods. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press. Groth, L. A., Dunlap, K. L., & Kidd, J. K. (2007). Becoming technology literate through technology integration in PK-12 preservice literacy courses: Three case studies. Reading Research and Instruction, vol. 46, no. 4, p. 363-386. Hardy, J. V. (1998). Teacher attitudes toward and knowledge of computer technology. Computers in the Schools, vol. 14, no. 3-4, p. 119-136. Hope, W. C. (1998). The next step: Integrating computers and related technologies into practice. Contemporary Education, vol. 69, no. 3, p. 137-140. ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). (2008). National educational technology standards for teachers, at URL: http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-forteachers/nets-for-teachers-2008.aspx (access date: 14.02.2011) Jenkins, H., Clinton, K., Purushotma, R., Robison, A., & Weigel, M. (2006). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. Chicago, IL: The MacArthur Foundation, at URL: http://digitallearning.macfound.org/site/c.

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enJLKQNlFiG/b.2108773/apps/nl/content2.asp?content_id={CD911571-0240-4714A93B-1D0C07C7B6C1}¬oc=1 (access date: 30.11.10) Lenhart, A., Madden, M., Rankin Macgill, A., & Smith, A. (2007). Teen content creators. Pew Internet & American Life Project, at URL: http://pewresearch.org/pubs/670/ (access date: 15.02.2011) Levin, T., & Wadmany, R. (2008). Teachers' views on factors affecting effective integration of information technology in the classroom: Developmental scenery. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, vol. 16, no. 2, p. 233-263. Mardis, M. A., & Hoffman, E. S. (2007). Getting past “shhh:” Online focus groups as empowering professional development for teacher librarians. In Proceedings of the International Association for School Librarians Annual Conference, 16-20 July, 2007, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan. Oliver, K. (2007). Leveraging Web 2.0 in the redesign of a graduate-level technology integration course. TechTrends, vol. 51, no. 5, p. 55-61. Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Sherry, L., Billig, S., Tavalin, F., & Gibson, D. (2000). New insights on technology adoption in communities of learners. Paper presented at the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference 2000, Norfolk, VA. Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, vol. 2, no. 1, at URL: http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/index.htm (access date: 30.11.10) Smerdon, B., Cronen, S., Lanahan, L., Anderson, J., Iannotti, N., & Angeles, J. (2000). Teachers' tools for the 21st century: A report on teachers' use of technology (NCES 2000-102). Washington, DC: U. S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education. Weikart, L. A., & Marrapodi, M. (1999). The missing link: The technology infrastructure. Computers in the Schools, vol. 15, no. 2, p. 49-60. Wright, V. H., & Wilson, E. K. (2007). A partnership of educators to promote technology integration: Designing a master technology teacher program. Education, vol. 128, no. 1, p. 80-86. Zhao, Y., & Frank, K. A. (2003). Factors affecting technology uses in schools: An ecological perspective. American Educational Research Journal, vol. 40, no. 4, p. 807-840.

Author Notes Dr. Jennifer Branch is the Coordinator of the Teacher-Librarianship by Distance Learning program and an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta. She worked as a junior high teacher and teacher-librarian in Inuvik, Northwest Territories for 6 years and as a teacher in Northern Ontario and did research in Aberdeen, Scotland. Jennifer's areas of research are information-seeking processes, information literacy education, electronic reference sources, and teacher-librarianship education. Please contact [email protected] for more information.

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Dr. Joanne de Groot is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Elementary Education, University of Alberta, Canada, where she teaches in the Teacher-Librarianship by Distance Learning program. Joanne also teaches for the University of British Columbia and San Jose State University. Her teaching areas include Web 2.0, educational technology, children's literature, school librarianship, services for children and young adults in libraries, and collection development. Joanne's research interests include teacher-librarian education, technology in schools and libraries, and summer reading programs in public libraries. Please contact [email protected] for more information.

A New Operational Culture: The Case of the School Library in the Information Society Project in the City of Oulu, Finland Eeva Kurttila-Matero, Maija-Leena Huotari and Terttu Kortelainen Information Studies, University of Oulu, Finland

Abstract The European Union-funded project, 'School Library in the Information Society' (SLI), was evaluated on the basis of longitudinal, qualitative data consisting of eleven elementary schools’ yearly reports from 2002 to 2004 and eleven group interviews of teachers and principals in 2009. The Activity Theory (AT) is applied to frame the schools’ operational culture, which unifies the concepts of learning, teaching methods, learning environment, and collaborative pedagogical practices. The sustainability of the developmental changes in the operational culture is examined from the viewpoint of collaboration related to the four components of the AT, which are community, tools, rules, and division of labor. The findings indicate that the SLI project had a significant impact on collaborative pedagogical practices among the teachers, among the pupils, within and between the schools and the City Library, and with the Education Department of the City of Oulu. Collaboration was crucial for sustaining the new operational culture of the schools.

Keywords Activity theory; Collaboration; Elementary schools; Operational culture; Public libraries; Parents; Information literacy.

Introduction School library activity is not obligatory in Finland, but it may be arranged to support basic education (Basic Education Act 628/1998, section 47), which explains the great variation in the quality of school libraries. The Finnish Public Library Policy 2015 (Ministry of Education, 2009) emphasizes the need for financial contracts between public libraries and schools without a school library. This means cooperation between public libraries and schools is depend-

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ent on political will, although they have a shared mission--children’s learning and literature use. It must be noted that Finland’s well known good results in the PISA assessment regarding reading for enjoyment have been descending from 2000 to 2009 (OECD, 2010). An important viewpoint on the equality of children is the fact that only schools can reach every child to introduce them to the library’s services. In this respect, the school library has an essential role in teaching literacies. Moreover, the international school library proclamation (A Library for Every School, 2010) emphasizes the importance of having school libraries staffed by a professional school librarian. The high-quality education of teachers in Finland in the 2000s does not guarantee their individual information and communication technology (ICT) skills. The National Strategy for Education, Training, and Research for 20002004 (Ministry of Education, 1999) stated that “one in five teachers uses information and communication technologies in teaching to a significant degree, while two-thirds consider their pedagogic and technical information technology skills inadequate” (section 2.2.3). This places pupils in an unequal situation. In the City of Oulu, several surveys revealed the bad state of school libraries (Ahola, 1997; Lohilahti & Lumiaho, 2002), and there were difficulties between the City Library and the Education Department in finding a consensus on sharing the costs of cooperation in pupils’ library instruction. At the same time, the strategies for using ICT in education were under development in the schools. During this time principals and teachers became aware of the possibilities of utilizing modern school libraries and teaching information skills to enhance the integration of ICT into the learning process. This was seen as a possibility for an overall cultural change, which formed the central idea of the School Library in the Information Society (SLI) project. In this book, Niinikangas describes the Finnish education and library policy more detailed, giving an example of the case Espoo. The overall aim of this longitudinal (from 2002 to 2009) follow-up case study was to increase understanding of potential changes in teachers’ pedagogical practices reflected in the involved schools’ operational culture, conceptualized through the Activity Theory (AT) (see Engeström, 1987). The purpose of this chapter is to describe these changes and their sustainability by focusing on the different aspects of collaboration in the components of the AT.

School’s Operational Culture The concept of culture has a variety of meanings. In the school environment it has been defined as the “underground stream of norms, values, beliefs, traditions, and rituals that has built up over time as people work together, solve problems, and confront challenges” (Peterson & Deal, 1998, p. 27). Also, the National Core Curriculum for Basic Education (Finnish National Board of Education, 2004) stresses that the school’s operational culture embraces all the

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school’s official and unofficial rules and operational and behavioral models, as well as the values, principles, and criteria on which the quality of schoolwork is founded. Furthermore, it states that the objective is an open, interactive operational culture that supports cooperation on all levels, from school to society as a whole. Therefore, the operational culture of a school can be considered a substantial manifestation of school culture that is visible and audible, and possible to be examined (Finnish National Board of Education, 2004; Maslowski, 2002). According to Limberg (2002), the dimensions that create the school culture are teachers, students, classroom, learning materials, teaching methods, the nature of inquiry, and the attitude of the principal together. These dimensions are in a complex interaction with the school library’s pedagogical dimensions: the media, the space, the teacher-librarian, the information system, and the pedagogy (Limberg, 2002). The learning environment is defined in the National Core Curriculum for Basic Education as the entirety of the learning-related physical environment, psychological factors, and social relationships. The physical learning environment consists of the facilities, the instructional and working tools, the learning material, library services, computers, media technology, and data networks. Cognitive and emotional factors together with interaction and human relations affect the physical and social learning environment (Finnish National Board of Education, 2004). A prerequisite for instructional change is a positive school culture which, in turn, is a consequence of experiences of successful transformative work that lowers the threshold for leaping at new opportunities and technologies (Oberg, 2003). Collaboration is a central feature of a positive school culture, which produces high learning outcomes. Howard (2010) conducted case studies in four schools at different levels (from elementary to high school) in the USA that had been awarded at the national level for having effective school library programs. She examined the relationship between the school library and school culture. Common patterns found at each site included the presence of a collaborative culture, the collaborative leadership style of the principal, and high expectations of the students and staff. Montiel-Overall (2008) has proposed a model of teacher and librarian collaboration for highly successful teaching and learning. She suggests that the type of learning environment (the school culture) is a major factor in encouraging or discouraging collaboration. She emphasizes that a school culture which supports working together district-wide is a prerequisite to collaboration (Montiel-Overall, 2008). To summarize these definitions and considerations, a school’s operational culture unifies the conceptions of learning, teaching methods, learning environment, and collaborative working practices. In Finland, aligned with this is local curriculum planning that calls for teacher collaboration and team organization, which is considered an alternative to the traditional school culture where teachers work alone. These kinds of shared efforts are directing schools more towards a workplace organization (Holappa, 2007; Kärkkäinen, 1999).

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Activity Theory-Based Analysis of the School’s Operational Culture In this case study, the AT was used to frame the establishment and sustainability of the school’s operational culture and the learning of teachers during the course of the SLI project, based on an interdisciplinary approach justified by the definitions of literacy (Finnish National Board of Education, 2004; UNESCO, 2004), information literacy (IL) (AASL, 2007; Lundh & Limberg, 2008; Tuominen et al., 2005; UNESCO, 2008), the curriculum’s conception of learning, and pedagogical practices in the schools. Engeström developed the AT on the basis of Vygotski’s and Leontjev’s work on learning with emphasis on collective activity. The AT provides the framework for understanding and structuring the phenomenon of a school’s operational culture and the effort to change pedagogical practices in schools. According to Engeström (2001), identification of internal contradictions in an activity system is the guiding principle for change and development in the activity system, as they are crucial to finding solutions for carrying out sustainable changes. The AT has typically been used to examine workplace learning, but Spasser (1999) has introduced the AT as a promising new approach to Information Science, too. The original model by Engeström was applied to outline the activity system of this case study and is called the “school’s operational culture” (see Figure 1). The model was implemented as follows: Teachers and principals are the subjects of the activity system who work together to improve teaching and learning. The community is the school and its nearest interest groups, and its rules (undocumented and documented; for example, the curriculum or timetables) and the division of labor have an essential role in the school’s operational culture. The tools - which are closely related to the change in the teaching process - are the school library with its materials and equipment, ICT, teaching methods and models of teaching IL, and different kinds of exercises and learning tasks. The idea of a modern school library and its pedagogical use is the new tool for change, which is comprised of the development of teaching methods during and after the SLI project. The teaching process is the object that is undergoing the process of change.

The Case Study The SLI project in the City of Oulu, Finland, was founded to change schools’ operational culture and ways of working with information, that is, to change teaching and learning methods to respond to the demands of the information society. The tool for change was the establishment of modern school libraries. To motivate the teachers and principals, the steering group of the project re-

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quired an application from each school with a plan for the school library. Fourteen pilot schools (11 elementary schools and 3 secondary schools) out of 23 applicants were chosen for the project for 2002-2004; there are altogether around 50 schools in Oulu.

Figure 1. Structure of school library activity supplemented with the concepts that form the school’s operational culture (Kurttila-Matero et al., 2010, modified, reproduced with the permission of de Gruyter).

The SLI project plan directed the teachers to work consciously on the unofficial taken-for-granted operational culture. The project plan proclaimed that “In practice, a good school library reflects the operational culture of the whole school, when it questions the former ways of working at the school. It forces one to think over, for example, how to allocate teaching resources, what kind of material to acquire, and how to allow the pupils to move in the corridors during breaks and after the school day.” (Tietoyhteiskunnan koulukirjasto, 2001, p. 11.)

The project staff consisted of a coordinator, one to two information specialists, and about 5500 hours of teachers’ extra work in the project in the 14 schools. The number of teachers who actively participated in the project meetings and teams in the schools along with the 14 principals was approximately 40; they all were committed to this work. In elementary schools, the classroom teachers run the school library with a minimal resource of one to two hours per week.

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This explains the project’s efforts to introduce the school library and teaching of information literacy (IL) to several teachers in every school. The SLI project was funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the community, 700,000 euros in total, for two years and six months, from spring 2002 to autumn 2004. Most of the expenses were comprised of salaries, equipment, a database, and new materials for the school library collections. Also, two courses with a scope of five study weeks (40 hours each) were designed in collaboration with the Learning and Research Services at the University of Oulu, though the ERDF funding did not cover teacher training. These courses were funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education, and they were of the highest level, with the purpose of providing teachers with a deep understanding of the use of ICT in teaching and learning and of the ways of guiding and training colleagues as well as working as a developer at school. When the SLI project was over, the resources were minimized, leaving only one information specialist and maintenance of the database and some resources for the steering group. However, the project seeking to add all schools in the City of Oulu to the school library network is still ongoing and will be completed in 2011. When the project is technically completed, that is, the school libraries are equipped and cataloged, the network will be comprised of 50 schools with approximately 15,500 pupils. A case study is a suitable approach for understanding the changes in teachers’ teaching and working practices in the real context of their professional performance. It is especially suitable for examining contemporary events in their real context, over which the investigator has little or no control, and when the boundaries of the phenomenon and context are not clearly evident (Yin, 2009). A follow-up design allows identification of potential changes taking place in all eleven schools under examination (Yin, 2003).

Data Collection and Analysis The follow-up period of this case study was up to seven years (Table 1). The study was based on triangulation of research methods covering the case study of eleven comprehensive schools including grades 1 to 6 (pupils aged 7 to 12 years). During the SLI project (2002-2004), the schools’ development was reported by teachers and principals on a yearly basis, including descriptions of learning tasks and the teaching and learning methods applied. These reports are the first data set, and the second data set consists of eleven teachers’ and principals’ group interviews in the same schools, conducted in 2009.

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Table 1. Data collection

The data were qualitatively analyzed using QSRNVivo8 and 9, which also allow quantitative description of the data. A tentative analysis of data set 1 was conducted according to Strauss and Corbin (1990). Open coding produced the following 21 nodes: change, collaboration with the Oulu City Library, conceptions of learning, contradictions, curriculum, evaluation, ICT, teaching IL, learning tasks, library space, materials, operational culture, principal’s role, reading literature, resources, school library as a learning environment, school library’s pedagogical role, collaboration among pupils, collaboration among teachers, teacher education, and teaching methods. At this stage of the analysis, axial and selective coding produced the following final categories: operational culture, collaboration among teachers, collaboration among pupils, collaboration with the public library, teaching IL, teaching (and learning) methods, conceptions of learning, resources, and contradictions in the promotion of the change. The first data set was analyzed to find out if there was a change in the teachers’ descriptions of their practices during the project, and to determine the themes for the group interviews used to collect data set 2. In every school the principal and one to four teachers took part in the group interviews. Data set 2 was analyzed to find out the ideas and achievements of the project that had been sustained and further developed.

Results of the Analysis The components of the AT, namely, division of labor, rules, tools, and the community, which all are related to the object of the activity, were utilized to

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analyze data sets 1 and 2. The results reported in this chapter focus on the viewpoint of collaboration, which according to earlier research has a critical role in successful learning outcomes and is embedded in the four components of the AT (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Analysis of the school’s operational culture from the viewpoint of community, tools, rules, and division of labor.

Collaboration among Teachers The results of the analysis of the first data set indicated that the SLI project had enhanced collaborative working methods and understanding of IL. Teachers had collaborated in planning the school library space, its collection, and also cross-curricular learning tasks, which often had been comprised of projects with other schools in Finland and abroad. Teachers emphasized the interactive atmosphere in teachers’ rooms, including collaborative planning of schedules and learning tasks, as well as collaborative teaching and curriculum development. (see Kurttila-Matero et al., 2010.) The teachers’ collaboration was also manifested in arranging open learning environments. In 2009 every school emphasized keeping the school library and the doors of classrooms open all the time as a leading principle. However,

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the architecture of older school buildings restricted the freedom of movement in the corridors because of noise caused by poor acoustics (Schools 10 and 11, 2009 interviews). Most of the schools started to use flexible timetables, which allowed the pupils to finish up their work without disturbance. The fixation on the traditional schedule with lessons of 45 minutes was an educational challenge for the teachers and a problem for the pupils and their parents. In School 6, the teachers executed a renovation in elementary instruction by not having classrooms of their own and having only one teacher from the very first grade, but by having two or three teachers responsible for the whole age group. The parents were strongly against this, claiming that the child must have his/her own desk and teacher, and his/her parents must know the exact timetable. When the parents got acquainted with the new practices, where the differentiation of teaching and learning is tailored on the basis of the maturity level of each child, not on his/her age, they understood that this kind of education prevents marginalization and bullying: “We have a community where fisticuffs have disappeared, which is unusual in the first grade of school, where pupils are searching for their positions within their group of peers. When they belong to this community with 5 to 6 adults who are responsible for the education, also the pupils learn to help each other.” (School 6, 2009 interview)

These kinds of pedagogical practices where there are many teachers for every child in elementary instruction have been developed further in the Schools of the Future project, which followed the SLI project with emphasis on pedagogical development. Teachers claimed that after learning to collaborate in the SLI project, it was very easy to apply it to a new project.

Collaboration among Pupils In School 3, the school library collection was expanded with the Oulu City Library collection by borrowing books with a teachers’ library card. Book lending to the class has been the pupils’ responsibility, and no books have disappeared. In many schools the pupils have had some responsibility for maintaining order in the school library, and this has led the pupils to appreciate the freedom to use the library whenever they need to (School 3, 2009 interview). Moreover, “A new thing which has been becoming visible this year in our school is the pupils’ tutoring of each other – this is becoming regular practice, and I suppose this is a good thing” (School 1, 2009 interview). Pupils’ tutoring of each other has been developed further in the School of the Future project. Concept maps are used in every school as orientation to new learning tasks, means of evaluation, self-evaluation, communicating, explaining, and asking questions among pupils. Pupils’ collaboration is important in learning new concepts: when peers explain concepts to each other, they very often use words that help others to understand better (School 10, 2009 interview). Pupils

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collaborate across age boundaries; usually older pupils help younger pupils, for example, when beginning to work with computers and by reading books together (School 2, 2009 interview).

Collaboration between Schools The curriculum renovation process was concurrent with the SLI project, and the schools collaboratively planned instruction in information skills step by step, consistent with the objectives of the curriculum. Despite this, the teachers were quite critical about collaboration between schools: it doesn’t work out if you don’t have a real social network with each other. However, regional school meetings held in different schools, with teacher librarians and public librarians dealing with school library development, resulted in new pedagogical ideas, enhanced the collections and were considered very beneficial in all the schools. This was stated by a principal as follows: “This teacher-librarians’ network kind of developed during the SLI project” (School 5, 2009 interview). It was described further by a teacher from the same school: “There we get nice know-how on the grass roots level, for example the last time there were teachers both from elementary and upper comprehensive schools presenting their own ways of teaching literature. I got very good information from there to introduce in our own school.” (School 5, 2009 interview.)

In all four school districts, one of the pilot schools’ libraries has the status of a model school library. This means its teacher-librarian has an outstanding responsibility to mentor newcomers.

Collaboration with the Oulu City Library The consultative role of the public library has evolved from competitive interests to collaboration and shared visions. “Within the SLI project, collaboration with the branch library has come alive. Together we have planned teaching of library use for all classes. We are going to link this development work into the curriculum” (School 9, 2004 report). The City Library of Oulu together with the Oulu School Library has designed a Library Path (Kirjastoreitti), which contains library visits, an information seeking program for different grades, and booktalks. Moreover, a librarian from the branch library can be invited to teach information seeking at the school library together with the classroom teacher. For example, the public library calls--“Last time they called from the library about the booktalk” (School 4, 2009 interview)--or sends e-mail to inform about services they offer to schools. The public library staff considered their work much easier when the pupils came with their assignments to the library:

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“The sixth grade class came to the library prepared for an information search on the Middle Ages. The pupils had been considering the search terms and the library had been informed beforehand. The pupils could find literature from the shelves, and as a bonus they had to draw upon a list of subject headings to focus the searches.” (School 3, 2009 interview)

In the new collaborative practice the Oulu City Library is participating in the school districts’ school librarians’ meetings twice a semester.

Collaboration with the City’s Educational Department After the SLI project, a full-time information specialist was appointed to catalog the collections and new materials of the schools joining in the school library network to make them available to all schools. Moreover, the Education Department has the Centre for Learning and Resources located in the same premises, with different learning materials and series of literature which schools can borrow. The information specialist helps schools with any practical problems in collection management and database use. The Education Department is responsible for maintaining the database and organizing collaboration between the four school districts’ school libraries.

Discussion and Conclusion The SLI project had a significant impact on collaborative practices among the teachers, among the pupils, between schools and with the City Library, and even with the Education Department of the City of Oulu. Therefore, it is unusual today that a teacher works alone, and the interactive atmosphere in teachers’ rooms encourages pedagogical conversations. These changes may tell not only about the impact of the SLI project, but about overall development of teachership. The question of resources remained unsolved. None of the schools could arrange resources for a full-time teacher-librarian. This situation was described, for example as follows: “It is very ambiguous that the National Board of Education arouses a need for school library development through new curricula without any financial support. School library activity is not like playing an Air Guitar, where you act on mere imagination” (School 7, 2004). Many of the schools reported using auxiliary staff (school secretary or school assistant) to look after the school library and the functioning of the computers. However, this is not a sustainable solution to the problem of not employing pedagogical librarians in school libraries in Finland. According to the AT, contradictions are central for change and development (Engeström, 2001). In seeking to develop ICT along with the new pedagogical possibilities provided by school libraries, the SLI project generated contradictions between traditional schooling and teaching practices and the

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new technologies, which also forced changes in other activities of the schools. Although these contradictions were the starting point for the SLI project, the activity theory was not applied in planning and executing it. Despite this limitation, the model of an activity system provides a firm structure for the analysis of the data in this qualitative follow-up case study which will be completed in 2011.

Acknowledgements This follow-up case study was funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation from 2008 to 2010.

References A library for every school. (2010). School library proclamation of ENSIL, IASL and IFLA, at URL: http://www.ensil-online.org/site/images/stories/PDF/A_LIBRARY_FOR_ EVERY_SCHOOL-Proclamation2010-ENSIL.pdf (access date: 15.3.2011) AASL. ( 2007). Standards for the 21st century learner, at URL: http://www.ala.org/ ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/AASL_Learning_Standa rds_2007.pdf (access date: 15.2.2011) Ahola, M. (1997). Oulun kaupungin koulukirjastot. Informaatiotutkimuksen pro gradu – tutkielma. Oulun yliopisto. [The School Libraries in the City of Oulu] Basic Education Act (628/1998), at URL: http://www.finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/ 1998/en19980628.pdf (access date: 15.3.2011) Engeström, Y. (1987). Learning by expanding: An activity-theoretical approach to developmental research. Helsinki: Orienta-Konsultit Oy. Engeström, Y. (2001). Expansive learning at work: Toward an activity theoretical reconceptualization. Journal of Education and Work. vol. 14, no.1, p. 133-156. In: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13639080020028747 (access date: 15.2.2011) Finnish National Board of Education. (2004). National core curriculum for basic education, at URL: http://www.oph.fi/ops/english/POPS_net_new_1.pdf (access date: 15.3.2011) Holappa, A. S. (2007). Perusopetuksen opetussuunnitelma 2000-luvulla – uudistus paikallisina prosesseina kahdessa kaupungissa. [Curriculum for basic education in 2000’s – Reform as local processes in two cities.] Academic dissertation, at URL: http://herkules. oulu.fi/isbn9789514286032/isbn9789514286032.pdf (access date: 15.3.2011) Howard, J. (2010). The relationship between school culture and the school library program: Four case studies. School Library Media Research, vol. 13, at URL: http://www. ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/slmrb/slmrcontents/volume13/howard. cfm (access date: 15.3.2011) Kurttila-Matero, E., Huotari, M. L., & Kortelainen, T. (2010). Conceptions of teaching and learning in the context of a school library project. Preliminary findings of a follow-up study. Libri, vol. 60, no. 3, p. 203-217, at URL: http://www.reference-global.com/ doi/abs/10.1515/libr.2010.018 (access date: 15.3.2011) Kärkkäinen, M. (2001). Teams as breakers of traditional work practices. A longitudinal study of of planning and implementing curriculum units in elementary school teacher

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teams. Academic dissertation, University of Helsinki, at URL: http://www.helsinki. fi/cradle/documents/Doctoral%20dissertations/Karkkainen%201999%20TEAMS%20 AS%20BREAKERS%20OF%20TRADITIONAL.pdf (access date: 15.3.2011) Limberg, L. (2002). Skolbibliotekets pedagogiska roll — en kunskapsöversikt. Stockholm: Skolverket. [School Library’s Pedagogical Role — a Literature Review.] Lohilahti, N., & Lumiaho, S. (2002). Kirjavarasto vai oppimiskeskus: Koulukirjastokartoitus Oulussa 2002. Opinnäytetyö. Oulun seudun ammattikorkeakoulu. [A Book Storage or a Learning Centre: A School Library Survey in the City of Oulu] Lundh, A., & Limberg, L. (2008). Information practices in elementary school. Libri, vol. 58, no. 2 p. 92-101. Maslowski, R. (2001). School culture and school performance. Academic dissertation. University of Twente: Twente University Press. Meyers, E. M. (2007). From activity to learning: Using cultural historical activity theory to model school library programs and practices. Information Research, vol. 12, no. 3, paper 313, at URL: http://InformationR.net/ir/12-3/paper313.html (access date: 15.3.2011) Ministry of Education. (1999). Education, training and research – A national strategy for 2000-2004, at URL: http://www.minedu.fi/OPM/Julkaisut/1999/liitteet/englishU/welcome.html (access date: 15.3.2011) Ministry of Education. (2009). Finnish public library policy 2015. National strategic areas of focus. Publications of the Ministry of Education 2009:31, at URL: http://www. minedu.fi/export/sites/default/OPM/Julkaisut/2009/liitteet/opm31.pdf?lang=fi (access date: 15.3.2011) Montiel-Overall, P. (2008). Teacher and librarian collaboration: A qualitative study. Library & Information Science Research, vol. 30, p. 145-155. Oberg, D. (2003). Changing school culture and implementing the new standards. School Libraries in Canada, vol. 23, no. 1, p. 23-25. OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). (2010). PISA 2009 Results: Learning trends: Changes in student performance since 2000 (Volume V), at URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264091580-en (access date: 15.3.2011) Peterson, K., & Deal, T. (1998). How leaders influence the culture of schools. Educational Leadership, vol. 56, no. 1, p. 28-30. Spasser, M. A. (1999). Informing information science: The case for activity theory. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, vol. 50, no.12, p. 1136-1138. Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. 1990. Basics of qualitative research. Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. Tietoyhteiskunnan koulukirjasto. (2001). Opetustoimi, Oulun kaupungin opetusvirasto, lokakuu. [School Library of the Information Society. Department of Education, the City of Oulu. October] , at URL: http://www.oulu.net/tkk/tietoyhteiskunnan_koulukirjasto_korjattu.htm (access date: 15.3.2011) Tuominen, K., Savolainen, R., & Talja, S. (2005). Information literacy as a sociotechnical practice. Library Quarterly , vol.75, no. 3, p. 329-345. UNESCO. (2004). The plurality of literacy and its implications for policies and programs. UNESCO Education Sector Position Paper. Paris: UNESCO, at URL: http://unesdoc. unesco.org/images/0013/001362/136246e.pdf (access date: 15.3.2011) UNESCO. (2008). Information for all program (IFAP): Towards information literacy indicators. Paris: UNESCO, at URL: http://www.ifla.org/files/information-literacy/ publications/towards-information-literacy_2008-en.pdf (access date: 15.3.2011) Yin, R. (2003). Case study research. Design and methods. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

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Yin, R. (2009). Case study research. Design and methods. 4th ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Author Notes Eeva Kurttila-Matero, MNSc, has worked as a senior lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences (Health Care) in Oulu, Finland, since 1990. Her main professional topic is teaching information literacy and biomedical science. She worked as project coordinator in the SLI project in 2002-2004. She is a doctoral student in information studies in the Faculty of Humanities, University of Oulu. Her publications consist of a book on the SLI project and articles on teaching information skills and on the topics of her doctoral thesis. Contact: [email protected] Maija-Leena Huotari, PhD, Professor of Information Studies, University of Oulu, Finland, was Dean and Vice-Dean (research) of the Faculty of Humanities in 2005-2008. She holds a B.A. (economics) from Vaasa University, Finland, a M.Sc. (social sciences) from Tampere University, Finland, and a Ph.D. (social sciences) from Sheffield University, UK. She is the leader of two Academy of Finland-funded projects on health information management. She is an editorial board member of Information Research, UK, and Informaatiotutkimus, Finland, and has been involved in international evaluation panels of research and teaching, and the Multilingual Information Society Program of the European Commission. Contact: [email protected] Terttu Kortelainen, PhD, is a University Lecturer at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Oulu. Her research interests are in informetric research and evaluation of public libraries. She has supervised research projects focusing on usability questions and on evaluation research of public libraries. Her publications consist of three study books, refereed international articles on bibliometrics and articles based on the study projects of the department. She is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Finnish Social Science Data Archive and the editorial board of the Finnish Information Studies publication series. Contact: [email protected]

Assessing School Library Learning Environments Barbara Schultz-Jones University of North Texas, USA

Abstract The project provides evidence of the contribution that school libraries make to student achievement by applying a learning environment paradigm to the school library setting. The learning environment instruments commonly applied to the science classroom were used to evaluate the school library in two educational units. The results indicate that the instruments apply to the school library and match the results for classroom experiences, while also demonstrating a correlation to student achievement. The results were used to provide feedback to school librarians, teachers and administrators on the current student perceptions of the school library and science classroom learning environment. Strategies to address the gap between preferred and actual learning environment perceptions were devised by science teachers and school librarians.

Keywords United States; Learning environment; Inquiry; Assessment; Evaluation; Science classroom.

Background Classroom learning environment research can be charted internationally over the past several decades (Goh & Khine, 2002). While this research originated in the USA, it rapidly evolved in the Netherlands and Australia extending now to African and Asian researchers. The focus of this research is the learning environment as a “social, psychological and pedagogical context in which learning occurs and which affect student achievement and attitudes” (Fraser, 1998a, p. 3). Despite the breadth and depth of classroom learning environment research, the learning environment in a school library setting has not previously been investigated.

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School librarians take responsibility for equipping students with essential 21st century learning skills they need to succeed using standards, such as the Standards for the 21st- Century Learner (American Association of School Librarians, 2007), that Todd states will “identify expected students outcomes as a result of school library interventions” (2009, p. 86). Alongside these learning objectives, Small, Snyder and Parker maintain that interactions between school librarians and students “also excite them about the process of learning and stimulate their curiosity through research, technology, and information problem solving” (2009, Introduction). Thus, it is the arena of personal interaction between school librarians and students that may be most influential in affecting student outcomes. Assessing the relationship between this behaviour and student learning outcomes would enable an evolving educational climate that transforms and influences student lives and achievement. From the foundational work behavioural research by Lewin (1936) and Murray (1938), a number of evaluation instruments have been developed to investigate the relationship between how individuals respond to their environment and student learning outcomes (Fraser, 1998b). Two instruments of note had previously been used to assess innovative classroom environments. Both were developed with a psychological view of learning that focused on students as co-constructors of their own knowledge (Aldridge, Fraser & Huang, 1999; Dorman, 2003) and characterize specific dimensions of the constructivist classroom. Of primary importance, they provide valid and reliable instruments for the assessment of perceptions of constructivist classroom learning environments. The My Class Inventory (MCI) (Fraser & O’Brien, 1985) was used with elementary school students, ages 8 to 12. A description of the MCI is provided in Table 1. Table 1. Description of My Class Inventory (MCI) assessment instrument. Scale Name Satisfaction Friction

Items Per Scale Description 5 Degree to which students enjoy learning and their class. 5 Degree to which students do not get along or are unfriendly to each other. Competitiveness 5 Degree to which students compete with classmates. Difficulty 5 Degree to which students experience difficulty in their learning tasks. Cohesiveness 5 Degree to which students feel a sense of belonging.

The What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC) developed by Fraser, Fisher and McRobbie (1996) was used with secondary school students, ages 12 to 16. A description of the WIHIC is provided in Table 2.

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Table 2. Description of What Is Happening In This Class (WIHIC) assessment instrument. Scale Name Items Per Scale Description Student 4 Extent to which students know, help, and are supportive of one another. Cohesiveness Teacher 4 Extent to which teacher helps, befriends, and shows interest in students. Support Involvement 4 Extent to which students show attentive interest, participate and enjoy. Investigation 4 Emphasis on skills and processes of inquiry and use in problem solving Task Orien4 Extent to which students complete activities planned and on time. tation Cooperation 4 Extent to which students cooperate rather than compete on learning tasks. Equity 4 Extent to which students are treated equally by the teacher.

School librarians and teachers provide guidance for the learner as students are encouraged to develop reflective thinking skills and problem solving techniques fundamental to a constructivist context. The development of research skills and an orientation towards inquiry-based learning is a challenge faced by school librarians and science teachers. While collaboration between these educational specialists may be underdeveloped (Mardis, 2007), the impact of the skills developed and reinforced within the school library learning environment is worthy of consideration. The MCI and the WIHIC assessment instruments were adapted for use in the school library by replacing the words “science classroom” with “school library” and modifying the concept of “doing schoolwork” to “finding resources”. Both questionnaires have two distinct applications. The first is the assessment of the preferred learning environment, and the second is an assessment of what is actually occurring in the current learning environment. Examples of each for the MCI are shown in Table 3. Examples of each of the preferred and actual scales for the WIHIC are shown in Table 4. Alongside consideration of the gap between the actual and preferred learning environment was a statistical examination of the correlation between the learning environments and student academic achievement. By employing statistical techniques it was possible to assess the extent to which an assessment of the school library learning environment can demonstrate a positive impact on student achievement.

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Table 3. Examples of the five scales from the MCI used to evaluate the learning environments of a Science Class and the School Library MCI Science Class Preferred

MCI Library Actual

Preferred

Satisfaction In my science class theThe students enjoy their Students would enjoy students would enjoy theirschoolwork in my class. doing their schoolwork schoolwork. in the library. Friction In my science class stu-Students are always Students would always dents would be alwaysfighting with each other. fight or argue with each fighting with each other. other in the library. Competition In my science class stu-Students often race to see Students would often dents often would race towho can finish first. race to see who can find see who could finish first. things in the library first. Difficulty In my science class theIn my class the work is In my library finding work would be hard to do. hard to do. different resources (such as books, magazines, CDs) would be hard to do. Cohesion In my science class eve-In my class everybody is In my library everybody rybody would be mymy friend. would be my friend. friend.

Actual Students enjoy doing their schoolwork in the library. Students are always fighting with each other in the library. Students often race to see who can find things in the library first. In my library finding different resources (such as books, magazines, CDs) is hard to do. In my library everybody is my friend.

In summary, the project aimed to present the schools with a new model of assessment for considering the contribution of school libraries to the field of education and provide actionable feedback on student perceptions. The objectives were to: 1. Assess the extent to which the classroom learning environment assessment instrument can be applied to the school library setting; 2. Assess the school library learning environment in relation to the science classroom learning environment; 3. Assess the extent to which an assessment of the school library learning environment can be used to demonstrate a positive impact on student achievement; 4. Provide librarians and teachers with feedback for consideration of how to improve the learning environment.

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Table 4 Examples of the seven scales from the WIHIC used to evaluate the learning environments of a Science Class and the School Library WIHIC Science Class WIHIC Library Actual Preferred Actual Student Cohesiveness I would like to help otherIn this class, I get help I would like to help In the library, I get other class members in help from other stuclass members who arefrom other students. the library who are hav- dents. having trouble with their ing trouble with their work. work. Teacher/Librarian Support I would like the teacher The teacher's questions I would like the librarian The librarian’s questo help me when I have help me to understand. to help me when I have tions help me to untrouble with the work. trouble finding informa- derstand what I am looking for. tion. Involvement I would like my ideas and I am asked to explain I would like my ideas I am asked to explain and suggestions to be how I find and use suggestions to be used how I solve problems. used during library dis- different kinds of during classroom discuscussions. sions. information sources. Investigation I would like to carry out I carry out investigations I would like to carry out I find out answers to investigations to answer to answer questions investigations in the questions by doing library to answer ques- investigations in the questions from discus- which puzzle me. library. tions from discussions. sions. Task Orientation I would like to for class I know how much work I would like time to I know how much to start on time. I have to do. work on projects in the work I have to do library. when I am in the library. Cooperation I would like to work with I cooperate with other I would like to work Students work with other students on projects students on class activi- with other students on me to achieve class in this class. projects in the library. goals in the library. ties. Equity I would like to be treated I get the same opportu- I would like to be I get the same opporthe same as other stu- nity to answer questions treated the same as other tunity to ask quesdents in this class. as other students. students in the library. tions in the library as other students. Preferred

Description of the Project The project setting includes two educational units. The first is a public Elementary School in north Texas that provides mathematics and pre-engineering integrated curricula. The school is designed to facilitate the delivery of an inquiry-based curriculum. Complementing this approach is a Research and Design (R&D) Center that functions as a combination library and robotics program center. The scope of a school library program has therefore expanded to incorporate exploration and design within a robotics context. The R&D Center provides a section of robotics resources, table space for robotics construction and a section of print resources. Computers are housed in a separate technology area, not within the R&D space. Participants from this school in-

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cluded 171 students in grades three (ages 8 and 9), grade four (ages 9 and 10) and grade five (ages 10 and 11). The second educational unit is the Middle School for the entire school district. The school library is designated as the School Library, and the scope of the school library program incorporates teaching information literacy skills, research skills and reading development. The library contains a variety of media resources, including computers, projection screens, software, and print resources. Students from all seven elementary schools in the district, including the previously mentioned public elementary school, attend this school for grades six (ages 11 and 12), seven (ages 12 and 13) and eight (ages 13 and 14). Participants from this school included 306 students in grade six (ages 11 and 12), who take a regularly scheduled science class with one of three science teachers. The results of the standard state tests for 2009 were obtained with consent from both educational units. In Texas, student achievement is measured at various grade levels using a standardized testing instrument called the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). Math and Reading are administered every year from third grade to ninth grade. Writing is administered in the fourth and seventh grades and Science in the fifth and eighth grades. These results, as appropriate to the grade levels in this study (third through sixth grades), were used in the correlation analyses. The project involved phases of data collection. The MCI was administered to participating students at the elementary school in regard to their school library and science classroom experiences. The paper questionnaires were administered in two semesters by the science teachers for each grade level. In November, 2008 the MCI for the preferred learning environment in the science classroom was completed and in December, 2008 the MCI and the WIHIC for the preferred learning environment in the library was completed. In early May, 2009 the MCIs and WIHICs for the actual science classroom and library learning environments were administered. The teachers distributed the questionnaires, read the instructions to the students, and gave assurances that the answers would remain anonymous. Help was provided only if a student was not familiar with a specific word. The students received 20 minutes to complete the instruments before they were collected, sealed in an envelope and delivered to the Curriculum Coordinator for handoff to the researchers. The data were compiled in Excel® spreadsheets for analysis. This enabled quick comparative analysis and also statistical analyses. The data were analyzed against the learning environment dimensions for the science classroom and school library environment, with t-test analyses to assess whether the means of the two groups are statistically different. In one phase the t-test for analysis of two samples assuming unequal variances compared the preferred to actual library environment and the preferred to actual science classroom environment (Schultz-Jones & Ledbetter, 2009). In a second application the paired samples t-test was used to compare the preferred

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library environment to the preferred science classroom environment and the actual library environment to the actual science classroom environment (Schultz-Jones & Ledbetter, 2010a). The significant results of these t-test analyses are summarized in Table 5. Notably, students did perceive a different learning environment in the library as compared to the science classroom and did like some aspects of one more than the other. The results of the t-test analyses confirmed that the classroom learning environment assessment instruments can be applied to the school library setting, and that the school library learning environment can be assessed in relation to the science classroom learning environment. Table 5. Results of t-test Analyses for All Grades Grade Age Level Student Results Three 8 and 9 Prefer more competition and difficulty in the science classroom than the library. More satisfied in the actual library learning environment than with their science class. Four 9 and 10 Prefer significantly more competition and difficulty in the science class than the library. Perceive significantly more satisfaction in the science classroom than the library. Perceive significantly more difficulty in the library than in the science classroom. Five 10 and 11 Want a science classroom and library that uses cooperative work rather than competitive operations and do not enjoy a learning environment where friction occurs among students. Prefer significantly more difficulty in the science classroom. More satisfied with their science classroom than library learning environment. Six 11 and 12 Perceived less actual student cohesion, librarian support, involvement, investigation and cooperation than they preferred in their school library.

To explore the impact of the school library learning environment on student achievement, correlation data analysis used Pearson r for a correlation among the scales measured by the instruments and a correlation with the results of the standard State tests for 2009 and 2010 (Schultz-Jones & Ledbetter, 2010b). The significant results of the Pearson r analyses are summarized in Table 6. Table 6. Results of Pearson r Analyses for All Grades Grade Age Level Student Results Three 8 and 9 Perceptions of satisfaction are negatively correlated with the amount of friction, competition and difficulty and positively correlated with cohesion in the library. Mathematics is positively correlated with Reading in the preferred and actual library learning environments. Four 9 and 10 Mathematics and Writing are positively correlated with Reading in both preferred and actual library learning environments. In the actual learning environment friction and difficulty are correlated to low satisfaction with the library. Five 10 and 11 Mathematics and Science are positively correlated with Reading in both preferred and actual library learning environments. In the preferred and actual learning environment friction, competition and difficulty are correlated to low satisfaction with the library. Six 11 and 12 Librarian Support is positively correlated with Involvement, Investigation, Task Orientation, Cooperation, and Equity in both preferred and actual library learning environments. Mathematics is positively correlated with Reading in the preferred and actual library environment.

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The correlation results are consistent with previous classroom research in that perceptions of Friction and Competition are lessened when students perceive more cohesion among classmates. Grades three to five perceived less satisfaction and more competition than they would prefer in their library setting. This indicates that the library learning environment is more challenging than would be expected in a setting that encourages research. For this school, the placement of a robotics program in the library setting may be perceived to dominate all inquiry and research activities. The delivery of a reading program may also be negatively affected by the high profile robotics program. With the placement of a robotics program in a library setting it is difficult to distinguish whether it is the robotics program or the functioning of the library that encourages inquiry-based learning, or a combination of both. The school district considers the students in this elementary school to be the district’s high achievers. Despite that status, friction and difficulty are negatively correlated with Mathematics and Reading, while Reading is positively correlated with Mathematics for the third and fourth grades. In the fifth grade classes Reading is positively correlated with Mathematics and Science achievement. With a more positive school library learning environment student might enjoy higher achievement. Overall, the sixth grade students’ perceptions are positive about the actual school library learning environment, indicating that they strongly prefer and are enjoying the school library setting. The results of the WIHIC indicate that while they would prefer a higher level of support, cohesion, investigation and cooperation, the average individual scores are above the median. In the actual school library results equity, cooperation and task orientation have a strong relationship with student achievement results on the Mathematics and Reading state tests. With these statistical indicators, the school library can be positively related to student achievement with added positive reflection on the school librarians’ efforts to engage the sixth grade students in inquiry based learning. The results of the Pearson r analyses confirmed that an assessment of the school library learning environment can be used to demonstrate a positive impact on student achievement. These results have interesting implications for examining the relationship between the school library learning environment and specific curricular areas of study. Where the fourth and fifth grade students were more satisfied with the science classroom than school library learning environment, specific factors can be examined for indicators of why. Further, while it is not surprising to see correlations between Reading and the school library, other curricular areas such as Mathematics and Science can be related to this learning environment. The results of the study were presented to the teachers, librarians and administrators in each school. Each climate scale was examined for comparison between preferred and actual results, and the correlation with student achievement was discussed extensively. In the Elementary School, concern

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was expressed over the implications of the impact of the placement of the robotics program in the library setting; efforts are underway to elevate reading development in this area. Strategies were developed to influence other areas of concern. Examples of these are presented in Table 7. Table 7. Strategies to Improve the School Library Learning Environment. Result Strategy Grade Three Prefer more competition and difficulty The library may be perceived as more competitive and in the science classroom than the li- difficult because of the robotics program. Efforts will be brary. made by the librarian and science teacher to clarify and demonstrate the role of the library in accessing resources and developing inquiry skills. Were more satisfied in the actual library Despite indications of difficulty and competitiveness, the learning environment than with their library was more satisfying than the science class. The science class. science teacher reflected on this feedback and discussed activities with the librarian. Grade Four In the actual learning environment Efforts will be made to reduce the atmosphere of tension friction and difficulty are correlated to and aggressive behaviors through prompt and positive low satisfaction with the library. interventions and energize use of the library resources. Perceive significantly more difficulty in Discussions with students are planned to learn more the library than in the science class- about the dimension of difficulty. Is this related to the robotics program or knowledge of and access to reroom. sources? Grade Five In the actual learning environment fric- Efforts will be made to reduce the atmosphere of tension tion, competition and difficulty are and aggressive behaviors through prompt and positive incorrelated to low satisfaction with the terventions. Guidance will be provided to locate and use library resources. library. More satisfied with their science class- The science teacher and librarian shared strategies to preroom than library learning environment. sent a welcoming presence and engage student interests and assignments. Grade Six Perceived less actual student cohesion, The priority is to actively engage students regularly. The librarian support, involvement, investiga- school librarian and science teacher will collaborate to tion and cooperation than they preferred identify research projects and resources. The school librarian will provide guidance to develop and reinforce reading in their school library. and inquiry skills. Librarian Support is positively correlated with Involvement, Investigation, Task Orientation, Cooperation, and Equity in both preferred and actual library learning environments.

Students acknowledge the role of the librarian in providing an active learning environment so efforts will increase to provide space for group work and time with small groups and individuals encouraging positive debate and problem solving.

The current study provides empirical support for the hypotheses that the classroom learning environment assessment instrument can be applied to the school library setting, the school library learning environment can be assessed in relation to the science classroom learning environment and that learning environment assessments can be correlated to student achievement. Importantly, the assessments provide the opportunity to reflect on the results and develop strategies to close the gap between what is preferred and what is actually hap-

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pening; improvement in the learning environment can be continuous. The librarians and science teachers developed strategies to focus more effort on the inquiry aspects of the library, address issues of friction with the robotics program and reassess the learning environment the following year.

Lessons Learned and Recommendations Use of these instruments offered valuable ideas and techniques for teacher development and incorporation by school librarians. By gaining insight into student perceptions, there was impetus to consider ways to guide changes aimed at aligning the actual learning environment with the preferred learning environment. Collaboration efforts between the school librarians and classroom teachers were bolstered by an examination of these results. And student involvement in providing further feedback was encouraged. The contribution of the school library to student achievement can be demonstrated with statistical measurement and correlation to measured results. However, caution is warranted before generalizing from these results. Because the research involves correlations, it cannot be assumed that the school library learning environment necessarily “caused” the student achievement outcomes. If the nature of a measured school library environment changed in the same direction as student outcomes, there would be support for hypothesized impacts of that environment. Yearly assessments would provide this opportunity. Future research needs to address the strategies for behaviors and activities that specifically support a positive learning environment. For example, assessing the impact of specific interventions following a first year assessment of the gap between the preferred and actual learning environment would advance the application of these evaluation instruments. Comparisons of perceptions between students and school librarians would also provide useful feedback on the context of a learning environment. And a mixed methods study with qualitative data collected through interviews with students, teachers, and school librarians would further the depth and breadth of understanding the nuances of differences between actual and preferred learning environments. Statistics are an important methodology for demonstrating rigorous research and enabling correlations with standardized tests. However, the insights gained through individual and group exploration of concepts and viewpoints is important to gain the broadest possible perspective on the variables involved and results achieved. It is hoped that this project inspires others to assess the school library learning environment in a variety of school situations and contribute to an understanding of useful strategies to further strengthen the role of school libraries in the school community.

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Contact Information For readers seeking further information or assistance, please contact Barbara Schultz-Jones at [email protected]

References Aldridge, J.M., Fraser, B.J., & Huang, T-C.I. (1999). Investigating classroom environment in Taiwan and Australia with multiple research methods. Journal of Educational Research, vol. 93, no.1, p. 48-63. American Association of School Librarians. (2007). Standards for the 21st-Century Learner. American Library Association at URL: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/ aasl/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/standards.cfm (access date: 20.10.2010) Dorman, J. P. (2003). Cross-national validation of the What is Happening in This Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire using confirmatory term analysis. Learning Environment Research, vol. 6, no.3, p. 231-245. Fraser, B. J. (1998a). The birth of a new journal: Editor’s introduction. Learning Environments Research, vol. 1, no.1, p. 1-5. Fraser, B. J. (1998b). Science learning environments: Assessment, effects and determinants. In B.J. Fraser & K.G. Tobin (Eds.), The international handbook of science education. (pp. 527-564). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Fraser, B. J., Fisher, D. L., & McRobbie, C. J. (1996). Development, validation and use of personal and class forms of a new classroom environment instrument. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York. Fraser, B. J., & O’Brien, P. (1985). Student and teacher perceptions of the environment of elementary-school classrooms. Elementary School Journal, vol. 85, no.5, p. 567-580. Goh, S. C., & Khine, M. S. (Eds.). (2002). Studies in educational learning environments: An international perspective. Singapore: World Scientific Publishers. Lewin, K. (1936). Principles of topological psychology. New York: McGraw. Mardis, M. (2007). School libraries and science achievement: A view from Michigan’s middle schools. School Library Media Research, vol. 10. In: http://www.ala.org/ala/ mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/slmrb/slmrcontents/volume10/mardis_schoollibra riesandscience.cfm (access date: 21.8.2010) Murray, H. A. (1938). Explorations in personality. New York: Oxford University Press. Schultz-Jones, B., & Ledbetter, C. (2009). School libraries as learning environments: Examining elementary and middle school students’ perceptions. Research Paper in the Proceedings of the 13th International Forum on Research in School Librarianship at the 38th International Association of School Librarianship Annual Conference, Padua, Italy, September 1-4, 2009. Schultz-Jones, B., & Ledbetter, C. (2010a). Assessing school libraries as learning environments: Examining students’ perceptions in grades three, four and five. Research Paper in the Proceedings of the 14th International Forum on Research in School Librarianship at the 39th International Association of School Librarianship Annual Conference, Brisbane, Australia, September 27-30, 2010. Schultz-Jones, B., & Ledbetter, C. (2010b). Investigating third through sixth grade students’ perceptions of school library learning environments. Research Paper in the Pro-

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ceedings of the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado, April 30 - May 4, 2010. Small, R. V., Snyder, J., & Parker, K. (2009). The impact of New York’s school libraries on student achievement and motivation: Phase I. School Library Media Research, vol. 12. In: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/slmrb/slmrcontents/ volume12/small.cfm (access date: 20.8.2010) Todd, R. (2009). School librarianship and evidence based practice: Progress, perspectives, and challenges. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, vol. 4, no.2, p. 7896.

Author Notes Barbara Ann Schultz-Jones, PhD, has worked as an Assistant Professor in the College of Information, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, USA since 2007. In the fall of 2010 she became the Director of the School Library Program in the Department of Library and Information Sciences. Her main research interests are the assessment and improvement of school library learning environments and investigation of social networks within the school learning community. Contact email: [email protected]

Part 2 Promoting Literacies through the School Library

Reading Opens all Doors: An Integrated Reading Program at Genazzano FCJ College, Australia Susan La Marca, Sandra Hardinge and Lyn Pucius Genazzano FCJ College, Melbourne, Australia

Abstract This chapter outlines a highly successful reading program, ROAD (Reading Opens All Doors), that operates across a range of five school year levels and is fully embedded within the English curriculum. The genre based program focuses on developing an appreciation of both the pleasure of reading and an acknoweldgement of the educational benefits. The program has evolved over many years, and assessment and presentation of content have changed in response to the needs of students, their varied abilities and preferences and the enrichment opportunities offered by technology.

Keywords Australia; Reading programs; Reading engagement; Reading culture; Multimedia integration; Promotion of reading.

Background Genazzano FCJ College is a Catholic girls’ day and boarding school in Melbourne, Australia. It has a long and rich history. The College was established over 120 years ago and has consistently provided quality education to many generations of young women, offering classes from Prep (5 years old) to the secondary school finishing year in Victoria, year 12 (18 years old). The College has always had a commitment to offering a rigorous, academic education and reading of all kinds has been part of this endeavour. The ROAD program was initiated well over 20 years ago by the Head Librarian at the time Rosemary O’Donoghue. ROAD is an acronym for Reading Opens All Doors. The program has a long history of change as facilities, staff and approaches have altered over the years. Throughout this, though, the dedication to reading as a valuable and influential component of the English curriculum and lifelong learning remains. Currently, the ROAD program’s primary functions are to encourage pleasure in reading amongst the student body, whilst simultaneously support-

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ing the aims of the English curriculum. The incoming Australian curriculum for English states that: “Through their reading and through interaction with others, students are encouraged to see existing situations in new ways; identify alternative explanations, and perceive connections that can assist in problem-solving. It is through the imaginative application of ideas and through flexible thinking that students come to understand the power of language, and become independent, innovative and imaginative learners.” (ACARA, 2010, p. 11)

The program achieves this and much more. ROAD exposes students through talk, discussion and multimedia resources to a range of reading genre, styles and formats. It enables the students to set goals for their reading and to record and evaluate their achievements. In conjunction with classroom study, it exposes students to the ‘power of language’, encourages them to make connections between texts and to experience a variety of reading possibilities. The work of Krashen (2002) internationally and, closer to home, the Young Australians Reading research project (Woolcott Research, 2001) have established that young people are interested in and do read for pleasure. Various research projects (see, for example, Campbell et al, 2000; Cullinan, 2000) have also identified the strong links between reading for pleasure and academic achievement. The OECD report Reading for Change (OECD, 2002) noted the importance of engagement in bringing reading possibilities and young people together. The report stated that in this process ‘there is much that schools can do to make a difference’ (OECD, 2002, p. 23) Consequently, the ROAD program, whilst supporting and extending curriculum goals, aims to foster pleasure in reading and to promote engagement, as an integral part of the development of lifelong readers.

Description of the PROGRAM ROAD is a fully integrated and assessed wider reading program that embraces technology in the way it is presented and assessed. It is an example of best practice for those keen to either create, or extend, a program that offers depth and relevance to the practice of reading and promotion of literacy development. ROAD operates for the full school year from year six (11-12 years old) to year 10 (15-16 year olds). The students attend the library reading area with their teacher for one period every two week cycle; this period runs for 65 minutes.

Aims & Objectives of Roads •

Foster a pleasure in the reading experience;

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Improve literacy of various kinds, including visual and verbal literacies; Cater for differing levels of reading ability and interest; Expose students to a range of reading formats, styles and genres; Supply students at each year level with a booklet of reading suggestions arranged by theme and genre; Enable students to set goals for their reading, record their efforts and reflect upon their reading; Offer students an environment where discussion and interaction are supported and encouraged; Through discussion, enable students to think critically and to verbalise their views about the craft of the written word – encourage them to make connections, debate meaning and intent and share recommendations; Expose students to the views of the wider reading community and the experiences of authors, illustrators and publishers through the use of a range of multimedia resources and the internet; and Offer a variety of assessment activities that recognise and value student opinion.

Program Timeline The students are given their new booklet at the beginning of each year. Prior to this, the library team will have updated all lists with new titles and removed dated titles to ensure the lists remain relevant. Table 1 shows the genres covered for each particular year level. Table 1. Booklet genres Year Six Family

Year Seven Diaries

Fantasy Animals

Family Fantasy

Reading the Past Friendship Mysteries

Relationships Mysteries Laugh out Loud

Paper Magic Once Upon a Time ....in Pictures Adventure School Days

Conflict Picture Books Reading the Past Conflict

Funny ...Ha Ha

In Fewer Words

Classics

Animals Courage and Faith

Year Eight Fairytales Revisited Family Fantasy

Year Nine Life and Loss

Year Ten Inspiring Lives

What If? Beyond the Classroom Survival Relationships Family Sport Graphic Novels Fantasy In Verse Steam punk Big Screen to Book Other Cultures In Fewer Words In a Girl’s Life Mystery and Mystery and Different Faces, Adventure Adventure Different Places Friends Courage Faith Journeys

Knowing Yourself Biography

Walk in My Shoes and Fantastic Worlds Speculative Fiction – What If? Women who have made a Difference

In Times Past That’s Life Mystery, Murder and Mayhem Our Earth, Our Future

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From years six (11 -12 years old) to eight (13-14 years old), each semester is introduced with a discussion of goals for that half year. A goal might be: to read more, to read more widely, to read a particular genre, finish more books or tackle something harder. Any response is legitimate; each student’s personal goal is his or her own, irrespective of the needs and goals of others. At the end of the semester students respond to the prompt in their booklet ‘If I reflect on my reading for this semester I feel...’. This activity is not assessed, as its function is to encourage self assessment and reflection in a positive, supportive environment. Each booklet also contains a space for the students to record and rate their reading and students are encouraged to fill this in. Each ROAD class follows a similar pattern. We begin with a short introduction by the teacher-librarian where a genre from the booklet is the focus. Students are encouraged to contribute to the discussion, and recent reading and newly published titles are also discussed. These sessions are flexible and responsive to needs. The colleges drive to offer a differentiated curriculum impacts on decisions about program design and delivery. Recently efforts have been made to incorporate multimedia options into these short talks with the use of short videos and audio recordings to give students further insight into a book or an author. Student produced work has also been incorporated into these sessions to demonstrate the excellent work being completed by classmates. Students are then given time to browse, and borrow and read or complete an assessment task if this is scheduled. Whilst this takes place, staff work with students individually to ensure they find reading options which engage them. Students may borrow as many books as they like for a period of two weeks. The collections that support the program are diverse. A large and comprehensive fiction collection is the primary source of reading material for all students. As well as this, the library service offers: • • • •

•

a senior fiction collection that caters for students in years 10 (15-16 years old) and above as well as staff and parents; a graphic novel collection; a picture book collection with a focus on this form for the more mature reader; a collection known as ‘Real Reads’ that includes a range of specifically chosen nonfiction titles. This collection includes biographies and other enticing stories that would normally be housed in nonfiction, as well as a range of factual books that are fun to read – crafts, pets, sports etc. Offering this collection for pleasure ensures the program is catering for all types of readers including those who do not preference narrative; and a collection of e-book readers (kobos). These include a range of titles that we also hold in book format but the e-reader offers another access point to the reading experience. Each device holds many hundreds of titles allowing students to borrow a number of titles at once. We have

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also purchased books electronically that have not been readily available in Australia expanding the reading opportunities available to students.

Resources Staffing The equivalent of three full time teacher-librarians operate the program, supported by library technicians and multimedia technicians. The English teacher for each class also plays a supportive role in the program and the assessment activities. This is only one program amongst many offered by the library team. Consequently, it is difficult to quantify exactly how much time the program takes in human resources. There is no doubt, though, that this is a labour and knowledge intensive program, that run well, requires good resources.

Space The ROAD program takes place in a pleasant and functional space. Soft chairs are provided to offer reading comfort, and the reading area is separate from other library spaces to create a sense of seclusion (though this is sometimes difficult in a busy and active library!). The area has a ceiling-mounted data projector and large screen to support the drive to incorporate multimedia into ROAD classes. Large glass windows allow in natural light, and doors out onto the terrace offer the students an outside reading space when the weather is pleasant.

Financial The program is not funded separately. The reading collections that support the program are available outside of the program to the school community, including other year levels and staff not involved directly in the program. Despite there not being a specific collection for ROAD, considerable resources are put towards the upkeep of a large and comprehensive range of excellent collections to allow the program to function effectively. Other costs involved relate to: •

A color booklet produced for each student in the program (approx 20 paged A5 booklet).

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• •

A range of databases, journals and online websites utilised by the staff to develop their knowledge base and to assist them in supporting the program. Computers and multimedia equipment (e.g., microphones, audio splitters) which are heavily utilised during the completion of assessment activities.

This program is a model for a sustainable, fully integrated and supported wider reading program that incorporates multimedia. It is an example of best practice that could be replicated, either in part or in entirety, in another environment or modified to suit different needs. The integration of multimedia into assessment and presentation is innovative, particularly as this is collaboratively taught program organised by library and English learning areas.

Monitoring and Assessment The program is positioned within a quality English curriculum. It is monitored constantly, updated regularly, and reviewed by both Library and English learning area teams each year. All year levels incorporate assessment activities appropriate to their stage of development. The use of technology in many of these assessment activities has been effective in encouraging quality reader response and excellent levels of engagement. As stated by La Marca & Macintyre (2006): “To maximise engagement and motivation, provision of a variety of text types and genres is accompanied by engaging and motivating ways of responding to texts which are authentic, flexible, active and varied: oral, written, dramatic, artistic, musical, multimedia responses can engage students according to their learning needs, and help to build a community of readers.” (p. 44)

The following are four of the major assessment activities that are firmly embedded in the ROAD program:

Audacity File - Year Seven Audacity is an open source free software program available on the World Wide Web. It allows users to tape audio in a series of tracks that can be edited and layered to create a range of effects. The multimedia technicians give an introduction to the basics of the program and are then available to assist students once they start using the program. The technicians have also produced an illustrated step-by-step guide to using the program. Students are asked to work either independently or in groups on a book that they have selected. They use Audacity to create a short audio advertisement for their text. Examples incorporating different voices, music and sound

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effects are played to give the students an idea of what is required. The final audio files are very brief, no more than a minute, but very entertaining. Once the class has completed their work (this may take a series of ROAD classes), students come together to listen to the work of their classmates, and the files are saved for future use as examples of the task, or for promotional purposes.

Show Bag Presentation - Year Eight During the second half of the year students are asked to choose a book from amongst those that they have read. They then need to consider the text carefully in order to collect together a show bag of items to represent or interpret the text for their fellow classmates. One of the teacher-librarians will model what this looks like with an example show bag put together by staff. The students must introduce six show bag items to the class, detailing how the items relate to the story. The aim is to give the audience a sense of the book and demonstrate their knowledge of the text. They can either pretend to be a character from the story or explore the book as a reader. For example, a show bag on Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling might include a pair of Harry’s circular framed glasses, a white feather from his owl Hedwig, a wizard cloak or wand, a facsimile of the letter sent to Harry upon his invitation to Hogwarts School, and so on. Items can be concrete such as those listed, or they might be more abstract to represent the student’s interpretation of the emotions found in the story. The students are encouraged to be creative and to entertain their audience. The show bag presentations are usually filmed and used in the program as an example of assessment requirements and also as promotional material on relevant books, formats or genre.

Photostory - Year Nine Photostory is a freely available Microsoft software program that enables the user to create a video file incorporating pictures, and simple sound effects. At year nine, the students create the most wonderful Photostorys in response to a text. The use of the program is introduced by a multimedia technician and how-to, step-by-step guides have been created by this department to assist students in their task. Students are shown examples from previous years, and the process and aim is discussed. The students must choose a book that they have read that year and collect a series of images or photographs that represent the story. They may choose to retell the story in part or, better still, interpret the mood and intent of the book with their image choices. They then add relevant music to create what can be a very moving interpretation of text. Most finished Photostorys run for around two minutes. At the end of the process (production can

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take a few lessons), students come together to share their videos with their class.

Oral Response – Year Ten By year ten (15 to 16 years), the students are being strongly encouraged to think more critically about their reading and to engage with texts in an analytical and thoughtful manner. To facilitate this, the main assessment task at year ten involves comparing two texts and considering carefully how the reading experience of each has affected them. The students must engage with the contention: “A good novel should take us out of our comfort zone and enable us to see the world through different eyes.” The students present an oral report of between three and five minutes to their class using examples from the text to respond to the contention. This topic encourages students to reflect on their own reading, make connections and construct a logical, succinct argument. This task consistently produces thoughtful and insightful responses that engage the audience. It allows talented students scope to explore complex ideas, whilst allowing those with limited ability a good starting point for exploring the texts they have read.

Outcomes Through booklets, teacher-librarian presentations, discussion and one-on-one interaction between members of the reading community, all students are exposed to a range of genres, reading formats and styles. Reading tastes are broadened, and students are extended and encouraged in their reading experiences. The levels of achievement in a range of studies are supported and enriched through a wide reading program that broadens general knowledge, expands vocabulary, language acquisition and the knowledge of various styles and forms of literature. The incorporation of multimedia and technology into assessment and presentation within the ROAD program is innovative. The collaborative nature of the program, between library and English learning areas, is rewarding and encourages exploration. The assessment activities have exposed students to computer programs that they have then been able to use effectively in other studies.

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Lessons Learned ROAD is an established program that has been effectively integrated into curriculum over a number of years. This is one of its strengths. It is not seen as an adjunct to study but as a vital component of the English curriculum. Maintaining this status is crucial, and anyone establishing a program would be wise to work diligently to embed any new program within the curriculum. Building strong, respectful and cooperative relationships between teacher-librarians and English staff and consulting regularly on content, assessment and approach are all vitally important in maintaining the health of the program. A member of the library team represents the team at English learning area meetings. This ensures the program is considered in all deliberations and recognized as an equal player within the English curriculum. Within the wider school administrative structure, it has also been vital to ensure support for the program from the Director of Learning and Teaching and the broader executive committee. To facilitate this, the program is included in all reports detailing the foci of the library service and the successes of the program, such as its embracing of new technologies and approaches, are all reported and celebrated. Ongoing administrative support ensures adequate spaces, facilities, staffing and collection development without which the program could not survive. On a more practical level, the program’s success feeds off the dedication of the library team that must work hard to maintain their own knowledge base in a variety of areas and their enthusiasm for, and ability to build, ongoing supportive relationships with students and staff. Teacher-librarians, to enable the program, spend a great deal of preparatory time reading reviews, commentaries and many of the books themselves that appear in the various ROAD booklets. This knowledge base is important to give the program depth and meaning. An enthusiastic knowledgeable adult, “an enabling adult” (Chambers, 1991, p. 92) is vital to providing students with the right book at the right time to meet their needs and interests. Chambers sees this role as being to “provide, stimulate, demonstrate and respond” (p. 92). Maintaining the knowledge necessary to do this well takes time and effort. The teacher-librarians involved in the program have also made an effort to engage with new technologies in an effort to improve their ROAD class presentation. This has been supported by professional development and time to learn new programs with the assistance of excellent multi-media technicians.

Supporting Materials The Genazzano FCJ College library team believes strongly in the collegiate power of sharing resources and ideas. Examples of the ROAD booklets, assessment responses, assessment rubrics, how-to guides and other supportive

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documentation can be found on our library services blog, at URL: http://genlibraries.edublogs.org/ (look for the ROAD tab). We would be pleased to offer email advice: [email protected]

References ACARA (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority). (2010). The Australian curriculum: English, at URL: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/English/ Curriculum/F-10 (access date: 10.12.2010). Campbell, J. R., Hombo, C. M., & Mazzeo, J. (2000). 1999 Trends in academic progress: Three decades of student performance. Washington, DC: NAEP, Department of Education, at URL: www.nifl.gov/nifl/facts/reading-facts.html (access date: 18.11.2002) Chambers, A. (1991). The reading environment. Newton, NSW, Australia: PETA, Thimble Press. Cullinan, B. E. (2000). Independent reading and school achievement. New York: American Library Association. Krashen, Stephen (2004). The power of reading: Insights from the research. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited. La Marca, Susan, & Macintyre, Pam. (2006). Knowing readers: Unlocking the pleasures of reading. Carlton, Victoria, Australia: School Library Association of Victoria. OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). (2002). Reading for change: Performance and engagement across countries, results from PISA 2000, at URL: http://www.pisa.oecd.org/document/30/0,2340,en_32252351_32236159_33688670_ 1_1_1_1,00.html (access date: 15.1.2003) Woolcott Research. (2001). Young Australians reading: From keen to reluctant readers. Prepared for the Australian Centre for Youth Literature and the Audience and Market Development Division of the Australia Council, Melbourne.

Author Notes Dr Susan La Marca is a consultant in the areas of young adult literature and school libraries and currently Head of Library Services at Genazzano FCJ College. Susan is the editor of Synergy, the research journal of SLAV, associate editor of the journal Viewpoint: on books for young adults and an adjunct lecturer in the School of Information Studies at Charles Sturt University. Susan has edited five books in the field of teacher-librarianship and is the coauthor, with Dr Pam Macintyre, of Knowing Readers: Unlocking the Pleasures of Reading (SLAV, 2006) and the author of the book Designing the Learning Environment (ACER, 2010). Sandra Hardinge has been a teacher-librarian at Genazzano FCJ College for 18 years. She has always had a strong commitment to fostering a love of reading in young adults and has worked diligently in engaging, and challenging, those who take part in the ROAD program. Over the years she has worked to

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ensure the program changes to accommodate shifts in the English curriculum and the student’s changing interests. Contact email: Lyn Pucius has been a dedicated member of the Genazzano FCJ College library team for a number of years. As a proactive teacher-librarian she has taught within the ROAD program and across all areas of the library in the areas of research and information literacy. Her enthusiasm and ability to engage the students is an asset to all aspects of her role. Contact email:

Fun with Readathon: Helping Namibian Children to Love Books Andree-Jeanne Tötemeyer Namibian Children’s Book Forum

Abstract The chapter describes the efforts made in a multilingual country to develop a reading culture among youth. The aims of the Namibian Children’s Book Forum (NCBF) are to promote a love of reading among children and the production of children’s books in all languages. The language policy for Namibian schools adopted by government in 1990 with English as the sole or main medium of instruction has contributed to the neglect and deterioration of the Namibian indigenous languages. The NCBF pioneered the multilingual annual Namibian Readathon and developed it to a national movement over a fourteen year period. The event aims to enable youth to experience an enjoyable encounter with storybooks. School libraries also benefit from Readathon as the festival enables schools to raise funds for their school libraries. Cost effective methods are described that explain how to create and distribute enjoyable illustrated Readathon stories in various home languages.

Keywords Reading culture; Reading promotion; Access to books; Multilingualism; Readathon; Namibian Children’s Book Forum; ‘Under the Story Tree’ project.

The Library Landscape in Namibia: Background Information Namibia is a country geographically twice as large as united Germany, but with a population of only 2.3 million. There are 13 written languages in Namibia plus about 16 oral languages for which no orthography exists. Namibia was colonized, first by the Germans and thereafter by the South Africans for over 100 years. Thus the colonial language, German, became one of the twelve local languages of the country. The two South African official languages, English and Afrikaans, were declared official languages in Namibia after World War I but, during the pre-independence period, English was

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hardly spoken or used, while Afrikaans became the dominant lingua franca in the country. This entrenchment of Afrikaans came about mainly because Afrikaans had been enjoying a long history in Namibia already during pre-colonial times. Namibian libraries report under the Directorate of Library and Archival Services (LAS) within the Ministry of Education. The Directorate is again subdivided into the divisions for Community Library Services (CLS), Education Library Services (ELS), the National Library and Archives (NLAS) and Government Library Services (GLS). The focus of this paper will be on the Education Library Services (ELS) that offers library services to schools. ELS orders school library books for all government schools and catalogues these books centrally, and then they are distributed to schools. This was deemed necessary as most library teachers are not qualified to manage a library and catalogue books themselves and also because there are no book shops in the rural villages and even in most of the smaller towns. School libraries are playing a marginal role in most Namibian schools, albeit ELS has managed to supply all Namibian government schools with a small collection of library books. After 21 years, most school libraries remain understocked as only a small number of new books can be supplied annually by ELS owing to budgetary constraints. Although architectural plans for schools make provision for a library room, the library room is often used as a full-time classroom. The library books are then shelved or stored in cupboards along the walls and are not accessible to the whole school during school hours. In some schools the library books are relocated to store rooms or broom cupboards. The library teacher is expected to teach other subjects in addition to managing the school library. Sometimes two to four teachers share this burden but even then, the library room is often locked during school hours as the responsible teachers are teaching in other localities in the school. There are nevertheless some committed Namibian library teachers who are trying to offer acceptable library services to their schools. In most cases these are the same teachers, often language teachers, who make a special effort with the annual national Readathon in September. Readathon offers an opportunity to schools to promote a love of books and a reading habit among students and to raise funds for new books and other information materials for the school library. From a financial point of view, the school library benefits from Readathon in two ways: 1) Students can read to relatives and friends for sponsorship during the week-long reading festival and also read in class on Readathon Day and raise funds for new school library books, and 2) Schools who send a report to the organizers of Readathon on how they celebrated the event receive a donor-funded parcel of new books to add to their school library.

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The Readathon Project of the Namibian Children’s Book Forum The History of the Namibian Readathon Readathon was launched by a non-governmental organization (NGO), the Namibian Children’s Book Forum (NCBF) in 1988. The aims of the NCBF are to promote a reading culture among Namibian children, the production of children’s literature in all Namibian languages and the development of school libraries. The NCBF believes that only when children enjoy what they are reading, will they want to read more. International studies have shown that mother tongue stories are best suited to pave the way for children to become book lovers. The NCBF saw an annual Readathon in all Namibian schools (was seen by the NCBF)as a method to realize these (both NCBF) aims. The goal was to offer to students the experience that reading can be fun and that books can be used not only for studies but also for enjoyment. The event should be fun and at the same time, enable schools to raise funds to buy new books for their school libraries. The last week of September, from the Monday to the Thursday, is Book Festival Week during which a variety of book- and reading-related activities are organized by schools. The highlight of the week is Readathon Day on the Friday. On that day, each school sets aside a scheduled half hour, governed by the following rules: each student will read some enjoyable stories; no school textbooks or school readers may be read; junior primary students (Grades 1-3) who find reading difficult may listen to an enjoyable story read by an adult; the teachers, school principal and support staff should also sit and read a story during the half hour. Family members may sponsor the learner’s reading during the week and also during the scheduled half-hour on the Friday. The teacher certifies on a special Readathon form, the number of pages read by a student. Students can show sponsors this form when collecting the money from the relatives and friends who sponsored them. In the early nineties, the NCBF became aware that students were given just any book by teachers, even biology books to read during Readathon. In most cases teachers either did not understand the purpose of Readathon, or the schools simply did not have enjoyable stories, particularly in the mother tongue for students to read. Since this practice was thwarting the whole purpose of Readathon, the NCBF took the challenge in 1993 to supply schools with entertaining illustrated mother tongue stories as well as some English stories. Donor funding had to found and authors commissioned to write enjoyable stories with an African background and featuring African main characters. Illustrators were commissioned to create pictures to the texts and translators to translate the stories in the various Namibian languages.

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The stories were distributed as A5 size pamphlets consisting of two A4 sheets of paper, folded and stapled in the middle, rendering a story pamphlet of eight A5 pages. Some stories for older students were in the form of a single A4 sheet with a mother tongue story on the one side and an English story on the other side. The NCBF called these two formats, Plans A and B. All photocopying was done by Risograph. In 1999 a new concept, Plan C, was introduced with the printing of a 16 page A4 size Readathon newspaper for each student consisting of several stories in both English and the mother tongue. The newspaper also contained the rules of Readathon and the sponsorship form. The printing was done very economically by the press that prints the daily newspapers for Namibia. In 2001, 400,000 sixteen-page A4 size story newspapers, weighing seven tons, were distributed to schools throughout Namibia in eleven languages. This was the biggest multilingual project for children’s fiction in the history of Namibia. Plans A and B are suitable when funding is limited. Plan C can also be cheap but only when large print runs can be made. Readathon that started small in 1988 became a national movement after 14 years with almost all schools participating, even though the NCBF as an NGO could not compel any school to participate. The NCBF initially excluded the senior secondary schools (Grades 11 and 12), assuming that senior students would not be interested in such a festival. Much to their surprise and delight, they learned during the mid nineties that several senior secondary schools were participating “illegally.” The NCBF thereafter sent invitations to all schools.

Description of the Book-related Activities during the Book and Reading Festival During the weeklong reading festival, many book related activities take place. By 2000 already, schools had become to own Readathon and thrilling reports of festivities reached the NCBF. Activities include: Reading related activities: Weeklong story readings in the classes, reading of stories to illiterate and elderly members of rural communities, elders from the community reading stories to students “to show that parents can read”, older students reading to young students during break times, a hostel mother reading stories to students in the evenings for a week. Storytelling and other oral presentations: Storytelling by students and teachers, elders from the community telling stories from oral sources, poetry recitals, tongue-twister competition (reciting tricky rhymes), promotions by students of their favourite books, quizzes, entertaining dialogues, talks by important personalities on various themes such as the compilation of newspapers, advertising, etc.

100 Andree-Jeanne Tötemeyer Writing of stories, poetry and dramas: Story, drama and poetry writing by teachers or by older students for younger students, writing competitions, writing texts to pictures. Drama performances: Dramatizations of Readathon stories, other stories and also performances by students of self-written and self-directed plays, pantomimes, role plays, miming, puppet shows in the school, the public library and the children’s ward of the local hospital. Arts and crafts: Drawing pictures of stories told with prizes, art and crafts exhibitions of paintings, the painting of murals and a book cover design competition, book mark competitions, making of own story books, making of posters, masks, demonstrations by elders of old skills. Singing, dancing and marches: Choral and solo singing, composing and singing reading songs, a Readathon song competition, Readathon marches in the community with posters and singing songs about the benefits of reading, dances by various cultural groups. Parades: Book parades, storybook character and fancy dress up parades, fashion parades, parades of costumes from the olden days. Library and literacy related matters: Library exhibitions, guessing the number of books in the school library competition, word games, cross word puzzles, poster displays, quotations displays, slogans and personal messages relating to the importance of reading, pinning of posters in public places, sale of second hand books, book donations; one school adopted the slogan, DEAR: “Drop Everything And Read!” Fundraising: Reading for sponsorship in the school and in the community, coin laying or book laying ceremonies on the school court yard, fundraising by charging entrance fees to the Readathon Day celebrations, charging entry fees for competitions, money donations from local firms or donations of prizes and/or refreshments. Publicity for Readathon: Announcements in the local newspapers, letters of invitation to parents to Readathon celebrations, broadcasts of Readathon activities on the local radio station, announcements about and invitations to Readathon day celebrations read out in the local churches. Joint Readathon celebrations and community involvement: Combined Readathon celebrations involving up to three schools, special reading celebrations in the north with a reading tent and attended by almost 75% of the community under the marula tree (Tötemeyer, 2001).

The Current Status of Readathon By 2001 Readathon had become too big for the executive of a small NGO such as the NCBF to handle. The work was being done by five voluntary children’s book lovers who were employed in other professional positions and who did this work in their free time for 14 years without remuneration. By the

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end of 2001 the Readathon project was offered to the Directorate of Library and Archival Services (LAS) within the Ministry of Education. The Directorate accepted the project and delegated it to the division Education Library Services (ELS). The current status of Readathon is that it is being very ably run since 2002 by ELS. Readathon was put on the official school calendar and is now a compulsory event to be celebrated annually by all Namibian schools. The book parcel project is still continuing, each school sending in a Readathon report, receiving a parcel of school library books donated by Book Ed International UK. ELS organize a big reading festival every year in another region with a reading tent and involving the whole community. A reading and writing competition for poetry and short stories is held. After the take-over of Readathon by government in 2002, the work of the NCBF did not end there. The NCBF is now furthering the promotion of a reading culture among Namibian youth and the production of children’s literature in all Namibian languages, in a different way.

Grand Plan D, The ‘Under The Story Tree’ Project Background to Grand Plan D Since independence in 1990 the NCBF became increasingly concerned about the dearth of mother tongue stories for Namibian children. The new language policy for Namibian schools elevated English as the main medium of instruction in Namibian schools (Republic of Namibia, 1993) even though English at the time of independence was the mother tongue of only 0.8% of the population (Wolfaardt, 2010). Since then some parents started to speak English with their children at home and by 2001, the Namibian census recorded English as the home language of 1.9% of the population (Republic of Namibia. 2003). In 2010 the percentage of English home language speakers rose to 7% (Wolfaardt, 2010). The publication of mainly school text books which are mostly in English has become a threat to the future publication of trade books for children in the local languages (Tötemeyer, 2009; 2007). Publishers no longer consider the publishing of trade books for children in the local languages as viable, resulting in potential authors feeling inhibited to write in these languages. This situation has contributed to the neglect and deterioration of the Namibian indigenous languages which again is jeopardizing the development of a reading culture among Namibian children. Most trade books published for children for general or recreational reading in Namibia today are either in English or in German. Although German was spoken in 2001 by only 1.1% of the population (Republic of Namibia. 2003),

102 Andree-Jeanne Tötemeyer German books sell relatively well because of the tourists. As a result the number of books published for children in the local languages has dropped steadily since independence. Lacking enjoyable stories to read in their mother tongues, Namibian children are not only reluctant to read but their reading proficiency is limited. This situation has led to poor academic performance (Tötemeyer, 2010).

Description of Grand Plan D, Strategies and Resources Time was ripe for Grand Plan D as the very popular mother tongue stories in eleven languages distributed by the NCBF to Namibian schools between 1993 and 2001 in pamphlet, single sheet and newspaper formats (Plans A to C), needed to be preserved in a more permanent form before they get totally lost. Grand Plan D meant moving from desk top publishing, RISO duplication and newspaper printing to publishing fully fledged story books illustrated in full colour. In 2004 the NCBF launched the multilingual “Under the story tree” project in collaboration with a local publishing house. A 93-page children’s book, consisting of 16 illustrated Readathon stories, was published in English in 2005. Since donor funding had to be found for the various language versions, the project extended over several years between 2005 and 2011 (see list in appendix). To date, 11 language versions have been published with two language versions still in production and to be published in 2011. The NCBF never expects donors to carry the full production costs of a language version. The NCBF and the publishers, Macmillan Education Namibia, carried the full cost of the English version, and together carried 50% of the costs of the other language versions, while the donors carried the remaining 50% of the costs. This modus operandi guaranteed the successful soliciting of donors as they saw that the NCBF and the publishers were also undertaking part of the expenses. The books are sold very cheaply at only 50 Namibian dollars (U$7) to enable parents to afford the books. The three authors and five illustrators (authors) of the stories relinquished all royalties to the NCBF. The funds accruing from royalties are used by the NCBF to produce more books for Namibian children and to sponsor the reprint of out of print children’s books. In 2011 two out-of-print picture books of high literary and aesthetic quality have been reprinted through the sponsorship of the NCBF.

Objectives of the ‘Under the Story Tree’ Project Stories in the home language are better suited to enhance the enjoyment factor than stories in the colonial or second language as they require less effort to read. Mother tongue stories also boost the cultural identity of students, many

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of whom have come to believe that their culture and home language are inferior to English (Tötemeyer, 2010). The objectives of the ‘Under the story tree’ project therefore are to strengthen the inadequate number of mother tongue publications in order to enable NamIbian children to experience the joy of reading.

Outcomes of Readathon Many school libraries manage to raise considerable amounts of money to buy new books and develop their school library. The reports received from teachers and educators are very enthusiastic. The creativity and energy released by Readathon continue to surprise and delight the organizers every year. Just a few of the comments can be given here: “Readathon was great fun, the stories were easy for students to understand.” “The reading materials were especially useful for students to read to families and the community.” “This was really a great week to all of us ... Readathon day was a big day.” “We are so glad to have such a week for reading.” “Everybody was happy .... We take Readathon as a fun reading day; we wish we have a new storybook every month.” “Readathon was a good time ... students were very keen.” “It was our first time to celebrate Readathon. We really had fun that week of the 24-28 September … Through Readathon we have realized that learners have improved a lot in reading skills as well as telling stories freely.” “The stories were very nice ...We are grateful that we had a whole week to celebrate.” “Readathon week is an excellent idea.” “Thank you for the book parcels received last year and for all previous book donations; also for your efforts to promote reading. We do appreciate it.” “The Readathon was such an exciting event because fellow teachers showed so much interest. The preceding week was also wonderful because the community was so interested.” “Reading activities under the theme, ‘I can read I can write’, were a huge success.” “The learners enjoyed Readathon very much.” “Learners and teachers were very interested and enjoyed the day.” “At our school we celebrate every year. The Principal encouraged learners to tell the Readathon stories to their family at home. We enjoyed the stories and dramas very much; the stories were very exciting.” “I am enjoying and observing the positive changes in behaviour of learners which is a result of Readathon. The reading interest has been provoked to such an extent that I cannot cope with the reading demand since I do not have sufficient stock for 1300 learners ... Please continue the good work, the fruits are visible.” (Tötemeyer, 2001)

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Problems Encountered When venturing into organizing a Readathon, the following problems may be encountered: 1. Some teachers do not understand that Readathon should be fun and give students any book to read. 2. Some schools organize reading competitions to see which students can read the fastest, thereby ignoring comprehension of the text read and also the loss of enjoyment for both the reader and the audience. Slow readers are left behind and may feel discouraged to read. 3. The transition from the oral mode of entertainment to the reading mode of entertainment may be difficult for some rural schools who celebrate Readathon through traditional dancing, singing, dress-up parades, storytelling and endless speeches by politicians and the school principal but not really reading. 4. It may be counterproductive to involve foreign agencies in the running of the event. During the years 1988 to 1992, the NCBF organized Readathon in collaboration with two South African agencies. The reading materials developed and received from these agencies were in complicated English and not suitable for Namibian children. Time delays of deliveries caused problems, and the NCBF was expected to accept the dates for Readathon as decided upon by these agencies. As Namibia has three school terms (trimesters) and South Africa has four school terms, the dates chosen were unsuitable for Namibia. As from 1993 the NCBF declined collaboration with outside agencies, raised the needed funds, and organized the Namibian Readathon in its own way. 5. To find sponsors for Readathon requires a continuous effort. In a developing country there are only a few enterprises and other financially strong bodies. Donors of Readathon and the “Under the story tree” project are mainly banks, life insurance companies, foreign missions, cultural centers, local newspapers, a diamond company, and a few philanthropic individuals. 6. Sponsors expect a report from organizers on how the money was used and how the event was celebrated. For this the organizers need reports from schools. Schools are, however, reluctant to prepare reports and send them to the organizers. 7. Distribution of reading materials can become a major problem. The organizers need to know in which areas of the country which languages are spoken to ensure that readers in remote areas receive stories in their mother tongue in time for Readathon.

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Recommendations 1. It is important for a NGO that organizes Readathon to seek collaboration with the Ministry of Education. The event can be publicized in the regular letters sent to schools by the Ministry. Circuit inspectors can help to distribute reading materials to schools as they do their monthly rounds to pay out teacher salaries. When school principals go for workshops to the city, the Ministry can be requested to allow the NGO a short time slot on the program to tell school principals about Readathon and encourage them to participate. If the NGO at a later stage decides to offer the project to government, Readathon will not be unfamiliar to government and this will render government more willing to accept the offer. 2. Messages of goodwill for Readathon from the Minister of Education, the Prime Minister and the President or the First Lady, together with messages from prominent persons in society and agencies such as donors published in the newspapers, give good publicity and help to establish Readathon in the consciousness of the nation. 3. The promise of a parcel of new school library books to every school that sends in a report on how they celebrated the event succeeds very well to entice schools to make the effort. Extra funding, however, needs to be solicited for the book parcel project. It is worthwhile to establish an agreement with an agency to sponsor the book parcel project every year. 4. Organizers should attend Readathon celebrations and take photos every year. It is necessary to make a major effort with the annual report to sponsors, preferably with photos. Total accountability is way to convince a donor to sponsor the Readathon for several years.

References Republic of Namibia. Central Bureau of Statistics. (2003). Population and housing census, 2001. Windhoek : GRN, National Planning Commission. Republic of Namibia. Ministry of Education and Culture. (1993). The language policy for schools: 1992-6 and beyond. Longman/Overseas Development Administration (ODA). Tötemeyer, Andree-Jeanne. (2010). Multilingualism and the language policy for Namibian schools. (PRAESA Occasional Papers No. 37). Cape Town: University of Cape Town Project for Alternative Education in South Africa. Tötemeyer, Andree-Jeanne. (2009). Multi-lingualism / multi-culturalism in Africa and its impact on a reading culture: The Namibian experience. In: D. Lombello, L. Marquardt, & Cristina Uroni (Eds.), Proceedings of the 38th Annual Conference of the International Association of School Librarianship incorporating the 13th International Forum on Research in School Librarianship 2-4 September 2009 Abano Terme - Padova. Zillmere (Australia): IASL. Tötemeyer, Andree-Jeanne. (2007). Books for the children of Southern Africa: Focus on Namibia. Interview with Andree-Jeanne Tötemeyer for Cape Town Book Fair, May

106 Andree-Jeanne Tötemeyer 2007, compiled by Marjorie van Heerden, at URL: http://www.grafikon.co.za; www.marjorie-van-heerden.blogspot.com (retrieved: 13.12.10) Tötemeyer, Andree-Jeanne. (2001). The National Readathon of Namibia, 1988- 2001. School Libraries Worldwide, vol. 7, no. 2, p. 57-64. Wolfaardt, Dolores. (2010). The influence of English in the Namibian examination context. In: Mbongeni Malaba (Ed.), Policy and practice in English language education in Namibia: Selected papers from the National Conference on English as an official language, Windhoek, 29-30 May 2009. Windhoek: British Council.

Author Note Professor Andree-Jeanne Tötemeyer has lectured in school librarianship and children’s literature at three universities and since 1987 at the University of Namibia. Her main research topics are school librarianship and children’s readership. She is the founder and Chairperson of the Namibian Children’s Book Forum which aims to promote a reading culture among Namibian children. She is the Director of the “Under the Story Tree Project” which publishes illustrated children’s storybooks in 13 Namibian languages. She has recently made a study of the language policy for Namibian schools in her quest to find reasons why Namibian children struggle to read. It has become apparent that this is a problem in other African countries as well. E-mail address for Professor Andree-Jeanne Tötemeyer: [email protected]

Appendix The ‘Under the story tree project” 2005-2011 Under the story tree. ( 2005): Readathon stories collected by Andree-Jeanne Tötemeyer, Namibian Children’s Book Forum & Gamsberg Macmillan, 2005. 93 p., colour illustrations. Unter dem Marulabaum. (2007): Kindergeschichten aus Namibia zusammengestellt von Andree-Jeanne Tötemeyer, Namibian Children’s Book Forum & Gamsberg Macmillan, 2005. 94 p., colour illustrations. (German version of “Under the story tree”) Sous l’arbre à histoires. (2008): Histoires issues du Readathon reunites par Andree-Jeanne Tötemeyer, Forum Namibien des Livres pour enfants & Macmillan Namibia, 2008. 95 p., colour illustrations. (French version of “Under the story tree”) (Strictly speaking, French is not a Namibian language but it is a dominant language in 21 Francophone African states). Onder die storieboom. (2008): Leesmaraton-stories versamel deur AndreeJeanne Tötemeyer, Namibian Children’s Book Forum & Gamsberg Macmil-

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lan, 2008. 93 p., colour illustration. (Afrikaans version of “Under the story tree”) African language versions Garuben hais !naga. (2007) (Khoekhoegowab) Uuhokololo kohi yomuti. (2007) (Oshindonga) Masanseko goMositji. (2007) (Rukwangali) Ouhokololo koshi yomuti. (2007) (Oshikwanyama) Kehi yOmuti wovihambarere. (2008) (Otjiherero Mwatas’a Kota ya Makande. (2008) (Silozi) Mo tlase ga setlhare sa ditlhaman. (2008) Setswana) In production and to be published in 2011 Mo thitondo tho matangu. (Thimbukushu) Mui shitondo sho matimo. (Rumanyo)

Developing Information Literacy through Primary School Libraries in Nigeria Virginia W. Dike, Margaret N. Ngwuchukwu and Grace U. Onyebuchi Department of Library and Information Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

Abstract This project evolved in response to the need for Nigerian children to develop information literacy that would equip them for lifelong learning in a situation where resources are few and the learning environment uncongenial. Set in public primary schools in the town of Nsukka and surrounding rural communities, the project set out to develop functional primary school libraries providing the requisite learning resources and opportunities for information literacy; teach information skills through project work using community and library resources; conduct workshops to equip teacher-librarians with skills in the organization and use of libraries and teachers with capabilities for using library resources in teaching and learning; and develop curriculum modules for library periods integrating information and library use skills with curricular content. The chapter describes the three phases of the project, the strategies adopted for developing information literacy and the lessons learned.

Keywords Nigeria; Information literacy; Implementation strategies; Project work; Library periods; Primary school curriculum.

Introduction Information literacy is essential for successful living in the rapidly changing information age. The ability to access, evaluate and use information from a variety of sources (Doyle, 1994) equips individuals with essential life skills and enables them to engage in lifelong learning as knowledge and needs change over time. Information literacy includes basic language and communi-

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cation skills, library use and study skills, and critical thinking skills. The concept is central to the gradual shift from emphasis on acquiring information to acquiring skills for handling information, from teacher-centred to learnercentred and self-directed learning, ideas embodied in modern educational philosophy and the National Policy on Education (Nigeria, 2004). In spite of this, children in Nigerian schools, including primary schools in the area of study, often fail to become information literate before leaving school. Nsukka, the site of the project, is both a town and local government area (population 270,257 as of 2006) in the Igbo-speaking area of eastern Nigeria. Nsukka Central Local Education Authority has 51 public primary schools located in both the urban and rural communities. Schools have populations of 200-250 pupils in grades 1-6, and more recently pre-school classes. Primary school pupils are expected to be 6 to 11 years old, though many are in their teens. Public primary schools in Nigeria are administered by the Local Government Education Authority (LGEA), with supervision at state level by the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and nationally by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC). In general, schools are poorly equipped, with bare and dilapidated classrooms and few resources for learning. Teachers are handicapped by inadequate training, poor conditions of service, and low status. In spite of the progressive educational philosophy espoused by the national policy, rote learning by recitation and drill is the norm. English is the primary medium of instruction throughout the educational system, although junior grades are supposed to use Nigerian languages. Libraries are not a feature in most Nigerian primary schools. In spite of this, fifteen of the 51 primary schools in Nsukka have small libraries. Five of these libraries have collections of 500-1,000 books provided by government agencies, primarily UBEC, in rooms built and furnished by government agencies or parent-teacher associations. Others developed through the leadership of the Children’s Centre Library, a women’s project at the University of Nigeria that also serves as a teaching laboratory for the Department of Library and Information Science. With the Children’s Centre Library providing encouragement, professional guidance and training and the Americanbased People United for Libraries in Africa (PULA) assisting with books, ten schools have developed small libraries of 200-500 books. The Children’s Centre began working with primary schools in1990, beginning with projects aimed at reading promotion (Dike, 1994), repackaging information and generating resources (Dike & Amucheazi, 1997), and developing information skills using community resources (Dike & Amucheazi, 2003). In the process the need for school libraries to support these efforts became evident. However, experience, both in this community and across Nigeria, showed that providing library resources did not ensure use, that all too often libraries remained closed and unused for various reasons. Follow-up, encouragement and further training were required on a regular basis. Based on this experience, the research team sought to develop a project based on the use of library and

110 Virginia W. Dike, Margaret N. Ngwuchukwu and Grace U. Onyebuchi information resources to develop information literacy for lifelong learning and so improve teaching and learning in Nigerian primary schools. In developing these programs, the team drew on theoretical literature relating to information literacy, including the work of Doyle (1994), Eisenberg, Johnson and Berkowitz (2010), Herring (1996), Irving (1985), and Kuhlthau (1995) among others. We also reviewed Nigerian documents such as the National Policy on Education (Nigeria, 2004) and primary curriculum modules; and syllabuses for library use instruction. We considered the experience of others, as set forth by Moore (2002) on information literacy education worldwide and Hart (2000) on use of project work in South Africa, among others. While the general objective of the project is to develop information literacy through use of school library resources and services, specific objectives are to: • • • • •

develop functional primary school libraries in Nsukka LGEA schools; teach information skills through project work using community and library resources; equip teacher-librarians with skills for organizing libraries and instructing pupils in their use; conduct workshops for teachers on the use of library resources in teaching and learning; develop library period modules that integrate information and library use skills with curricular content.

The project has three components or overlapping phases: a program of project work using community and library resources; a series of workshops equipping teacher-librarians with skills for organizing school libraries and teachers for using library resources; and development of a library period curriculum that integrates information literacy instruction with curricular content.

Phase 1 - Project Work Using Community Resources The first phase of the project grew out of concern over the problem of developing information literacy in the absence of information resources, especially those normally provided by a school library. In 2003, when the team began work, none of the primary schools had a library. We, however, felt that information literacy could not wait and so began to look for alternative sources of information. We found that beyond the textbook and teacher’s notes, there was abundant information to be collected from the local community—from human resources such as parents, neighbors, elders, professionals, workers; from institutions such as markets, banks, clinics, the transportation network, the university; from cultural resources such as festivals and celebrations, artisans’ workshops, oral literature; and from the natural world, such as animals, plants, land forms, the weather. Seeking information from these sources would allow

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pupils to go beyond the skeletal and generalized presentation in textbooks to explore on their own and learn to apply knowledge. The best way to go about this was deemed to be project work. Aside from the lack of school library resources, the narrowness of the primary school curriculum was a concern. We observed that large areas of life were not covered. Children learned little of animals and plants in the local environment. And while markets are a major institution in Nigeria, they are scarcely mentioned in the curriculum. These observations informed our choice of topics. Our first topics represented areas of knowledge neglected by the curriculum but which we deemed important—birds, occupations, markets. Later topics, such as transportation, marriage, housing, and pollution, were selected from the primary school curriculum modules, where they were given superficial treatment, with no enriching detail. One topic, gender discrimination, was a new addition not yet covered in the textbooks. The second consideration was that topics provide opportunities for independent learning, as in project work. Due to the lack of libraries, these were primarily topics where information was abundantly available, either directly from the environment, such as natural and cultural phenomenon, or through appropriate human resources. We emphasized literacy and communication skills, which are listed as the first objective of primary education in the National Policy. These include the basic language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) as well as visual literacy skills (observing, viewing, depicting). We also emphasized the process of learning from information, including planning the information search; locating and collecting relevant information; recording, selecting, organizing and communicating it (Eisenberg, Johnson and Berkowitz, 2010; Herring, 1996; Kuhlthau;1995). In the first instance, the project team visited seven schools that had initiated school library development, introducing projects on birds (Primary 4) and occupations (Primary 5). For birds, the presenter shared a five page write-up, including an observation guide, pictures and books on West African birds, and the presenter’s own field notebooks, which generated special interest. Children were to observe birds and note down their observations to share with the class. Finally each pupil prepared one page of a class book. The procedure was similar for the topic on occupations, except that the primary method of collecting information was interview. Pupils interviewed people at their various places of work and developed a class book featuring occupations of people in the community. For the similar project on markets, the class went on a field trip to the nearest market and interviewed various traders on their line of work. Later all schools were invited to the Children’s Centre for workshops on information literacy and project work. Projects on a variety of topics in the curriculum were assigned to grades one to six as an activity for the annual library week. These were assessed and prizes awarded during one workshop. The assessment emphasized process over product—evidence of originality, the child’s ideas and effort, rather than a neat and well-made production. It was

112 Virginia W. Dike, Margaret N. Ngwuchukwu and Grace U. Onyebuchi encouraging that some of the best work came from schools we had worked with for the longest period. Often, we found that junior pupils were more original than senior ones, whose increased literacy resulted in a tendency to slavishly copy from the textbook. This is perhaps why the projects on gender discrimination were so fresh and varied—there was no text to copy. We were surprised to find that children had no concept of a book. Products were haphazard, without an overall title, plan, organized and varied content on a single subject, all pages of the same pattern, size and orientation. These observations were reflected in future workshops mounted for teacher-librarians and teachers.

Phase 2 – Workshops for Empowering Librarians and Teachers Experience with project work showed the need for school libraries with varied resources to support teaching and learning. Fortunately, efforts from government and non-governmental agencies resulted in 15 schools having small libraries with collections ranging from 200 to 1,000 books. Some of these were used to good effect; however, for various reasons many of these collections were under-utilized. Concern for the security of the books in the absence of safe accommodation was often a consideration. Another problem was the use of teacher-librarians as full-time classroom teachers, leaving them with little time to manage the library. Moreover, without library qualification, most lacked skills in organizing libraries for use. The first workshops, therefore, sought to equip teacher-librarians with elementary skills in organizing a library, including simple cataloguing using the second summary of Dewey, spine and shelf labeling, and arranging books on the shelves. Teacherslibrarians brought books from their schools to practice their skills, thereby getting their collections catalogued in the process. They were also taught a simple charging system using the ledger method and basic book repair. The second kind of workshop was on utilization of library resources in teaching and learning. Workshops for teacher-librarians, head teachers and selected teachers from various grade levels were held on information literacy, project work, story hour programs, and reading promotion. It was hoped that what was learned would be communicated to other teachers in the school and implemented school-wide. It was discovered, however, that this was not the case; the learning stopped with workshop participants. We discovered that many teachers had no idea of what resources were in the library or that the library was for them as well as for the children. As a result, the team organized a series of in-school workshops for all teachers. Teachers were encouraged to look through the books in their library, identifying how they might be used in teaching different subjects. They discovered, for instance, that a counting book or local board game like ayo could be used in teaching mathematics. Themes of picture story books could be tied

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in to numerous lessons. For example, Handa’s Surprise by Eileen Brown, a picture book about a Kenyan girl whose basket of fruits is stolen by various animals, identifies tropical fruits and African animals and develops visual literacy, since the story is told through the pictures rather than the text. It also helps children learn the vocabulary of description (e.g., the soft yellow banana) and touches on the theme of friendship. Itching and Twitching, a Nigerian folktale retold by Ifeoma Okoye, introduces parts of the body. Amina the Milkmaid by Fatima Pam relates the story of a young girl who is kidnapped and enslaved but whose goodness gains her freedom and marriage to the prince; through the illustrations children learn about traditional clothing, markets, transportation, architecture and marriage customs in northern Nigeria. Once they got started, teachers responded enthusiastically to this exercise, finding ever more ways to use materials and sharing ideas with each other. Follow-up visits to schools assessed the work of teacher-librarians in organizing the collection through accessioning, cataloguing, spine labeling and shelving by subject. Through visits the team could also monitor whether the library was open on a regular basis and whether library periods were being used effectively. Visits also provided a way of monitoring and assessing the classroom teachers’ use of the library. Meetings were held, during which teachers could share the use they had made of library resources in teaching. Team members also entered classes to observe directly. School heads were urged to arrange a regular time for teachers to explore the library for resources relevant to the week’s lessons. Monitoring of use was also achieved through a teachers’ borrowing register, where they indicated resources borrowed and the intended use.

Phase 3 - Developing a Curriculum for Library Period Library periods have been noted as vehicles for developing the information literacy skills of primary school pupils and helping them explore school subjects in a creative and pleasurable way. Inclusion of library periods in the timetable has been a long-standing recommendation of professional associations; in recent years inclusion has sometimes been approved but not effected. One reason could be that there is no curriculum for library period that would guide teacher-librarians and teachers in its effective use. One of us therefore set out to develop a curriculum designed to develop information skills, promote reading, and encourage use of the library for teaching and learning through effective use of library periods. The project was a three-month study during the second term of the primary school calendar. Objectives were to identify information literacy skills that could be incorporated into the library period curriculum, determine methods for developing pupils’ information literacy skills, integrate curricular content with library

114 Virginia W. Dike, Margaret N. Ngwuchukwu and Grace U. Onyebuchi period programs, and assess the effect of the curriculum on the information literacy skills of Primary 5 pupils. To test the efficacy of the library period curriculum, an experiment was set up using ten schools with libraries, five using the curriculum and five used as a control group. As a pre-test, all the children were given a project on transportation, finding out why, how and where people travel. They were also expected to locate bus stops and motor parks in the community and interview people on the difficulties they encounter while traveling. Children in all the schools showed a low level of information skills at the beginning of the program. Pupils in the experimental group were then taught using the library period curriculum for a period of eleven weeks. Each period related to a topic in the fifth grade social studies curriculum—leadership, organization and cooperation, resources, occupations, communication and transportation. In most cases the first contact introduced the theme through use of picture books and other library resources followed by discussion. This led to an assignment in the form of project work, interview, debate, picture and map reading. The example on Table 1 outlines the first two units, indicating the topic, content and resources, pupils’ activities, and the three categories of information literacy skills to be developed. Table 1: Integration of Primary school curriculum and library period program Topic

Content and Resources

Pupils’ Activi- Literacy and ties Communication Skills Leadership 1 Picture books Pupils discuss Listening, what makes a speaking, on visual skills Shaka Zulu & leader and Martin Luther compare qualities of the two King Jr. leaders Small group Picture reading, Leadership 2 Pictures and text on diverse discussion on Speaking skills leadership leaders from Africa and around the world.

Library Use Skills Introduction to the library and its resources

Critical Thinking Skills Analyzing, Comparing

Organization of Reading for library materials, gist, Comparing, Location of Analyzing resources on leaders

The first contact introduced the theme of leadership, with picture books on two contrasting leaders: Martin Luther King, Jr. and Shaka Zulu. Following each story the children were invited to discuss areas of achievement, strengths and weaknesses, and what makes a leader, thereby developing communication and critical thinking skills. At the same time they were introduced to the library and its resources, locating those on leadership. During the second contact small groups analyzed pictures and text on leaders in various fields, exploring what makes a leader and different types and styles of leadership. The next two lessons looked at how people can organize and cooperate to achieve their goals, using as examples the Montgomery bus boycott and a migrant workers’ union. This was followed up by exploration of societal organizations

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and a field trip to investigate one in the community. For a unit on developing resources, children interviewed the school head on methods that might be used in developing school facilities such as the library. Other topics followed a similar pattern—use of library resources on Nigerian occupations, followed by interviews with peoples engaged in various occupations to create a class book; search for library materials on different forms of communication, followed by a debate on the merits of GSM and the Internet; sharing of a Kenyan story about starting a village transport company, followed by fieldwork on why, how and where people travel in the community. At the end of the eleven weeks, both groups of pupils were given a post test in the form of a project assignment on marriage. Pupils were asked to gather information from library resources and to interview family members and friends on how couples meet, the stages involved for traditional marriage and its relation to a Christian or Islamic wedding ceremony. The knowledge gained was presented in the form of a class book on “Marriage in our community.” The findings showed that pupils participating in the library period program (experimental group) improved markedly in their information literacy skills while there was no corresponding improvement in the control group. This showed the benefits of library period as a vehicle for developing information literacy skills in pupils. Development of a curriculum would help guide teacher- librarians on how they can make maximum use of library periods to make children lifelong learners.

Lessons Learned and Recommendations We have drawn a number of lessons from this experience: 1. Community resources offer exciting opportunities as sources of information and vehicles for independent learning and should be fully utilized in developing information skills and increasing knowledge. This can be achieved through the use of project work. However, the resources of a school library are essential for extending learning beyond the immediate environment, putting knowledge in a larger context that stimulates thought and further explaining what has been observed. 2. Due to the highly centralized and authoritarian educational structure, where supervisors emphasize production of lesson notes and strict adherence to the timetable over independent learning and teacher initiative, there is need for workshops to sensitize supervisory personnel as well as teachers at school level on the role of school libraries, innovative teaching methods and ways of encouraging inquiry and independent learning. 3. The National Policy on Education espouses learner-centered, self-directed learning employing inquiry and investigative strategies, but old teacherdominated methods still hold sway. Changing these habits depends on changes in teacher education at pre-service and in-service levels. Teach-

116 Virginia W. Dike, Margaret N. Ngwuchukwu and Grace U. Onyebuchi ers, who are the major implementers of the curriculum, need to know how to employ library resources in teaching and learning. All teachers need to be brought along and involved in the process through continuing education, especially on-site workshops in schools. 4. Library periods planned so as to combine links to classroom subject content with activities for developing library and information skills provide an effective way of helping children become information literate while at the same time reinforcing and expanding what is learned in class. They should be included on the primary school timetable and an appropriate curriculum developed for all grades. It is our conviction that broader implementation of these strategies in Nigeria and beyond would contribute significantly to developing essential information literacy skills for lifelong learning.

References Dike, V. W. (1995). Literacy without libraries: Promoting literacy among schoolchildren in Nigeria. In: Literacy: Traditional, cultural, technological (p. 33-41): Selected papers from the 23rd annual conference of the International Association of School Librarianship, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, July 17-22, 1994. Dike, V. W., & Amucheazi, O. N. (1997). Information for all: Resource generation and Information repackaging in Nigerian schools. In: Information rich but knowledge poor? Emerging issues for schools and libraries worldwide (p. 245-250), edited by Lynne Lighthall and Ken Haycock. Dike, V. W., & Amucheazi, O. N. (2003). Information literacy education in Nigeria: Breaking down barriers through local resources. IASL reports, 2003: School libraries breaking down barriers (p. 196-205). Selected papers from the 32nd conference of the International Association of School Librarianship, Durban, South Africa, July 7-10. Doyle, Christine S. (1994). Information literacy in an information society – A concept for the information age. Syracuse, New York: ERIC Clearinghouse. (ERIC document ED 372763). Eisenberg, M., Johnson, D., & Berkowitz, B. (2010). Information, communications and technology (ICT) skills curriculum based on the Big6 skills approach to information problem-solving, at URL: http://www.big6.com/go/wp-content/2010/02/ICT-Big6Curriculum-Eisenberg-Johnson-Berkowitz-2010.pdf. (retrieved: 11.29.2010) Hart, Genevieve. (2000). Project work as a vehicle for information literacy education in a circuit of South African primary schools. Paper presented at the 66th IFLA conference in Jerusalem, Aug. 15. Herring, James E. (1996). Teaching information skills in schools. London: Library Association Publishers. Irving, Ann. (1985). Study and information skills across the curriculum. London: Heinemann Educational Publishers. Kuhlthau, Carol C. (1995). The process of learning from information. School Libraries Worldwide, vol 1, no. 1, p. 1-12. Moore, Penny. (2002). An analysis of information literacy education worldwide. White paper prepared for UNESCO, the US National Commission on Libraries and Informa-

Developing Information Literacy through Primary School Libraries 117 tion Science and the National Forum on Information Literacy, for use at the information literacy meeting of experts, Prague, the Czech Republic, at URL: http://www. nclis.gov/libinter/infolitconf&meet/moore-fullpaper.pdf (accesss date 11.29.2010) Nigeria. (2004). National policy on education. Abuja: NERDC. Nigeria. National Primary Education Commission (1989). Primary school curriculum modules. Lagos: Evans. Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council. (2003). National curriculum for primary schools. Abuja: NERDC.

Author Notes Virginia W. Dike has worked as Professor of library and information science and Lecturer in education at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria since 1975; she developed the Children’s Centre Library as a voluntary service to children and youth in the university and surrounding communities, and the Libraries for Literacy Foundation to extend this work; her main research interests are information literacy through school libraries, reading promotion and children’s literature. E-mail: [email protected]. Margaret N. Ngwuchukwu has worked as a Lecturer in the Department of Library and Information Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Librarian of the Children’s Centre Library in Nsukka, Nigeria since 2005. In this capacity she has conducted numerous workshops for teachers and story hour programs for children. Her research interests are Nigerian primary school library history and agencies developing library services for children and special groups. E-mail: [email protected]. Grace U. Onyebuchi recently completed her Master’s degree in the Department of Library and Information Science, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria. She has also worked as a teacher in the Nsukka schools. Her research interest is information literacy through school libraries, as seen in her Master’s’ project, which developed and tested the curriculum for library periods reported in this chapter. E-mail: [email protected].

GiggleIT and Global Citizenship: School Libraries, Literacy and Laughter Kathryn Massingill Manck Librarian-at-large, Gilmer, Texas, USA

Patricia Carmichael St. Paul’s College, Walla Walla, New South Wales, Australia

Barbara Combes Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia

Abstract A free online international student writing project for students aged 10 to 14, the GiggleIT Project helps teacher-librarians transform their school libraries into creative centers through collaboration with teachers of English, Geography, History, Art, and Technology. Key GiggleIT Project components and use of technology are highlighted, as well as extension of the Project for younger gifted/talented students, for English Language Learners of any age, and for older students needing assistance to read and write.

Keywords Literacy Projects; Information literacy; Student Projects; Writing Projects; Creativity; Technology; Global Citizenship.

Background to the Project “How can we promote student literacy?” wondered the teacher librarians (TLs) of the Children’s and Young Adult Literature Special Interest Group (CYAL-SIG) at the International Association of School Librarianship (IASL) conference in Berkeley, California, USA, in August 2008. Because students aged 10-14 can usually read independently and start understanding other cultural viewpoints, the SIG members discussed ways for students to share their own writing and to read more books from other countries (in English). The SIG also wanted to empower students to use Information Communication

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Technologies (ICTs) as tools for publishing their stories, poems, and humor to the world in a safe environment and to introduce them to children’s literature from other lands through the International Children’s Digital Library (ICDL, n.d.), a free collection of outstanding children’s books from around the world. The GiggleIT Project was born to provide a way for students to become better readers and writers as they shared the humor of their culture. GiggleIT Project Team members verified that most students aged 10-14 can understand the essential elements of humor (what makes something funny) and practice basic metacognition (thinking about one’s thinking) (Blakey & Spence, 1990). This was important as young writers must decide which terms, animals, foods, and activities require definitions so their writing can be understood by readers in other cultures. Patricia Carmichael and Barbara Combes finalized the initial GiggleIT lesson plans in late 2008, with continuing GiggleIT Project development taking place online through to the present. In February 2009, the Project Team opened GiggleIT to students around the world. Publicity sent through TL listservs such as LM_NET and OZTL_NET, plus e-mails to associations for TLs and teachers of English as a Second Language, brought initial participation from schools in Australia, followed by those in Asia, Europe, and the USA.

Aims and Objectives of the GiggleIT Project Joyce Valenza’s 2008 metaphor of the school library as a kitchen–a collaborative center for creating, using, and sharing resources–rather than being merely a grocery store, where resources are gathered and taken elsewhere for use, parallels the GiggleIT Project Team’s step-by-step method for TLs to draw classroom teachers into the school library to work together on student literacy goals (reading, writing, listening, viewing, and understanding) through collaborative projects. The development phase of the Project established these aims and objectives: • • • • •

To encourage the publication of children’s original work through appropriate technologies; To publish an electronic compendium of original children’s literature; To provide TLs with collaborative tools for students’ reading and writing success; To promote cross-cultural understandings and collaboration for young people around the world; and To promote the International Children’s Digital Library.

The GiggleIT Project Team discovered that these objectives parallelled educational goals for students aged 10-14 posted in Australia (Curriculum Council, 2010), the United States (Division of Policy Coordination, 2010), the Interna-

120 Kathryn Massingill Manck, Patricia Carmichael, and Barbara Combes tional Baccalaureate Program in international schools (IBO, 2010), and others. These Learning Outcomesare frequently found in curricular objectives around the world, expressed as the learner will: • • • • •

develop critical literacy skills and creative writing skills through research of national identity as found in national literature (State of Queensland, 2004); explore one’s own culture and ethnic group through myths, legends, stories, anecdotes and jokes particular to that culture (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2010b); gain a better understanding of their own national identity through the comparison of international literature (Division of Policy Coordination, 2010); increase their understandings of cultural/ethnic differences and similarities (New Zealand Ministry of Education, 2010); and use technology to create global connections (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2010a).

By using the high-interest activities and lesson plans provided free by the GiggleIT Project through the IASL website, TLs can easily collaborate with classroom teachers to help their students become internationally published authors while covering required curricular objectives and improving students’ literacy skills. Other essential, though less academic, principles of the GiggleIT Project include spreading joy, building global understanding, and using humor to motivate students to read, write, and create.

Figure 1. The GiggleIT Project Header featuring GiggleCritters. From IASL, 2011. Copyright 2008-2011 by Emily Manck. Reprinted with permission.

Description of the GiggleIT Project The GiggleIT Project was designed to engage children in writing and reading, and to support their self worth and pride in their cultural heritage while exploring other cultures through the creative works of their age-peers in other locations. GiggleIT writing project categories include Acrostic Poems, Limericks,

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Personal Anecdotes, Fractured Fairy Tales, Jokes, Tall Tales, and Culturalized Stories. The TL/teacher is responsible for coaching students through the writing and editing process, using the lesson plans and examples on the GiggleIT Teacher Resources page (IASL, 2009b). The sole point of contact between GiggleIT and students is the TL/teacher, who registers each class with the Project and submits final copies of student works to be posted on the GiggleIT class webpage. When registered, each class selects three GiggleCritters (see Fig. 1) from GiggleTown (IASL, 2009b) as mascots for their class webpage. To facilitate this useful “real world” skill, one GiggleIT lesson plan includes ballots and group decision-making tools. TLs/teachers may choose archived project lesson plans or those covering the GiggleIT Project annual competition categories. Each year, a different GiggleIT theme encourages students to consider their neighborhood, country, and culture as they create written and visual works in specified categories. All competition category works which are submitted by the published deadline are considered for inclusion in the Digidoc (GiggleIT Project, 2010), the GiggleIT Project’s interactive eBook of exemplary student works. Whether an archived project or a competition project, all submitted student works are posted to the class webpage, where they may be viewed by parents, friends, and the public; each GiggleIT class webpage is open to the world! Students may write individually, in pairs, or in groups, always signing their works with their initials (preferred) or first name only. The TL/teacher must obtain parental permission for any photographs with individually identifiable students to be posted on GiggleIT (IASL, 2011). TLs/teachers can encourage their students to read jokes, poems, and descriptive works from schools all over the world as posted on the GiggleIT site, especially as classes study various regions of the world or specific styles of writing. Students can see and read about the daily school life, leisure activities, and favorite foods of their age-peers in other countries through GiggleIT online. As author Nikki Grimes (2011) notes, “as you become a citizen of the world and you move out and explore other cultures and other countries, you begin to understand that there's all this possibility that exists in the world for you as well as everyone else.”

GiggleIT Project Resources Lesson plans and projects for students are posted on the GiggleIT Project Teacher Resources page (IASL, 2009b), with further additions planned. Ranging from simple acrostic poems (a favorite first-time GiggleIT class endeavor) to sophisticated haiku with strict syllabic rules, GiggleIT writing projects can be humorous (jokes, riddles, fractured fairy tales) or serious (poems, culturalized fairy tales, descriptive works). As creativity is not limited to the written

122 Kathryn Massingill Manck, Patricia Carmichael, and Barbara Combes word, GiggleIT also includes visual arts projects, such as photography, poster design, and personal logos. The GiggleIT Project Team created a VoiceThread (Carmichael, Combes, & Manck, 2010) for TLs on the YSL4: Reading 2010 virtual conference sponsored by YourSchoolLibrary.org, explaining how to identify culturally specific terms and help students create definitions for those terms. Audio highlights included students reciting and singing their original works, plus commentary by participating TLs. For the 2011 competition categories, a VoiceThread discusses and demonstrates creating a Personal Logo, Haiku, Travel Poster, and Our Snow White (IASL, 2009b), including resource links on visual literacy, the use of color and space in art, and the original Brothers Grimm version of Snow White. Using technology with students aged 10-14 years provides TLs with ideal “teachable moments” regarding online safety and how to use others’ words and images responsibly (copyright). Links to Internet safety resources are available on the GiggleIT Teacher Resources page (IASL, 2009b), including instruction on digital footprints and how students portray themselves and their school in a medium which is accessible to the whole world and cannot be erased once posted (Willard, 2009). When students do not have direct access to computers, TLs can scan or photograph paper-based works and transmit them by email or post to the GiggleIT Project Team for uploading to the class webpage, as shown by the works of grade 9 students (age 14) from Onesua Presbyterian College (ages 14-20) in Vanuatu, Oceania (IASL, 2010b). While online delivery of GiggleIT resources is not ideal for every school, it has allowed widespread availability of Project information and resources which would be highly impracticable and expensive through traditional postal services. Additionally, having all Project resources and posted student works accessible online at any hour from any Internet-capable device provides browsability by TLs and community members throughout the year and increases the availability of student works for an international audience.

Extending the GiggleIT Project for Other Age Groups Beyond the target age group of 10-14 year-olds, GiggleIT can be easily adapted for use with younger gifted/talented students, English Language Learners of any age, and older students who need assistance with reading and writing tasks. Many of the characteristics of gifted/talented (G/T) students which distinguish them from their age-peers can be successfully addressed through GiggleIT. These students may display advanced skills in oral and written communication, artistic and creative talents well above their age, and extremely high levels of empathy (Duke, 2010). Thus, G/T students in early school grades can

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be more capable than their age-peers of understanding cultural differences, creating high-quality artistic works, writing compelling narratives and poems, comprehending well above their grade level, and appreciating other writers’ emotions and humor (Johnsen, 2010). G/T students can easily discover common themes among the children’s books from around the world available online at the ICDL. Often a G/T student is one of very few such students in their class or school, and their classroom teacher may not have the time or resources to address their advanced needs while attending to the majority requiring gradelevel instruction (Kearney, 1996). TLs can register a class on GiggleIT for just one student or all the G/T students in the entire school, with the school library becoming their creative classroom. Through the GiggleIT lesson plans, the teacher or librarian can provide these advanced students with guided instruction suitable to their intellectual and creative ability, as their GiggleIT class page becomes a safe online forum for showcasing their works to their families, their community, and the world. Other groups of students may find the poems and jokes presented on GiggleIT class webpages are easier to understand than materials written for their grade level. English Language Learners (ELLs) will appreciate the glossary entries provided by GiggleIT writers to define animals, foods, and other terms unfamiliar to readers in other cultures. As they are guided through the GiggleIT lesson plans, ELLs can write poems, riddles, and descriptive works which utilize their limited English vocabulary while enhancing their understanding of phrasing and word patterns (National Council of Teachers of English, 2008). By creating definitions for culturally specific English terms in their own words, ELLs can also demonstrate their increasing comprehension of English. In the regular classroom, ELLs may be partnered with students whose English skills are on-grade-level to write their GiggleIT submissions in pairs, trios, or teams (Peterson & Salas, 2004). Access to high-quality picture books in many languages through the ICDL further extends the resources of the school library and may allow ELLs to use a favorite tale in their home language to inspire their own creative writing in English. Others who will benefit from the team approach to writing as encouraged by GiggleIT are those students who require extensive support to read and write, even at a lower grade level than their age-peers (Gersten, Baker, & Edwards, 2011). The TL can open the world to these young people and their teachers through GiggleIT’s free resources. The beautiful art and interesting stories in the International Children's Digital Library can be ideal “storystarters” for students of any ability level. With help from adults or other students, students in remedial English or special education classes can contribute ideas, words, and phrases to a team-written poem, joke, riddle, or descriptive work for their class GiggleIT page. These students can enjoy hearing riddles and poems, seeing photographs of other schools and countries, and practicing

124 Kathryn Massingill Manck, Patricia Carmichael, and Barbara Combes basic map skills on a globe or in an atlas as they locate the countries (Steel & Hattersley, 2008) where their favorite GiggleIT pieces were created. Of course, skill in art and photography are not dependent on language proficiency, so ELLs and students in remedial English and special education classrooms could readily add their creative works to their class GiggleIT page as they showcase their school, neighborhood, and country to the world.

Outcomes of the GiggleIT Project During its initial year, the Project received many jokes, riddles, and acrostic poems, each one posted on the class webpage within each school’s geographic region (IASL, 2009a). GiggleIT’s first competition in 2009 asked students to create a new name for e-Book to reflect its interactive and flexibility, and IASL Conference delegates in Abano Terme, Italy, in September 2009 selected “digidoc” as the new term for e-Book, as submitted by students at Concordia Lutheran College (kindergarten-grade 12), Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. By December 2009, 20 schools were registered with the GiggleIT Project, engaging 27 classes of students in grades 5-9 through the efforts of 33 TLs and English teachers. Three new competitions in 2010 encouraged students to write, draw, and photograph their school and neighborhood. “Come and See My Place” was open to poems, songs, and letters reflecting each student’s perception of their hometown or country. “My Place Photo Shoot” asked for photographs from students as they viewed their surroundings, and “Design-a-GiggleCritter” allowed students to embellish the original Mr. Giggle created by graphic designer Emily Manck. Students from the Ukraine, South Africa, Australia, and Vanuatu finished at the top of these contests, with each first-place winner’s school receiving a plush GiggleCritter, while pin-on GiggleCritter buttons and bookmarks went to other finalists. Additionally, TLs/teachers from every participating school received customizable certificates to be printed at their school for their students who wrote, drew, or photographed entries for the 2010 competitions. From the many entries received in each category of the 2010 competitions, the Project Team selected exemplary works to be included in the first edition of the Digidoc (GiggleIT Project, 2010), GiggleIT’s online interactive e-book, which was unveiled on 28 September 2010 during the School Library Association of Queensland/IASL Conference in Brisbane, Australia. The Digidoc includes mouse-over glossary entries to help readers understand culturally specific terms, as well as selected links to online reference materials about places, animals, and landmarks. New works by students will be added to future editions of the Digidoc, with online links being updated to provide school-safe access to sites which further explore animals’ habitat and habits, geography and weather, and places named in students’ writings.

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As 2010 ended, 35 schools were registered with the GiggleIT Project, bringing the work of 90 classes of students to an international audience, coached by 50 TLs and English teachers. For their outstanding GiggleIT efforts, the Project Team named several Personal Envoys (IASL, 2010c) and three Envoy Schools--Ukmerges Uzupio Secondary School of Lithuania, William Clarke College of New South Wales, Australia, and Concordia Lutheran College of Queensland, Australia (IASL, 2010a)--all charged with promoting children’s literacy and the GiggleIT Project locally, nationally, and internationally.

Assessment and Evaluation of the GiggleIT Project TLs and teachers whose students have participated in GiggleIT are very positive about the Project’s value to their students, libraries, and classrooms. Students gaining a global perspective and becoming published authors are the two main benefits noted by these educators. “The GiggleIT project has been a wonderful project for the Year 8 students [aged 1213] at Ursula Frayne College in Western Australia. The project has given the students a forum for their writing. To be able to see their work on the net alongside work of students from other schools and other parts of the world has given them enthusiasm to improve their own writing.” Jill Oats, Teacher-Librarian, Ursula Frayne College, Western Australia, Australia (email communication, December 7, 2009) “The project has proved to be a good outlet for [the students’] writing. They are more encouraged to write because they know the whole world will read their stories and poems. As a result those who are going to high school still want to continue writing. The project allows for good networking - in our awards ceremony on Saturday, parents received feedback about the GiggleIT project, and after the function many came to me and asked for the website. The lower grades are looking forward to it. We are all excited about it, and we do not want to stop submitting.” Thembi Majombozi, English Teacher, Vulamazibuko Primary School & Giyani Primary School [students aged 1215], Soweto, South Africa (email communication, December 8, 2009)

Students have also been enthusiastic about their participation in GiggleIT. At William Clarke College, New South Wales, Australia, year 8 students (aged 11-12) submitted all their GiggleIT writings to TL Kerry Pope through the Moodle online educational platform, using no paper at all. They recorded their reflections on GiggleIT, sharing their voices with attendees of the GiggleIT Project Team’s presentation at the SLAQ/IASL conference. “We love GiggleIT” chorused a trio of 8th grade girls, while other students remarked on their works being read all over in the world, and one girl said, “It’s so much easier writing poetry with a friend!” (K. Pope, personal communication, September 20, 2010).

126 Kathryn Massingill Manck, Patricia Carmichael, and Barbara Combes

Sustainability and Replicability of the GiggleIT Project Through GiggleIT, TLs can position their school libraries as places of creation and discovery while teaching their students real-world skills of cooperative decision-making and effective communication to a wide range of readers. Ideal for generating high-quality writing and creative works for the class GiggleIT page, the Project’s free lesson plans may also be used for student works which will appear on the school webpage or be printed for local distribution. Many hours of research and development volunteered by GiggleIT Project Team members and participating TLs/teachers have resulted in an engaging collection of student works, freely accessible to the young authors and artists, their families and communities, and other appreciative readers around the world. As a volunteer-driven endeavor, the GiggleIT Project can continue and grow as long as TLs, teachers, and Project Team members share their time, energies, and imagination to create new competition categories and lesson plans while spreading the word about GiggleIT to their colleagues locally and globally. The Project Team is actively searching for financial sponsorship from a library-related organization to cover expenses for prizes and postage (currently paid by Project Team members), as well as the outsourcing of technical duties such as website maintenance and web hosting. Dr. Michael Stephens noted (2011): “When asked what I see for the future of libraries―all kinds of libraries--I imagine a space where users will connect, collaborate, create, and care.” The free GiggleIT Project is a way for TLs to move their school library into this future, to become the creative “kitchen” of the school, and to provide rich opportunities for the development and expansion of essential literacy skills through the school library. This is a literacy education role which school administrators can ill-afford to remove from the life of the school, its students, and its community.

Contacts for Further Information on the GiggleIT Project The GiggleIT Project homepage is available at URL: http://www.iaslonline.org/sla/giggleIT, and the Digidoc of exemplary student works is located at URL: http://www.giggleitproject.com/. For information, free registration, and submission of student works on behalf of registered classes, please contact the GiggleIT Project Team at URL: [email protected]. Members of the GiggleIT Project Team include: Project Coordinators & Curriculum Designers Patricia Carmichael and Barbara Combes; Graphic Designer: Emily Manck (Houston, Texas, USA); Advertising & Promotion Katy Manck; and Website Managers: Karen Bonanno (Executive SecretaryIASL Board, Zillmere, Queensland, Australia) and Chris Skrzeczynski (Teacher-Librarian, Our Lady of Dolours Primary School, Mitchelton, Queensland, Australia).

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References Blakey, E., & Spence, S. (1990). Thinking for the future. Emergency Librarian, vol. 17, no. 5, p. 11-14. Reprinted as Developing metacognition, at URL: http://www.education. com/reference/article/Ref_Dev_Metacognition/ (access date: 20.01.11) Carmichael, P., Combes, B., & Manck, K. (2010, May). The GiggleIT project - your students' stories go web 2.0 (at YSL4), at URL: http://voicethread.com/#u98562. b1112698.i6228506 (access date: 09.01.11) Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2010). Common core state standards for English language arts & literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects, at URL: http://www.corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_ELA Standards.pdf (access date: 13.01.11) Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2010). Key points in English language arts, at URL: http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/key-points-in-english-languagearts (access date: 13.01.11) Curriculum Council – Government of Western Australia. (2010). Years K-10 - the curriculum framework, at URL: http://www.curriculum.wa.edu.au/internet/Years_K10/Curiculum_Framework (access date: 10.01.11) Division of Policy Coordination - Texas Education Agency. (2010, February 23). Chapter 110. Texas Essential knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading Subchapter A. Elementary, at URL: http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter110/ ch110a.html (access date: 10.01.11) Duke University Talent Identification Program. (2010). Characteristics of gifted individuals, at URL: http://www.tip.duke.edu/resources/parents_students/characteristics.html (access date: 22.01.11) Gersten, R., Baker, S., & Edwards, L. (2011). Teaching writing to students with LD, at URL: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/215 (access date: 22.01.11) GiggleIT Project. (2010). GiggleIT digidoc, at URL: http://www.giggleitproject.com/index1. html (access date: 10.01.11) Grimes, N. (2011). Transcript from an interview with Nikki Grimes, at URL: http:// www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/grimes/transcript (access date: 26.01.11) International Association of School Librarianship. (2010, November 29). GiggleIT envoy schools, at URL: http://www.iasl-online.org/sla/giggleIT/envoy-school.htm (access date: 10.01.11) International Association of School Librarianship. (2010, September 2). GiggleIT in Oceania - Onesua Presbyterian College, at URL: http://www.iasl-online.org/sla/giggleIT/ onesuapc.htm (access date: 10.01.11) International Association of School Librarianship. (2010, November 29). GiggleIT personal envoys and friends, at URL: http://www.iasl-online.org/sla/giggleIT/envoy-person.htm (access date: 10.01.11) International Association of School Librarianship. (2011, January 3). GiggleIT Project, at URL: http://www.iasl-online.org/sla/giggleIT/ (access date: 10.01.11) International Association of School Librarianship. (2009, April 29). IASL regions - GiggleIT, at URL: http://www.iasl-online.org/sla/giggleIT/regions.htm (access date: 10.01. 11) International Association of School Librarianship. (2009, February 7). School libraries in action (SLA) series: the GiggleIT Project - resources, at URL: http://www.iasl-online. org/sla/giggleIT.htm (access date: 10.01.11) International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO). (2010). IB Answers, at URL: http://www. ibo.org/ (access date: 02.01.11)

128 Kathryn Massingill Manck, Patricia Carmichael, and Barbara Combes International Children's Digital Library. (n.d.). International children's digital library : a library for the world's children, at URL: http://en.childrenslibrary.org/index.shtml (access date: 10.01.11) Johnsen, S. K. (n.d.). Definitions, models, and characteristics of gifted students, at URL: http://www.prufrock.com/client/client_pages/Definitions_and_Characteristics/Definiti ons_and_Characteristics_of_Gifted_Students.cfm (access date: 22.01.11) Kerney, K. (1996). Highly gifted children in full inclusion classrooms, at URL: http://www. hollingworth.org/fullincl.html (access date: 22.01.11) National Council of Teachers of English. (2004). English language learners - a policy research brief, at URL: http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/PolicyResearch/ELLResearchBrief.pdf (access date: 22.01.11) New Zealand Ministry of Education. (2010). New Zealand curriculum online - key competencies capabilities for living and lifelong learning, at URL: http://nzcurriculum. tki.org.nz/Curriculum-documents/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum/Key-competencies#R (access date: 13.01.11) Peterson, B., & Salas, K. D. (2004). The new teacher book, at URL: http://www.rethinkingschools.org/publication/newteacher/NTBilingual.shtml (access date: 10.01.11) State of Queensland (Department of Education). (2004). Australian national identity: influences and perspectives, at URL: http://education.qld.gov.au/corporate/newbasics/ pdfs/yr9rt4.pdf (access date: 21.01.11) Steel, B., & Hattersley, J. (2008, January 17). GTIP think piece – special educational needs, at URL: http://www.geography.org.uk/gtip/thinkpieces/sen/#2078 (access date: 22.01.11) Stephens, M. (2011, February 21). The hyperlinked library: a TTW white paper, at URL: http://tametheweb.com/2011/02/21/hyperlinkedlibrary2011/ (access date: 22.02.11) Valenza, J. (2008, August 25). Library as domestic metaphor [Web log message], at URL: http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/neverendingsearch/2008/08/25/library-asdomestic-metaphor/ (access date: 11.01.11) Willard, N. (2009, February 24). Cyber savvy: supporting safe and responsible internet use a web 2.0 approach to internet safety, at URL: http://www.educationworld.com/ a_tech/columnists/willard/willard008.shtml (access date: 22.01.11)

Author Notes Kathryn Manck, after serving as a librarian in academic, corporate, and school libraries, is currently a “librarian-at -large,” working as an independent book reviewer and writer. Most recently a high school librarian, Katy has also been an online Adjunct Professor in School Librarianship for the University of North Texas, College of Information, School of Library and Information Sciences (Denton, Texas, USA), her alma mater (MLS 1978, SLMSC 2005). She coordinates publicity for the GiggleIT Project, is lead author of this book chapter, and serves as Treasurer of the International Association of School Librarianship. Contact email: [email protected] Patricia Carmichael, a teacher-librarian since 1980, developed the Independent Learning Program while Teacher-Librarian and Manager of the Independ-

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ent Learning Centre at Concordia Lutheran College, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, receiving state education awards in 2008 and 2009 for this collaborative whole-of-school project. She is presently Deputy Principal, St Paul’s College, Walla Walla, New South Wales, Australia, and a part time PhD student at Charles Sturt University. An active member of the International Association of School Librarianship, Patricia serves as Chair of the Children’s and Young Adult Literature Special Interest Group (CYAL SIG), Coordinator of the GiggleIT Project, and Regional Director for Oceania. Contact email: [email protected] Barbara Combes currently lectures for the School of Computing and Security Science at Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia, in Information Services Management, Information Literacy, the Information Society, and Literature for Children and Young Adults. Her major interest areas include the role of teacher librarians in education, plagiarism, online learning and the online experience in distance education particularly for first time users, information literacy, policy and planning. She is Vice-President for Advocacy and Promotion of the International Association of School Librarianship and GiggleIT Project Curriculum Developer. Barbara is completing her PhD on the information-seeking behavior of the Net Generation. Contact email: [email protected]

‘Body in the Library’: A Cross-Curriculum Transliteracy Project Judy O’Connell School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University, Australia

Abstract In 2010 students at St Joseph’s College, Hunters Hill, in Sydney Australia undertook research with a difference –a Body in the Library murder mystery. The focus of this project was to facilitate deeper learning for the students by creating an authentic learning experience incorporating research and literacy skills across disciplines. In Year 8 English, students learned about the literary conventions of forensic fiction in their study of the crime novel, Framed by Malcom Rose. In Year 8 Science, students learned about a variety of scientific forensic methods for solving a crime, including: analyzing dental records, fragments and fibers; fingerprinting; shoe-printing; and the application of DNA samples in criminal investigations. Their comprehensive 22-page Forensic Science workbook covered all the crime scene basics and included fun forensic facts.

Keywords Australia; Literacy; Information literacy; Project-based learning; Multi-modal learning; Knowledge construction; Science curriculum; English curriculum.

Background to the Project A 21st century conception of learning is about much more than adopting new skills and integrating them into the curriculum or purchasing new technologies and placing them in classrooms--it is the fundamental shift from a teachercentred learning environment to a student-centred one (Zmuda, 2009). In such a context school libraries must have flexibility and personalisation at the core of services, bringing literacy opportunities and information literacy strategies and activities together by embedding them in multi-modal projects. Information literacy needs to be a foundational discovery activity that shows students how to investigate and walk through data with wisdom. Engaging students in

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opportunities to read and write, explore and explain, think and deduct are all the more interesting in our multi-modal 21st century learning environments. The key to effective adaptation and change in response to these changing needs is to take learning projects away from assigned topics to projects that change the balance between the student and the educator so that an information professional’s personal relationship with students can also deeply affect learners’ engagement with information literacy activities (Shenton & Fitzgibbons, 2010). At St Joseph’s College, Hunters Hill, teachers are working with boys ranging from the ages of 11-18 to develop quality literacy and learning experiences. Literacy is understood to be essential for all learning, and the requirement for addressing reading and literacy skills have been embedded in all subject curriculum areas for many years now by the New South Wales Board of Studies curriculum authority in the State. Nevertheless, teachers are concerned and interested in responding to the emerging demands of 21st century multi-modal learning. Researchers have often expressed a concern regarding boy’s literacy. An Australian report on boys, literacy and schooling (Alloway et al, 2002) describes an inquiry into the basis of the common finding that boys achieve lower literacy scores than girls on literacy tests and assessments, and provides recommendations to schools. Recommendation 4 from the study provided a rationale for teachers to consider a review of their literacy strategies so that they focused more on the authentic learning needs of boys: That teachers construct literacy classrooms as active environments for learning by maximising ‘hands-on’ learning through multiple textual modes; by providing opportunities for students to take control of their own learning; by taking account of students’ backgrounds and experiences; and by focusing on maintaining a productive sense of self among students as literacy learners. (p. 207)

Creech and Hale (2006) also provided insight into the value of literacy in Science instruction by creating a climate that supports inquiry in both science and literacy learning. Through a focus on metacognitive conversation and different “texts” of science, students are able to learn that text includes labs, data, and their own work, and that reading is an active problem-solving process. The International Society for Technology in Education standards (Nets, 2008) for students set the need for the appropriate integration of technology into the literacy and knowledge construction learning needs of the students by supporting: • • • • • •

Creativity and innovation Communication and collaboration Research and information fluency Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making Digital citizenship Technology operations and concepts

132 Judy O’Connell Teachers at St Joseph’s College wanted to find a way to meet these challenges while also facilitating robust science discipline learning and literacy experiences for the full cohort of 160 boys in Year 8 (aged 13-15 years). Wilhelm and Smith (2004), in their research on boys and literacy, found that boys talked passionately about their interests. It was ‘passion’ in a topic that inspired them, and this passion often had literacy-related components. It seemed that ‘passion’ should be the key--that somehow the interest of all the students needed to be piqued in a new way to better teach the existing curriculum requirements in both Science and English. Would this be possible?

Description of the Project The project targeted all 160 students studying English and Science in Year 8. The content of the course work in each subject area already existed and had been taught in previous years. However, teachers sought a more collaborative, cross-curricular project-based learning experience that would address their underlying concerns about literacy and information literacy knowledge development. The program of study was scheduled to take place within a period of 8 weeks during July and August 2010, as part of the overall learning program of each subject area.

Aims and Objectives: The aim of the project was to provide a cross-curricular, multi-literacy approach to reading, research and scientific investigation. As a result of an agreement to collaborate between the Science and English faculties, the school library team was invited to develop a significant learning project that incorporated the key elements of learning from each discipline within the context of a project-based learning activity. The project was designed to use media technology to support core reading and information literacy learning. This was not a project with a focus on online interactions–rather it was a project utilising multimedia to support critical thinking in through an enhancement of an authentic learning experience. The core knowledge and content learnt in the English and Science curricula were taught as usual, with few program changes to the existing syllabus documents. Components of learning and assessment for each subject area incorporated the following elements: English curriculum • Study of forensic fiction and different sub-genres of mystery fiction (this also provided an opportunity for supporting literature displays in the library)

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• •

Study of famous fiction forensic films/novels/characters Character and plot analysis, including the relationships of clues, events, and people in solving a crime.

Science curriculum • Study of forensic science and the scientific method required (this provided an opportunity for non-fiction book displays in the library) • Crime scene basics, protocol, techniques, scientific evidence. • Police techniques for investigating a murder. i.e., interviews, ID parade, CTV security images. The information from both English and Science were then ‘put to the test’ as students became involved in a ‘Body in the Library’ murder mystery. Key resources used to support the development of the supporting materials for the project included the following: • Crime Scene Investigation: Crack the case with real-life experts. • When Objects Talk: Solving a Crime with Science. • Scene of the Crime: A Forensic Mystery Where You Crack the Case. • Forensic Investigations: Using Science to Solve Crimes • Key videos on our media sharing server. • BBC fully interactive murder mystery game Who Murdered Marilyn Spencer, at URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/murder/

Project Details ‘Body in the Library’ Scenario A body is found in the library at the end of Period 4 on Tuesday. It is a Year 9 boy who has been murdered by a hit on the head with a blunt instrument. The body is discovered by the Head Librarian in the Fiction area. A subsequent coroner’s report puts time of death at recess/Period 3 (11:00 am). The murderer is Mrs. Rudolph, a library staff member. In a fit of rage, she has killed the student for not returning an overdue book. There are two other prime suspects: Mr. Smith, the Year 9 Co-ordinator, who is annoyed by the behaviour of the student, and Jack, the boy’s friend, who had a fight with the victim.

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Solving the Mystery Students came to the library during scheduled class times to be involved in the Body in the Library murder mystery. Clues were positioned in a cordoned-off area of the library ready for the investigators. Each boy was provided with a comprehensive ‘detective pack’ containing a range of materials for them to examine, such as crime reports, witness statements and a coroner’s report, and a forensic workbook for recording notes. Key evidence on display in the taped-off ‘crime scene’ include many tantalising clues, e.g., fingerprints (printed copies of finger prints taped to books!), the location of the body (taped position on the floor), and places where DNA was to be found (fake blood for evidence spots). Photographic evidence included the injury reports (fake bruising and blood on the victim), video footage of the scene of the crime (staged by students and teachers) providing clues and incriminating evidence, and videos of (staged) hard-hitting police interviews of the witnesses. The students were able to gather more information by visiting the two Discussion Rooms (which have plasma screens for collaborative work) set up as ‘evidence studios’ to view the footage and interviews and to take notes as they viewed the recordings. Students also spent a lot of time carefully looking over the various points of the crime scene, comparing what they found with the notes they had already taken, and studying the evidence files that they were provided with at the beginning of the project. All this analysis led to some fierce competition to solve the crime and find the murder weapon--

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which was hidden amongst the library shelves. The murder weapon? A steel bookend (decorated with some fake blood).

Librarians who wish to prepare a similar scenario can find the Year 8 Forensic Science framework that set up the string of evidence at . The coroners’ report below provides an idea of the level of detailed evidence that was provided for the students to analyse.

136 Judy O’Connell

Assessment To solve the ‘murder,’ students viewed a crime scene in the library; looked at photographic evidence; read various ‘official’ forensic and crime reports; watched CCTV evidence of the crime in action; watched interviews of the suspects; and read testimonies of different suspects. Students analyzed many forms of written and physical evidence, and then employed deductive thinking skills and metacognitive conversation to establish motives for the suspects in an attempt to determine who committed the crime. Lastly, each student was required to submit their own comprehensive police report on the crime and its investigation. This required identification of the perpetrator, and the validation of the decision through an analysis and reflection on the evidence that was investigated. Through this trans-literacy approach, students were able to work in teams (providing differentiation) in a constructivist project-based learning activity. Each class was provided with ample time to engage with the mystery in the library, with additional time available on request. Both class teachers and library staff were actively involved in the crime scene investigation, monitoring the students interactions, and responding to research-based questions, as the library team members were seen to be active creators of and participants in the ‘Body in the Library’ mystery. Science teachers were responsible for the final assessment for learning. The work required was engaging AND challenging, and not all students were able to ‘solve’ the murder mystery. However, the solution was not what the assessment was about--it was the quality of details in the research and the detailed analysis included in the written report that was required to produce the report that was being assessed. Like all good ‘gaming’ strategies, those who learnt were not only those who reached the end, but all those who participated and were able to enhance their critical thinking and literacy skills in some way. This was the benefit of this project--the mystery surpassed the stress of chasing an A grade. In fact only 30% of the group were able to solve all aspects of the mystery correctly. Thus the challenge was able to address differentiated learning while also allowing all students or various abilities to participate in the project. Of course, the quality of their research and final solutions also depended on their level of ‘scientific’ learning--the project provided a motivation for making sense of the various elements of forensic science and forensic fiction. Teachers were equally engaged, and worked collaboratively with students-being challenged themselves by the fully fledged ‘crime novel’ complexity. In addition, the enthusiasm and ‘personal passion’ of the students was captured and extended further in the project by: •

An interactive display that showcased the key aspects of the project and which allowed all students to review the interviews and media footage as part of the display

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•

An extensive promotion of crime fiction and forensic non-fiction resources lead to a significant increase in borrowings (to the delight of the English teachers). Though no statistics were recorded, it was noted that many students who did not have a current book on loan chose to borrow a crime book of some kind.

Evaluation This project achieved a multi-literacy, or transliteracy, approach to learning across two disciplines, in a collaborative framework. Transliteracy has been defined as the ability to read, write, and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital networks (Thomas et al, 2007). Transliteracy is an evolving and inclusive concept which bridges and connects past, present and hopefully future modalities. Transliteracy has found value amongst librarians as a way of understanding and articulating a rationale for supporting and developing our work and our services in our schools and allows school librarians to incorporate information literacy, digital literacy and reading literacy as a fluent and immersive socially-networked approach to learning across all traditional and new media (rather than being articulated as text and/or technology). The two subject areas incorporated multiple media platforms into the core teaching of their topic, including use of digital media, online research, wikis for note-taking, tagging/social bookmarking for links, and online collaboration via chat in the school learning management system in co-operation with the library team. So while supporting English and Science in approaches to literacy, information literacy and online learning, the work in this project also allowed the library team to specifically focus on ways to empower, enthuse, and stimulate metacognitive conversations through the mystery of the game–a murder mystery right there in the library--within a transliteracy framework. There was no negative feedback about the project from either students or teachers. In fact, students were speaking so much about the ‘murder mystery’ that many students in other year levels wanted to be able to take part. Many teachers from both the English and Science faculties came voluntarily to the library during one of the class times to observe and take part in the investigation. The entire school community became aware of and engaged in the project. The Headmaster stated that this was the most exciting response he had ever seen from boys working in the library on a science/literacy project, which confirmed the ‘buzz’ that was apparent to the library team. This crosscurriculum initiative of the school library team was highly valued by both the English and Science faculty and was noted as being the first of its kind at the school. Better still, for the first time, ALL boys were totally engaged in the learning process related to forensic science and forensic fiction. The level of moti-

138 Judy O’Connell vation created by this authentic learning experience was of benefit to all aspects of the work in both subject areas.

Conclusion The project was so successful that it will be run again in 2011 and beyond. This was, without a doubt, one of the most successful and interesting projects carried out by the school library team, and it also combined project-based learning, collaboration with the library, cross-curricular programming, and information literacy embedded in learning, literacy and reading promotion This project could be replicated in any school and library setting. The scenario can be developed to suit the particular school community and can draw on relevant literature for English study. In addition, the study of forensic science is easily supported through the science curriculum; in some countries, forensic science is a major component of the science program in secondary schools. The innovative project was a simple idea which drew enormous enthusiasm from the students involved and, in addition, attention from students in other years. Because the school library utilised authentic settings to identify a crime scene and utilised promotional activities to engage the broader community, many students and teachers were able to catch the enthusiasm of this type of learning.

References Alloway, N., Freebody, P., Gilbert, P., & Muspratt, S. (2002). Boys, literacy and schooling: Expanding the repertoires of practice. Nathan, QLD: Department of Science, Education and Training, DEST Clearinghouse, at URL: http://www.dest.gov.au/NR/ rdonlyres/835D5DAC-D69C-4716-91EE-CB6E2DCDA934/1564/BoysLiteracy.pdf (access date: 19.02.2011) Badke, W. (2010). Information as tool, not destination. Online, vol. 34, no. 4, p. 52. MasterFILE Premier database. (access date: 19.02.2011) Baker, W., Barstack, R., Clark, D., Hull, E., Goodman, B., Kook, J., et al. (2008). Writingto-learn in the inquiry-science classroom: Effective strategies from middle school science and writing teachers. Clearing House, vol. 81, no. 3, p. 105. MasterFILE Premier database. (access date: 19.02.2011) Creech, J., & Hale, G. (2006). Literacy in science: A natural fit. Science Teacher, vol. 73, no. 2, p. 22. MasterFILE Premier database. (access date: 19.02.2011) Dominick, J., Koehler, S., & Ladham, S. et al. (2004). Crime scene investigation: Crack the case with real-life experts. Pymble: Simon & Shuster. Friedlander, M., & Phillips, T. (2001). When objects talk: solving a crime with science. Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century Books. International Society for Technology in Education. NETS for students 2007, at URL: http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students/nets-student-standards-2007.aspx (access date: 19.02.2011)

‘Body in the Library’ 139 Lance, K., Rodney, M., & Schwarz, B. (2010). Collaboration works--When it happens!. Teacher Librarian, vol. 37, no. 5, p. 30. MasterFILE Premier database. (access date: 19.02.2011) Rose, M. (2008). Scene of the crime: A forensic mystery where you crack the case. London: Kingfisher. Shenton, A., & Fitzgibbons, M. (2010). Just what is this thing we call relevance? Engaging students in information literacy sessions. Feliciter, vol. 56, no. 2, p. 76. MasterFILE Premier database. (access date: 19.02.2011) Schyrlet, C. (2008). Forensic investigations: Using science to solve crimes. Greensboro: Mark Twain Media. Thomas, S., Joseph C., Laccetti, J. Mason, B. Mills, S. Perril, S. & Pullinger, K. (2007, December 3). Transliteracy: Crossing divides. First Monday, vol. 12, no. 12. http:// firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/2060/1908 (access date: 19.02.2011) Wilhelm, J., & Smith, M. (2004). Walking a tightrope: What research on boys and literacy says about No Child Left Behind. California English, vol. 9, no. 3, p. 18-21, Education Research Complete, EBSCOhost (access date: 19.02.2011) Zmuda, A. (2009). Take the plunge into a 21st-century conception of learning. School Library Monthly, vol. 26, no. 3, p. 16. MasterFILE Premier database. (access date: 19.02.2011)

Author Note Judy O’Connell is Lecturer in Library and Information Management in the Faculty of Education at Charles Sturt University, Australia. From 2008-2010 she was Head of Library and Information Services at St Joseph’s College, Hunters Hill, Sydney. In 2006-2007 she was an Education Consultant in Library and Web 2.0 developments for 80 primary and secondary schools in the Western Region of Sydney. Her professional leadership experience spans K12 and tertiary education, with a focus on libraries, library design, gaming, virtual worlds, curriculum and professional development in school libraries and classrooms in a digitally-enriched environment. Judy writes online in her blog, at URL: http://heyjude.wordpress.com Contact email: [email protected]

HIV/AIDS Corners in Botswana Schools and Libraries Margaret Baffour-Awuah BONELA Resource Centre, Botswana

Abstract Most primary school classrooms in Botswana have had ‘library corners’ for a long time, usually consisting of a table or a children’s bookshelf with some easy readers laid out on it. The children read the material when they finished their assigned work early. To ensure wider usage, periodically times were set aside to use the library corner materials. Even where there was a Book Box Service or where a school housed the local rural library such as a Village Reading Room, library corners were a classroom feature. When HIV/AIDS became a national threat, counter measures had to be multi-sectoral. Meeting the challenge of such a big threat could not be just an issue for the Ministry of Health. Interventions had to be comprehensive. One response was the settingup of HIV/AIDS Corners in schools and libraries.

Keywords Botswana; HIV/AIDS; Classroom libraries; Library corners; Health literacy; Reading promotion.

Introduction The mid 1980s and into the early years of the 2000s were challenging years for Botswana, in the health arena. The then President Festus Mogae likened the situation to a war, and he called Botswana to rally to the battle against HIV. The HIV/AIDS threat to Botswana’s very existence was emerging on several fronts: families were depleted of bread winners, and classrooms lost teachers. Members of the younger generation were being seriously challenged on these health issues in an unprecedented manner. In many cases, their parents, siblings, and other relatives were ill, and these were further complicated with related challenges which involved stigma and discrimination, sexuality, economic issues, confidentiality and /or fear of a breach of it, or the need to find somebody to share the fears with.

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The 2002 UNAIDS report indicated that the infection rate amongst teachers was in excess of 30%. The number of orphans (mostly primary and secondary school pupils) was anticipated to reach 214,000 by 2010. The issue had to be approached from a multi-sectoral perspective. Different ministries organized HIV committees, to plan activities that would increase awareness about HIV/AIDS. Government departments were allowed 30 minutes a week to meet and address any aspect of HIV. Departments (and some Ministries) appointed HIV/AIDS focal persons who, through consultations with rest of staff, scheduled weekly meetings into Departmental Work plans to discuss the challenges posed by HIV and emergent issues. The Ministry of Education had a bigger responsibility than most other ministries. It had responsibility for the generation that was envisioned to be HIV–free by 2016, according to the Botswana National Vision. Statistics indicated that 35.5% of all infections were occurring in females in the 15–19 years age range. These would be youth within the school sector. A further dismal projection of a large number of orphans by 2010 hardened national resolve. New prevention strategies had to be explored, and efforts accelerated to ensure that the projections remained just that—only projections. Projections are based on trends, but if those trends could be changed due to interventions, they would not develop into cold hard reality. Many initiatives were taken by different organizations, government departments, and so on (see, for example, Baffour-Awuah, 2003, for an early report on some of these initiaitives). There probably will never be one overall picture of every counter measure that took place. Through discussions and brainstorming at one of the Educational Libraries committee meetings (an Inter- ministerial meeting of representatives of Ministry of Education and of the Botswana National Library Service), the HIV/AIDS corners concept emerged. The next step was to develop training programs to equip teachers with selection and display skills. The call was for training in the acquisition of simple HIV/AIDS material and its introduction into Primary/Community Junior Secondary School classroom or library corners. Many young people were hurting, so many young people were losing parents, and at that initial stage there was so much fear and stigma that caution had to be exercised in discussing these sensitive topics. Interactive television programs were developed targeting pupils. A multi-sectoral approach was under way. The public libraries embraced the concept even more enthusiastically, and they are still maintaining HIV/AIDS Corners even though there does not seem to be that much new material going into them.

Description of the Project Since the declaration of what could only be described as “a war on HIV,” there were incredible numbers of IEC (Information, Education and Communi-

142 Margaret Baffour-Awuah cation) materials produced to educate and address differing aspects of HIV/AIDS. The different aspects of HIV needed to inform the collection, if it was to be as useful as to possibly save lives. Some of these were as follows: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Basic awareness (What is HIV? How does one get it? I.e., what are safe and unsafe practices?) What is AIDS? What are its symptoms? Discrimination and Stigma: How do we counter these? Sexuality and HIV/AIDS; Safe Sex HIV/AIDS: How to protect yourself Saying No to Peer Pressure AIDS, TB and Other Opportunistic Infections Testing / Treatment; Importance of Adherence to Treatment Medication: ARVs; proper nutrition Sickness, Dying /Death Orphans; Social welfare Counseling Rights of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) Prevention / Abstinence/ Condoms Myths Surrounding the Disease Multiple Concurrent Partners (MCP) and its impact.

Ideally an HIV/AIDS Corner would deal with some or all of these subject areas, or even go beyond these. Some of the questions as to how to go about setting up a corner have generally been: • • • •

Where do we acquire materials that reflect the many faces of HIV/AIDS? We have no budget for it; how do we sponsor it? How do we ensure usage without stigma? What formats of material are more suitable?

Aims and Objectives The aim of the project was to create HIV/AIDS corners with attractive resources which would equip users with information that will offer support to any infected / affected in their HIV crises (see Figure 1): • • •

Provide reading material that will address the multi facets of HIV/AIDS. Provide a comprehensive leaning tool in the fight against HIV/AIDS Provide leisure reading about situations/ people which young readers could identify with and be educated and informed through or at least have a platform to interrogate.

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Dealing with Issues, Challenges, Problems, Controversies For primary schools, the HIV/AIDS Corner would have a table or shelf framed by large bright colored posters which affirm the story told by the collection. The material in the Corner would mostly be fiction and perhaps some biographies, e.g., the Nkosi Johnson story. Nkosi was a brave HIV-positive South African young boy whose mother, also HIV-positive, was not able to look after him. He was adopted by a white lady who loved and nursed him through his illness. He made headlines by addressing an international HIV/AIDS Conference, presenting the issue of need for ARVs from a pediatric HIV patient viewpoint. This was something which was new and very courageous. Though Nkosi died not long after this incident, he made a lasting impact on the global audience. The reading of his day-to-day struggles for an opportunity at life has touched many readers, helped many to learn about the disease, and encouraged those struggling with side effects of taking their medications.

Strategies and Resources Used Library Corners were very common in Standard one to three, the first three years of primary school education, for promotion of reading and/or for early language development. For example, the corners approach was used for the “Breakthrough to Setswana” project, a local language initiative which promoted early learning to be mother tongue-based. Corners are very simple to start and need the barest minimum of outlay: a table or a short shelf and books, pamphlets, posters, charts; and other materials addressing different readership levels. Attendance at trade fairs and book fairs, visits to government departments’ IEC sections, and attendances at Wellness Day commemorations would usually provide opportunity to pick up literature that promotes wellness, and many booklets on HIV/AIDS. The Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education (MOE) have developed a lot of IEC materials, much of which address HIV/AIDS issues. The MOE’s Department of Curriculum and Development has a publishing unit which prints and publishes of a lot of material. The different departments of the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs each made a poster relevant to their ministry’s core responsibility, and these were made freely available. Posters usually make good visual impact, especially with regards to the younger children. A few good posters behind the display corner serve as dynamic background to the collection. Since literacy goes beyond reading and writing, some initiatives which originally addressed simple literacy were found to be adaptable to other literacies. In the same way, the original library corners which were purely to promote reading for language development were adapted in some cases to become HIV/AIDS corners.

144 Margaret Baffour-Awuah Some have questioned the emphasis on fiction for the HIV/AIDS Corners. However, creative writing is not just a tool for language development; its content educates according to its nature, and it can therefore be a tool for social transformation. That is why some organizations have produced literature that speaks to the HIV/AIDS threat and that is presented as stories. These stories are carriers of wisdom and knowledge. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has left no country unscathed, so the counter measures had to be global in delivery and in impact.

Figure 1. Naledi Senior School Library HIV Corner, in Gaborone, Botswana

The development of the Ipalele Series, through the Inter-Agency Production Committee (IAMPC), has provided material for the HIV/AIDS Corners. The Chair of IAMPC has rotated between the BNLS and the Department of Non-

HIV/AIDS Corners in Botswana Schools and Libraries 145

formal Education (DNFE) within the MOE. The IAMPC is made up of stakeholders of the anti–illiteracy drive and includes representatives of the Police Department, the Prisons Department, and Ministry of Health, The Red Cross, the Publishers Association (usually facilitating writers’ workshops), and some teachers. From 1988, this committee organized training for interested staff to write easy readers for literacy promotion. Though the principal targets of the publications were neo-literates who had gone through the DNFE Non-formal literacy program, the resulting materials found their way into all the BNLS outlets through its service provision. The material produced was meant for the new graduates of the Non-formal program to sustain their newly acquired literacy. Due to the economics of printing, print runs of 10,000 copies of a title were commissioned. That meant that the schools could benefit from the materials that addressed HIV/AIDS, since they were freely available and were all in Setswana. Copies were sent to all schools whether they had HIV Corners or not. The titles in the Ipalele Series were widely disributed even into settings that had a language other than Setswana (the national language of Botswana) as mother tongue. By 2001, 46 titles had been published, about six of which were of HIV/AIDS related content. Legare Le Borai, one such IAMPC publication; addresses the dangerous use of blades to make incisions on patients’ bodies by medicine men, generally known as sangomas. The hero Pule contracts HIV through this mode of transmission. The publication addresses stigma and discrimination while teaching basic HIV/AIDS awareness. Thuto Ka AIDS, another title in this series, is a non-fiction work on AIDS education. An unexpected find in one school library HIV/AIDS Corner was a Suggestion Box with an invitation on the box for requests from users. This librarian’s initiative gives users the chance to request titles that would address his/her issues of concern and invites participation into what goes into the corner. Today, in this electronic era, the Internet has a lot of resources. For example,the Population Council’s web site holds such potential for HIV/AIDS and gender education. In conjunction with the computer labs which exist in most Secondary Schools in Botswana, downloads of free easy-to use materials can add substantially to the collection. For example, global statistics showing the spread/prevalence of HIV/AIDS worldwide could be added, that might help youth to realize that every risk they take fuels the bleak global picture.

Assessment and Outcomes of the Project It is not easy to tell to what extent a project has made impact when there are many other players in the field all working towards the same purpose, against the spread of HIV/AIDS. Many HIV/AIDS interventions are ongoing in Botswana. For example, over the past five years, the “Face the Nation” project by the Open Baptist Church in Gaborone has reached 200,000 students with HIV

146 Margaret Baffour-Awuah awareness messages, resulting in 46,000 students making commitment to abstinence decisions. This project involved 525 volunteers from 68 churches and 28 schools, with participation from 10 countries. How can you evaluate the impact of projects and of books, booklets and brochures against the onslaught of such an aggressive disease as HIV? Recently, I discussed the HIV/AIDS Corners project with a new Head at a school which about eight years ago had a library corner in every classroom as well as a purpose built library. Today the school has to use the library as a classroom and there isn’t a single library corner remaining. The Head responded that HIV/AIDS is now expected to be integrated into every subject; including Mathematics, and so that is certainly a step forward. It is possible that the initial HIV/AIDS Corners in the library spread awareness that could have cautioned people into less risky behavior. If so, the Corners have contributed something. Can we measure the individual impact of the HIV/AIDS Corners intervention, as only one of several interventions? The answer is no, but a house is built brick by brick. The students who sign an abstinence pledge with “Face the Nation” may have previously read the Longman anti-HIV reader and so be in a better frame of mind to make the necessary commitment to abstinence.

Current Status of the Project Location of HIV/AIDS Materials Recently, I visited a few school libraries and one public library and also telephoned another public library to help get a current picture of the situation. The situation was very different, from place to place, and from the original expectations of the HIV/AIDS Corners project: • • • • • • •

Tshwaragano Primary School – No classroom library corners, but now has a library Therisanyo Primary School – No classroom HIV Corners, has a purpose built library Bokamoso Community Junior Secondary School – No classroom library corners, but an HIV/AIDS Corner in the library and also a trained teacher librarian Naledi Senior Secondary School - No classroom library corners, but a good HIV Corner in the library and also a trained teacher librarian Ithuteng Primary School - Had classroom library corners last year but had not yet set them up this year Lesedi Primary School – the library was being used as a classroom the shelves were full of books but student intake had overwhelmed the available classrooms Gaborone Senior secondary School – No classroom HIV Corners, but an HIV/AIDS Library Corner in the library and also a librarian.

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Overall, it appeared that HIV/AIDS materials, which were first held elsewhere, were being absorbed into the libraries which we encourage as a basic first step when starting a library. However, having materials in a display of any sort is usually more likely to attract users to browse and read, than having materials hidden among hundreds of others on the library shelves. So, while absorbing the HIV/AIDS-related books into the library was excellent, in a way it is a setback, as it means these information sources are not “in your face” for the library users, saying “Take me! Read me!”. Materials in HIV/AIDS Corners Another discovery was that there was relatively less than expected fiction material. Also some of the books were old publications, but worth noting is that the age of these types of books does not matter. Like folk tales, it’s the relevance of the message in HIV/AIDS materials that counts: their truth is ageless. At the Gaborone Senior School, less than one-third of the books in the HIV/AIDS Corner were fiction titles. One non-fiction title, “Coping When Your Friend is HIV-Positive” (Kelly, 1998), would be a helpful, informative tool when personal loss is experienced, especially if the deceased is a school friend, not known to the family. This book also addresses the issue of myths around HIV, e.g., the idea that “If you have sex with only one person, you are safe from getting HIV” (p. 13) is discussed and rebutted, as are other myths such as “ Only homosexuals get HIV” (p. 15). Another helpful book is The 205 most asked questions about HIV/AIDS and ARV therapy (n.d.), published by the Botswana Ministry of Health. It answers numerous questions which a young man or woman might have about the pandemic; it is a local publication, but with potential global usefulness. A few of the HIV/AIDS titles are in pocket book size formats, such as Positive Health, an incredible resource, focusing on staying healthy and giving examples of how people have coped with an HIV-positive diagnosis. The big multi-national publishing houses in Botswana (Macmillan, Longmans and Heinemann) have really tried to cater to this field. Macmillan published a series of easy readers in conjunction with the Red Cross. These fiction titles also have questions and answers at the end. For example, Fruit of Betrayal deals with what is currently in Botswana referred to as MCP (Multiple Concurrent Partnerships) and what is perceived as the current driver of the HIV pandemic, and so is the current target for numerous prevention drives. A similar reader The Letter deals with a sexually reckless boy who uses the myth that AIDS is not a rural disease to get himself involved in numerous liaisons and unwittingly infects a sixteen year old girl in town. Another interesting title is “A Few Days More… the Story of a Young Woman Living With HIV in Botswana, an intriguing true story of a young HIV-positive Motswana girl who befriends a Swedish young woman and allows her to write her story, originally in Swedish. This book has been translated into English which will make for a wider readership. The then Botswana First Lady, Mrs. Barbara Mogae, pro-

148 Margaret Baffour-Awuah vided a foreword for the book, encouraging readers to share the story with family, community and country. Other HIV/AIDS materials for young readers are listed on the IASL website (www.iasl-online.org/ – use search terms HIV and AIDS).

Lessons Learned and Recommendations Having been a part of the original decision to start HIV/AIDS Corners, I am amazed at how the whole concept has evolved, and the changes that have come. Among these changes are the many non-fiction titles that were featured in the collections, a few of which are mentioned here. In many instances, the HIV/AIDS Corners have moved out of classrooms which is where the initial concept saw as their nesting places. Of course, some of these decisions did not take into cognizance the issue of growing student populations which would need housing within the classrooms more than the books. There is also the fact of actual purpose-built libraries being added to seven primary schools in the Gaborone area. This could mean that, to the school administration, there’s no need to keep the HIV/AIDS books inside the classroom, when they could be housed in a good purpose-built library facility. Of course, this takes away the immediate availability of any material housed within a classroom. A record of how these books are used in the classroom as opposed to their use inside the library should be compared to offer a basis for a decision as to what will be the best place to keep them.

Conclusion In providing these HIV/AIDS library corners, school and public libraries are using information, the most effective weapon against HIV, one of whose drivers is ignorance. If, in the course of this, a little light is shed on a situation, and one life is saved, it is a fitting tribute and well worth it.

References Baffour-Awuah, Margaret. (2001). Legare Le Borai. Gaborone: IAMPC (Translated by Nini Dintwe and Pilane, Morwadi). Baffour-Awuah, Margaret. (2002). The fight against HIV/AIDS: Are school libraries at the battle front?, In Diljit Singh et al., School Libraries for a Knowledge Society, Proceedings of the 31st Annual Conference of the International Association of School Librarianship (p. 329-340). Seattle, WA: International Association of School Librarianship. Fox, Jane. (2000). Nkosi’s story. Claremont: Spearhead. Kelly, Pat. (1998). Coping when your friend is HIV-positive. New York: Rosen.

HIV/AIDS Corners in Botswana Schools and Libraries 149 Koblanck, Anna. ( 2005): A few days more… the story of a young woman living with HIV in Botswana. Harare: SAfAIDS. (Originally published in Swedish, translated by Margaret Myers). Ntsabane, Keabonye. (2001). Thuto Ka AIDS. Gaborone: IAMPC. Pfotenhauer, Linda. (1990). The letter. Gaborone: Macmillan The 205 most asked questions about HIV/AIDS and ARV therapy. Gaborone: Ministry Of Health. Wertheim, Steve. (1992). The fruit of betrayal. Gaborone: Macmillan Boleswa, Manzini.

Author Note Margaret Baffour-Awuah, BEd, PGLIS, MLIS, FCILIP, was a teacher, columnist, and librarian. She was Principal Librarian 1, Head of Educational Libraries’ Division of the Botswana National Library Service, and later Head of Division in the BNLS. Before that she was a librarian at the University of Cape Coast Library, Ghana. She was editor of the Botswana Library Association Newsletter for many years and served on the BLA Executive. She was also involved in the Inter-Agency Material Production Agency of the Botswana National Library Service. Under that umbrella, she wrote two books that were published in Setswana. Margaret was IASL Regional Director for Sub-Saharan Africa and also serves on the editorial board of School Libraries Worldwide. Contact email: [email protected]

Part 3 School Libraries for All

School Libraries and Human Rights Marian Koren Netherlands Public Library Association, The Hague, The Netherlands

Abstract The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) offers a global framework for school libraries. The CRC envisages empowering children as human beings and as citizens and defines children’s rights to literacy, information and education. The CRC explicitly recognises children as subjects of human rights, competent in exercising their rights, giving their views, and participating in society. Children’s rights relate to education in three ways: (1) rights to education; (2) rights in education; and (3) rights through education. Children have the right to a free and compulsory education, at least to the primary level, and to an education that respects their dignity. Children have the right to freedom of expression and association and the right to participate in their education. Children have the right to be educated about their rights. School libraries have a responsibility to uphold these rights and to work, along with others, to implement these rights through their program and services.

Keywords United Nations; Human rights; Rights of the Child; School Library Manifesto.

Introduction In this book on global perspectives on school libraries, we may ask: what is the global framework for school libraries? Is there a global point of reference, which can be recognised not only by professionals, librarians and teachers, but also by decision makers and politicians, by the media and the general public, and ultimately by the children, young people, pupils and students themselves? Frames of reference such as handbooks and guidelines are helpful for school library professionals. Their daily practice should match the developed theories and values of librarianship, and guidelines support this orientation. School librarianship is librarianship in a specific context, for and with a specific aim and audience. For outsiders, such as politicians, school managers and boards, media, and neighbourhood committees, the professional nuances in school librarianship often are not understandable. There is a need for a broader

154 Marian Koren and understandable framework at a higher level. This can be found in the human rights framework with its various declarations, covenants and conventions, all based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed by the United Nations in 1948. It is the most powerful universal reference to the values of human life and humanity. Inspired by the Declaration, a range of human rights treaties has been developed and formulated. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) offers support to library policy and practice related to children and young people. The Convention envisages empowering children as human beings and as citizens. The Convention defines children’s rights to literacy, information and education. What do these rights mean for children’s libraries and for school libraries and resource centres? As public institutions, are libraries committed to helping children to realize their rights (Koren, 1996)? The IFLA Guidelines for Children’s Libraries Services refers to the Convention; the IFLA School Library Manifesto has only a reference to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since the Convention on the Rights of the Child has a stronger binding force, a closer look at the Convention is useful for school libraries. Children’s rights should be guaranteed for every individual child regardless of circumstances. How do we achieve this in the school library environment?

Convention on the Rights of the Child: Empowerment The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) added a more modern approach to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, explicitly recognising children as subjects of human rights, competent in exercising their rights, giving their views and participating in society. A new paradigm was introduced: children as human beings and citizens, requiring protection and participation, a shift from a needs-based to a rights-based perspective (Jonsson, 1998). Article 12 in the Convention is the central principle indicated as the right of the child to participation. It requires respect for the views of the child and affirms very strongly the value of the child as a fully-fledged person having the right to participate in decision-making processes affecting his or her life and to influence decisions taken on his or her behalf within the family, in the school or in the community. In the Convention, a number of articles are especially interesting for those serving children in libraries, among which the right to education and the right of access to information are crucial. In the words of former UNICEF Director Carol Bellamy: “Perhaps the most important aspect of access to information is how it empowers those who have it. Access to information informs the entire developmental process protected by the Convention and is a critical factor in both the personal development of a child

School Libraries and Human Rights 155 into adulthood, as well as the social development of that child into full membership in his or her community.” (Bellamy, 2002, p. 54)

This clarification points immediately to a number of activities which libraries undertake and can undertake to support children in their development and to protect their human rights. The major shift in thinking and doing, which has to be made, is to work with children instead of doing and deciding for them. “Authentic child participation must start from children and young people themselves, on their own terms, within their own realities and in pursuit of their own visions, dreams, hopes and concerns. Children need information, support and favourable conditions in order to participate appropriately and in a way that enhances their dignity and self-esteem.” (Bellamy, 2002, p. 5)

As we know from children’s literature, children are described both as innocent and naughty persons. Still, there is a different view emerging, if we allow it to develop, of children as fellow human beings who also want to contribute to the world they live in, on condition that they are heard, that they are listened to (Hammarberg, 2007). This requires a radical shift in adult thinking and behaviour, from an exclusionary to an inclusionary approach to children and their capabilities.

The Impact of Human Rights on Education and School Libraries All states of the world have ratified the Convention (with the exception of the United States and Somalia) which means that they have committed to implementing the rights of children. How do children’s rights relate to education and school libraries? There are three major aspects in the relation between human rights and education. The first one is the implementation of the right to education. This right was already stated in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration, it has been confirmed in a binding covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and it is elaborated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Articles 28 and 29. It is the State’s duty to ensure that primary education at least is made free and compulsory and also that administration of school discipline is to reflect the child’s human dignity. The aim of education is formulated in Article 29, a point of reference for the school library and educational setting. Education should be directed at developing the child’s personality and talents, preparing the child for active life as an adult, fostering respect for basic human rights and developing respect for the child’s own cultural and national values and those of others, and respect for the natural environment. The second aspect regards the implementation of children’s rights in education. This means that rights such as the right to privacy and protection from inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment are to be respected also in the

156 Marian Koren school setting. The articles in the Convention which regard fundamental freedoms, such as the freedom of expression, belief, and association and the right to participation and to self-determination also apply to the school library setting. It means that children should be involved in the school library programming and planning and should have their voices heard in major school library decisions. The third aspect regards the implementation of children’s human rights through education. In Article 42, the CRC requires that children and adults be informed about the articles and content of the Convention. UNESCO declared a decade of Human Rights Education (1995-2005) to stress the importance of spreading knowledge about children’s rights. “Essentially, there has to be a shift in fundamental attitudes on respect for children’s rights. Theoretical teaching on the values of human rights and democracy serves very little purpose, if they are not also put into practice at the same time” (Verhellen, 1997, p. 111). School libraries can play an important role by collecting information materials about children’s rights, by supporting projects on citizenship and social values, by working with children on finding literature in which violations of children’s rights are described; and in making new materials together with children. UNICEF and NGOs in many countries have developed child-friendly versions of the Convention for children of various ages--a process the UN CRC Committee welcomes and encourages; these should also inform children of sources of help and advice. These materials can also form part of human rights education, as mentioned in the Convention. The UN CRC Committee comments: “Human rights education should provide information on the content of human rights treaties. But children should also learn about human rights by seeing human rights standards implemented in practice whether at home, in school or within the community. Human rights education should be a comprehensive, lifelong process and start with the reflection of human rights values in the daily life and experiences of children.” (HRI/GEN/1/Rev.6, para.15, p. 286)

The Committee recommends that “Human rights training should use participatory methods, and equip professionals with skills and attitudes that enable them to interact with children and young people in a manner that respects their rights, dignity and self-respect” (CRC/C/9, para. 291 (k and l)). Could we imagine that librarians and teachers teach themselves first the basic and new elements of human rights and especially of children’s rights? Could it be part of our professional curriculum, such as the UN CRC Committee recommends?

Implementation Strategies School libraries and children’s libraries are committed to human values and human rights. Children should be able to count on their libraries for their

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rights to information and education. Libraries are well-equipped to create an impartial environment, to stimulate reading for practical matters and pleasure, and to facilitate children’s participation, protection and enjoyment of life. It is therefore important that all library associations, and especially their sections of children’s and school librarians, get involved in the State reports to the UN Committee. Increasingly, IASL and IFLA documents refer to human rights and to the CRC, but these references need further implementation through a range of best practices. It is up to the international library community of school librarians and other professionals to show commitment. Work needs to be done at the international, national and local level: • • • • • • • • •

to start and extend partnerships between IASL, IFLA and UNICEF; to include children’s rights in national educational and library policies and statements; to organise training for teachers and librarians on children’s rights and to include references to children’s rights in their professional codes of ethics; to include the right to information and library services in UNICEF projects and in the UNESCO Associated Schools Project; to implement widely the protection of children’s rights in library practices; to adopt the 20th of November as a day of activities in the library on the Rights of the Child; to select children’s literature for human rights education projects; to create a reliable and safe environment where children themselves can seek and find information, express their opinions and work with their skills; and to discuss with children possibilities for improvements in their daily school lives.

Once we truly listen to them, the first step is taken: respecting children as human beings is fundamental to school library services.

References Bellamy, C. (2002). The state of the world’s children 2003. New York: UNICEF, 2002. Hammarberg, Thomas. (2007). Listen seriously to the views of children, at URL: http:// www.coe.int/t/commissioner/Viewpoints/071119_en.asp (access date: 01.03.2011) Jonsson, U. (1998). A rights compared to a needs perspective on ECCD. Bangkok: UNICEF, Regional Office for South Asia. Koren, M. (1996). The right of the child to information. The Hague: NBLC. Other articles, at URL: www.ifla.org (search ‘Koren’). UNESCO Associated School Project, at URL: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/ networks/global-networks/aspnet/ (access date: 13.03.2011) Verhellen, Eugeen. (1997). Convention on the rights of the child (2nd ed.). Leuven: Garant.

158 Marian Koren

Author Note Dr. Marian Koren has worked as Policy Adviser and Researcher at The Netherlands Public Library Association in The Hague, the Netherlands since 1979. Her main research topic is human rights, especially the right of the child to information as a framework for library services and development. Contact email:

Camels, Burros, Elephants, Boats and Trucks: Bringing Books and Literacy to Children in Remote Communities Ray Doiron University of Prince Edward Island, Canada

Abstract It seems no matter where one lives or how remote your community may be, there are dedicated librarians and community leaders willing to use any means possible to get books into the hands of children and to encourage them to read and become literate. This chapter presents some inspiring examples of just how these projects are accomplished and then examines the common elements in their success. Whether it is camels through the desert, boats through an archipelago, burros, elephants or trucks, books are being provided to many children who would otherwise have none. To achieve these goals, it takes committed and passionate librarians or community leaders, the use of a local means of transportation, the understanding of the power of libraries, and the grounding of all these efforts in the goals of literacy for all.

Key Words Azerbaijan; Columbia; Ethiopia; Finland; Kenya; Norway; Thailand; Venezuela; Access to books; Remote communities; Books for all; Literacy for all.

Introduction While not universally true, for the most part no matter where we travel in highly developed countries, getting access to books is a fairly easy process. Children and their family can visit a public library, buy books at local bookstores and even their neighbourhood grocery store. Children without access to public sources of books, whether through poverty or from living in isolated communities, can usually find books in their classrooms and often in a school library where books are chosen specifically to support curriculum and to develop children’s reading interests.

160 Ray Doiron Unfortunately, it is a sad reality that for many children and adults in remote or isolated communities in the world, books are in short supply and are often extremely difficult to access. The remoteness of villages, the lack of funds to purchase books, and the weak infrastructure to embed books into the local culture (Doiron & Asselin, 2010) are some of the factors making it difficult for children to have an adequate source of books for their literacy development. At the same time, many community leaders recognize the importance of literacy and see gaining access to books as one of the biggest obstacles in creating a culture for literacy in their communities. Many of these schools and communities have developed ingenious ways to overcome these barriers by initiating systems to bring books into remote and underdeveloped communities around the world. This chapter explores some of that ingenuity to demonstrate to readers that the passion for reading and for developing literacy skills in children is universal and that a few local dedicated and hard-working people can make a major difference in the lives of children in their communities.

Bringing Books to Remote Communities Seven programs in seven countries are highlighted in this chapter by using examples of particular ways that books arrive in remote communities and how these programs improve literacy for children. While there are dozens of examples that could have been shared here, such as bringing reading rooms to communities in China (Lui & Li, 2008), developing reading programs through libraries in India (Kanade & Chudamani, 2006), and building local community-based libraries in Uganda (Ahimbisibwe & Parry, 2009), these seven were chosen as a representative global sample of the various projects developed for remote communities. They serve as models of the creative solutions developed by librarians and community leaders who want to provide access to books and literacy in their communities.

Description of the Projects Kenya: The Camel Mobile Library In the remote nomadic villages of northeast Kenya, children eagerly await the arrival of the camel caravan carrying a fresh supply of new books. Since it is mostly a desert region, vehicles cannot travel there, so the traditional mode of transportation is the camel. Several camels are loaded with several hundred books by the camel driver and a librarian. As well, a tent and grass mats are carried on the long journey to the village. Once they arrive, they set up the tent, spread the grass mats, and children are welcome to borrow books. They

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may keep them for two weeks and exchange them when the camel library returns. The Camel Mobile Library is also known as “Ships of the Desert” and it was set up by the government owned Kenya National Library Service to improve literacy in the north-east of Kenya. Started in 1996, the library now uses 12 camels traveling to four settlements per day, four days per week. They travel Monday to Thursday, starting early in the morning. One camel can carry two boxes with 200 books in each box. A second camel carries a tent and a third camel carries the librarian’s supplies. The Camel Mobile Library works in 4 separate groups with headquarters in Garissa and Wajir. The group travels regularly to 12 different sites which are within an 11 km radius. The Camel Mobile Library has a large impact on Kenyan children especially in providing them with books to help them succeed in school. The standard of education has improved in schools that are visited by the library and students are reported to have improved on national examinations. With 3,500 registered members of the Camel Mobile Library currently enjoying the benefits of books delivered wherever their nomadic community settles, it can be seen as a valuable service that local librarians would like to see expanded with more camel drives and more books. Further resources to learn more about this program: • •

A YouTube video is available explaining more about the Camel Mobile Library at URL. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn4Zlt8Lx-k (access date: 15.02.2011) A Photo Journal showing the Camel Mobile Library in action is available at URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/ africa_kenyan_camel_library/html/1.stm (access date: 15.02.2011)

Ethiopia: The Shola Children’s Library The Shola Children’s Library is a pleasure to behold. It is set up in a poor neighbourhood in Addis Ababa, where there are few places for children to safely play or read. Yet, when you go inside this facility, you immediately feel the safe and warm atmosphere created by the librarians and volunteers. The Library was started by Yohannes Gebregeorgis, an Ethiopia native, who was taught to read by Peace Corps volunteers in his village school. He came to the U.S. as a political refugee, earned a Master’s degree in Library Science from the University of Texas and worked for many years as a children’s librarian in the San Francisco Public Library. He was in charge of purchasing books in various languages for the library when he realized he was unable to find any books printed in any Ethiopian languages. This inspired him to start Ethiopia Reads in 1998, a Denver-based nonprofit organization. His goal is to bring books to the children in his country and to spread literacy throughout Ethiopia. During the first year that the Shola Children’s Library opened, it served thousands of children. Four years later, in 2007, they recorded 60,000 visits. In 2008, the library moved to a larger facility with more space for its 15,000

162 Ray Doiron books and more facilities for children. The Ethiopia Reads group also has started support for 45 school libraries throughout Addis Ababa, as well as operating a donkey library in several rural areas of eastern Ethiopia. The Shola Children’s Library itself is a vibrant central children’s library which runs Saturday morning story times and also has a sanitation center for children to bathe and have their clothes washed. The library is supported by the Global Fund for Children, James and Teresa Mitchum of Leawood, Kansas, and hundreds of donors across the country. Further resources to learn more about this program: • •

Ethiopia Reads: For more information on current activities and how to support them, visit their website at URL: http://www.ethiopiareads. org/ (access date: 15.02.2011) To hear Yohannes Gebregorgis explain some of the current accomplishments for libraries in Ethiopia, visit this YouTube video at URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-IG37HrWW4 (access date: 15.02.2011)

Columbia: The Biblioburro Every weekend, Luis Soriano straps several pouches loaded with books to his two donkeys, Alfa and Beto, and heads off to several remote areas in his part of Columbia. With the word “Biblioburro” painted on one side of the book pouches, Luis arrives in the communities to the cheers of many children who are anxious to borrow some of his books. He takes the time to read aloud several of the books before the children borrow from his collection of textbooks, encyclopedia volumes and novels from his personal collection. Luis is a 36-year-old primary school teacher who has more than 4,800 books piled into his home. He was inspired by another teacher who taught him the powerful ways that reading books can improve literacy. Luis grew up amongst violence in his village but was sent to live with relatives, and by the age of 16 he had a high school degree and subsequently got a job teaching children to read. Luis created this program out of the belief that bringing books to those who do not have them can improve his impoverished region in Columbia. His travels to the town of La Gloria, with his donkeys bearing books, have led to him winning the acclaim from the nation’s literacy leaders. His efforts were featured on a national radio broadcast which led to several people donating books to him to help with the development of the Biblioburro. A small library next to his home was started but has run out of funds to continue the project. Further resources to learn more about this program: • •

A YouTube video is available explaining more about the Biblioburro in Columbia at URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuTswmx 9TQU (access date: 15.02.2011) Several international news stories about Luis Soriano and the work of the Biblioburro are available at these URLs (access date: 15.02.2011):

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 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/20/world/americas/20iht20burro.17088328.html http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/02/25/cnnheroes.soriano/inde x.html

Venezuela: Bibliomulas In Venezuela a similar project to bring books to children has been started by the University of Momboy, a small institution that prides itself on its community-based initiatives. It is called Bibliomulas and it operates in a similar way to the Biblioburro project in Columbia by loading mules with books and guiding them into remote villages. •

Visit this website for information on the Venezuela project, at URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6929404.stm (access date 15.02.2011)

Thailand: Books-by-Elephant and the Library Train for Young People The government of Thailand has begun a literacy program to bring books to remote villages in the jungle, where most residents cannot read. Transportation is difficult in these areas so they use elephants to bring books to those living in the hard-to-reach mountain regions of Thailand. Elephants do most of the heavy work in these areas, helping farmers plow their fields, move trees and load crops for delivery. The Books-by-Elephant delivery program travels on a twenty day journey to seven or eight villages, spending a few days at each village and providing reading materials for almost two thousand people in this region. These elephants carry more than just books to these villages; they also carry metal slates that are used to teach Thai children how to write and read. Along with the elephants, there are two-person teams carrying books to another sixteen villages, bringing learning materials to an additional six hundred people. There is also a stationary train in the capital city of Bangkok called Hong Rotfai Yoawachon, meaning “Library Train for Young People”. The train serves homeless children in Bangkok. The abandoned train cars were refurbished by the Railway Police Division when they realized that homeless children needed a safe place. They turned them into a library and a classroom where the children learn to read and write. Thailand has an extensive system of mobile libraries using buses, riverboats, cow-drawn carts, and motorcycles, all of which demonstrate the commitment of library leaders to providing wide access to books and literacy throughout the country. Further resources about this program: •

•

Chantana Parkbonngkoch as published an article called the Mobile Library program in Thailand border areas and it is available at URL: http://archive.ifla.org/IV/ifla66/papers/091-175e.htm (access date: 15.02. 2011) Poolsook Priwatrworawute explains the extensive mobile library services in Thailand in an article called: Mobile libraries in Thailand

164 Ray Doiron which is available at URL: http://archive.ifla.org/IV/ifla66/papers/ 092-175e.htm (access date: 15.02.2011) Azerbaijan: The Library-in-a-Truck A big blue truck arrives with books for the children in the Kelenterli refugee settlement. These children have no other access to books as their families have been displaced and they await an uncertain future. The truck is brought in by Relief International, an organization that brings relief to victims of natural disasters and people displaced by internal conflicts (Ruurs, 2005). The Relief International organization works with MADAD Azerbajain on a variety of educational projects which have been implemented in five other refugee settlements (Barda, Khanlar, Mingachevir, Beylagan and Aghjabedi districts). In total, they serve 4,100 students and 700 adults, providing them with approximately 43,000 books. Azerbaijan has a long history of using libraries to promote literacy and to encourage reading for all (Nazarova, 2000) and with its new found independence has stepped up efforts to ensure all children have better access to books. •

For a complete report on the wide range of library services in development in Azerbaijan, visit the MADAD Azerbaijan website, at URL http://madad.net/ (access date: 15.02.2011)

Finland and Norway: Library Boats A loud horn announces the arrival of a small boat carrying a load of books for children and adults in remote communities in the Gulf of Finland. The Pargas Library brings books by boat up and down the Archipelago of rocky islands surrounding the Gulf. ‘Book Boat’ or ‘Library Boat’ is ‘Bokbåt’ in Swedish or ‘Kirjastovene’ in Finnish. The boat is called ‘Kalkholm’, meaning ‘Limestone Island’ in Swedish, and carries about 600 books and a librarian and an assistant. The library boat service recently celebrated over 30 years of service making eleven stops each month during the summer and helping to supplement school library resources for children. In Norway, Epos is a floating library that operates in three counties. The service started in 1959 and visits several places in the three counties twice a year. In 2005 the ship was in service 126 days per year, lending 53,300 books. With room for 6,000 books on board and with over 20,000 books lent out at any given time, schools depend on these materials to provide reading for the children (Oevstegaard, 2000). In addition, the library staff often supplements their services with cultural activities for children, including musicians or drama which can be the only cultural services provided in the places it visits. The ship is manned with a captain, an able seaman and several librarians. This unique service is funded by the county libraries in the three counties and demonstrates the long tradition of supporting library services throughout the Scandinavian countries. Further resources to learn more about these programs:

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• •

Päivi Jokitalo summarizes the accomplishments of the Pargas Library system at this URL: http://splq.info/issues/vol43_4/07.htm (access date 15.02.2011) Floating Libraries exist in many parts of the world. Information on one in Indonesia and one in the Philippines are provided here at theURLs below (access date: 15.02.2011): http://aworlddifferent.com/2010/02/the-floating-library/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jySYXWJmkgg

Lessons Learned Readers should find the highlighting of these “books for all” programs interesting and even inspiring, but it is also important to identify commonalities across the programs and pull key themes from the work of these dedicated librarians and local community leaders. Some of that analysis is presented here with the hope it recognizes the valuable work being done through these programs, and also that it inspires others to take action and/or support some the efforts already underway. Books for all – Literacy for all. While it may appear at first that the goal of all of these programs is getting books into the hands of children, it is really only the first step. The ultimate goal is literacy and the empowerment of a new generation of readers and writers. All of these efforts arose from a deep commitment to literacy and the change it can bring in peoples’ lives. Someone saw that a group of children (and adults) living in a remote community have no or little access to books and recognized they would never achieve full literacy without having books to use for their learning and pleasurable reading. Where there’s a will, there’s way. There is no denying the ingenuity of people who are impassioned about an idea and charged with the resolve to do something about it. Finding resources, local facilities, support of community leaders and actually acquiring the books are some of the factors that led to the success of all of these programs. Whether it was Luis loading his burro in Columbia for his weekly trips, leaders in library service organizations in Finland and Norway, or a local police organization in Thailand, all of these programs emerged from a passion for literacy and learning and a will to change things for the better in their communities. Adapting to local conditions. The remoteness of most of these communities presents unique challenges and the leaders of these programs turned to the tried and true methods of local transportation to travel mountain paths, remote islands and impassable roads. They established libraries in poor and unsafe neighbourhoods and created a sense of excitement about the arrival of new books and the opportunity to borrow and read books. They worked with local people to provide space for the books, security for their handling and systems for their operation.

166 Ray Doiron Understanding the essence and power of a library. From the earliest times, libraries have played a central role in building and sustaining culture (Sawa, 2006). Fundamental to their role has been democratic thinking where access to all materials for all citizens is seen as the noblest of goals. All of the library projects highlighted in this chapter are founded in a similar belief system, one that hinges on getting books into the hands of children and then teaching them the literacy skills they will need to transform themselves, their communities and their countries.

A Final Thought It is common to hear educators and librarians say “We never have enough books.” While this may be true for many, for most of the world’s population, access to books and literacy programs is very difficult, to say the least, and unfortunately non-existent in many places. As one Ethiopian leader once said the real problem is that we have a “book famine.” This lack of local books is often repeated as the biggest frustration and greatest barrier to full literacy in many parts of the world. The stories of the book projects shared here, plus the dozens of others that exist around the world, represent a small portion of the monumental effort that is needed to bring full access and full literacy to all people. Their stories show us that all journeys begin with that first step; the question we must ask ourselves now is “How can I contribute to these efforts and help make things better?”

Other Resources The Canadian Organization for Development through Education (CODE) supports local publishers in several countries and helps local communities establish, furnish and supply books to reading rooms and community libraries, at URL: www.codecan.org Pennies for Peace is a service-learning program of the non-profit organization, Central Asia Institute. It was founded by Greg Mortenson who is the co-founder and executive director of Central Asia Institute, and co-author of Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School At A Time, at URL: www.penniesforpeace.org The International Book Bank increases literacy and advances education by procuring and shipping books and other educational materials to developing countries, at URL: www.internationalbookbank.org Books for Africa is an organization that collects, sorts, ships, and distributes books to children in Africa. Their ultimate goal is to end the book famine in Africa, at URL: www.booksforafrica.org

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The African Digital Library provides digitized full text resources to learners in Africa via the Internet with a collection of close to 8000 electronic books, at URL: www.africandl.org.za/ The Adopt a Mobile Library or School program offers donors the opportunity to support a variety of book projects in several countries, at URL: http://www.margrietruurs.com/books/adopt_a_mobile_library.html

References Ahimbisibwe, D., & Parry, K. (2009) What happens if you read a lot? Measuring the effects of a library reading program. A paper presented at the 6th Pan-African Reading Conference, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, August 5, 2009. Doiron, R., & Asselin, M. (2010). Building a culture for reading in a multicultural, multilingual world. A paper presented at the 76th IFLA Council and Conference meeting in Gothenburg Sweden, August 2010. Kanade, Y.G., & Chudamani, K.S. (2006). A discourse on the promotion of reading habits in India. The International Information and Library Review, vol. 38, p. 102-109. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.rlproxy.upei.ca/science?_ob=MImg&_imagekey= B6WGP-4KRFT7P-21&_cdi=6828&_user=1069243&_pii=S1057231706000294&_orig=search &_coverDate=09%2F30%2F2006&_sk=999619996&view=c&wchp=dGLbVzW-zSkzV&md5= a6b4c94c4efe8a4452bff23eb299c7db&ie=/sdarticle.pdf (access date: 17.02.2011) Lui, Y., & Li, W. (2008). The establishment of “Rural Bookrooms” in China. Publishing Research Quarterly, vol.24, no.1, p. 16-21. Nazarova, M. (2000). Library-based programs to promote literacy: Do they exist in Azerbaijan? A paper presented at the 66th IFLA Council and General Conference, Jerusalem, Israel, August 13-18, 2000, at URL: http://archive.ifla.org/IV/ifla66/papers/124176e.htm (access date: 15.02.2011) Oevstegaard, A. M. (2000). Epos: Norway’s floating library. A paper presented at the 66th IFLA Council and General Conference, Jerusalem, Israel, August 13-18, 2000, at URL: http://archive.ifla.org/IV/ifla66/papers/141-175e.htm (access date: 15.02.2011) Ruurs, M. (2005). My librarian is a camel: How books are brought to children around the world. Honesdake, PA: Boyds Mills Press. Sawa, M. (2006). The library book: The story of libraries from camels to computers. Toronto, ON: Tundra Books.

Author Note Ray Doiron, PhD, is Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI), Canada. He teaches courses in early literacy and school librarianship and his research interests include digital literacies, social networking and school libraries. He has traveled extensively visiting libraries in several countries and currently has research projects on the role of play in early childhood education. He developed the WorldReaders.org website for sharing information on reading and libraries around the world. You may contact Dr. Doiron at [email protected]

Botswana’s Book Box Service to Primary Schools Margaret Baffour-Awuah BONELA Resource Centre, Botswana

Abstract The Book Box Service (BBS) served Botswana’s remote primary schools through a long distance children’s library service for over 30 years. It extended the reach of the public libraries into remote primary schools. It aimed at getting pupils to read for leisure and beyond the school curriculum. It served children who otherwise might never have stepped into a library during their entire primary school years. The BBS was collaboration between several government departments. The Botswana National Library Service (BNLS) acquired and processed the books and organized the training of the teachers. CTO (Central Transport Organization) provided transport and often helped with delivery to the usually remote primary schools. The Local Councils provided logistic support, sometimes providing a driver or a vehicle, and they also provided the boxes. The Department of Teacher Training and Development (TT&D) within the Ministry of Education funded the training of the teachers who ran the service, and the teachers trained student monitors and other pupils on issues such as handling of books.

Key Words Botswana; Book Box Service; Reading promotion; Access to books; Primary schools.

Background: Need for the Project The 21st century has seen Botswana classified as a middle income country. The current literacy levels stand at 81.26%. Botswana has come along way since independence from Britain in 1966, when Botswana was a rated a poor country. Botswana is a very large (581730 sq kilometers), land-locked country bordered by Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Namibia. Botswana depended on neighboring countries, mostly South Africa, for access to ports; imports of every type had to come in through neighboring countries. Botswana

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still has a relatively small population, currently projected to 1.8 million according to the last census figures (Botswana, Botswana CSO, 2001). This means that a large part of the country is sparsely populated. The Kalahari Desert covers a large in-land part of the country. It was and still is sparsely populated, and its communities, very scattered. But its linguistic homogeneity is very good; though there are a few smaller tribes, almost everybody speaks the national language which is Setswana, and most people speak the official language which is English. This geo-economic situation led to some ingenious attempts to address the challenges these harsh circumstances created. The Book Box services (BBS) and the Village Reading Rooms (VRRs) were two of the services that the Botswana National Library Service (BNLS) put into place to offset these challenges.

The Botswana Library System Botswana had a very centralized library system. The National Library Act of 1967 (Laws Of Botswana, 1988) mandated the Department to offer “a comprehensive and efficient library service for all persons desiring to make use thereof” (Laws of Botswana, 1988, Cap 58:02). The provision and maintenance of library structures and equipment is part of the mandate. BNLS through the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs was therefore mandated to provide a nation-wide library service. Botswana National Library Service (BNLS) catered for the general public through a network of public libraries and catered for special libraries within different ministries through provision of staff and their professional development. BNLS also served the educational sector, excluding the University of Botswana. The provision of the Book Box Service to primary schools through its public library network was an initiative to stretch what was available to as many as possible. The service started as a pilot project in 1976 to ten primary schools in the Tutume District. The Francistown branch library was about 100 kilometers from Tutume. In 1985 the service was extended further afield to five districts covering 120 schools, by 1991 to ten districts covering 200 schools, and when evaluated in 1991-1992, the service covered almost 30% of all public primary schools (BNLS, 1992). Interestingly, the very first Book Box Service was in the colonial era when the service was being used mostly by Africans as they were not allowed to use the “European” libraries (Mphinji, 1988). The colonial Book Box Service to the local black community was very short lived. It was fairly vibrant from March 1938 to 1941, but then slowly the usage of existing boxes ground to a halt, and the project was terminated in 1950. During the life span of that Book Box Service, rotation of boxes were done every four months so that the two hundred books in the boxes at the time could be as widely used as possible within the communities they served.

170 Margaret Baffour-Awuah This colonial era service was not a direct service to schools, but was opened to the general reading public who could not be allowed to use the European libraries. It affirmed its effectiveness in delivering a library service in the absence of a properly built and run library service. The participating libraries provided a sort of borderless library service that could be stretched far and wide, So when in 1976, an enterprising public librarian in Francistown, about 440 kilometers from Gaborone, wanted to stretch the Francistown Public library’s children’s library service far enough to embrace primary schools in remote areas in her district, she re-visited the Book Box service strategy. And phoenix-like, a Book Box Service was re-born. Its mission was to get reading material to young readers, the rationale being “let them read while young” and lay foundation for adult readership. The national Botswana vision, generally referred to as Vision 2016, when it was crafted, echoed this aim of being educated and informed. Though Botswana’s government public primary schools were not built with libraries, some primary schools have managed to develop libraries for themselves. They are generally schools with dynamic Parents Teacher Associations (PTA) and equally dynamic school management. Lesedi primary school in Gaborone, Flowertown and Xhosa primary schools both of which are in Mahalapye all raised funding through levies on the PTA as well as contributions from private organizations to build and stock good school libraries. These are individual school based initiatives. In 1993, the Report of the Second National Commission on Education was accepted by Government and the Revised National Policy on Education (RNPE) became Government White Paper No 2 of 1994, making it Government policy. The hope for the development of a vast network of primary school libraries across the country hinged on one word in Recommendation 14 of the document; there it was stated “ a standard primary school shall have the following…; the word ‘library’ appeared as the third item on that list. But the primary school library situation did not change. It was going to be an enormous undertaking since there were then over 725 government public primary schools. The rationalization was that it be done in phases; there were other priorities: many primary schools needed staff. Outdoor cooking areas needed to be transformed into purpose built kitchens (Botswana has a school feeding program, due to challenges of HIV orphans and so on), and so for the most part primary schools remained without school libraries. Though in Gaborone, currently seven primary schools have purpose built libraries, this is just a drop in the ocean across the country. That is why, to the public primary schools, the Book Box Service served as a sort of surrogate school library for close to three hundred remote area government public schools for about thirty years.

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Description of the Project The foremost aim of the Book Box Service was to promote reading, stretching the walls of the public library to embrace primary schools as far away as over 100 kilometers. The service objectives were as follows: • • • • •

fostering the cultivation of a love of reading; provision of leisure reading materials for the pupils; provision of reading materials in support of the curriculum; provision of reading materials for teachers (after an evaluation had recommended for the extension of the service to provide greater variety of material including reference material); and provision of games for leisure and intellectual stimulation.

Primary school pupils were the principal targets of the service, and further into the service their teachers were also catered for. All staff within a school, including non-teaching staff, could use the service though, in reality, it was used mostly by pupils and only occasionally teachers. At the height of the service there were 285 primary schools involved. Some schools had enrolment of over 900 pupils (Tsabong Primary school had over one thousand) but for the most part, the school enrolments were around 500–700, though there were some smaller schools. Not all 700+ public government primary schools were eligible for the service. Eligibility for a school’s participation, involved the following: a) Expressed need from the school management b) Distance from the nearest public library. Settlements or villages within 8 kilometers of a public library were ineligible for participation; anything less than eight kilometers was deemed to be walk-able. The only exception, made after consultations and letters, was to a Disabled School facility c) Commitment that a teacher is willing to run the service and willing to be trained d) Commitment from the school Head to support the service e) Approval /recommendation by the Local Council. The books, in line with the thinking of mother tongue reading material provision, were provided in Setswana and English to promote literacy. There were always too few Setswana books, and they tended to be the most tattered and usually the first candidates for repairs and or withdrawal; the few were handled too often. Originally most books targeted school pupils, although teachers might also request classics such as A Tale of Two Cities or books by local authors. Books from African Writers Series or from the Pacesetters series (such as Love on the Rocks by Sesinyi, a local Motswana writer) were very popular with the upper class students and some teachers. By 1986, there were 136 participating primary schools; by 1997, the number of participating pri-

172 Margaret Baffour-Awuah mary schools had grown to 232, and many requests for the service were coming in.

Strategies and Resources Used The books for the Book Box Service were initially all selected by the National Library staff, much the same way as the public library books were selected, but after sometime there were requests from the branch librarians for input into the selection process. Meetings and discussions led to decentralisation of the selection process. Being at the forefront of the service, the Public Librarians interacted with the primary schools and their teachers. So the schools reports then suggested titles to be added in. Books were also selected through numerous book displays which book publishers and book sellers put on during BNLS divisional meetings and BNLS workshops for its staff, for educators, and for school heads. Catalogues were also used extensively (print and later electronic), but actual physical examination of a potential addition was always a preferred option. The selected books were property-stamped, accessioned, classified, and provided with a protective cover. The spine labels were colour coded according to the ten basic Dewey divisions. The spine label was edged around its four sides with the colour of a particular subject in Dewey, e.g., Red for Religion. This system was used to make it easier for users to select the books they wanted. Inside one Book Box would be reading materials about 40% fiction and 60% easy readers in various subject areas. After the evaluation of the Book Box Service in 1992, the service was expanded to include reference materials and games. The requirements for the project, apart from processed books, were boxes and padlocks. The initial boxes were wooden, and each held approximately 200 books. The terrain then was quiet rough, and this was very hard on the wooden boxes. Of course, transportation and storage were challenges, because initially many branch libraries didn’t have transport and sometimes had to share vehicles with the nearest public library, sometimes a distance of thirtyeight kilometers away (e.g., the Mahalapye and Serowe branch libraries). Each branch held a stock of new books already processed from the BNLS headquarters, using them to periodically inject new life into the boxes. For efficient rotation, each box was uniquely numbered, so that there would be no mistake of a school getting back the same box at the beginning of the following term. The boxes were rotated at the beginning of every term, and they were collected at the end of every term. Repair work was done at the public library over the school holidays; newer stock was added, and replacements were made for those books that had been withdrawn. The challenge was the selection into any one particular box, considering the need to serve every level from the six year old to the young teen. After the

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1992 evaluation, and acceptance of the Consultancy recommendations, especially for increased and varied material, there was a switch to metal boxes which the Local Councils of participating districts agreed to pay for. The combination of metal and books meant weight, and the challenge of moving materials. This led to the metal half cabinet, about the height of a children’s library shelf. This cabinet was the type that opened to reveal doors into which magazines and pamphlets could be put as display. They also had four shelves within and had coasters, which meant they could easily be moved from classroom to another. Transport was another essential part of the service delivery. For libraries without transport, the Central Transport Organisation (CTO) provided the vehicles for the branch library to drop the boxes of books at the beginning of term and to collect them at the end of term. The Local Councils bore the cost of providing the book boxes. The Department of Teacher Training and Development financed the training of teachers on reading promotion, book repair, circulation, and so on.

The Role of the Book Box Teacher Librarian and of the Users In the participating school, a teacher was trained as school librarian, though other teachers helped as they took their pupils to use the books. The teacher librarian’s role involved the following: • • • • • • • •

Knowledge of pupils reading levels to facilitate easier choice of material. Know the book stock; pupils, ability and taste. Introduce pupils to good authors and titles Recommend helpful reference books for particular assignments. Put book summaries on the walls in attractive pattern. E.g., caterpillar, each pupil review becomes a segment of the caterpillar. Reward good readers, e.g., awards made by teacher, such as an elephant award for five titles read; a hippo award for four titles read-these were suggestions in workshops Hold book talks, story telling sessions, encourage children evaluate books read Deal with lost or mutilated books.

Pupils (and any other users) also had a role. They had to be willing to learn how to use the collection. Considering levels of intelligence and maturity, at primary level the pupil were expected to learn to: • • •

recognize different parts of the book (title page, contents, index etc. handle a book (i.e., not in such a way as to damage it) understand how subjects and categories in the library are linked (i.e. reference, fiction, non-fiction),

174 Margaret Baffour-Awuah •

recognize that colours used in the spine are connected with the different subjects, e.g., Generalities - dark green.

Assessment and Evaluation In the early 1990s, the decision was made to have an independent evaluation of the service to find an informed way forward. The Book Box Service was formally evaluated by SIAPAC, a consultancy firm (see, BLNS, 1992). Some of the issues that needed to be addressed were as follows: • • •

• • • • •

Was the Book Box Service making an impact? How did the pupils, as the primary target of the service see it? How did the primary school teachers being used by the Branch public libraries to run the service, see it? How did they perceive their role? Was the brief orientation provided by the branch librarian enough to equip them adequately to run the service or was more required? Concerning the content of the boxes, would teachers prefer something else? How well was the service being used within any school set-up? Did it address, adequately the reading material needs of pupils across the various levels of the school system, or were certain sections left out? What did they really want from the service? Did expectations meet the provision? Were there enough books? Were the times of use adequate? How would they like to see the service evolve, if there was a chance it could be modified, how would they want that done?

A reference committee was set up consisting of representatives from all of the major stake holders: the Botswana National Library Service (BNLS), the Department of Local Government, two primary school teachers, and two branch librarians from among the participating branch libraries. There were changes to the Book Box Service post-evaluation. Among these changes were the introduction of games, such as Scrabble, Monopoly, and Snakes and Ladders, and the inclusion of different types of books, such as reference books, a few novels for teachers, and books in many subject areas. A greater frequency of rotation was recommended. The reference material was not rotated as often as the rest of the stock. Reference books were kept for up to a year, and then collected by the Branch Libraries and replaced with a different set. A further recommendation was to accelerate frequency of training for the teachers running the service. This was to mitigate the effects of the frequent transfer of teachers to other schools. The evaluation report also indicated that some schools that previously had had a trained teacher no longer had them, due to transfer or promotion; some teachers were promoted (e.g., to Deputy

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Head of school) and then found it impossible to continue in the role due to extent of the new responsibilities. So, in conjunction with the Ministry of Education, BNLS started a series of trainings around the country. Training programs were drawn up in consultation with the public librarians. Training programs addressed the teachers’ role, the basics of circulation, the nature and use of reference material, and so on. Professional monitoring has provided evidence of the positive impact of the Book Box Service. The author (Baffour-Awuah, 2000) found that Phuduhudu Primary School leaving results had gone steadily up since they started using the Book Box Service in 1998.The village of Phuduhudu, right in the middle of the Kalahari Desert, was being serviced from Kang, a big village about 100 kilometers away. Because the inhabitants of Phuduhudu have to learn Setswana as a second language (a linguistic disadvantage as Setswana was not their mother tongue) and hardly any English was spoken in their homes, their school’s leaving results were indeed phenomenal. The year the presentation was made that school had won the District Best Results Trophy, a testimony that, in Botswana also, reading makes a difference.

Current State of the Project In 2010 the Educational Libraries Division which had been responsible for the Book Box Service to Primary Schools was handed back to the Ministry of Education, through the Ministry of Youth Sports and Culture which was then responsible for BNLS. The MOE does not seem to have adequately prepared to receive this responsibility. After almost a year, the Book Boxes are still in the schools. Some individual schools are using the contents of the boxes still, but the formal centralised system with its rotation has stopped. Also, some public libraries still hold a pool of books, old and new, from which they drew to renew the Book Boxes, and these are still available. Recently, one of the Education Centers which facilitate in-service training within the Ministry of Education was trying to start training for the service in one particular district. They were asking for a manual which had been prepared for the service by a Book Box co-coordinator in BNLS (Sethlake, 2006). These signs suggest that the project may be resurrected in a different mode someday; but only time will tell.

Conclusion Various studies have shown (see, for example: Baffour-Awuah, 2000) that the exposure to the reading material boosted pupils’ reading ability and improved their general work results. In these harsh economic times when, in some countries, library budgets are dwindling, a possible means of extending library

176 Margaret Baffour-Awuah services could be a Book Box Service. This service also has the potential to be used in refugee camps and in other settings where people are displaced or sparsely scattered.

References Baffour-Awuah, Margaret. [1994]. Attempting to serve primary school library needs: The Primary Schools Book Box Service. Gaborone: Government Printer Baffour-Awuah, Margaret. (2000). Reading makes a difference. Paper presented to the IASL Conference in Malmo, Sweden Baffour-Awuah, Margaret, &Tumisang, J. Baruti. (1999). School library provision in Botswana. Presentation at the Focus On Youth: Reading & Information Needs Of Children & Youth For The 21st Century International Conference, July 12-15, 1999. The University of the Western Cape, Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa Botswana CSO (Central Statistics Office). ( 2001). Population census. Botswana. National Assembly. (1988). The National Library Act, 1967. In Laws of Botswana, Cap 58:02. Gaborone: Government Printer Botswana National Library Service. (1992). An evaluation of the Book Box Service. Report Prepared for Botswana National Library Service by the Social Impact Assessment and Policy Analysis Corporation (SIAPAC). Gaborone: National Library Service. Mphinji, S. D. (1988). The Book Box Service to primary schools; Diploma in Library Service project. Gaborone: University of Botswana. Sethlake, Anastasia. (2006). A manual for the Book Box Service. Gaborone: National Library Service

Author Note Margaret Baffour-Awuah, BEd, PGLIS, MLIS, FCILIP, was a teacher, columnist, and librarian. She was Principal Librarian 1, Head of Educational Libraries’ Division of the Botswana National Library Service, and later Head of Division in the BNLS. Before that she was a librarian at the University of Cape Coast Library, Ghana. She was editor of the Botswana Library Association Newsletter for many years and served on the BLA Executive. She was also involved in the Inter-Agency Material Production Agency of the Botswana National Library Service. Under that umbrella, she wrote two books that were published in Setswana. Margaret was IASL Regional Director for Sub-Saharan Africa and also serves on the editorial board of School Libraries Worldwide. Contact email: [email protected]

Participation of Croatian School Librarians in Teaching Children with Intellectual Disabilities Ivanka Stričević University of Zadar, LIS Department, Croatia

Ivana Perić Petar Preradović Elementary School, Zadar, Croatia

Abstract All children have the right to quality education and information where a school library plays an important role. This paper gives an overview of a good practice of enabling children with special needs to access a school library and draw benefit from it. From observing an elementary school in Zadar and its school library, it is evident that children with intellectual disabilities participate in learning activities organised by and held in the school library and that this participation improves their academic accomplishments and quality of life. Integrating school libraries in teaching children with special needs is an example of successful adaptation and extension of library services, as well as of teamwork of school librarians and the rest of the school staff, the special education teacher in particular. This approach validates the expression "school in the library" as opposed to the traditional notion of “library in the school.” The described program is applicable to all schools with special education classes. It is very flexible which makes it a potential educational model to be applied as an extension of library services.

Keywords Croatia; Students with learning difficulties; Students with intellectual disabilities; Inclusive education; Learning in the school library.

Background Education has become more important than ever because the information age and digital environment demand that individuals develop competencies for lifelong learning and to be able to grow professionally, be employable, im-

178 Ivanka Stričević and Ivana Perić prove personally and contribute to the community. Systematic development of lifelong learning competencies begins in elementary school. Croatia’s primary education is based on these principles. There are 876 elementary schools in Croatia, and each must have a library. The level of services in these libraries varies depending on location (rural or urban area), size of a school, the enthusiasm and skill level of the school librarian, school management support, and so on. Elementary education is mandatory in Croatia for all children between the ages of six and fifteen; children with special needs are also entitled to elementary education. Regular elementary schools with special education programs provide opportunities for all children and promote the idea of education for all. Such schools base their programs on the belief that every child can learn and that all children are entitled to support in learning. Through inclusion, these schools change attitudes and prejudices of past generations while using teaching methods adjusted to a range of children’s needs. Quality of education holds a priority in many international and Croatian official documents that regulate activities and obligations of public institutions for children and youth as well as their right to education (see, for example, Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989; Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2007; Nacionalni plan aktivnosti za prava i interese djece ..., 2006; Nacionalni okvirni kurikulum..., 2010). All children, regardless of their mental capacity, are entitled to quality education (UN Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons, 1975; Council Resolution on Equal Opportunities for Pupils and Students with Disabilities in Education and Training, 2003). For this reason school libraries, as integral parts of educational systems, have special tasks. Children with intellectual disabilities have limited ability to learn and need special attention and assistance during their schooling. In this paper we focus on children who have an intellectual disorder known as mild mental retardation which causes intellectual disability. Intellectual disability is not an illness but a collective name for a set of genetic, medical and social states that cause below average intellectual functioning. Such individuals cannot be cured, but through various measures their mental development and social functioning can be improved. There is no single definition that encompasses the complexity of the concept of intellectual disability. The IFLA Glossary of Terms and Definitions borrows its definition of intellectual disability from the World Health Organization where it is defined as: “arrested or incomplete development of the mind that can occur with or without any other physical or mental disorders, and is characterized by impairment of skills and overall intelligence in areas such as cognition, language, and motor and social abilities ... these definitions have three criteria in common: significant limitations in intellectual functioning, significant limitations in adaptive behaviour, and manifestation of these symptoms before adulthood.” (Library Services to People with Special Needs Section Glossary of Terms and Definitions, 2009, p.17)

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Intellectual disability imposes a significant limit to the life quality of an individual which is characterized by significantly below average intellectual functioning, alongside with decreased ability level of two or more adaptive skills such as communication, self-care, housing, social skills, self-direction, health care and safety, functional academic skills, leisure and employment. Children with intellectual disabilities are slower to physically develop, acquire language, learn how to care for themselves, and to master academic skills (Krampač-Grljušić & Marinić, 2007). The necessity of special attention to the most vulnerable users has been recognized by IFLA and by the Croatian Library Association specifically through the activities of their sections for library services to people with special needs (IFLA Library Services to People with Special Needs Section; CLA Commission for Library Service to People with Special Needs). They publish documents and guidelines to encourage development of the quality library services for people with special needs. These publications are not specifically about children in school libraries, but they clearly indicate the need for inclusion of persons with special needs, define the role of the library, and describe the way libraries should operate. Studies have shown (see, for example, Todd & Kuhlthau, 2004; Williams, 2001) that a good school library contributes to learning and academic progress, thus demonstrating the importance of school libraries. School libraries are an integral part of educational system so their outcome is a reflection of the entire educational system. Modern teaching strategies that centre on a student’s experience, learning through guided inquiry and increasing the knowledge show the necessity of a library and the need for its integration into teaching and learning. (Kuhlthau et al., 2007). The International Association of School Librarianship web site contains projects and studies demonstrating that school libraries make a significant difference to student achievement (International Association of School Librarianship, 2008). However, there are far fewer papers by authors who have researched the role of a school library in teaching children with special needs, even though experience have shown that school libraries have a positive effect on educational, developmental and social achievements of such students (Zambone & Jones, 2010). Also, while discussing at-risk students, Jones and Zambone point to the fact that a school librarian may be an excellent support to all vulnerable students including the students with special needs, in their educational, social and emotional progress. The librarian can offer relevant instructions, learning support, as well as attention and respect (Jones & Zambone, 2008).

School Libraries in Croatia The Croatian school system is developed on the principle of ‘learning to learn’ and ‘school for all,’ committing to an educational system that is accessible to

180 Ivanka Stričević and Ivana Perić everyone. This enables and encourages the integration of students with special needs into the regular school system (Ministarstvo znanosti, obrazovanja i športa, 2006; 2010). The school library plays a role in all curricular and extracurricular activities, as a place for studying and spending leisure time. According to Croatian law, each school must have a school library staffed with a school librarian holding a master’s degree in librarianship. A modern school library is the information, media and communication centre of a school. It is a place for information and learning, primarily intended for students’ and teachers’ scholastic needs, but it also supports the extracurricular activities and programs, and is used as a meeting and leisure place. School librarians’ professional role is educational, (library) professional, cultural and public. Conducting the project ‘Croatian national educational standard for elementary schools’ since 2006, librarians are introducing changes in educational programs through the program ‘Information literacy and reading promotion’ (Ministarstvo obrazovanja, znanosti i športa, 2006). As a part of this project a school librarian teaches independent research and project methodology, while encouraging critical thinking in selecting, evaluating and using the information. Furthermore, through work with students and various organized programs and activities, the librarian encourages reading. Working with students with disabilities has always been a part of Croatian school libraries' program but only on one-to-one and occasional basis, as study help, homework help, reading guidance, and so on. Examples of continuous educational activity where a school librarian participates in teaching students with intellectual disabilities are rare. However, such program is implemented in an elementary school in Zadar for students between six and fourteen years of age. Two school librarians are involved in Croatian language classes for a group of students with special needs. They organise reading programs and teach students information literacy using methods that are most appropriate for students’ abilities.

Description of the Practice Aims and Objectives The overall aim of the program is to help students with intellectual disabilities exercise their right to education, assist them with learning, improve their academic achievements and to make them more confident. The school library's goals are the accomplishments of its mission to be the information and learning centre of the school, its affirmation in school and local community and promotion of school librarians’ profession. The objectives of the education system are: getting students used to the library space and creating a stimulating environment for learning; developing a positive attitude toward libraries, books and reading; educating active readers; developing positive attitude toward learning and encouraging curiosity; introducing students to learning

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resources, print and non-print material; increasing use of library resources, particularly easy-to-read materials; adapting information literacy education to individual abilities; improving the spoken and written communication; developing communication skills (especially active listening); encouraging creativity through various forms of expression (art, drama, music) and development of motor skills. Organization of Inclusive Education All children learn through interaction with others. Some children have disabilities preventing them from accomplishing the school assignments expected from others. For this reason the curriculum for children with special needs is adjusted to their abilities. To gain a better insight first, an observation is carried out based on the Ordinance for primary school enrolment (Ministarstvo zdravstva i Ministarstvo prosvjete i kulture, 1991). The expert team, including the pedagogue, psychologist, special education teacher and medical doctor, design the observation program, and plan its implementation, monitoring and the evaluation of results. The child’s parents and teachers also participate in the process. Based on the observations and findings of the expert team, the State Administration Office issues an official instruction on appropriate model of education for the particular student. Students with special needs can attend regular school following the model of individualization, model of adjusted program or model of special program. Through the observation it is determined which of the three possible education paths is the most appropriate. Primary education of children with special needs may also be carried out in special institutions. Children with mild mental retardation attend regular school through a program that ensures their partial or complete inclusion (Krampač-Grljušić & Marinić, 2007). They are entitled to special forms of education set by the Regulations on elementary education of students with disabilities (Ministarstvo prosvjete i kulture, 1991). Students with learning disabilities are typically included in regular classes (full integration/inclusion) with individualized methods of teaching and/or curriculum. A possible model of inclusion is education through special education classes. The program has been included into this school (Petar Preradović Elementary School) and became a part of school library services in January 2009. It got a significant support from the school management, particularly the director, which is one of the prerequisites for program’s success. The special education class (SEC) is organized for students with intellectual disabilities (the term “mild mental retardation” was used in the past). Some of the subjects are taught in a special classroom with the aid of special education teacher: Croatian language, mathematics and science. The rest of the subjects--visual art, music, physical education, religion, foreign languages--are carried out in the regular classroom with the rest of the students, but with the appropriate adjustment of the curriculum and with various forms of support. This is a model of partial integration.

182 Ivanka Stričević and Ivana Perić The special education class (SEC) is a form of education for students with special needs prescribed by the Teaching Plan and Program published by the Ministry of Science, Education and Sport in 2006 and National Curriculum Framework (Ministarstvo znanosti, obrazovanja i športa, 2010) and it represents an important step toward inclusion of students with special needs into regular schools. Partial integration in Zadar region begun at the end of 2007 when this elementary school established the first special education class in Zadar county. This year seven students of chronological age from 8 to 14 with mild mental retardation diagnosis attend the SEC at this school. The class is diverse with respect to age. One student is in second grade, two in fourth, two in sixth, and two in eighth grade. All students are taught at the same time. The special education teacher creates yearly curriculum framework for each student. Work with students is based on individual educational program where objectives, tasks and activities are defined monthly throughout the year. Participation of the Library in Inclusive Education The library participates in teaching students with intellectual disability through the SEC program focused on Croatian language classes and information literacy lessons. Once a week the Croatian language reading class is held in the library where students read adapted texts or texts chosen especially for them, and then discuss them. The librarian (who is both Croatian language teacher and librarian), the special education teacher and the students all partake in the class. The special education teacher selects a book from the library collection. The teaching methods are agreed upon and, when needed, the text is modified. The librarian selects the teaching method and does the teaching. The special education teacher assists individual students when and if necessary. After reading the text, the students discuss, analyze and read it out loud. Various related activities follow (drawing, making picture books, making posters, art shows, making characters out of various materials, theatrical improvisations, and so on). Information literacy lessons are directed toward learning about library and information sources and are conducted individually and with a group. A class is designed for a flexible timeframe (from 45 minutes to 90 minutes) and it follows the regular reading class structure. Goals and work assignments are elaborated and adjusted to the age and abilities of each student. During the class, librarians give most attention to motivation. In the first, or the motivation, phase of the class the students play guessing games, tactile games and solve riddles as their experience is enhanced and they are introduced to the topic. In this phase teachers try to determine students’ prior experience and knowledge. Relating to students’ real life experiences is very important because it facilitates the transition to abstract thinking. It is important to note that this part of the class presents an opportunity for the introduction of information literacy education where students learn to use the available sources of information. Paying attention to the degree of students’ interest,

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attention level and abilities the librarians start with teaching library literacy then progress toward information literacy education. After the motivation phase, librarians introduce the topic, the author and the activities plan, This is followed by interpretative reading and a puppet show. Motivated in such a way students easily understand the characters, recognize relationships and conflicts solve problems, and draw conclusions, ideas and messages from the book. The book analysis is next and it continues through the conversation on the topic, characters’ personalities, and main points of the story. The direction of this conversation depends on the students’ reactions, level of interest and participation. As the synthesis of the class students retell what they have read, talk about new things they have learned, read out loud or act out the story from the text. Students are never corrected, instead they are guided as to gain the confidence in reading and willingness to participate again. Following the synthesis the students draw the scenes from the book, make the characters out of play dough, create simple stick figures for the class puppet show, make the book of illustrations of chapters/poems etc. The actualization is the last phase of the class when students display the artwork in the library gallery, decorate school areas or participate in some school program together with the rest of the students. Finally students return to their classroom and special education teacher instructs them about their homework. Parents are expected to help with writing book reports, essays on experiences from the library or something similar. All phases of the classes are planned in advance; however, the plan implementation depends on the level of students’ interest, their attention level and their participation. Audience/Population Reached In our school, seven students with intellectual disabilities who are partially integrated into regular classes attend the reading class and the rest of the time they learn with special education teacher and school librarians. This program indirectly affects all students in the school (644 students, ages 7 to 15), as well as the teachers, the pedagogue, the psychologist and the parents of children with special needs. Many students from regular classes participate in making the scene props for plays by children with intellectual disabilities and often spend time together in the school library. The program lacks in collaboration between the librarians and the children’s parents as this relationship is the most often made with special education teacher, but not with the librarian. Human and Financial Resources Initiators and the staff members responsible for the reading class program in the school library for students with special educational needs are the two school librarians and the special education teacher who teaches the SEC. Other teachers occasionally contribute to the program. Starting with the aca-

184 Ivanka Stričević and Ivana Perić demic year 2010 this program has been included in school program as an extracurricular educational activity carried out by the school library. The program implementation does not require additional financing as it is already a part of school curriculum within the school library educational role. However, it is necessary to invest in collection development of print and nonprint materials for students with special needs, particularly of the collection of easy to read materials as well as didactic games, movies, books on tape, and special software programs. Monitoring and Assessment The program is continuously monitored. Performance evaluations are carried out twice in a school year. Special education teacher assesses and evaluates the student’s individual progress. The school librarian analyses students' activities in the library. Special education teacher’ and school librarian’ assessments show that students with intellectual disability come to the school library more often and that they enjoy spending time there even when there is no organized program, that they are more independent in library and information sources use, demonstrate better performances in reading and writing skills, better comprehension, greater interest in books and reading, more interest in other library services and resources, their communication skills are improved and they demonstrate greater confidence. Outcomes of the SEC Program Aside from listed benefits for individual students the value of the program is reflected in decreased stigmatizing of students with special needs, increased awareness of the surroundings, namely other students, of the needs of other children and, finally, in teachers’ recognition of library resources and potential. Additionally there is the opportunity for affirmation of the library as the program contributes to visibility of the school library and motivate other school librarians in the region to undertake similar projects. Also the program helped to promote the profession of a school librarian and it drew attention of the academic community to school librarians’ activities. Furthermore, this approach validates the expression "school in the library" which is the opposite of the traditional notion of “library in the school”.

Lessons Learned and Recommendations The SEC program is a good example of collaboration of school librarians, the special education teacher, and the subject teachers. It is applicable to all schools that offer special education classes. Its content and methods are very flexible which makes it a potential model to be applied in extension of library services.

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This example of good practice is applicable to all schools that implement integration of children with special needs, where children attend regular program with other children, but they also attend a special program. It is in this special program that the roles of school libraries and librarians are the most noticeable. Because the content and methods of such a program are very flexible, it can be applied as an extension of library services. The following should be taken into consideration: • •

• • • • • •

The program must be based on children’s abilities, needs and interests; A special program should not become an instrument of stigmatization, segregation and exclusion (of others), but of enrichment and broadening of knowledge and experience acquired in the classes with other students; The program requires teamwork of a school librarian, a special education teacher and other members of the school’s expert team; The program is a good example of experts' cooperation which can be a source of ideas for subject teachers; The school librarian is an information specialist and educational worker who is required to have information but also education and methodical-didactic competence, as implied in the attribute 'school'; The librarian has to be additionally educated on the subject of children with special needs and special education; The librarian should participate in design of curricula for children with special needs; and The librarian should find ways to involve parents of students with special needs in school library's activities.

The SEC program requires constant monitoring and evaluation where students’ measurable achievements are important factors, but equally as important is the evaluation of the broader environment, which can increase the quality of life of children with special needs and serve as the ethos of the school in the community.

References Council of the European Union. (2003). Council Resolution on equal opportunities for pupils and students with disabilities in education and training. Official Journal of the European Communities. (2003/C 134/04), at URL: http://www.ozida.gov.tr/raporlar/ uluslararasi/ab/ABmuktesebati/2003employmentsocialintegration.pdf International Association of School Librarianship. (2008). School Libraries Make a Difference to Student Achievement, at URL: http://www.iasl-online.org/advocacy/make-adifference.html (access date: 27.11.2010) Jones, J. B., & Zambone, A. (2008). The power of the media specialist to improve academic achievement and strengthen at-risk students. Worthington, OH: Linworth.

186 Ivanka Stričević and Ivana Perić Komisija za knjižnične usluge za osobe s posebnim potrebama Hrvatskog knjižničnog društva: plan i program rada, at URL: http://www.hkdrustvo.hr (access date: 26.11. 2010) Krampač-Grljušić, A., & Marinić, I. (2007). Posebno djete: Priručnik za učitelje u radu s djecom s posebnim obrazovnim potrebama. Osijek: Grafika. Kuhlthau, C. C., Maniotes, L. K., & Caspari, A. K. (2007). Guided inquiry: Learning in the 21st century. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited. Library Services to People with Special Needs Section, at URL: http://www.ifla.org/en/lsn (access date: 24.11.2010) Library Services to People with Special Needs Section Glossary of Terms and Definitions. (2009). Compiled by Nancy Mary Panella. The Hague: IFLA Headquarters. IFLA Professional Reports, no. 117, at URL: http://www.ifla.org/files/hq/publications/professionalreport/117.pdf (access date: 16.11.2010) Ministarstvo prosvjete i kulture. (1991). Pravilnik o osnovnoškolskom odgoju i obrazovanju učenika s teškoćama u razvoju, at URL: www.skole.hr/dokumenti?dm_ document_id=307&dm_dnl=1 (access date: 05.02.2011) Ministarstvo zdravstva i Ministarstvo prosvjete i kulture. (1991). Pravilnik o upisu djece u osnovnu školu, at URL: www.skole.hr/dokumenti?dm_document_id=312&dm_dnl=1 (access date: 05.02.2011) Ministarstvo znanosti, obrazovanja i športa. (2010). Nacionalni okvirni kurikulum za predškolski odgoj i obrazovanje te opće obvezno i srednjoškolsko obrazovanje, at URL: http://public.mzos.hr/Default.aspx?sec=2685 (access date: 17.11.2010) Ministarstvo znanosti, obrazovanja i športa. (2006). Nastavni plan i program za osnovnu školu. Zagreb: Ministarstvo znanosti, obrazovanja i športa. Ministarstvo obitelji, branitelja i međugeneracijske solidarnosti. (2006). Nacionalni plan aktivnosti za prava i interese djece od 2006. do 2012. godine. Zagreb: Ministarstvo obitelji, branitelja i međugeneracijske solidarnosti. Todd, R., & Kuhlthau, C. C. (2004). Student learning through Ohio school libraries: Background, methodology and report of findings. Columbus, OH: OELMA. UNICEF. (1989). Convention on the rights of the child, at URL: http://www.unicef.org/crc/ (access date: 21.11.2010) United Nations. (2007). Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, at URL: http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=259 (access date: 27.11.2010) United Nations. (1975). Declaration on the rights of disabled persons, at URL: http://www.un-documents.net/a30r3447.htm (access date: 05.02.2011) Williams, D. (2001). Impact of school library services on achievement and learning, at URL: http://www.rgu.ac.uk/files/ACF1C8D.pdf (access date: 28.11.2010) Zambone, A. M., & Jones, J. B. (2010, February). Special Ed101 for School Librarians. School Library Media Activities Monthly, at URL: http://findarticles.com/p/ articles/mi_7729/is_201002/ai_n54715475/ (access date: 20.11.2010)

Author Notes Ivanka Stričević earned an MA in pedagogy in 1995 and a PhD in information sciences in 2006 at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb. Since 2007 she has been employed as assistant professor at the LIS Department, University of Zadar and teaches several courses related to library services for

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youth, pedagogy of reading, information literacy, users’ information needs, and information services in educational institutions. From 2003 to 2007 she was the Chair of the IFLA Libraries for Children and Young Adults Section (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions), and she is the current Chair of IFLA’s Literacy and Reading Section. Contact email:

Ivana Perić is a Croatian language and literature teacher and a school librarian. She graduated with a Croatian language and literature degree in 1999 from the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zadar and with an LIS degree in 2005 from the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Osijek. Since 2002 she has been employed as a school librarian and Croatian language teacher at Petar Preradović Elementary school in Zadar. Since 2009 she has been involved in the reading class program for the group of children with intellectual disabilities. Contact email:

Lubuto Library Project: Bringing Knowledge to Zambian Children Stacy Langner German Foundation for World Population, Tanzania

Jane Kinney Meyers Lubuto Library Project, USA

Mary M. Wagner St. Catherine University, USA

Abstract The Lubuto Library Project’s approach to meeting the needs of orphans, vulnerable children and youth in Sub-Saharan Africa is described. Lubuto Libraries address the psychosocial and educational needs of this societally-isolated population, providing education-centered programs for reconnecting marginalized youth with mainstream society. The Lubuto Library Project builds safe, accessible and welcoming facilities where culturally relevant resources, information, education and literacy services are offered, including programs to develop and increase literacy skills for children both in and out of school. Partnership between the Lubuto Library Project and the Zambian Ministry of Education, local schools, and community organizations is a model for sustainability.

Keywords Lubuto Library Project; Zambia; Sub-Saharan Africa; Orphans; Vulnerable children; Street children; Early literacy development; Library buildings; Partnerships.

Introduction What future lies ahead for countries where libraries, books, literacy activities for children are limited, ineffective or nonexistent? How can orphans, vulnerable children and youth (OVCY) who live on the streets or are not in school

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access books and develop literacy skills? If the youth of a country are socially isolated, how do they become engaged and active in the civil society as adults? These questions prompted the development of the Lubuto Library Project (LLP), a non-governmental organization (NGO) that works with communities in African countries hardest hit by the HIV/AIDS pandemic to address the needs of these children, starting with Zambia. Lubuto Libraries directly support literacy development, leveraging existing community-based programs to create an open system of accessible and holistic services and programs serving needs of children and their caregivers. Zambia, like most nations in Sub-Saharan Africa, is a country of children. The youth population is large and growing; 2008 data from UNICEF shows that more than half the country’s population is under the age of 18. Over 16% of Zambian children have lost one or both parents, and many more are faced with the challenge of caring for younger siblings or parents living with HIV/AIDS. Some are taken in by grandparents or extended family, but many live in orphanages or in culverts, under trees or literally on the street. They suffer from hunger and lack of decent shelter, clean water and adequate sanitation, and they are vulnerable to abuse, neglect, child labor, child trafficking, prostitution, early pregnancies and marriages, and diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and diarrhea. In addition, the social isolation experienced by OVCY leads to: • • • • • •

Trauma and emotional difficulties resulting from violence, deprivation and loss; Low levels of literacy; Withdrawal or the inability to attend school; Limited or no access to services; Limited opportunities for positive economic and social engagement; and Loss of cultural identity.

Educational outcomes among OVCY in Zambia are particularly troubling. There are no fees to attend primary school (through grade 9), but attendance is not without costs. The money required to buy uniforms and books, for example, is beyond the means of many. Moreover, barriers to school attendance go beyond the financial. Other factors include needing to care for younger siblings in a child-headed household or with one with very ill parents; needing to beg, work or steal during the day for subsistence; dealing with stigma (e.g., the children of sex workers); or suffering such psychological trauma that it is impossible to function in a school setting. Those who do attend school find crowded classrooms, sometimes led by teachers with minimal qualifications and lacking basic supplies such as chalk and paper. If this population of youth is to provide the leadership for the economic and social development of the country, they need real opportunities develop literacy, awareness, skills, knowledge and confidence.

190 Stacy Langner, Jane Kinney Meyers and Mary M. Wagner In this context and to address of this need, the Lubuto Library Project was born. Lubuto is a word in the IciBemba language of the Bemba people of Central Africa that means "enlightenment, knowledge and light." LLP, founded in 2005, has as an overarching goal of linking caring people to OVCY. Its objectives are to: • • •

Deliver accessible, high-quality educational services to OVC, integrated with the formal education system; Provide psychosocial support directly or by connecting OVCY with needed services; and Build capacity among educators and community members to support OVCY.

To achieve these objectives, LLP provides a safe, accessible and welcoming public facility. Each Lubuto Library’s design reflects indigenous culture, enhancing the pride and self-esteem of its users, and provides maximum functionality and sustainability. The comfortable, inspiring environments are places where young people feel at home and connected to their roots, and they are intrinsic to the experience and impact of library programs on individual users. Within the buildings, information, education and literacy services engage the OVCY. There is open access to high-quality collections of books for children and activities to enhance and extend literacy--art, drama, dance, music, health education, computer use and mentoring. These programs, which benefit from community connections and collaborations, provide social integration, psychosocial support, and avenues for creative expression and learning suited to the individual needs and aptitudes of the children. The focus of this chapter is on LLP’s holistic approach to literacy development which furthers the social and economic development of the communities served. LLP’s origins, growth and current work; lessons learned along the way; and plans for the future are described. This living, viable project provides a model for fostering literacy, and language skills, general knowledge of the world, enjoyment of books and learning, and a sense of self-worth among disadvantaged children around the world. The Lubuto Library Project is one model for librarians, teachers and those interested in literacy development. The model can be used to meet the needs of children in less-developed countries. There are many countries where a reading culture is absent, yet children need books with words and pictures to grow in their understanding of themselves and the world they live in. LLP’s close cooperation with the national ministry of education, local schools and drop-in centers makes possible the provision of sustained library services to children. The librarians and teachers working with OVCY are rewarded with a sense of accomplishment knowing that local control will sustain the programs and literacy efforts over time, once the buildings are built and services in place. Those working with LLP are rewarded every time a child comes into the library, selects a book and wants to “read the story” to an adult. The chil-

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dren are rewarded each time they come and find a teacher, a librarian or an adult volunteer who will listen to them read and in turn will read to them, introducing new words, new concepts, and new ideas. This is a model that allows children to learn, supporting those who are attending school as well as those outside formal education.

The Lubuto Library Project’s Approach The Lubuto Library Project’s approach provides a model for: 1. Planning and construction of enduring public facilities based on traditional architecture. There are two Lubuto Libraries in the city of Lusaka, Zambia. Each consists of three round structures built in the style of village houses, with walls decorated with African motifs and with thatched roofs. Outside seating and spaces between the buildings add a forum for performances and social gathering. An entry building called the insaka provides a sink for children to wash their hands before proceeding into the other library buildings. The washing of hands is traditional before eating and here it is a sign of respect for the books and materials, in addition to being an important habit for staying healthy. The largest building, the “Reading Room,” houses the book collection and features reading alcoves and a central, sunken “talking circle” for reading teaching, group activities and performing. The other building is for art, computer use, and other activities that require writing surfaces. All buildings are equipped with electricity used to provide light for reading and power to charge the computers. The second library also features ramps for accessibility. Figure 1. A Lubuto Library

2. Providing high quality, balanced collections and reading programs The Lubuto Library Project is not a book donation program; it is unique in providing comprehensive, balanced library collections of high-quality children's books. The 4,000-volume initial collection is selected and cataloged by library volunteers in the United States and shipped shelf-ready to the Zambian libraries.

192 Stacy Langner, Jane Kinney Meyers and Mary M. Wagner Following guidelines established by educators and librarians, the books selected include those that support the development of early literacy skills, i.e. conventions of reading, phonemic awareness, print-sound code and word recognition. In addition, the collection provides users with a wide range of knowledge/concepts through non-fiction materials and an appreciation of human themes in the fiction collection. As more books become available in local Zambian languages, they are added to the collection, and relevant books from other African countries are identified and acquired. Figure 2: Friends reading aloud.

To support literacy development, the library staff, teachers, and volunteers read aloud to and with children in groups and individually. Children read aloud among themselves too. Adults help children select books that support their classroom learning, build confidence as readers and link to their individual interests. A “story performance” program extends work with library books to more traditional African ways of storytelling through drama. Research shows that children learn to read most effectively when they are taught in their first language. Though Lubuto identifies and includes Zambian language materials in its collections, there are an insufficient number of locallanguage books available to maintain and develop reading fluency. To address this, Lubuto initiated several important activities: •

• •

•

Creating computer-based mother tongue literacy instruction. To extend opportunities to learn to read beyond the classroom, Zambian teachers and regular youth library users are creating computer-based programs for teaching children how to read in their mother language. Using One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) XO laptops and Etoys software, the teachers design letter, sound and word recognition lessons based on the government curriculum in the 7 major Zambian languages and the youth provide the programming and graphics. Preserving Zambian stories online (www.LubutoCollections.org) which contains stories long out of print but preserved in libraries worldwide that were identified and scanned by Lubuto volunteers. Teaching children’s literature and library services in Zambia. A Fulbright Scholar is a resident guest lecturer in the University of Zambia’s Department of Library & Information Studies. One of the lecturer’s goals is to create a service-learning relationship that will give students experience and knowledge of high-quality services to children and youth in Lubuto Libraries. Establishing the Zambian Board on Books for Young People (ZBBY) in partnership with the Zambia Library Association, to bring together writers, illustrators, publishers and educators to produce high-quality bilingual literature for children and young adults.

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•

Organizing and hosting workshops on making books to preserve oral literature: The U.S. Board on Books for Young People supported two workshops in October 2010 on the importance of preserving traditional stories and making cloth books for children in local languages.

3. Establishing effective educational programs and social support services Lubuto Libraries offer far more than excellent collections of books. The nearly 50,000 visits in 2009 by vulnerable children were due, in large part, to participation in the library’s innovative, relevant programs designed especially for the most vulnerable children and youth. Zambian instructors with appropriate backgrounds work with the children and in many cases design the programs. LubutoArts is a self-sustaining visual arts education program supported by a percentage of the proceeds of the sale of artworks created by participants. In 2009 Lubuto’s artists exhibited their work at Lusaka’s Henry Tayali Gallery, and in June 2011 they will exhibit and sell their work at the Stella Jones Gallery in New Orleans, USA. LubutoDrama is an equally engaging, twice-weekly program of drama, improvisation, and adapting books and stories for performance. Of the important role this program plays in children’s lives, actor and Lubuto supporter Danny Glover noted that it “reinforces their sense of themselves and re-establishes a different confidence in them. [I]t sets something in motion … a way to organize the emotional life within you. To watch these young people engaging in that and claiming it for themselves is very special.” Collaborating together children develop a script based on a book, assign parts and begin the work of producing a play. The young actors build props, collect costumes, learn lines, rehearse and finally perform for the community. Figure 3: Artist at work.

LubutoMentoring is a popular and innovative program of counseling, mentoring and teaching Zambian values based on traditional stories selected for their instructive morals about life skills and positive mental attitude. Sessions conducted in Zambian languages are based on traditional ways in which values are passed down through generations, giving children a sense of connection to their roots and society. Over 500 boys and girls participate in each threemonth program of weekly sessions. Most participants are street children and all come from highly vulnerable circumstances. They often become regular

194 Stacy Langner, Jane Kinney Meyers and Mary M. Wagner readers at the library and many decide to return to school. Current and planned Lubuto programs additionally include LubutoLiteracy, LubutoLaptops, LubutoDance, LubutoHealth, LubutoEnvironment, LubutoCounseling and others. 4. Building the capacity of local staff and volunteers to deliver services, manage resources and facilities, and monitor results and impact. Lubuto Libraries are established through an initial investment by LLP, made possible with support from corporate, foundation and individual donors; however, sustainability is ensured through long-term ownership by local host institutions. These hosts sign a memorandum of understanding with LLP, and commit to providing the human resources to run the libraries. Staffing for the libraries is the responsibility of the hosting organization and LLP provides staff training. The staff is assisted in managing the libraries and serving users by volunteers who can provide story times, encourage community storytelling, and work one-on-one with children to improve literacy skills. The second Lubuto Library in Lusaka’s Garden community is hosted by a government school, in partnership between the Lubuto Library Project and Zambia’s Ministry of Education. The teachers who staff the library receive salary supplements from the Ministry to work in the library. In addition, the teachers bring their classes to the library to use books that relate to units of study and for recreational reading. Both teachers and volunteers read with the students helping develop fluency in reading aloud and comprehension through discussion of the book with the child. 5. Working with government to identify target communities and host organizations. LLP maintains constant working relationships with Zambia, particularly the Ministry of Education. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between LLP and the Ministry of Education complements national plans to ensure equitable access to educational resources to OVCY throughout the nation and mandates LLP to “provide leadership in establishing standards of good library practice” in order to improve the quality of education in Zambia. The Ministry’s ownership of the process extends to their liaison with host schools and community partners, site and building design and is a critical component of library sustainability. Material and logistical support is received from the Ministry of Sport, Youth and Child Development and LLP coordinates its efforts with the Chief Development Officer, the official with national oversight of services to OVCY.

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6. Monitoring and evaluation The continuing objective of the Lubuto Libraries is to make high-quality opportunities for literacy development, psychosocial support and social integration accessible to vulnerable children and youth. A critical element of the program planning and implementation is assessment. Practices include data collection on the use of the facilities, the collection of books, rates of participation in activities, numbers of visitors to the library etc. These data are combined with formal and informal interviews and focus group discussions with users of the facilities and programs as well as the volunteers and staff. The insights gained from assessment are used to strengthen existing programs and provide the basis for consideration of new program development. Figure 4: A holistic approach to literacy.

Lessons Learned and the Way Forward There are many programs and services offered through the government and other NGOs that serve needs of vulnerable children and youth, but none of these are offered in partnership with a library. Lubuto Libraries provide an important model for dynamic, impactful library service offered in collaboration with others interested in and caring for OVCY. Analysis of data from three years of Lubuto Library operations indicates that targeted, quality programming is essential not only for helping vulnerable and out-of-school children and youth, but also for getting them to use the libraries’ books and improving literacy skills. Active outreach is also key for this hard-to-reach population. For school children who approach the library with confidence and a sense that they are entitled to such a rich resource, an excellent book collection alone attracts heavy use. The second library had over 7 thousand visits, mostly by school children, in its first month. Instituting programs and deliberate outreach will allow community OVCY to share this library. This experience indicates that investment in Lubuto Libraries, as opposed narrow approaches to serving OVCY or simply providing library collections, will result in significant benefits to Zambian society. LLP’s approach has

196 Stacy Langner, Jane Kinney Meyers and Mary M. Wagner shown the value and impact of training school librarians and teachers to take a holistic approach to library services to scale-up this success. There is a need for the library education program at the country’s university to add courses in Collection Development and Management and Services to Youth and Children to its curriculum. One step currently in process is developing a minor course of study in school librarianship to be offered to students in the teacher education program. The goal is to prepare more teachers with basic knowledge and skills to encourage the growth of school libraries and the use of books and digital media in addition to textbooks within the classroom. In November 2010, LLP furthered plans with the Ministry of Education to build future Lubuto Libraries in urban and rural areas of Zambia. Planning for the third library is well underway with the community of Nabukuyu in Zambia’s Southern Province. In addition to providing safe physical space for many activities these additional libraries will help increase the literacy rates in rural Zambia and will serve as a model for how to develop staff, and use a multifocus library. Lubuto Libraries ultimately seek to empower local communities working with them to identify priority needs and build their capacity. Early on, stakeholders are involved to promote community ownership. Coordination with national plans, standards and programs ensures relevance and recognizes that government support is essential to sustainability. The facilities reflect and preserve indigenous culture, inspiring pride and community investment in running and maintaining the buildings and programs. Orphans, vulnerable children and youth are provided resources to develop and strengthen literacy skills learned in the classroom and that, in time, will lead them into productive and engaged lives as adult members of their communities. Those interested in learning more about the Lubuto Library Project can visit its website (http://www.lubuto.org) or contact the organization by email at [email protected].

References UNICEF. (n.d.). Unite for Children, at URL: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/zambia_ statistics.html (access date: 09.02.2011) Zambia DHS. (2007), at URL: http://www.measuredhs.com/aboutsurveys/search/metadata. cfm?ID+896&Surv ID=278%Ctry ID+47&SrvyTp=psummary (access date: 09.02. 2011).

Author Notes Mary M. Wagner, MLIS, PhD, is a Professor of Library and Information Science at St. Catherine University, St. Paul, MN in the USA. Currently she is

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a Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Zambia in Lusaka, Zambia. Her research interests focus on library services to children and youth as well as international librarianship. Contact email: Jane Kinney Meyers, MLS, is the president of the Lubuto Library Project. She lived and worked in Zambia and Malawi for seven years and has been professionally involved with African libraries for over 30 years. When not living in Africa, she worked with major international development agencies in Washington, DC and internationally until founding the Lubuto Library Project in 2005. Contact email: Stacy Langner, MLIS, is a consultant to the Lubuto Library Project. She has lived and worked in several African countries, focusing on knowledge management in the context of international development. Currently based in Nairobi, Kenya and in Arusha, Tanzania, she serves as the East Africa regional officer for the German Foundation for World Population, a youth-serving nonprofit, non-governmental organization. Contact emails: and

Part 4 Expanding the Reach of School Libraries through Technology

Providing Web Based Online Reference Resources for Schools: An Alberta Success Story Diane GallowaySolowan Online Reference Centre, The Alberta Library, Canada

Abstract In 2001 a group of Alberta teacher-librarians saw a need for all students in the province to have equal access to quality online information resources in both English and French. Their ensuing proposal was for Alberta Education, the ministry of education, to provide funding for a licensed suite of three online reference resources for the K-12 education community in both official languages (English and French). These resources would in turn be made accessible via the Internet through the www.learnalberta.ca portal. This chapter details the initiation, growth and maintenance of what has become a sustainable collaborative project between Alberta Education and The Alberta Library (TAL) known as the Online Reference Centre (ORC) since 2001. Best practice and key lessons learned are outlined to extend understanding of the project and provide details to consider when embarking on a similar venture.

Keywords Canada; Online databases; Licensing of online resources; Online Reference Centre; Information literacy; Public schools; Online research skills; Leadership; Government initiatives; Selection of resources.

Background School libraries flourished in the province of Alberta, Canada during the 1980s. However, the provincial government funding cutbacks that heralded the 1990s changed everything. In a short period of time, our well-stocked, well-staffed school libraries began to slowly fade, and many eventually disappeared in a great many school districts. In the majority of schools, teacherlibrarians were absorbed back into regular classroom teaching while library collections languished and library programs were slowly abandoned. In many cases, only library support staff maintained any or all of the remaining resources and activities associated with the school library. This situation contin-

202 Diane GallowaySolowan ued to persist and intensify toward the decade’s end. In short, these were tough times for Alberta’s school libraries. By the year 2000, the World Wide Web was making its first surge into the lives of ordinary people and school age students were already being referred to as the ‘Net Generation.’ Many students already sought their answers there first. School networks were improving, and high bandwidth access was becoming more available in Alberta. Already a variety of school district board members and administrators were proclaiming the Internet as the information literacy solution, rather than well staffed school libraries and their traditional rich resource collections. However, many teachers and teacher-librarians approached the technology and its emerging content with more caution. Their concerns centered on whether students were truly learning good online research skills and whether or not they were able to make sound evaluative judgements about the content they chose to use from the Web (Valenza, 2006). History has taught us that challenging times call for creative solutions. Serendipity, too, often plays a role. And in the midst of this emerging technology scenario, the idea was proposed to create a centrally-funded, licensed collection of vetted, digital school library reference resources freely accessible for all students and teachers via one portal in the province of Alberta. Access to the Online Reference Centre, as it has since become known, was launched via the www.learnalberta.ca portal in November 2001. As the project reaches its 10th year milestone, many aspects of it have certainly evolved and changed, but the core vision of providing equal access to vetted online information resources for all K-12 Alberta students remains unchanged. The story of that achievement follows.

Description of the Project In early 2000, the Alberta Department of Education (then known as Alberta Learning) was in the midst of creating and providing a portal (www.learnalberta.ca) where Alberta teachers, school-age students and their parents could access digital learning tools that supported the realization of provincial curriculum learning outcomes. At the same time across the province, work was underway to build a pipeline of increased bandwidth for Internet access that would greatly benefit industry, health facilities, public libraries and education (The Alberta Supernet, 2011). Together these became the serendipitous factors enabling the initial project proposal to emerge. The vision for the project came from a group of teacher-librarians when they had occasion in early 2001 to sit down to talk about the current technical developments and what it could possibly mean in relation to school libraries. They saw a need for all Alberta students to have access to “quality online information resources” in both English and French relevant to provincial

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learning outcomes (Learnalberta.ca Online Reference Centre, 2003). Access to the resources eventually also came to include the broader K-12 learning community of pre-service teachers training in Education faculties in the province, students returning to school for upgrading to a high school diploma, and First Nations students in the province’s band operated schools. The project proposal acknowledged the emerging ‘net generation’ of students and their motivation to seek information online. With an educational focus, the proposed suite of resources would in turn provide a more productive and efficient option for students than searching the open Web when doing classroom research. Because of their digital nature, the proposed resources easily maintained their currency, were able to provide full-text content in a broad range of media formats and helped to address information literacy skills and the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) learning outcomes of the Alberta curriculum. Since the resources would be delivered using the Internet, 24/7 access also provided for homework support. Additionally, these resources were capable of providing materials for teachers in the development of unit and lesson plans as well as daily classroom activities. The original proposal requested three-year funding to launch the project. The selection and evaluation of online resources were to be done by a panel of teachers and teacher-librarians. The technical details of connection and authentication were to be handled by the Learnalberta.ca team at Alberta Education. Licensing of the resources, however, proved more problematic as inhouse expertise in this area at the time was limited. A suggestion was made to offer a Grant-In-Aid to The Alberta Library (TAL), a province-wide collaborative consortia that serves public, regional, university, college, technical and special libraries in the province with technological innovation and digital content licensing expertise, to complete the licensing negotiations, administration and ensuing professional development related to these educational resources (The Alberta Library, 2011). This partnership was established in the early fall of 2001 and work began. Project Funding Project funding was initially granted by Alberta Education at $1.2 million per year for three years. This was estimated to cover the cost of selection and evaluation of three English resources, three French resources, subsequent licensing costs, one full time project manager, and the promotion and professional development related to the project and the resources. As of 2011, the project is funded at $1.7 million per year. Project Coordinator As part of the Grant-in-Aid, TAL provided a professional librarian to administer and license the resources for the project; to liaise with the Learnalberta.ca development team to assist with Web page design and the trouble-shooting of technical delivery issues; to begin the public relations work to inform Alberta teachers and schools about their access to the resource; and to provide quar-

204 Diane GallowaySolowan terly reports to Alberta Education on the developmental progress and statistical usage of the site and its resources. In the third year of the project, this position was replaced by a full-time professional teacher-librarian. Selection and Evaluation Selection and evaluation of potential resources was completed by the end of September 2001. Critical to the selection of both English and French resources were the following criteria: • • • • •

Degree of relevance to the Alberta K-12 Program of Studies Strength of Canadian content Wide range of reading levels Absence of advertising Depth of content coverage.

From the many resources evaluated, the following three English resources were selected. • • •

Electric Library (Canada) Plus & Electric Library (Canada) Elementary Grolier Online (included 6 encyclopedias) SIRS Discoverer.

A selection of French resources was assembled for evaluation but this work was not completed in time for launch in November 2001 due to the difficulty of finding French speaking teacher-librarians from across the province to complete the work and to ensure that the portal was accessible in French. These resources were selected and launched in January, 2003. They included • • •

Repere Biblio Branchee L’encyclopedie Hachette.

Additionally, the evaluation group decided to include a link to the free online version of The Canadian Encyclopedia. It was felt that this would enhance access to Canadian content in both English and French at no additional cost. This practice has continued throughout the life of the project with the main criteria for inclusion being accessibility in both English and French (see Figure 1). These links now include: • • • •

AlbertaSource.ca: The Alberta Online Encyclopedia Early Canadiana Online (free public access portion) Atlas of Canada Statistics Canada: Learning Resources for K-12.

Licensing Agreements The license agreements were negotiated with a three-year term renewal pending evaluation of the project. Vendors were asked to provide pricing based on the entire population of students in Alberta schools. In 2001 this number was

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550,000. TAL’s consortia licensing capability was able to leverage an average of nearly 40% cost savings in the final pricing for the licenses. Additionally, a user definition for the licenses was arrived at that provisioned the usage of the resources via a user and password authentication process. This user group includes the following: •

Student - Any individual registered in any Kindergarten to Grade-12 (K-12) School Authority in Alberta, including those working in upgrading programs in the K-12 context, and any individuals registered in a post-secondary teacher education program in Alberta as well as faculty members, instructors and library staff associated with these programs. • Teacher - All instructors and individuals involved in instruction or instructional support for registered students, including but not limited to, their parents or guardians, mentors, facilitators, consultants, home schooled students, and teacher aides. • School Authority - Any public or separate school board(s) Francophone Regional authority(s), charter school(s), private school(s), and First Nations school(s) within Alberta teaching the Alberta Program of Studies.

Figure 1. Screenshot of ORC homepage (English version) ©Alberta Education. Online Reference Centre. 2011. http://www.learnalberta.ca/ (accessed March 2011)

Portal Development and Authentication Process Since the decision to provide access to the resources was to be via the www.learnalberta.ca portal, it was necessary for TAL’s project coordinator to work closely with the technical team at Learnalberta.ca to develop an interface to host the resources and an authentication protocol that would enable licensed users to access the resources. It was determined that, to ensure the terms of our

206 Diane GallowaySolowan license agreements, each school district in the province would be assigned its own user ID and password for authentication. Initially an HTML based interface was adopted and a system of passing a referring URL containing the assigned user and password information was passed to each vendor each time a user clicked on a resource icon.

Implementing the ORC Project Remarkably, the project launched within six months of proposal. On November 1, 2001 the Online Reference Centre made its debut to Alberta schools. A short press release in local newspapers announced its arrival. Information packages were sent by regular post and e-mail to school districts, principals, school technology coordinators and post-secondary institutions with teacher training programs. A plan to host awareness sessions at teacher conferences was set in place. Everyone involved with the project waited anxiously to see how the first years would play out. The beginning of a project is replete with enthusiasm and good intentions. People work very hard to make it happen. The sustainability of the project is another matter. As the initial excitement dies away, the realities of maintenance and incremental growth become the focus and true litmus test of an idea’s worth. Initial teacher response to the ORC was very positive with some teachers quickly stating that “ninety percent of our research starts here” (Learnalberta.ca Online Reference Centre, 2003, p.33). Usage statistics gleaned from early project reports to Alberta Education showed a 52% increase in use of the Electric Library product and a 94% usage increase in the Grolier Online resources in just one month from September to October 2002. This was phenomenal uptake in relation to the actual number of teachers and students who were at that time aware of their access to the resources and had begun to use them with students. These numbers must be tempered by the fact that when you start from a base usage of zero, all ensuing usage increases for a good length of time with access to new resources can register very high numbers. The usage numbers will become more relevant over time and duration of access. However, the monthly usage statistics provided by the resource vendors continued to maintain a steady climb each of the first three years of the project and have continued to do so at an average incremental rate of approximately 10% per year. The biggest obstacle to accessing the ORC resources during the beginning years proved to be the distribution of user ID and passwords to teachers and students along with technical connection problems especially for those schools still connecting to the Internet via dial-up or whose networks could not yet accommodate the speed and amount of bandwidth space required to view the resources properly. Only one of the selected resources could be viewed in text-

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only format. The rest had considerable graphic content, preventing full access for many in the first few years. By 2004, with the full implementation of The Alberta Supernet in schools, these issues were no longer problematic. Since all the ORC resources were licensed for a specific user group, it was established from the outset that password information would be changed and shared annually with school principals, and distribution of that information to staff and students would depend solely on them. Unfortunately, the principals were least often the recipients of any in-service or professional development associated with the ORC and its resources, and they often understood little about the project or the resources. Thus, they more often become a barrier to teacher and student access. It has taken many years to raise awareness among school principals and other administrators of the content and value of the resources provided; however, this is changing and once aware they become our most influential supporters. As stated at the onset of this chapter, teacher-librarians are no longer common in Alberta schools. Therefore serious consideration had to be given at the beginning of the project as to how to go about developing and delivering professional development to Alberta teachers to assist them in learning how best to employ the ORC resources in their classrooms. Several methods to achieve this were entertained but neither proved successful for two reasons. First, the small remaining group of teacher-librarians in the province lacked the manpower and time allotment to develop and deliver suitable training materials and resources. Secondly, the alternative to have a third party develop online training modules that could be accessed via the ORC page on the web site was begun but quickly abandoned because it was realized that as quickly as the training resource content was produced, it could not keep pace with the continually evolving nature of the ORC resources themselves. Consequently, the burden of training eventually fell entirely to the ORC Coordinator as part of the project’s general communications and promotion plan each year. Just prior to the project’s third year of operation, the original ORC Coordinator made a decision to leave the position. This opened the door for a partial solution to the professional development issues surrounding the project. In consultation, TAL and the Learnalberta.ca team made the decision to hire a professional teacher-librarian as the next ORC Coordinator. They felt that this level of expertise was critical to the ongoing and future development of the project and would be able to offer the Alberta K-12 educational community a comprehensive understanding of the curriculum as well as skill in helping teachers integrate the ORC resources into daily teaching practice. This has proven to be a signature decision as the project has grown over the past ten years. The ORC Coordinator now reaches out to all school districts each spring and fall, establishing a series of compatible dates to impart awareness and training for other teacher-librarians, library support staff, teachers, and

208 Diane GallowaySolowan administrators whenever possible with an average of fifteen sessions reaching approximately 850 teachers per school year.

Evaluating the Project Evaluating the success of a project such as the ORC is necessary, yet not easy to accomplish. At the end of the first three-year phase, an independent firm was contracted to complete a formal evaluation that was hoped would include an assessment of promotional information around the resource, a review of usage statistics collected from vendor providers and feedback from focus groups with key educational stakeholders. Unfortunately, this evaluation did not manage to come to fruition as it was stonewalled by principals who claimed they did not have enough time or who simply were not interested in having their staff and students participate in the focus groups or surveys. Key information that could have helped to direct the future of the project at this crucial time was unattainable, and this was a great disappointment to the project team. In subsequent years, the ORC Coordinator has developed and administered an informal bi-annual online survey to a sample of approximately 300 teachers across the province to gather data and feedback to assist in the ongoing planning and development of the project. Qualitative and quantitative data from this evaluation is collected, analyzed and reported to Alberta Education. Typically the evaluation provides feedback on the relevance of the present suite of ORC resources to the Alberta curriculum, an anecdotal assessment on how teachers and students are using the resources for classroom learning and research at all grade levels, along with recommendations for future professional development and training related to the resources. This informal evaluation cannot substitute for the findings of academic research on such a project. Hard questions remain about the degree of pedagogical effect that having access to such online resources can have for both students and teachers at the classroom level. Does it matter in the end? Has student research time on task improved? Do students now choose the ORC resources over using Google to find their answers? Does it help teachers to plan lessons more efficiently when they have access to these kinds of resources? Does it save money? Those are difficult questions to answer, and the ORC has yet to be subjected to the rigours of such research. There has been little research in the field to date; however, we are encouraged by preliminary studies recently conducted in the United Kingdom around teacher and student access to online resources that reflect similar pedagogical questions and look forward to one day applying a similar research process to this project (Passey, 2011).

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Lessons Learned The accumulated knowledge acquired in the process of carrying out this project may be helpful to others either as inspiration or in the strictly practical terms of launching a similar venture. The key learning points for this project fall into the following four categories: licensing and funding; leadership and technical expertise; selection and evaluation of resources; and administration and professional development. Licensing and Funding Access to a licensing consortia is a significant benefit not only in overall cost reduction for the purchasing of online resources, but also provides the expertise to negotiate the license criteria. This is a relatively new area of talent required of librarians in all fields, and the value of this expertise is inestimable when working with large contracts. An additional strength of working with established consortia is their existing historical relationship with vendors. Since funding can often be precarious, it is often these relationships that can manoeuvre the waters and preserve licenses when under any other circumstances they might simply have had to be terminated. Leadership and Technical Expertise It is essential, when beginning a project like the ORC, that overarching leadership that supports the project be strong and to also provide an infrastructure for the technical and authentication pieces. This too is a source of cost-saving, consistency of message and expertise that is not readily replicated across school districts. Unless online resources can be delivered without a hitch their usability in the classroom diminishes significantly. It requires constant technical monitoring to manage the deployment of online resources and provide trouble-shooting assistance to the field. These issues have diminished overtime due to advancements in delivering web based content; however it will still require considerable time and effort for technical connections to run smoothly and seamlessly. Selection and Evaluation of Resources It is worthy of special note that teachers appreciate being part of the evaluation and selection process for potential online reference resources that might be added to the ORC. It is important to conduct trials of new resources at a regular interval during the school year so teachers have an opportunity to “testdrive” the resources in a real time environment. The evaluation can be done using freely available online survey tools making it easy to distribute and collect the results. If online resources do not work well in the classroom with real students in real teaching scenarios, the funds are not being well spent. Administration and Professional Development It remains vital that a professionally trained teacher-librarian with prior field experience coordinate a project dedicated to providing teachers and students

210 Diane GallowaySolowan with online resource content that assists in meeting learning outcomes. Teachers do not simply use online resources because they are provided access to them. Unless they have a clear understanding of the pedagogical benefits of incorporating this type of content into daily lessons and inquiry or projectbased research teachers seem to pay little or no attention to the resources. An experienced teacher-librarian can make the connections to the resources for teachers and in turn influence their use in the classroom through professional development opportunities. We have discovered that hands-on training on how to use online resources seems most productive in terms of scaffolding their use in the classroom. Continuous evaluation and reporting on a project of this nature is absolutely necessary to justify funding maintenance and keep a clear focus in guiding the project forward. Sometimes change is necessary and can mean anything from deciding to not renew a particular license to an authentication overhaul. In this manner, the project is never allowed to stagnate nor slip from the view of those who hold the purse.

Celebrating a Success As we enter our 10th year of providing provincial access to a growing and vastly diverse collection of online reference resources for Alberta classrooms, it is prudent to note that the process has not always been easy or without jeopardy of losing funding. Our landing page has seen three iterations. Our authentication method has shifted to include IP authentication at the school building level and only requires user/password login from remote locations. This process is once again under scrutiny and we are searching for a solution that perhaps geo-IP authentication can provide. We have grown from an initial three licensed resources to a collection of eighteen reaching across all grade levels and subject areas. However, we continue to be dogged by a lack of equitable licensed resources in the French language. And there is still only one full time coordinator to manage all aspects of the project. Yet the ORC remains unique to Alberta. The ORC project continues to be fully funded by Alberta Education and administered at arm’s length by TAL. Many other Canadian provinces as well as several US states have taken steps to provide online reference resources for their K-12 education community with varying degrees of success; however, none appear to have succeeded in acquiring the breadth and depth of content that the ORC has to offer to Alberta teachers and students, nor have they always been able to manage a sustainable funding model. 2011 will be highlighted by celebrating the ORC’s 10th birthday. In retrospect, that is a significant longevity considering the speed with which the digital world has grown and changed since 2001. The project remains strong and promises to be even better as we learn how to integrate our online resources

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within the emerging Web 2.0 context of our classrooms. We appreciate this opportunity to share our story and to offer assistance to those who may be considering such a venture in the future. Please contact the present ORC Coordinator by e-mail at this address [email protected] if you wish to pursue further information.

References The Alberta Library, at URL: http://www.thealbertalibrary.ab.ca (access date: 14.02.2011) The Alberta Supernet, at URL: http://www.thealbertasupernet.com (access date: 14.02. 2011) Learnalberta.ca Alberta Education, at URL: http://www.learnalberta.ca (access date: 14.02. 2011) Learnalberta.ca Online Reference Centre. (2003). School Libraries in Canada, vol.22, no. 3, p. 33. Passey, D. (2011). Independent evaluation of the Espresso online digital resources in primary schools: Interim Report 2. Lancaster, UK: Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University. Valenza, J. (2006). They might be gurus. Teacher Librarian, vol. 34, no. 1, p. 18-26.

Author Note Diane GallowaySolowan brings many years of collaborative classroom teaching experience to her present position as Coordinator of the Online Reference Centre (ORC). Diane holds an MEd in Teacher-Librarianship from the University of Alberta. She is currently Publications Editor for the Alberta School Library Council, a specialist council of the Alberta Teachers’ Association. Contact email: [email protected]

The Belgrano Day School Model Project: Using Mobile Technology in a School Library in Argentina Ana Ester Rossaroli The Librarian Association of Argentina

Abstract The school library is the core of the project, “Belgrano Day School Model,” which is unique in Argentina. The school library needs to evaluate each new technological challenge. Projectors, interactive boards, electronic readers, and wireless equipment are tools that can be used to educate but they must be accompanied by school librarians as mediators that can guide the teachers and pupils so that the new resources and mediums are integrated with the quality standards of the curriculum. The Belgrano Day School library is very involved with information and communication technologies development (ICT/TIC). The library also provides a wide range of other services: helping students become critical and efficient information users, promoting access to knowledge and to healthy entertainment, and helping teachers to implement reading plans and to use a wide range of pedagogic strategies.

Keywords Argentina; ICT; Virtual classroom; Continuous Education; Educational Community; Cell Phones; Digital communications.

Introduction Five centuries separate us from the invention of the printing press, and still the challenge to create content is at a turning point. The ways to access content are redefined and projected to carry on the literacy process and to create a readers’ society. On a daily basis we have new technological challenges and new publishing models that the school library needs to evaluate. Projectors, interactive boards, electronic readers, wireless equipment are the tools that can be used to educate, but we should not forget that that the tools are not enough. They must be accompanied by mediators that can guide the teachers and pupils so that the quality standards of the curriculum are blended with the new resources and

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mediums. In this context, the school library is the fundamental tool in creating and shaping readers, and it is the core of the project, “Belgrano Day School Model,” which is unique in Argentina. The revolutionary impact of technology and multimedia has changed the ways in which we relate, study, work and live. The teaching-learning process as well must have the tools as Internet, cell phones and their web applications that allow them to use search engines and retrieve information. Chat rooms, forums, and even cellular technology and its multiple functions produce a very important cultural change within an interconnected society. The demands of education in the 21st century and the development of technologies that make learning easier by a double strategy, i.e., to play and to learn, make teaching a social challenge. Education is also strongly influenced by the politics of the state. One may say then that there is a triple commitment that involves society as a whole: educational, social and political. The Argentine Republic requires that there is a school library in every school throughout the different educational levels. The work of each school library is outlined in the school’s Institutional Educational Project, according to UNESCO/IFLA School Library Manifesto and guidelines for school libraries and also adapted to the curriculum program approved by the Ministry of Education. The school librarian is obliged to determine his or her role within the Institutional Educational Project, to plan, produce and spread guidelines according to the Project in each school and to establish joint participation relationships or collaborations with other institutions. Within this context, schools which depend on state funding and private schools as well have to develop their own models for using new technologies. Having analyzed the different educational projects and plans for the integration of technologies, it seems that the project of the Belgrano Day School is unique in Argentina and a role model within our country and the Latin-American region.

Belgrano Day School: A Role Model Belgrano Day School, located in Buenos Aires, is a bilingual co-educational school. It has almost a centenary tradition of excellence and artistic accomplishments in plastic arts productions, theatre, and music and a high level of sports competitiveness. It offers a national and international curriculum for students from the age of 2 to18 years old. Those who graduate from the school obtain the international certificates of Cambridge University (IGCSE, AICE, AS and A levels) and the exclusive “Bachiller Nacional Bilingüe en Inglés” degree (Bilingual Senior School degree). Students with the degree Bachillerato Internacional Bilingüe graduate with one of three specialties: Social and Economical Sciences, Natural and Applied Sciences, or Language and Artistic Expression. The school has established agreements with different universities abroad and within the country. These agreements establish prefer-

214 Ana Ester Rossaroli ential conditions for students to be accepted into university, as well as possibilities for internships in different companies. Each section or educational level of Belgrano Day School (BDS) has its own building, entrance and recreational playground, as well as special rooms for music, art, information technology and theatre. Also, there are some common spaces shared all the sections: dining room, library, gym, laboratories, auditorium, music academy, first aid centre, and the sports field called El Talar. Table 1 indicates the size of the Belgrano Day School community, including its virtual and alumni members. Table 1. The Community of Belgrano Day School, November 2010 Virtual Community Students total Teachers Directors of BDS Parents Families Administrative employees Alumni

7000 users 1050 200 12 1400 700 40 4500

Belgrano Day School Library The Belgrano Day School (BDS) Library, building upon the support of teachers and directors of the educational institution, is more and more involved with information and communication technologies development (ICT/TIC). The BDS Library provides a wide range of services: helping students become critical and efficient information users, promoting access to knowledge and to healthy entertainment, and helping teachers to implement reading plans and to use a wide range of pedagogic strategies. The training of school library users requires that school librarians use educational approaches designed to prepare users for continuous learning (Rossaroli, 2005). The BDS library is at the core of every school project, and its librarians, together with the school headship, take a leadership role in developing the library. Librarians have achieved the training needed in Argentina to work in school libraries: to be a teacher and to have a school library degree. One of the librarians, with a BA in Library and Documentation Science is the co-author of the “Belgrano Day School Model,” together with four other professionals.

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Figure 1. Primary school students using net books at the library

The beginning of the BDS Project This project began to be planned in 2000 and was built on the following assumptions: • • • •

•

It has been agreed on, worked on and thought of in terms of the future development of the community. It was based on the mission and aim of the institution. It was built upon a deep and thoughtful investigation at an international level about the educational proposals and experiences of this century. It would include participation in international projects, using laptops with wi fi access so as to access the Internet and emails, cell phones; video conferences; saving their files in “digital lockers” and having an easy access to digital technologies. Pupils and teachers would use information and communication technologies as a means to learn and teach.

This project started off in 2003, and it was divided in three stages: • • •

installation of the first terminals in the Library (2003); installing a personal computer class (2007); and the road towards the 1-1 model begins (2009).

As a result, all of the community, teachers, directors, students and family have access from school, from their homes, or from anywhere they had Internet access to an intranet and a virtual space, that is, the Belgrano Day School Library. Evaluations have been carried out throughout the project. From the year 2011 onwards, BDS will continue working on the project, upgrading each aspect as necessary, and using a variety of different evaluation approaches. Human and financial resources The model project has involved teachers in all areas of the school, the school administration, and maintenance and security personnel. From the library, together with the Institutional Communication area, the profile for the Exchange students from USA is set, with the support of Buenos Aires Herald.

216 Ana Ester Rossaroli The school is financially supported by registration fees from students, plus the facilities that shops and editorials offer. No additional financial resources were available for this project. However, different companies involved in providing services for this project supported the project with their knowledge and advice.

Objectives of the Virtual Belgrano Day School Library Project In June 2003, aims and objectives were drawn up for the virtual library project, based on the school’s institutional aims and on global society demands related to technology, culture and education. The project follows the UNESCO directive which “proclaims the importance of promoting a new knowledge ethics based on the use and cooperation” (UNESCO-CERLAC 2009). General Objectives • To share with the community, the cultural politics of the library. • To optimize the contact and work together between the school and the home for the development of the school librarian project. • To imagine a future not so far away in which the teaching and learning processes will transform and diversify even more” Specific Objectives • To develop the technology and communication infrastructure of the Belgrano Day School library, as a way to lay the foundations for the different areas and processes of the school to incorporate ICT/TIC into its everyday life. • To change the logic and dynamics for knowledge access by using new mobile gadgets • To make available Web site/ blog and webmail service • To support students, their parents and teachers in using the means of the library in a systematic and regular way. • To guide, set priorities and promote the usage of Internet as professionals of librarianship. • To redefine the functions of librarians as mediators • To use on daily basis the Virtual classroom from P5 onwards. • To check and collaborate with the school Webmail and its Newsletter • To formalize the teaching of new abilities and competences in the usage of information.

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Professional Work The professional staff of the Belgrano Day School Library are defined as “librarians who provide services,” because, not only do they lend books, they give extra value to the contents of the library through different kinds of supports: they organize, guide, and segment resources, and they create a real library without walls, spreading information, informing users, teaching multimedia to users, executing the flow and generation of digital contents, and starting the use of Web 2.0 tools, especially wikis. “Web 2.0 has with it a new generation of contents that allows internet users to generate them, exchange them and share sites of interest which we call “Social Bookmarking” (Cobo Romani, 2007). Many of these sites are not visible on the Internet nowadays, and others have been saved and will keep on being incorporated to the virtual classroom home page. Within the library’s wiki space are held meetings for on-site or remote reading, orientation to searches, talks about experiences, new services, M-Library, the "learning centre" in the library without walls, all with a special emphasis in the importance of linguistic and communicational competences. Besides the task of mediating between different supports and teachers, the librarians select and purchase library materials, and they search for and retrieve of links that then are incorporated in the general data base of links for the students. To evaluate the different stages of the project, surveys were held for all the projects that were completed by the library and those completed with other teachers. From the survey results, new future actions emerge such as the constant renewal and update of tutorials and materials and the promotion and choice of the mandatory English material to be read by students during the holiday period. In this way, the provision of the library’s services evolves according to changes which are not only technological, but also cultural. The librarians know that they are called to keep on being the pillars for orientation, reading encouraging and training of new abilities, competences and resources.

The Pilot Experience This project began in the library with two computers connected to the Internet, to the library database, to Windows default programs, to information in CDROM format and, above all, to magazines and newspapers. The 1-1 model began in the year 2008, and in the following year, the technological equipment was increased with mobile equipment for every teacher and student, plus the library’s systematic digitalization of content and tutorials. Digital content and knowledge objects were acquired from the Open Educational Resources and from the E-Books, e-readers, e-learning and M-learning. These turned out to be of a high impact when exploited and are presented by interactive whiteboards (IWB) (Moodle, 2004). Up to the year 2010, seven of these interactive

218 Ana Ester Rossaroli whiteboards were installed, contributing to the access to a database of lessons, activities and multimedia resources to deal with curricular content in the classroom (PortalEduc.ar, 2008). Other developments accompanied this change process. For instance, a version of the “Belgrano Day School M-Library” was developed for mobile devices that allows to access not only to the database of Belgrano Day School Educational Resources, but also to the library catalogue, the online circulation system, and the subscription to the Encyclopedia Britannica, School Edition. The mobile devises also allowed access to a new resource in our country, audio books read by well-known professional narrators. Cell phones have great educational potential, as does Cloud Computing, because of the possibility they offer to access information from anywhere, to share and work in collaboration, and to handle different versions and corrections in an effective and efficient way for every kind of files and documents. In Argentine schools and libraries, the use of cell phones is not widespread and certainly not accepted as a support to learning; on the contrary, in many school and libraries, these technologies are not even allowed.

Figure 2. View of the Belgrano Day School home page from a cell phone

In the Belgrano Project, the self-learning through the virtual classroom, using cell phones, favored the development of important cognitive abilities and, in general, the students gained independence by working with this resource. The mobile virtual classroom allows access to courses, files, calendar, notes, text and voice messages, the organizer with alarms, chronometers, and tasks lists. For instance, students are able to quickly take notes of homework, school activities, and links to look up, or to record a fact, or to take a picture with the camera, either within the school or in the street, to use it for personal work or to share it. The results of using these information and communication technologies as tools in multidimensional contents are saved in digital lockers, blogs, newsletters, databases; all of these digital storage places are built and advised by information technology people and librarians.

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Evaluation of the Pilot Experience The evaluation of the project was completed on two levels, with teachers and students, and with the following results: Teachers: • Content was edited and uploaded to the virtual classroom as Word/Excel attachments. • Bibliography, images and software among others were digitalized. • Searches, selections and evaluations of relevant sites were made, so as to the recommend them to students. • They communicated digitally with their pupils, incorporating their own codes and adapting them to educational purposes. Students: • They carried on a digital appointment book by referring to the virtual classroom to see if there was any homework • They downloaded files and uploaded others (as a response to instruction given). • Performed searches on the Internet (some guided, and other on their own), learning to distinguish and assess sources and content. • They found resources, communicated and argued. • They got used to the use of ICT/TIC “with instructional purposes” (BDS, 2009). Evaluations have shown that, in using technologies as auxiliary to teaching, teachers and students are transformed into efficient collaborators, leaving aside what’s recreational, making room for learning and experimenting by acquiring knowledge employing multiple sources. Some of the examples that we had collected from the beginning of this investigation can be summed up in the following contributions from students, starting from the 5th grade (primary school) using Internet and cell phones. •

•

•

A group of students from secondary school expressed their satisfaction to be able to use cell phones in the classroom and library, as it helped them a great deal in homework in astronomy and geography. For this, they used applications such as Photo Bucket, sharing pictures with their classmates; Skype Maps and Latitude by Google so as to make a comparative work on location of countries, their soils, skies, time zones, geographic coordinate and other content. Other students told about their positive experiences, as in Math class where they were allowed to auto-correct the exercises with the measure converter. By doing this in groups, there was a double learning and more concepts were fixed in their memories. Other example was from a group that practices outdoor sports who said that their mothers were much more at ease with being able to con-

220 Ana Ester Rossaroli tact them whenever needed through this support that comes with a compass and location of places. The evaluations were conducted in the year 2005 and 2010, using an online database and taking as a model the one proposed by the University of Maine for USA schools (University of Maine, 2007). Several items were included in the evaluations such as: the frequency of computer usage in the classroom; resources employed; digital communication media of the school; the impact of technology on the planning of classes and on the search of content; the personalized follow up of students; student motivation; and academic results. From the library, many evaluations were carried out, the main ones being the use of the ICT/TIC and their academic results on behalf of the students. The overall results were broadly satisfactory from a variety of points of view (see Figures 3, 5, 6, and 7 on the next page). Starting in 2011, these surveys will no longer be optional and anonymous, by this being able to specifically determine their evolution: the real impact of technology in educational quality. As the librarians continue to fulfill their role and function, guiding and keeping an eye on the reading process, gathering information about books and genres that are popular with users. This project is aimed at the whole school community and all of those institutions that would like to be a part of it.

The Belgrano Day School Model Project 221

Final Words This project is of interest in our country of Argentina, in the Latin American region, and also around the world. It is important because of the impact it has had and still has among the students, on their knowledge acquisition and their pleasure in reading and writing in any medium. The project covered all of the knowledge areas in the school and involved all students from ten years old onwards, showing that every student can access all the technologies. During the time that there were no classes in Argentina (2009) due to the flu pandemic "Gripe A," students in the Belgrano Day School had classes by working from their homes throughout the community. Team work was built up, as well as collaboration and cooperation, as students exchanged knowledge with one another. Also important is that the project relies on the role of the librarian. Argentine society hasn’t yet 100% entered into the virtual space. A significant percentage of Argentine citizens still do not have the benefits of this valuable information access. This reality has generated what specialists call the “information breach.” The reasons for these inequalities are several, not always financial. On the contrary, the access door rests in the existence of a planned literacy teaching in the access and use of the information. Among many different schools, Belgrano Day School stands out due to the fact that, from the initial levels, they start to teach students how to use information technology. This way, it is possible to incorporate at an early stage the competences and abilities needed to work in this new virtual information space. The implementation of the switching between an information society to another one based in knowledge was a decisive move for this institution. It allowed the inclusion of a Model Project which is constant and coherent in forming library users. This process required a political decision to clearly define the curricular content. Beyond the collections and technological connections, the essence of the school library is still valid. What are the keys for this? They are: to define a space, to be flexible to social and cultural changes, to create new services, to expand physical structures, and finally to be protagonists.

Further Information Information about the Belgrano Day School Model can be found on the school’s home page. The web page of Belgrano Day School is at URL: www.bds.edu.ar. There will be found the publication on which this chapter was based, including bibliographies and sites on which the project developers have based the model, step by step. More details about the Model or the Library are available from Professor Claudia Maiocchi. Professor Maiocchi is from the Institutional Communications area and is one of the project creators. Contact email: [email protected].

222 Ana Ester Rossaroli

References BDS. (2009). El Modelo Belgrano Day School: Tecnología, cultura y educación, at URL: http://www.bds.edu.ar (access date: 10.02.2011) BDS. (2010). El Modelo Belgrano Day School: Biblioteca, contenidos digitales y calidad educativa, at URL: http://www.bds.edu.ar (access date: 10.02.2011) Cobo Romani, C., & Kuklinsi, Pardo. (2007). Planeta Web 2.0: Inteligencia colectiva o medios Fast – food, at URL: http://www.planetaweb2.net (access date: 18.01.2011)) En España, una computadora por alumno. (2009), at URL: http://www.lanacion.com.ar/ nota.asp?nota_id=1127256 (access date: 10.02.2011)) Moodle. (2004). Virtual learning environment, at URL: http://moodle.org (access date 10.02.11) PortalEduc.ar, at URL: http://portal.educ.ar/debates/educacionytic/nuevos-alfabetismos/ inmigrantes-digitales-vs-nativos-digitales.php (access date: 12.04.2008) Rossaroli, Ana Ester. (2005). Formación de usuarios en Bibliotecas Escolares del Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires: The Author. UNESCO-CERLAC. (2009). II Reunion Iberoamericana de Bibliotecas Escolares: La Biblioteca Escolar para el siglo XXI (13-16 de Julio 2009). Santiago de Chile: UNESCO –CERLAC. University of Southern Maine. (2007). The impact of the Maine Learning Technology initiative on teachers, students, and learning, at URL: http://usm.maine.edu/cepare/ mlti.htm (access date: 10.05.2010)

Author Note Ana Ester Rossaroli has a Bachelor degree in Librarianship and Documentation. She has been a school teacher and a French language teacher (19671977) as well as a school librarian and professional librarian. From 1977 until 1994 Ana worked in a school library and taught at the Librarianship school. From 1994 until her retirement in 2007, Ana Rossaroli worked in a library specializing in education. After retirement, she developed and published articles in Argentina and several foreign countries, lectured at international events organized by the UNESCO, and wrote a book about school libraries in Argentina. Nowadays, Ana gives conferences and holds meetings for librarians all across the country. She is part of the academic committee for “Fundación el Libro” (Book Foundation) and “Feria Infantil Juvenil” (youth venue). She collaborates in the Librarians Association of Argentina (ABGRA http://www.abgra.org.ar/index.html) and adhonorem coordinates “Jorge Sepiurca” People’s Library in Buenos Aires. Ana can be contacted at [email protected] and at [email protected] .

Information Literacy on the Move: Mobile Learning with Netvibes, QR Codes and More Sarah Pavey Box Hill School, Dorking, Surrey, UK

Abstract In the United Kingdom, it is common practice for information technology managers to secure school networks against possible misuse. As a consequence, increasing numbers of students are using their cell phones to access Internet resources. Since this technology is part of everyday life for the majority of students, we identified an opportunity to engage teenagers with information literacy. At Box Hill School, we aspire to enhance awareness of the electronic resources our library offers, to provide centralised advice on information literacy topics and to encourage the educational use of cell phones highlighting their value as teaching and learning tools. This chapter outlines our use of Netvibes and Quick Response Codes in achieving these goals.

Keywords United Kingdom; Technology; Mobile learning; Quick Response Codes; Netvibes; Mobile phones; Cell phones; Information literacy; Leadership.

Introduction Despite the best efforts of information technology (IT) managers to police the use of technology within schools, more and more students are using their cell phones to access Internet resources. Recent research from the National Literacy Trust (Clark & Hawkins, 2010) found that 86% of children aged 8-16 owned a mobile phone. Other research from elsewhere in the world confirms similar statistics (Lenhart, 2009). With this in mind it seemed absurd not to tap into this technology and use it to engage teenagers with information literacy. After all, getting students to remember to take all they need to class is difficult, but they will rarely forget to carry their cell phone. This technology is part of their everyday life.

224 Sarah Pavey Box Hill School (Box Hill School, 2008) is a co-educational independent (fee-paying) day and boarding school for 11-18 year olds, located in rural Surrey in the South East of England. The 425 students are drawn from 37 nationalities. It is a founding member of the worldwide “Round Square” group of schools and as such is committed to internationalism. Not surprisingly, in 2008 the decision was taken to abandon much of the traditional English syllabus in favour of International General Certificates of Education (iGCSEs) and the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB) for students aged 16 and 18 respectively. This move also led to the development of a library and to my appointment as their first professional librarian. There were several challenges to consider, specific to the needs of the students, in implementing the teaching of information literacy. It was these challenges that resulted in a focus on mobile learning strategies together with an awareness that this was a rapidly developing technology with much potential. The main issues that needed to be addressed are summarised below: • •

• •

Access to the internet within school was limited by blanket filtering and students, particularly boarders, were bypassing this with use of their own cell phones, ipads and WiFi connections. Working with English as a second language meant many students had their creativity stifled by the amount of time it took to write down information, translate etc. More creative ways to engage these students and help their learning needed to be found. There was no means for the Librarian to communicate support for research on specific projects for day students outside school hours or those within school without access to a computer. With a new library it was important to be seen as being at the forefront of new developments and to use emergent technologies to make the environment more vibrant and thus encourage use.

Use of Netvibes as a Learning and Teaching Tool What is Netvibes and Why Was It Chosen? Netvibes (Netvibes, 2011) is a free site that lets you personalise a web page. You can organise access to newspapers, blogs, videos, photos, podcasts, widgets, games and more into a single page or a series of pages on topics important to you. Widgets are the applications that you put on these pages to get specific information or functionality. There are more than 180 000 widgets available for Netvibes, covering every subject including sport, technology, books, news, politics, science and much more. Although Netvibes is intended for personal organisation, it is also possible to create public pages, and this we have found to be an invaluable learning and teaching tool. Netvibes also has a free cell phone App enabling easy connection to the site when a computer is not available or when, as in our case, the school network blocks access.

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Elements of the Box Hill School Library Netvibes Pages The Box Hill School Library Netvibes site is found at http://www.netvibes. com/boxhillschool#General (Pavey, 2009). The home page is designed to contain useful general information such as quick links to the Library online resources. Widgets for travel news, journey planning and a map have been added to encourage staff and students to visit the site. A series of “News Pages” was created with two purposes in mind. The first was to heighten an interest in current affairs. Being part of an international community, having access to online newspapers in different languages provides a one stop information area for our European students as well as those from further afield. Secondly, the foreign languages pages in French, German, Spanish, World Spanish and Russian are used in class by teaching staff. On these pages there are added elements such as maps, weather charts, flags and games for enhancing vocabulary.

Figure 1. The Box Hill School Netvibes World Spanish Page

Project pages for different year groups were designed with the aim of assisting students with research. They are also used by the librarian to teach information literacy skills specific to the topic in the classroom. Each page gives details and links to online resources. The resource links are split into searching the library catalogue, online textbooks and reference books, recommended websites, journal and newspaper links, alternative methods such as online videos and slide presentations and finally a vocabulary list of key words for the subject. At Box Hill School, there is a culture of “team teaching” and so project based independent learning is often introduced to students in a classroom set-

226 Sarah Pavey ting. The subject teacher will deliver information on the content expected and the nature of the final product, e.g., a PowerPoint presentation or a brochure. As librarian, I will then guide students through the Netvibes pages showing how to undertake research. Within this part of the lesson we also look at creating a bibliography and presentation skills. Our referencing and presentation pages were developed initially with support for the International Baccalaureate Diploma in mind but this was expanded for use by younger students with the inclusion of Dewey quizzes and a slide show for help with PowerPoint presentations. To avoid copyright issues, all the drawings in the slide shows on referencing were created “in house.” Simple PowerPoint slides were uploaded to Authorstream (Pavey, 2009), chosen for its compatibility with the school’s filtering system. Quizzes were created using Mobile Study (Mobile Study, 2010) because this enabled download onto a cell phone. Other pages have been added to our Netvibes site--some transient such as coverage of the General Election 2010 and the World Cup 2010, and others more permanent including pictures of the development of our library and information on Higher Education for those students applying to universities. The Box Hill School Netvibes pages are thus used both as a classroom learning and teaching tool and by students for their own independent research. We hoped that familiarity with the pages and ease of access would lure students away from their preferred research pathway of Google followed by Wikipedia. Evaluation of the Box Hill School Library Netvibes Pages How do we know if the development of this resource has been successful ? Our objective was to support student learning both inside and outside the classroom and to enhance the profile of the new library. Within the classroom, success is easy to monitor because the students and the teacher can be observed using Netvibes in situ and as librarian I am on hand to give support and advice. Outside the learning environment, certain elements of our Netvibes pages such as the Authorstream PowerPoint presentations and the Mobile Study quizzes can be assessed since these sites include a counter for the number of hits they receive. The guides to referencing for both Harvard and MLA style have received several hundred hits each, so we can deduce that they are being used. There has been a noticeable improvement in referencing work in all year groups. Most importantly teaching staff are beginning to include marks for this and often these points are given at the discretion of the librarian.

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Using Quick Response Codes (QR Codes) to Access Information What are Quick Response Codes and Why Were They Chosen? Quick Response Codes (Kaywa, 2010) are 2D barcodes increasingly used in retail that can be linked to a website, a video, an image or a message. Some QR Codes are featured on our Netvibes pages. They can be read by any phone that has a camera and an Internet connection--it does not have to be a Smart Phone. Making a QR Code is free and, once created, it can be printed or pasted onto a website. At Box Hill School, we identified their potential for enhancing displays and giving access via a cell phone to website information and to our own documents. Applications of QR Codes at Box Hill School Initially, as part of the drive towards information literacy at Box Hill School, we created a series of booklets designed to support the planning and write up of the Extended Essay element of the International Baccalaureate Diploma, a “how to” pamphlet on referencing sources and a guide to our online databases. With language being a potential barrier for many students, we developed, as has been discussed, visual PowerPoint presentations to aid understanding. QR codes proved an ideal solution to linking these two elements. For example we printed the following codes onto our pamphlets to link with our Netvibes presentations on referencing:

Figure 2. Harvard Style Referencing Presentation

Figure 3. British Numeric (MLA) Style Referencing Presentation

Another use has been linking QR Codes with quizzes we have designed using the Mobile Study website. With a quiz it is possible to download the questions as a game onto the cell phone which then enables access without the need for an internet connection.

228 Sarah Pavey

Figure 4. Basic Dewey Quiz

Figure 5. Extended Essay

In order to make displays in our library more interactive and interesting, we have incorporated QR Codes into our posters as well. An annual event at our school is groups of students taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme expeditions in various National Parks in the UK. We created a display about the destinations and then added QR Codes to link to a video about the area they would be visiting and to a website giving more information than we could offer in our display. Consequently, the emphasis of the display could be placed on visual appeal rather than incorporating a lot of writing. Sometimes we have added a survey to a display which helps us to evaluate interest and which encourages interaction. An example is our adaptation of “What kind of a web animal are you?” The QR Code directed students to an online survey but ideally you needed to stand in front of the display to answer the questions and use your cell phone, but an option was given to complete the survey without using the QR Code too. Each year members of our book club (11-14 year olds) take part in the Carnegie Book Prize Shadowing Event. This entails reading as many as possible of the books on the shortlist. To make this more appealing, we added QR Codes to the inside back covers of the books. By scanning the code, students were taken to a video of the author talking about their story.

Figure 6. Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, Video Link

Figure 7. Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson, Video Link

Evaluation of the use of QR Codes at The use of the codes is hard to evaluate other than by direct observation. Certainly students and staff are becoming more aware of the technology available via their cell phones, and there is more prominence of codes in the wider community in general. A recent television advertising campaign for Tesco

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supermarket has also demonstrated barcode scanning using a phone. This technology is certain to become more commonplace and better used. Future Developments for the Use of QR Codes in the School Recently we have expanded our use of QR codes outside the library domain by adding codes to teachers’ displays. A standard poster distributed throughout the school about the International Baccalaureate Learner Profile was enhanced using a QR code to link to an online PowerPoint presentation on this topic. Another idea for the future is to add QR codes to signs within the library and around the school linked with images of what is inside.

Using Cell Phones in Learning and Teaching Application in Information Literacy At Box Hill School, we encourage the use of cell phones as a tool for research and writing. Many of our students find research work difficult, due to the extra time it takes to record everything, because English is not their mother tongue. This can deter from their enjoyment of the project because they are slowed down by the physical demands of translating and writing. The temptation for them is to make their work as short as possible to minimise this laborious task. We have tried to address the difficulties they face in the following ways: • • • • •

We suggest taking pictures of the bibliographic details of sources they have used rather than copying them out. We suggest taking pictures of pages of books they will use. We suggest using the OneNote or EndNote cell phone Apps to organise their material. We recommend filming any experiments or drama performance they do. In order to avoid “copy and paste” we advise they read the pages of research on a topic in short paragraphs and then dictate what they have understood into the phone. They can then play back and write up when they have time rather than it slowing down their thought processes.

Application in the Classroom and for Research The availability of cell phone apps can add a whole new dimension to learning in the classroom or the library. For example, we have used Pocket Universe during a lesson on astronomy with Year 9 students (13-14year olds). This App enables you to see the position of stars and planets in your local environment even in daylight hours as well as giving basic information. Students were also able to see the position of the International Space Station using this hand held software. Netvibes is also available via a phone app, and we encourage students to use this as a first step for research. Some teachers in our school reward stu-

230 Sarah Pavey dents when they have used the recommended links in their work as evidenced in their bibliography. Evaluation of Cell Phone Use in Learning and Teaching Assessment of how successful these approaches have been has been qualitative through observation and discussion with individual students. Heavy involvement with the Extended Essay component of the International Baccalaureate Diploma has enabled us to engage on a one to one basis with sixth formers and to help guide them through the research and write up process. We have seen how they have adopted learning methods using cell phones and their comments have been very positive with a good uptake of our recommendations.

Recommendations Overall, we feel that these initiatives have created a greater awareness of the electronic resources that the library offers, have provided centralised advice on information literacy topics, and have encouraged the educational use of cell phones, highlighting their value as teaching and learning tools. We have publicised our success via various librarian meetings in the South East of England and also through the School Librarians’ Network (SLN), a Yahoo based discussion group. Several other schools now have Netvibes pages and are using QR Code technology, following our lead. In the UK, it is common practice in schools for IT Managers to restrict access to certain websites, particularly those with links or potential links to social networking. This causes problems in our own school since Netvibes falls into this category and can only be accessed by staff through the school network. We can therefore give students a QR Code so they can easily link to this site while on the school premises via their phone and the school network is not compromised. For both the teacher and the librarian in the classroom and for the students, there are real benefits to having essential information about a research topic on a single site. It entices students away from the Google/Wikipedia “research” route since Netvibes and/or a QR Code can also be used to find information with a minimum number of mouse clicks. By using the site as a learning and teaching tool in the classroom, students are able to relate to Netvibes more easily when undertaking their independent study. All of this technology is free, universal and requires very little information technology knowledge. QR Codes can be created in under a minute and an initial Netvibes site can be set up within a similar time frame. Netvibes pages can be developed over time in conjunction with the needs of the curriculum and the library. The possibilities are endless!

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Contact Information Mrs. S. J. Pavey, MSc, FCLIP, Librarian, Box Hill School, Mickleham, Dorking, Surrey, RH5 6EA, UK Email: [email protected]

References: Box Hill School. (2008). Box Hill School Home Page, at URL: http://www.boxhillschool. com/ (access date: 07.02.2011) Clark, C., & Hawkins, L. (2010). Young people’s reading: The importance of the home environment and family support, at URL: http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/research/ nlt_research/2055_young_people_s_reading_the_importance_of_the_home_environm ent_and_family_support (access date: 07.02.2011) Free Online Surveys. (2010). Create free online surveys with our Survey Builder, at URL: http://freeonlinesurveys.com/ (access date: 07.02.2011) Kaywa. (2010). QR-Code generator, at URL: http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ (access date: 07.02.2011) Lenhart, A. (2009). Teens and mobile phones over the past five years: Pew Internet looks back, at URL: http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/14--Teens-and-Mobile-PhonesData-Memo.aspx (access date: 07.02.2011) Mobile Study. (2010). Create educational content for mobile devices, at URL: http://www. mobilestudy.org/ (access date: 07.02.2011) Netvibes. (2011). Netvibes dashboard, everything, at URL: http://www.netvibes.com/en (access date: 07.02.2011) Pavey, S. J. (2009) Authorstream presentations pages, at URL: http://www.authorstream. com/Presentation/SarahPavey (access date: 07.02.2011) Pavey, S. J. (2009). Box Hill School Netvibes Pages, at URL: http://www.netvibes. com/boxhillschool#General (access date: 07.02.2011)

Author Note Sarah Pavey, MSc, FCLIP, is currently Senior Librarian at Box Hill School in Dorking, Surrey in the UK. She has a degree in Biochemistry and a Masters in Information Science. She has worked as a school librarian for over 15 years in the UK, both in the independent and maintained sectors. She is co-author of The Innovative School Librarian and has spoken at numerous library conferences (including the 2010 IASL conference in Brisbane via Internet link). She is also an Independent Library Consultant and conducts regular training events for CILIP, for the School Library Association, for Special Schools and Academies Trust, and for International Baccalaureate. Contact email: [email protected]

Web 2.0 and our School Library at the Hamilton and Alexandra College in Victoria, Australia Margaret Simkin The Hamilton and Alexandra College, Hamilton, Australia

Abstract This chapter reflects on the capacity of the school library to provide educational leadership, specifically in relation to Web 2.0 applications. It describes the experiences of our two-campus school library service which caters for about 500 students at The Hamilton and Alexandra College in Australia. The chapter presents the development of our Web 2.0 skills and presence. Our learning journey has taken several years, and the tools we have chosen to utilize have matured over time and proved sustainable. In our libraries, we have found different means of catering to our clientele (parents, students and teachers). In order to manage the workload, we have recruited the assistance of several students. Our Web 2.0 presence has also led to educational change across a range of levels within our school community, as well as linking us to the wider world. Our experience could be replicated or adapted to other circumstances.

Keywords Australia; Web 2.0; Technology; Information literacy; Information management; Pedagogy; Co-operative planning; Leadership.

Introduction The Hamilton and Alexandra College is a co-educational independent school, located in the town of Hamilton, in south western Victoria, Australia, about four hours by car from the capital city, Melbourne. Hamilton has a population of around 10,000. The location of our college makes access to conferences for professional learning somewhat costly in time, as well as in money. Our college has an enrolment of around 500 students, from Early Learning Centre (ELC) (aged 3 years) to Year 12 (aged 18 years). There are two campuses: the Junior Campus has approximately 150 students (ELC to Year 6-12

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years of age), and the Senior Campus has around 350 students (13 years of age and older). A strong academic tradition ensures that our students gain strong results in the Victorian Certificate of Education. Each campus has its own library branch. The Junior Campus students take formal library lessons based on developing literature and information and communication technology (ICT) skills. The Senior Campus library operates on flexible scheduling for research and ICT skills, and hosts regularly timetabled guided reading classes for Year 7 to Year 10 students (13 to 16 years old), who spend one English lesson per fortnight reading from our large fiction collection. We have three staff members: a teacher-librarian (0.8 of her time is spent in the library), a part time primary teacher responsible for library lessons (0.5 time both campuses) and an assistant (0.6 time), who is primarily responsible for cataloguing. Our technical support is provided by our school’s technician who is responsible for all computers and interactive whiteboards. Given the level of our staffing and the myriad of demands placed on our services, we have to be judicious in developing new resources, based on what we can maintain. As a team, we keep abreast of developments in our field, but we do not attempt to provide everything. We evaluate the educational potential of each new technique or technology, and ascertain its sustainability. We also recruit interested students to assist us with implementation, or ongoing management. Web 2.0 is a recent addition to our services, and our process for introducing selected Web 2.0 tools and methods of maintaining them are described in this chapter. Difficulties, both anticipated and unexpected, have arisen since we commenced our Web 2.0 journey, and these will also be outlined.

Our Journey into Web 2.0 Keeping Abreast of New Developments One of the biggest issues in managing school library services is keeping up with the sheer volume of information being published in new formats and being accessed through evolving technologies. In many cases, library staff numbers are small, and the traditional organizational tasks continue to require attention. School libraries face added challenges in terms of actively supporting contemporary educational practices, which may be driven by their school system or adopted by their individual school community. Professional reading takes valuable time, and it is impossible for any individual to conquer everything that passes across his or her desk. Dedicating resource development time to selected information sources is the most effective way of keeping pace. Having a number of library team members is advantageous, as different people can be responsible for monitoring different sources.

234 Margaret Simkin I rely on OZTL_NET (2005), an electronic service designed to meet the professional information needs of Australian school library managers and educators. This listserv has members from all states and territories of Australia and internationally, and it processes requests ranging from basic daily operations to futuristic projections. By reading the daily posts and forwarding relevant information to my colleagues, as appropriate, I am able to maintain a working knowledge of innovations and changing practices. Increasingly, I am also following #tlchat and #austl on Twitter (as margaretsimkin). Many educators are tweeting Web links that prove serendipitous, often leading me to totally new online spaces. This is like wandering among the bookshelves to see what is there, rather than searching the catalogue. Professional learning is further enhanced by belonging to the School Library Association of Victoria, reading their publications, and attending conferences when possible. The importance of personal contact with fellow practitioners cannot be underestimated. Our library also subscribes to a range of literature review magazines and the Australian School Library Association’s Access. Selecting Which Web 2.0 During 2005, new methods of publishing information on the Internet were developing and that many teacher-librarians were focusing their energies on techniques such as blogging. There were increasing references to new terminologies: wikis, nings, Twitter and so on. Sitting in isolation at school and occasionally working with another interested teacher, I investigated these technologies, but I could not see any immediate relevance. Internet access was evolving and broadband had not yet arrived, so online access was relatively restricted. My first blog was created using Wordpress in 2007. While this was interesting, no immediate pedagogical value was evident to me, particularly given our slow Internet access at that time. Meanwhile, I visited a number of websites that were posted on OZTL_NET but nothing seemed useful for us. The catalyst was a School Library Association of Victoria conference featuring American educator Will Richardson. Richardson (2006) collates all his professional presentations on a wiki. At last I could see a way of doing something useful with a tool that I found logical and easy to use. The layout of his Wikispaces site was clear. Developing Web 2.0 Applications Previously, I had passed information onto teaching staff by forwarding relevant information by email. One of our teachers replied to such an email by saying: “It would be great if these links could be stored somewhere accessible to me when I needed them.” This gave me the reason to develop something for our teachers and the esandbox wiki was born (Simkin, 2009). The aim of the sandbox site was to collate all links that could be useful for teaching into a single, clearly set out site where anyone who was interested

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could find required information at a time that they needed it. This dovetailed with the zones of intervention concept (Kuhlthau, 1996; Todd &Gordon, 2007) on which so much of our day-to-day library practice has been based. Wikispaces was chosen because we had seen various wikis developed using the site. This is a free application, and, for educators who sign up, it is free of advertisements. It has proven robust with an excellent help desk service. A pertinent response to any query usually appears in the email inbox within twenty four hours. The esandbox (http://esandbox.wikispaces.com) is public and welcomes new members. People from all over the world have joined but few have contributed to content. Wikis are fine for collaborative creation but they are not immediately appealing to the majority of students. Blogs have greater application for classroom teachers, for posting information which benefits from feedback. Given time restraints affecting the library team and the teaching staff’s lack of desire to be involved, a different solution was required to meet this need. In 2009 two Wordpress blogs were set up, chosen on the basis of familiarity and accessibility within school. The first blog was for students at our Junior Campus, The Handbury Library, and the second for students at the Senior Campus: The Alexandra Library (Simkin 2009). To assist with managing different aspects of our workload, we have enlisted a number of talented students. I have described the development of our Library Committee elsewhere (Simkin, 2008) and fully recommend it as an excellent investment. The two boys who currently manage our blogs have both volunteered so that they can build up their hours of service for their Duke of Edinburgh Awards (http://www.dofe.org/). They work for an hour each week after school, and their enthusiasm is very energising. Most recently we established a wiki for parents called “knowledge and wisdom at home” after our school motto (Simkin ,2010b). The visitor numbers here have been slowly growing. Our Principal gave his full support but requested that there be no input from parents. This requirement is met through appropriate privacy settings. The links posted here relate to raising and educating children and cover aspects such as starting school and learning to drive, reflecting the age range of our students. Another issue faced by teacher-librarians is convincing teachers to use their Web 2.0 creations. We only have a few teachers who regularly visit any of our sites, teach students how to use them, or develop similar applications themselves. To encourage teachers, we recently launched our “Innovation Tribe.” Attendance at Tribe meetings is voluntary, and anyone is able to contribute to them by presenting a new skill or program that they have used. Concepts and websites are then added to the esandbox site (Simkin, 2009). The Tribe has been actively enhanced because one of the primary teaching staff has been prepared to advertise and provide home baked cakes for attendees (he is both an excellent cook and pedagogically aware of Web 2.0 potential). As of this year, Tribe meetings have been formally placed on our internal professional learning calendar.

236 Margaret Simkin Different Web 2.0 applications are suited for library purposes, for classroom use and for professional learning. A variety of platforms are evolving which enable the delivery of material in a manner that is almost as good as being in front of the group concerned. Elluminate (http://www.elluminate. com) uses the catch phrases: “Go beyond web conferencing with web, audio, video, and social networking solutions for 21st century education and training. Welcome to unified learning and collaboration.” Elluminate is one tool that is currently being provided free for Victorian educators. It allows individual participation in the presentation using a variety of modes. Microsoft Office Live Meeting has similar functions, allowing a number of participants to collaborate online through web conferencing. These products allow much more interaction than does Skype which allows face-to-face conversation in a video call. Another excellent tool for teachers is Voicethread (http://voicethread.com) which allows you to construct a commentary around an image or images, PowerPoint slides or similar presentation software. I presented, by using this medium, at the online conference for Your School Library (number 5), designed specifically for teacher-librarians. This conference, held in December, discussed the introduction of e-books. Participants came from a wide range of countries, and it was an excellent format for enjoying learning without leaving home. The Voicethread was easy to produce and retrieve (Simkin, 2010) and the technique would be valuable for secondary teachers teaching older students. A word of warning however: you only get three free Voicethreads. However, costs for creating more are reasonable. Classroom Presenter (CP3), an interactive tool developed for educators by the University of Washington (2009), allows teachers to present data and then immediately get feedback from students using laptops, demonstrating each individual’s understanding, or lack thereof, for the topic under discussion. CP3 is a free download and is easy to use, being capable of importing PowerPoint presentations (which includes exports from interactive whiteboard lessons). Our History Department has had some success experimenting with this program using superseded staff tablet laptops. A text that presents many of these issues from a library management perspective is Reality Bytes (La Marca and Manning, 2004). This book includes responses from a range of educators on the theory and use of Web 2.0 tools. Keeping Abreast of Web 2.0 Developments The Internet is a rapidly changing organism. This is particularly true of free applications which often morph into something different or disappear altogether. Sometimes the sites that you choose to work with alter their purpose and become unsuitable for educators to use with students; or they shut down. The sites we have used that have subsequently shut down have all given us ample warning and often offered us migration to an alternative platform. Free sites also change into fee for service offerings. When you start using an application, you do not know what the future will hold. For my History

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classes I had developed a ning free, with the ability to have a chat room running, have each student set up their own pages, and host blogs and discussion forums. This site is now defunct because, when ning transferred to a fee for service product, I chose not to pay to maintain it. Ning had the added disadvantage of being blacklisted by our school Internet filter, as are most social networking sites. Each separate ning had to be specifically white listed for us to be able to access it. We are unable to use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Myspace at school, and many other sites are also blocked because they provide “social networking.” The Go2web20 Web Applications Index (2006) is an excellent way of finding out what applications are out there. Again, if you do your preparation at home and your workplace has Internet filtering, you may find that the sites you select as valuable are inaccessible to your students. This index is constantly being updated, and it is attractively set out. Attend conferences; observe others working and read professional publications to understand this evolving area. As new areas of Web 2.0 and new technologies aiding content creation appear, we investigate, trial and adopt (or reject) them. “Easi-Speak” microphones, which record directly in MP3 format, and flip cameras, both of which connect to and recharge from the computer using an inbuilt USB connection, have been excellent technological additions assisting web creation. These products are both student friendly. The appeal of Web 2.0 is the audience. Teachers have always sought methods of providing real audiences for their students. Web 2.0 provides them. Pen pals, class magazines and school magazines have been produced in a range of formats throughout my teaching career. By using Web 2.0 applications, students have instant access to an audience. For teachers, a global cohort raises the quality of content and format in ways that have not previously been possible. One issue threatening Web 2.0 applications is the development of Intranet systems by the various state level education departments in Australia and elsewhere. These are encouraging (at best) and enforcing (at worst) Web 2.0 type connections that are totally within the system. This means that teachers can only set up collaborative projects with other state run schools in their jurisdiction. The ability to communicate with the global community is removed or reduced, which diminishes effectiveness. Schools within other Australian educational systems may be excluded. This is compromising Web 2.0 outcomes for many Australian students. Policy Issues Our school, like many, has a computer network usage policy signed by enrolling students and their parents. It caters for the type of sites students should not access, the way in which they use information and their relationship with other students. Our current mobile phone rules ban students from using the inbuilt cameras at school. The rapid introduction of 3G products: ipads, ipods, Kindles, and mobile Internet connection devices all make management of Internet

238 Margaret Simkin access, and therefore Web 2.0, an issue for schools. Often the library team is significantly ahead of their teaching colleagues in this area and need to keep raising the implications at an administrative level with their school management teams. A calm and considered approach to these issues, based around the advantages for pedagogy is advisable. Education is the key. Cybersafety (a more positive term than cyberbullying) and netiquette advice must be introduced when launching Web 2.0 activities and referred to constantly. There are some wonderful websites to support this such as McLean (2009). Susan McLean has past experience as a policewoman working in this area and offers pertinent advice. Links to cyber safety and netiquette sites should be incorporated into your application to enable easy access by teachers and students. Current Status Our Web 2.0 projects are subject to continuous updating, monitoring and reflection. Changes are made as requested and our school community is becoming more adept at accessing our creations and/or developing their own. Surveys, usually conducted through Survey Monkey (1999), are easy to construct and retrieve and provide evaluative data. Visitor counting sites, such as Revolver Map (http://www.revolvermaps. com), Clustr Maps (http://www.clustrmaps.com), and assessment tools such as those built into Wikispaces (http://www.wikispaces.com) enable us to assess the impact of our work. Interestingly, they all use different means of counting visitors, hence the statistics do not agree from application to application.

Recommendations For anyone wishing to develop a Web 2.0 presence the following a method, which would suit the introduction of any new procedure, technology or information source, worked for us: 1. Select. It is impossible to do everything: keep abreast of developments, review the options, match them to your personal skill set and then choose the best application for your particular clientele. If you can clearly see the purpose, it is far easier to proceed, and the work becomes a passion rather than a chore. Commence with one, bed it down, and then consider proceeding with the next. 2. Upskill. Feel confident yourself before you share with others. Learning is enhanced through collaborative exercise; any interested friend will be perfect. Taking on the Victorian School Libraries Learning With Web 2.0 Program – Re-imagine in 2008 was the catalyst for our library as it forced us to engage with a wide range of Web 2.0 tools. Similar courses exist online, such as K-12 Learning 2.0 (2010) and can be found by searching the term “23 things” in your browser. The

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3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

cost of such courses is worthwhile, as they are hands on, online and self paced within manageable guidelines. Commence. Take one application, bed it down and then proceed with the next. Incorporate some data before advertising your application to your staff and students. You will need to run some professional learning with your teachers or lessons with students once you launch. Talking about online etiquette is vital at this point. Remember that your teachers may not be comfortable in the online environment and nurture them. Build. Continue adding new information using other educators such as Will Richardson (2006), Joyce Valenza (2008), Sheryl NussbaumBeach (2006), all from the United States and Australian teacherlibrarians such as Jenny Luca (Luca, 2009). If you feel more comfortable learning from a book, Technology Toolkit (Pearce & Bass, 2008) goes through many applications in an easy to follow manner. Another good manual is Excellent Web Edventures: an introduction to online learning (Hoareau, 2004). Remember the Go2web20 Web Applications Index (2006) for suggesting applications to others but check accessibility on your school network. Review. Monitor your site or sites and evaluate your efforts. Using statistical analysis tools is valuable, as is constructing your own surveys on a regular basis. An audience other than the one you anticipated does not negate the value of your work. Replace. Substitute any work that you do within your school library which has lesser value to your clientele with innovation. If your input indicates little benefit, you should stop! Ideally, anything you introduce should enhance or replace something else. Keep up to date. Keeping abreast of developments in information communication and technology, places you in a very powerful position to display educational leadership. Unfortunately this means that your work is cyclical, not finite. Eventually you will need to commence the cycle again by selecting the next new thing that you wish to introduce. Make contact! [email protected] or margaret. [email protected]

References Australian Communications and Media Authority. (2009). Cybersmart, at URL: http:// www.cybersmart.gov.au/ (access date 7.2.2011) Bright Ideas Blog. (2008). The School Library Association of Victoria, at URL: http://slav. globalteacher.org.au/2009/07/20/feature-wiki-hamilton-and-alexandra-college/ (access date 24.1.2011) Elluminate, at URL: http://www.elluminate.com/ (access date 6.2.2011)

240 Margaret Simkin Go2web20 Web Applications Index. (2006), at URL: http://www.go2web20.net/ (access date 24.1.11) Horeau, Renee. (2004). Excellent We Edventures: An introduction to online learning. Carlton South, NSW, Australia: Curriculum Corporation. La Marca, Susan, &Manning, Mary (Eds.). (2004). Reality bytes: Information literacy for independent learning. Carlton, NSW: School Library Association of Victoria. Luca, Jenny. (2009), at URL: http://jennyluca.wikispaces.com/ (access date 31.1.2011) McLean, Susan. (2009), at URL: http://www.cybersafetysolutions.com.au/ (access date 14/2/2011). Microsoft Office Live Meeting. (2011), at URL: http://www.microsoft.com/online/officelive-meeting.aspx (access date 6.2.2011) Nussbaum-Beach, Sheryl. (2006), at URL: http://www.slideshare.net/snbeach/web20-forhigh-needs-populations (access date 31.1.2011) OZTL_NET [A list community for information professionals in Australian schools]. (2005), at URL: http://www.csu.edu.au/cstl/oztl_net/( access date 25.1.2011) K-12 Learning 2.0. (2010), at URL: http://k12learning20.wikispaces.com/23Things (access date 27.1.2011) Kuhlthau, C. C. (1996). The concept of a zone of intervention for identifying the role of intermediaries in the Information Search Process. Rutgers, New Jersey, Centre for International Scholarship in School Libraries, at URL: http://www.asis.org/annual-96/ ElectronicProceedings/kuhlthau.html (access date 7.1.2011) Richardson, Will. (2006), at URL: http://weblogged.wikispaces.com/ (access date 28.1. 2011) Simkin, Margaret. (2007a). THAC booklovers blog, at URL: http://alexandralibrary.wordpress.com/ (access date 28.1.2011) Simkin, Margaret. (2007b). Dr. Olivia Skulduggery booklove’s blog, at URL: http://handburylibrary.wordpress.com/ (access date 28.1.2010) Simkin, Margaret. (2008). Tapping the potential of students. SCIS Connections No. 65, at URL: http://www2.curriculum.edu.au/scis/connections/issue_65/tapping_the_potential_ of_students.html (access date 3.12.2010) Simkin, Margaret. (2009). esandbox, at URL: http://esandbox.wikispaces.com/ (access date 28.1.2011) Simkin, Margaret. (2010a). Interactive whiteboards and their place in your school library, at URL: http://ed.voicethread.com/share/1520373/ (access date 6.2.2011) Simkin, Margaret. (2010b). Knowledge and wisdom at home, at URL: http://kawah.wikispaces.com/ (access date 6.2.2011) Skype. (2011), at URL: http://www.skype.com/intl/en/home (access date 6.2.2011). Survey Monkey. (1999 ), at URL: http://www.surveymonkey.com/ (access date 7.2.2011) Todd, Ross J., & Gordon, Carol. (2007). A guided inquiry approach for learning in the school library: Transforming information into deep knowledge and deep understanding. Rutgers, New Jersey, Centre for International Scholarship in School Libraries. Twitter. (2011), at URL: http://twitter.com/ (access date 6.2.2011) University of Washington. (2008). Classroom Presenter, at URL: http://classroompresenter. cs.washington.edu/ (access date 7.2.2011) Valenza, Joyce. (2008). New tools workshop , at URL: http://newtoolsworkshop.wikispaces. com/ (access date 31.1.1022) Victorian Department of Educational and Early Childhood Development. (2007), at URL: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/proflearning/e5/default.htm (access date 28.01.2011)

Web 2.0 and our School Library 241 Victorian School Libraries Learning With Web 2.0 Program – Re-imagine. (2008), at URL: http://elearning.globalteacher.org.au/ (access 28.1.2011) Voicethread. (2007), at URL: http://voicethread.com/ (access date 6.2.2011)

Author Note Margaret Simkin is Head of Information Services and Head of History at The Hamilton and Alexandra College in Hamilton, Victoria, Australia. Coming from a background of teaching History and Geography to students aged between 12 and 18, she then moved into a school library position, and qualified with a Master of Education (Teacher-Librarianship) through Charles Sturt University. For the last six years, Margaret has managed the school library services for both the Primary and Secondary Campuses of her school. She has employed many Web 2.0 technologies in her delivery of curriculum and to assist with managing her school’s library services. Contact email:

Part 5 Government Initiatives for School Library Development

The School Library as a Tool to Empower Literacy and Improve Schools: A Swedish Government Initiative Helle Barrett Department of Education, Malmö, Sweden

Bibi Eriksson and Maria Gunnarsson Contassot Malmö University, Sweden

Abstract Three school library projects were funded by the Government of Sweden through the National Authority for School Improvement. The purpose of the projects was that the school library, through the growth of knowledge and through pedagogical discussions, would become a more active part of the school. The projects aimed to: strengthen the co-operation between teachers and librarians; increase the competence in the field of information literacy; and support the principals in their responsibility for school development and the role of the school library in school development. The projects lasted for three semesters. Teams of teachers, principals and school librarians from selected schools in southern Sweden met once a semester at the universities driving the projects. There they had lectures and seminars and took part in research in the school library field. There the teams also met their mentors, who also visited the teams in their schools to support their development work. The mentors also contacted the teams through net-based facilities.

Keywords Sweden; SearchingCommunicatingLearning project; SmiLE project; Many SmiLE project; School development; Information literacy; Goal achievement; Principals; Teachers; Collaboration.

Background Seeking knowledge, expressing it in one’s own way and with other students, discussing and reflecting on the content, develops the language and makes learning an active and shared practice. This idea was the starting point for two projects from the Swedish government in 2000: one was about language de-

246 Helle Barrett, Bibi Eriksson and Maria Gunnarsson Contassot velopment and improving the learning environment, and one was about developing the pedagogical role of the school library. The time was ripe for a joint professional development initiative, focusing on language and learning development from the perspective of digital competence for school librarians and teachers. Recent research, notably by Louise Limberg and Mikael Alexanderson, had made it clear that teachers and school librarians needed to reconsider their traditional professional roles and to figure out how to cooperate in the joint venture of equipping children and young adult students for life-long learning, especially in terms of literacies, including digital literacy. In a world of constant change and of information overload, the methods used would have to be appropriate and relevant. The activities would have to encourage students’ creativity and be based on both their texts and other modes of communication. Finally, the school would have to present reading as a meaningful activity as to make it possible for students to leave school as reading and writing individuals.

Description of the Three Projects In 2006-2007, the National Authority for School Improvement continued the library project and funded three projects in southern Sweden: “SearchingCommunicatingLearning” was run by Malmö University; “SMiLE” (Possibilities of School Libraries for the Learning of Students), by Kristianstad University; and “Many SMiLE,” by The Pedagogical Centre in Malmö. The design of all the three projects was “walking/following a path of learning,” which meant a learning process that took place across at least three semesters. At least once a semester, gatherings for all participants took place with lectures, discussions and workshops at the university, and in between these meetings, there were meetings with the teams led by the team mentors. During the project, the teams were working in their own schools with development projects of their own. SearchingCommunicatingLearning was a project for the senior upper secondary school and its purposes were: for teachers and librarians to strengthen their qualifications in the area of information literacy and learning; and to increase goal achievement among students. SMiLE was a project for the comprehensive school and its purposes were: to support school leaders in their pursuit of school development, emphasizing the role of the school library; to enhance the co-operation between teachers and the school library staff; and over time to increase students’ goal achievement in the comprehensive school. Many SMiLE was a project for the comprehensive school in the multicultural city of Malmö and its purposes were: to strengthen the co-operation between teachers and librarians; to increase the competence in the field of information literacy; and to support the principals in their responsibility for school development and the part of the school library in that development.

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Fifty teams from schools in southern Sweden participated in the projects. The teams applied for participation in the projects at the universities in Malmö and Kristianstad and at the city of Malmö, and they also presented plans for their development work. The teams consisted of four to five teachers, one school librarian and one principal, and every team had a mentor. The mentors were experienced professionals with different competencies: librarians, teachers, media teachers and principals. It was decided to call them mentors, not tutors, just to stress that the development work was the responsibility of the teams and not the project leaders. Some of the mentors worked at the University Library while others were school library coordinators or experienced staff from different schools. Mostly the mentors would work in pairs of two, a very lucky and fruitful method. The gatherings took place at the universities where the teams could listen to lectures on information literacy, reading, learning and metacognition and on partnership between school librarians and teachers. There were also group discussions and workshops. Well-known researchers were engaged. Louise Limberg, a Swedish professor, started with a survey of her own research about teaching information literacy. Other Swedish researchers continued with lectures on “learning styles,” criticism of sources, and the pedagogical character of computer games. Ross Todd’s lecture “School Libraries and Student Learning: Essential Partnerships for Success” focused on the fact that the all too common individual work contributes very little to learning, if any, at all: “Collecting facts is the beginning and not the end of a task.” Carol Kuhlthau’s analysis of the information seeking process was kept in focus during all gatherings. In between the gatherings, the mentors met their teams to discuss the lectures and to plan and evaluate the development work in the different schools. These meetings showed how the process of designing a development often starts and progresses. Impatience, frustration and confusion in the beginning slowly changed over time, and the participants saw more clearly that they were performers rather than consumers of a course, and how they expected to achieve progress locally, performing and evaluating and present it to each other at the last gathering. The role of the mentors, as pointed out earlier, was not to be a tutor but rather a sounding board and supporter in discussions on anything from practical to philosophical questions. Near the end of the projects, the principals of the participating schools met at the university for a seminar on “How can a project survive?” The seminar focussed on success factors in school development: • • • •

An obvious, powerful, democratic leadership Performance monitoring and evaluation Cooperation among staff on goals and content Flexibility concerning methods.

248 Helle Barrett, Bibi Eriksson and Maria Gunnarsson Contassot The seminar also addressed “How to decide on the focus when reporting projects?”, i.e., means or goals; description or analysis; individual or collective; closed or public; form or content; specific or general; teaching or learning; results or process. At the end of the projects, all teams had to write a report on their development work, nearly all wrote about inquiry-based work of different kinds. They stressed a few issues: • • • • • • •

Louise Limberg’s research on lacking correspondence between curriculum – teaching – assessment the co-operation between teachers and librarians the significance of meta-cognition during the information seeking process the templates in Carol Kuhlthau’s “Teaching the Library Research process” the pedagogical role of the school library and its potential in school development the importance of letting the students meet different kinds of texts the experience of being a “student” in the project.

The development reports reflect very clearly the increased cooperation between teachers and school library staff, and the participants reported new experiences: • • • •

from a focus on action, e.g, creating a brand new library, to a focus on reflection including perspectives on student’s learning the importance of scaffolding the importance of consensus on pedagogical issues from a focus on teaching to a focus on learning.

A project metaphor was “the balloon and the funnel”--where the balloon was all the solo work the student has to do when searching, evaluating and using information for student work and where the funnel was all the preparation for the work the class makes together with their teacher before each student was left on his or her own. This was a very useful metaphor, and the theme in nearly all discussions was that the participants wanted to make the balloon smaller and the funnel longer!

The Participants’ Perspectives on the Projects Halfway through the projects, the teams had to answer a few questions, giving their opinions about the projects (SearchingCommunicatingLearning, SMiLE, and Many SMiLE). The answers showed that the participants were inspired by the projects and that they appreciated meeting the researchers and listening to the latest on the research front-line. To meet colleagues from other schools

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was also described as very fruitful. One wish expressed by the participants was to have more concrete examples and more concrete discussions. Some problems expressed by the participants were lack of time, lack of support in their local schools and, in some cases, lack of support from their principals. At the end of the projects, the participants had to answer some other questions: • • • • • •

What new knowledge have you acquired? What new skills have you acquired? If so, how has the project changed your way of thinking on teaching? In what way have you changed your teaching? Why? Or, in what way would you like to change your teaching? Why? How have your students responded the change/changes? Or, how do you think that they will react to the planned change/changes? If so, how has the project changed your way of using the school library? Has your participation had a dispersion effect at your school?

Typical answers to these questions reflected an increased consciousness about the importance of designing schoolwork in a way that really enhances learning and the importance of co-operative learning for students as well as the adults present in school. The participants answered that they had learned a lot about information literacy, metacognition, learning styles, the significance of scaffolding, students’ anxiety about the information seeking process, about cooperation, the pedagogical role of the school library and the significance of questioning one’s own praxis. The librarians wrote about their pedagogical role and the teachers about cooperation with other teachers and the librarian. They all wrote about their growing belief in students’ competence: “The students can do a lot more than I thought!” But many participants also wrote how they found that the students needed a lot more scaffolding than they had understood earlier: “The students have mostly been positive, but they have to get used to this way of working; they must have routines and a lot of scaffolding from the library. The use of the school library has been changed, definitely!” There was more distinct cooperation: “We speak the same language, we have a common professional language on information literacy and we have a common view on pedagogical issues!” “Earlier I thought the school library was for the students; today I think it’s for me!” When it comes to dissemination in the schools most participants described a beginning of a change: “We want to change our way of working and change the structure of the school.” The mentors reported that their task had not been easy but that their task had been a most rewarding one and resulted in deep professional development: “Our role has been to be a sounding board onto which the thoughts of the participants were to bounce back a little more shaped, to be caught and put in practice!” The mentors called the project “this long and instructive journey.”

250 Helle Barrett, Bibi Eriksson and Maria Gunnarsson Contassot The mentors, as all participants, found the long time of the project very satisfactory. The difference between groups led by active group leaders and those who, to some extent, were abandoned, became painfully clear. On the other hand, quite many of the school leaders accepted the invitation to attend the muchappreciated seminar on the art of having projects in general to survive and develop. One principal: “I really felt I was a pedagogical leader, the combination of teachers-library-school development has been great in the meetings concerning learning.”

Impact of Inservice: Useful Metaphors Four metaphors emerged to describe the in-service training: • • • •

gone down the drain – no marks remain of the intentions of the project onion – the participants have fulfilled (peeled off) the intentions of the project but there no marks remain in their continued work roots – all participants working in accordance with the project into good soil – the project can grow, the participants are ready to start working in accordance with the project

One mentor commented: “When I saw the reports, I noted that when the school library is in a context of a school, it is also a natural part of the work in that school. It is much harder to build the work from the school library. To give a platform to the library from a common view on knowledge is a much more successful way than trying to sell the school library into a finished organization.” Many of the teams in SearchingCommunicatingLearning, SMiLE and Many SMiLE found themselves in a context where the “root” metaphor was appropriate. There was a beginning of a common view on pedagogical issues. For a few of the teams, the metaphor “into good soil” was appropriate--they had already started a process, their principal was active, and colleagues in other in-service training programs gave a synergistic effect. In teams where the principal was invisible and passive and where there was a sharp boundary between the school and the library, the “onion” was probably the best metaphor. There the school context was more important than the project: the form more important than content, the means more important than the goal, the teaching more important than the learning, and the individual more important than collective.

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Lessons Learned For many participants, the growing cooperation between the school and the library was an explosive force for school development: to overstep traditional boundaries can start this process. The library and the librarian had gotten more obvious roles in the school, and the teachers began to see the librarian as a partner--and this is something new at the end of the project. The library and the librarian must play a much more obvious role in a future, where all kinds of independent, inquiry-based tasks will dominate the school, tasks where locating information, evaluating information and using information will be important. The school library will be an important environment for research-SearchingCommunicatingLearning, SMiLE and Many SMiLE gave the participants knowledge about this. All projects have to have an “engine,” and so all the teams in the projects had a mentor. The mentors would often work in pairs, assisting each other. Principals, who were aware of the importance of the cooperation between the school and the school library for students’ goal achievement, could give the school librarian permission to act as this “engine,” aiming at: • • •

increasing the competence in the field of information literacy strengthening the cooperation between teachers and librarians increasing the students’ goal achievement.

In the SearchingCommunicatingLearning, SMiLE and Many SMiLE projects, the intention was that individual and collective written documentation should be an important part in the school development. Systematic writing was to be a dynamic driving force in the projects. This didn’t happen, probably because of teachers and librarians unfamiliarity with writing for thinking and learning. This kind of project has to go on for a long time. Co-operation, talking, cowriting and a lot of time for one’s own, as well as, collective reflections are needed to create a consensus; a consensus generating a new way of working. To change perspective takes time. Mentors and all process-leaders must have time, in-service training, and “nutrition” for continued co-thinking. In a school development project with the aim to challenge the traditions in school and library, the teacher and the librarian can work together from a base of scientific knowledge to follow up the professional development and the teaching content. SearchingCommunicatingLearning, SMiLE and Many SMiLE have been designed from a very strong school library perspective, very unusual in Sweden. Here the school librarian has been the protagonist and, not as usual, a minor character.

252 Helle Barrett, Bibi Eriksson and Maria Gunnarsson Contassot

Closing Words Both regional and national authorities have utilized the outcomes from the SearchingCommunicatingLearning, SMiLE and Many SMiLE projects. The National Board of Education has followed the projects and has presented a law making school libraries mandatory, a law where in the preparatory work, the three projects were described. The school library in Sweden is the responsibility of the municipality but from the autumn of 2011, the Schools Inspectorate has to make quality reviews of the school library work. Schools in the projects have been awarded the national prizes, “School Library of The Year” and “School Librarian of the Year.” Regional and national conferences have been held, and articles and a book (Barrett et al, 2010) about the projects have been published.

For More Information Startsida – Skolverket: The Swedish National Agency for Education, with a brief description in English of the Swedish system of education, at URL: http://www.skolverket.se/sb/d/190 Skolbibliotek – Skolverket: The School Library site of The Swedish National Agency for Education, with links to different resources and projects, at URLs: http://www.skolverket.se/sb/d/2161 and http://www.skolverket.se/sb/d/2487 Skolbiblioteket är mer än informationsförmedling, with lectures by Ross Todd and Carol Gordon at the national conference following SMiLE, Many SMiLE and SearchingCommunicatingLearning, at URL: http://www.skolverket.se/sb/ d/ 3359/a/18680 Lyckad satsning på samverkan mellan lärare och skolbibliotekarier [Successful investment in cooperation between teachers and school librarians], written by Stefan Pålsson after talking to Helle Barrett, Bibi Eriksson & Maria Gunnarsson Contassot, at URL: http://www.skolverket.se/sb/d/3359/a/18681

References Alexandersson, Mikael, & Limberg, Louise. (2006). Textflytt och sökslump. Informationssökning via skolbibliotek. Stockholm. MSU. Barrett, Helle et al. (2010). Skolbibliotekets möjligheter från förskola till gymnasium. Lund: BTJ förlag. Kuhlthau, Carol. (2006). Informationssökningsprocessen: En lärande process med lärare och bibliotekarie i samverkan med elevens informationskompetens i centrum. Lund: BTJ förlag.

The School Library as a Tool to Empower Literacy and Improve Schools 253 Limberg, Louise. (2002). Skolbibliotekets pedagogiska roll – kunskapsöversikt. Stockholm: Skolverket. Limberg, Louise, & Folkesson, Lena. (2006). Undervisning i informationssökning. Slutrapport från projektet Informationssökning, didaktik, och lärande (IDOL). Borås: Valfrid. Limberg, Louise, Hultgren, Frances, & Jarneving, Bo. (2002). Informationssökning och lärande – en forskningsöversikt. Stockholm:Skolverket. Todd, Ross. (2008). School libraries and student achievement: Principal support is key to success. Presentation for school principals at Malmö University, Malmö. Sweden.

Author Notes Helle Barrett has a long experience of school libraries, and was formerly a Vice-President of the International Association of School Librarianship (IASL). Currently, she is working as a library coordinator and holds a position in The Pedagogical Centre of Malmö, Sweden. Contact email: [email protected] Bibi Eriksson held for many years the position of head of the educational library and aids centre at the teacher education college in Malmö. She now works as a project manager at Malmö University. Contact email: [email protected] Maria Gunnarsson Contassot is a teacher with long experience of in-service training for teachers. She now works as a project manager at Malmö University. Contact email: [email protected]

Focus on Reading Education and Information Literacy: The Norwegian School Library Program Siri Ingvaldsen University of Agder, Norway

Abstract The Norwegian School Library Program is a national four-year program that started in 2009. Its target group is primary and secondary schools (serving ages 6-16), and its main objective is developing school libraries as resources in reading education and the promotion of information literacy. The University of Agder (UiA) was asked by the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training to administer the program, being simultaneously appointed as resource centre for schools, municipalities, professionals and researchers within the field of school libraries. UiA received this appointment due to its long history of educating school librarians, mainly teachers wanting to specialize in this area of study.

Keywords Norway; Government initiatives; Reading education; Information literacy; School library education; Principals; Teachers; Parents; Collaboration.

Introduction The Norwegian School Library Program (Program for skolebibliotekutvikling, at URL: http:// www.skolebibliotek.uia.no) has a clear and well-defined focus: making school libraries useful tools for reading education and the promotion of information literacy. These aims are to be achieved through initiating projects in schools and students at the university as well as imparting knowledge about school library research and good practice on the program’s website, in publications and at conferences. The school projects constitute the major part of the program. Forty-eight schools have been involved in the program during the academic year 2010-2011; this is an increase from 2009–2010, during which time thirty-four schools took part. Schools apply for financial support describing

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how they intend to include their school libraries as pedagogical resources in teaching. In the application, they make a detailed schedule, drawing up a project that is connected to the school curriculum. The principal must act as project manager, and the project group must consist of both teachers and the school librarian. The projects are founded on research-based knowledge and are closely connected to the everyday practical work completed in school. An important goal of the program is to increase skill levels regarding school libraries among teachers and principals. The program supports projects integrating the school library into a diversity of topics and subjects for all student groups. When selecting projects for the program, administrators emphasize not only the quality of the application and project but also the aim that many different kinds of schools are to be represented. This difference also reflects a geographical perspective; altogether, the program is to cover all parts of Norway. Funding is provided to develop a systematic use of libraries, texts and information sources in education. Both physical and virtual sections of libraries are included in the projects. The Norwegian National Curriculum (Knowledge Promotion 2006) states that diverse textual reading should be taught in Norwegian schools, and the project aims to meet this intention. Every member of each school’s project committee must attend conferences run by UiA, including the teachers involved, the school librarian and the principal. These two-day conferences are held twice during the project period (one year). In addition, all members of the project groups work on assignments. The schools also produce reports, and they make a plan regarding how to share their acquired knowledge by participating in the program. Knowledge is spread to other schools and libraries, and to professionals, researchers and organisations.

Background The national program offers funding for school library projects in primary and secondary schools, not high schools or colleges. This is due to the fact that these schools have the weakest foundation when it comes to resources dedicated to school libraries. The Norwegian school library landscape was evaluated by Møre Research in 2007. One of the conclusions in their report School Libraries in Norway was that primary and secondary schools had less personnel and resources allocated to school libraries than high schools and colleges (Barstad, Audunson, Hjortsæter & Østlie, 2007). They also found that the lack of skilled librarians was more severe in primary and secondary schools. Furthermore, the report stated that in schools where planning processes included a library perspective, the library became more visible for students and teachers, and both groups were more satisfied with the school library services. These schools had a more systematic approach to running library instruction

256 Siri Ingvaldsen courses and teaching information literacy. The most important factor for turning school libraries into pedagogical tools was teacher involvement. While a good collection of books, electronic information sources, sufficient opening hours and a skilled school librarian were important factors, they were not enough to ensure that the library was used as a resource for teaching. Rather, a crucial element was the library’s implementation into the school’s curriculum and planning processes. Moreover, teachers’ knowledge had to be included when planning the use of the school library. When teachers implemented the library into their thinking and methodology, the library became a tool used to complete practical work. The School Library Program’s strong emphasis on integrating the library into the plans and curricula of its project schools is due to Møre Research’s findings as well as other research completed in this field (see, for example, Limberg & Alexandersson, 2007; Montiel-Overall, 2007, 2008; Rafste & Sætre, 2008).

Training for Principals, Teachers and School Librarians The compulsory courses for principals, teachers and school librarians run in September and February every year. Given that the entire project group is present at these sessions, it is a challenge for course instructors to create a program that is interesting and includes learning elements for all the participants. School librarians quite naturally have more knowledge about libraries than do principals and teachers. The program administrators feel it is vitally important, however, that the whole project group sits down together, learning from the papers and debating the topics presented, as in this way school staff discussions are encouraged; in other words, the courses may contribute to developing good practices in each school involved. The courses bring together schools with similar challenges and, with school administrators in place, cooperation and exchange of experiences among participating schools are carried out to a great extent. Teachers and principals form part of discussions together with school librarians and are prepared to make changes in practices when they return home after completing the course. The papers presented at the courses deal with school libraries as pedagogical resources, the use of libraries in reading education, and the diversity of skills included in the term ‘information literacy.’ Lecturers are professors and researchers at UiA and other universities as well as professionals, the latter of whom offer examples of good practice. Papers, debates and school projects are based on research on how to develop reading and writing skills, and on new knowledge about information search behaviour exhibited by children and young adults. Two main areas are explored in the courses: 1) how to develop a common approach to reading education and the promotion of information

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literacy, and 2) how to solidify the use of school libraries through cooperation between teachers and school librarians.

Information Literacy and Reading Education The problem of ‘cut & paste’ is well documented as a challenge in education. When students copy pieces of texts uncritically, they are not accumulating knowledge of their own. They search for information and locate where to find it, but they do not work with the information to a sufficient extent. According to investigations of information search processes in schools, students need guidance on how to extract information from the material they access (Limberg & Alexandersson, 2007; Kuhlthau, Heinström, & Todd, 2008). Research indicates that reading complex and multimodal texts is particularly difficult for students with reading challenges (Bråten & Strømsø, 2007). These students need extra support using information sources in school work. The school library, with its collections of physical and digital texts, has the potential to function as a resource, including groups of students needing special material. The deliberate use of a rich collection of texts could contribute to a higher level of reading competencies in a class or group of students (Bråthen & Strømsø, 2007). Reading and understanding texts, pictures, podcasts and movies requires concentration and coordination. Modern technology has made reading a multifaceted activity, and has led to the need for training new competences in school (Mangen, 2010; Hedman & Lundh, 2009). In order to achieve functional reading skills, the student needs to be able to maneuver efficiently around a website to, for instance, locate a highly relevant article, filter out irrelevant information, find useful links, book a ticket or look up statistical material. Such skills include knowledge about how to formulate a good search phrase and evaluate an information source. However, reading also includes the ability to go through a long and coherent text, with no links, pictures, sound or animations. Two paradigms of reading seem to compete with respect to time and resources in school: on the one hand, reading as information search, on the other hand reading for the purposes of reflection and contemplation, acknowledging slower thought processes and the need for time (Mangen, 2010). While teaching information literacy skills and reading, educators need to find a balance between these two paradigms. The school librarian’s main task is guiding students in searching, evaluating and documenting information sources. It might improve the student’s learning process, however, if the librarian could also help the student read the library material (Helgevold & Engen, 2010). Therefore, in the projects funded by the School Library Program, the librarian plays an active role in reading instruction. For instance, besides teaching students how to complete an information search, the librarian offers students support when they read through the

258 Siri Ingvaldsen material they have found. They are reminded of how to manage their own reading, for instance by writing down important words and phrases and noting key elements in thinkmaps, tables, columns and logs. The joint efforts of teachers and librarians to improve student reading and information-gathering skills rely on positive, collaborative conditions in school.

Cooperation between Teachers and Librarians Research points to the fact that the learning outcome of library instruction is enhanced if the training is connected to topics students learn about in their regular curriculum. Teaching information skills should therefore be linked to assignments they receive in class, something that involves the need for teachers and librarians to cooperate closely. Students need advice throughout the process of searching, locating, evaluating, reading and documenting information sources (Limberg & Alexandersson, 2007; Kuhlthau, Heinström, & Todd, 2008). One important criterion for achieving successful cooperation between school librarians and teachers is their making a joint effort to define teaching aims and content, because when this occurs, classroom and library resources are utilized in a more efficient way. The individual school’s culture, staff cooperative skills, communication, management and motivation are all central elements contributing to such cooperation (Montiel-Overall, 2007). Despite limited resources, teachers and librarians find time to cooperate when collaboration is highly valued in the school (Montiel-Overall, 2008). These findings stress the importance of making the library an area of commitment for all parties involved. The principal and administration’s support is necessary to achieve successful cooperation. Working together towards a common goal, for instance, having the overall aim of improving teaching and learning, constitutes the most solid basis for cooperation between teachers and librarians. Consequently, schools should include use of library resources in the school’s own curriculum. The Norwegian School Library Program is based on such thinking, which is why the principal has to be both project manager and training participant.

Resource Schools Some schools receive extra funding in order to develop models pertaining to the educational use of school libraries. In 2010-2011, eight out of forty-eight project schools serve as models or resource schools, specializing in different areas yet all focusing on reading education and the promotion of information literacy in one way or another. The projects deal with reading and learning strategies, digital competencies, and different kinds of cooperation between

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professionals and institutions. Some resource schools work on developing methods of assessing information literacy. Two schools will be introduced here in order to exemplify how they work to make their libraries pedagogical tools: Dingemoen Primary School and Skaaredalen Primary and Secondary School. Dingemoen Primary School Dingemoen Primary School is located in the county of Sogn and Fjordane, and is comprised of the grades 1–7, with 138 students and 14 teachers. Seven working hours are allocated to the school library every week. In addition, the librarian contributes in many ways to practical teaching when library resources are to be used. The current project at Dingemoen is called “Enthralled by Text – In a School Library with a Focus on the Individual Student’s Needs.” The project involves reading non-fiction texts and providing the school library as a resource to be used by all students, including children with reading challenges and children needing more advanced material than their classmates. For many years, Dingemoen has put a substantial amount of effort into reading stimulation and all classes have at least 20 minutes reserved for reading time every day. Upon having undergone an external school assessment in 2008, Dingemoen received feedback that they should put more emphasis on reading non-fiction. All 14 teachers have attended a course at Sogn og Fjordane University College, “Reading and Writing in All Subjects” (covering 15 ECTS credits, in other words one-quarter of an entire academic year). A great deal of non-fiction literature is now read at this school, and the school library is actively used by students and teachers. Assessment is an area of priority at Dingemoen in addition to the school library project. The school library is a flexible arena consisting of the physical library with its collection of books and magazines and the digital library: web resources collected in the learning platform Classfronter. Teachers and the librarian pick out books from the collection and deposit them at depots located around the school in order for these books to be used in relevant teaching programs. An important part of this ‘flexible library service’ is offered by the school librarian who takes part in reading education according to the school’s curriculum and schedule and also wherever there is need for the service in practical teaching situations. The librarian spends a great deal of time building up the collections by both purchasing books and finding electronic resources for the resource bank in Classfronter. She has a good overview of relevant fiction and non-fiction literature for children and adolescents and buys books with the individual student or a particular group of students in mind. In this way the collection becomes a tool in adapted teaching. For instance, Dingemoen School would rather buy more copies of a title they know is popular among students than cover a broader range through purchasing less well-liked series. By doing so, they also benefit from students recommending books to one another. When

260 Siri Ingvaldsen students ask for a particular book, they will not find a long list of other students waiting for the same book, as more copies are available. At all levels there is a plan in place for the promotion of information literacy in connection with the National Curriculum. Teachers contribute to the plan with regard to the activities and arenas they would like included in their programs in order to achieve their educational aims. Furthermore, all teachers talk with the students in their group in order to investigate what the individual student understands and is able to extract from what he or she reads. During meetings with parents, teachers pass on information about the students’ reading skills. As part of an overall systematic approach, teachers also discuss each student with the principal and the school librarian for the purpose of deciding the aspects further reading education should emphasize. The students in need of further support receive an offer to participate in a reading group. The books available for students in this group are also read by the individual student’s teacher, the school librarian and the principal. Consequently, there are three adults with whom students can talk about the book in question. Students also discuss the books among themselves in group meetings. Valuable learning outcomes seem to be the result of this discussion, as students get used to articulating what they have experienced and learnt from their reading. Equally important, this process gives the teacher, the school librarian and the principal an impression of how much these students have comprehended from their reading. Teachers also spend a great deal of time reading aloud to their students, during the reserved reading time, while teaching topics in the subject curricula, and during students’ lunch break. Both fiction and non-fiction books are read aloud, adding supplementary literature to the textbooks students are required to read. Regarding the library itself, resource shelves are available with literature on curriculum topics. The shelves are clearly marked with signs and topic titles, so that even the youngest children are able to find ‘their’ shelves. The resource bank in Classfronter consists of a collection of links organized by subject, with fiction and non-fiction texts, teaching programs, local history resources, music and contact information for sources in the local community. All classrooms have interactive whiteboards so that the resource bank can be used for joint classroom activities. These boards are also useful for imparting other kinds of electronic texts. Dingemoen School stresses the importance of compulsory and regular meeting times for the teaching and library staff as well as the principal where they plan educational programs, discuss the challenges facing individual students and decide upon what can be done in order to support these students in making further academic progress. Skaaredalen Primary and Secondary School Skaaredalen Primary and Secondary School is a grades 1–10 school in Haugesund, Rogaland, with 464 students and 37 teachers. The school librarian works

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25 hours a week in the library. “Many Types of Texts – Searching, Locating and Using Information” is the title of the project. Skaaredalen has implemented a progress plan on learning strategies from 1st to 10th grade in which the school library and librarian are fully integrated. Formalized methods of cooperation between teachers and librarian have been established in all classes. The Skaaredalen project involves workings with students’ strategic and critical reading skills at the 8th to 10th grade levels, with teachers at the secondary level focusing on information search, critical evaluation of sources and strategic reading in their courses. The learning strategies plan is divided into grades, areas of responsibility, themes, topics and time frames. At each level there is a list of what the students are supposed to learn, for instance, organizing pieces of knowledge, using textstructural tools as well as reading non-fiction literature and digital texts. The homeroom teacher, subject teachers and school librarian are all responsible for teaching learning strategies. The plan has been created to ensure that developing such strategies remains an area of commitment and that teaching strategies will be systematically implemented. A project including several subjects is carried out at each of the grade levels 8–10, focusing on the evaluation and use of information sources. This is in accordance with the overall progress plan, where learning objectives at this level cover knowledge on making a hypothesis, gathering evidence, establishing arguments and writing effective conclusions. Students produce different types of texts, including multimodal and interactive ones, and are supposed to use encyclopaedias, nonfiction books and web-based information sources. A list of evaluation criteria has been developed, including grading for individual assignments and team work done in the project period. The criteria are linked to competencies described in the Norwegian National Curriculum, and include a wide range of elements within information literacy and reading skills. Skaaredalen cooperates closely with parents, and offers courses for both students and parents on learning strategies. An introduction offering guidance on how to do homework has been handed out to students and parents containing examples from different subjects. All students in 7th grade participate in a seminar on “Smart Reading Before Doing Tests.”An important aim at Skaaredalen is giving up the idea that a textbook is the only source to be used for school work. Teachers as well as the librarian and principal all acknowledge that today’s students read a massive amount of digital texts, and that this fact must have an impact on how the school runs its reading education program. This is the main objective of their project, besides solidifying the school library’s position in the school’s curriculum.

262 Siri Ingvaldsen

School Library Studies at the University of Agder UiA offers three courses within School Library Studies: School Library Education 1, covering a broad range of topics within Library and Information Science (30 ECTS credits), Literature for Children and Youngsters (30 ECTS credits), and Information Literacy and Reading Education (30 ECTS credits). All courses are web-based and part-time, and a majority of the students are teachers specializing in this area of study. The appointment of UiA as a resource centre for school libraries has produced an inclination to expand the university programs within school library education. A Bachelor’s Degree Program in School Library Studies has been developed and will commence in August 2011.

Concluding Remarks The Norwegian School Library Program and the School Library Studies at UiA are based on a similar mentality: that school libraries are pedagogical tools and should be included in curricula, and that schools should have a common approach to providing reading education programs and increasing information literacy. The content and structure of school projects and university programs are being developed to support these aims. Following the conclusion of the School Library Program, there will be a comprehensive assessment of Norwegian school libraries in 2014. This investigation will be carried out in order to evaluate whether Norwegian school libraries are more actively used in education and to see if the competency levels regarding school libraries and information literacy have been raised among school professionals. So far reports give the impression that both project and resource schools have included the libraries more systematically in their pedagogical work and that they are spreading the knowledge acquired in the program to other schools and professional networks of which they are members.

References Barstad, J., Audunson, R., Hjortsæter, E., & Østlie, B. (2007). Skulebibliotek i Norge: Kartlegging av skulebibliotek i grunnskole og vidaregåande opplæring. Volda: Møreforsking. (Arbeidsrapport ; nr 204), at URL: www: http://udir.no/upload/Rapporter/ Skulebibliotekrapport_fullstendig.pdf Bråten, I., & Strømsø, H. I. (2007). Leseforståelse – Lesing i kunnskapssamfunnet – teori og praksis. Oslo: Cappelen. Hedman, J., & Lundh, A. ( 2009). Informationskompetenser : om lärande i informationspraktiker och informationssökning i lärandepraktiker. Stockholm: Carlsson.

Focus on Reading Education and Information Literacy 263 Helgevold, L., & Engen, L. (2010). Om lesing av fagtekst på skolebiblioteket. In Lesing i skolebiblioteket. Stavanger: Lesesenteret, Universitetet i Stavanger. Kuhlthau, C. C., Heinström, J., & Todd, R. J. (2008). The 'information search process' revisited: Is the model still useful? Information Research, vol. 13, no. 4, paper 355, at URL: http://InformationR.net/ir/13-4/paper355.html Limberg, L., & Alexandersson, M. (2007). Textflytt och sökslump : informationssökning via skolbibliotek. Stockholm : Myndigheten för skolutveckling, at URL: http://bada.hb.se/ bitstream/2320/2930/2/Textflytt.pdf] Mangen, A. (2010). Når alt finnes på nettet, hva skal vi med skolebiblioteket? In Lesing i skolebiblioteket. Stavanger: Lesesenteret, Universitetet i Stavanger. Montiel-Overall, P. (2007). Research on teacher and librarian collaboration: An examination of underlying structures of models. I: Library & Information Science Research, vol. 29, no. 2, p. 277-292. Montiel-Overall, P. (2008). Teacher and librarian collaboration: A qualitative study. Library & Information Science Research, vol. 30, no. 2, p. 145–155. Rafste, E. T., & Sætre, T. P. (2008). Skolebiblioteket i læreplaner, lokalt læreplanarbeid og undervisningsplanlegging. In T. Hoel, E. T. Rafste & T. P. Sætre, Opplevelse, oppdagelse, opplysning: Fagbok om skolebibliotek. Oslo: Biblioteksentralen.

Author Note Siri Ingvaldsen is project manager of the Norwegian School Library Program, located at University of Agder, Norway. She is involved in various research and development projects connected to the promotion of information literacy. Her main interest is the use of school libraries in the construction of children’s learning. Email: [email protected] Telephone: +47 907 89 828

Seize the Day! Developing School Libraries in Finland Liisa Niinikangas and Esa Poikela Adult Education, University of Lapland, Finland

Abstract Finland has a high-quality public library network that is free of charge for its users. Finland has had consecutively excellent results in students’ literacy assessments in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) studies organized by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Paradoxically, the Finnish school library situation has been and is poor. This chapter analyzes the Finnish school library policy on the national level through a case study of an innovative school library development project (2000-2003) in the city of Espoo. Special attention is paid to addressing the changes in the educational system and legislation which were the prerequisites of the project. The results of the development project are briefly evaluated. Conclusions on the national level are summarized.

Keywords Finland; Education system; Library policy; Government initiatives; Netlibris; Learning environments; PISA study; Teachers; Teacher-librarian training.

Introduction Finland has about 5.3 million inhabitants. It is one of the Scandinavian welfare countries, situated in the northern hemisphere, between Sweden and Russia. Finland gained independency in 1917. Its population is fairly homogenous. The key words in its education policy are quality, efficiency, and equity. All children are guaranteed opportunities for study and self-development according to their abilities, irrespective of their place of residence, language or financial status. All pupils are entitled to competent, high-quality education and guidance and to a safe learning environment and well-being (Ministry of Education, 2011a). Finland is famous for its excellent public library network, but school libraries are controversial and have been debated (Haavisto 1998; Pentikainen

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2011). Viewed from the international perspective, the school library situation in Finland has appeared as if librarians in public libraries had a strong belief that their libraries were sufficient for the needs of teachers and pupils (Knuth, 2002). A significant school library development project in 2000-2003 is described in this chapter. It is based on official governmental documents and strategies, articles in Finnish school library books produced during or about the project, interviews of key persons and teacher-librarians trained during the project, and the evaluation reports of the project. The methodology used to analyze the data is content analysis. According to the Finnish National Core Curriculum, the learning environment within a school can be divided into physical, psychological and social environment. The physical learning environment consists of school’s building and facilities, instructional tools and the learning materials (National Core Curriculum 2004). This study of the Espoo school library project concentrates on analyzing the school library as a part of the physical learning environment.

Finnish Education System The Finnish school system is famous for its excellent results. Its secondary school students (15 year olds) regularly achieve high scores in PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) literacy tests organized by the OECD. The gap between the highest and lowest performers within schools is small. There is little variation among schools or among pupils of differing family backgrounds (PISA, 2009). The Ministry of Education and the National Board of Education are responsible for implementing education policy and for administering the education system at the central government level. Pre-primary, basic education and upper secondary general and vocational education are governed by objectives set in legislation and by the National Core Curriculum. Comprehensive education and post-compulsory general and vocational education all belong to the municipal authorities (Ministry of Education, 2011b). Compulsory comprehensive school education starts at the age of seven and continues for nine years. Just over one percent of the schools are private. The Ministry of Education supervises them, too. The language of teaching is Finnish or Swedish: official bilingualism guarantees the Swedish-speaking minority (about six per cent of the population) equal opportunity at all levels. Schools follow their own, fairly homogenous curricula based on the National Core Curriculum. Schools can also specialize in languages, science, sports, music or the arts. Comprehensive and post-compulsory education is free of charge for all pupils (Ministry of Education, 2011b). In the year 2000, the Finnish education system was comprised of:

266 Liisa Niinikangas and Esa Poikela • • •

4022 comprehensive schools (grades 1-9) with 40,000 teachers and 593,000 pupils, 477 upper secondary schools (grades 1-3) with 6500 teachers and 130,000 students and 330 three-year vocational schools, with 159,000 students (Koulutuksen 2010; Tilastokeskus 2005).

Figure 1. Finnish Education System 2011 (Reproduced with the permission of the Ministry of Education, Finland)

The Ministry of Education is the central coordinating body of Finnish education (see Figure 1). The whole education system underwent a profound change when new education legislation came into effect in 1998. Finland moved from

Seize the Day! Developing School Libraries in Finland 267

a rigid, highly centralized system of top-down administration towards a more flexible system of decentralized decision-making. This meant greater autonomy for the schools themselves and for their owners, the municipalities. The National Core Curriculum was renewed first in 1994 and again in 2004 (Finnish National Board of Education 2004). The need to develop a modern school library also became obvious with the curriculum reform in 1994 (Niinikangas, 1995).

Invisible School Libraries The history of Finnish school libraries dates back to 1724, but their existence has never been stable. There have been several attempts to develop school libraries based on international examples (Kurttila-Matero, 2004; Niinikangas, 1995). Based on Knuth’s (2002) stages of school library development, the following characteristics emphasize that the Finnish school library is a cultural institution rather than a part of the educational process within the school. The textbook-oriented education system seems to prevail. The support of the government has been mainly rhetoric. Personnel working in school libraries have insufficient training. School libraries have been regarded as book depositories. They seem to have had only a mission of reading for fun. The significance of the Finnish School Library Association has been relatively small; there has been an obvious need for professional leadership. The amount of up-to-date professional Finnish literature about school librarianship has been minimal until the beginning of the 2000s. Only recently has it grown in numbers, and the research body is underdeveloped. Knuth argues that these factors have lead to the slow implementation of the global idea of school libraries. There are no up-to-date statistics concerning Finnish school libraries. Even the whole concept of the school library is obscure in Finland. In this chapter, the school library is defined according the UNESCO School Library Manifesto: “The school library provides information and ideas that are fundamental to functioning successfully in today’s information and knowledgebased society. The school library equips students with life-long learning skills and develops the imagination, enabling them to live as responsible citizens.” School libraries in Finland have been based on the conviction that books and reading for fun are important as such. It was only in the comprehensive school reform in the 1970s that the school library was recognized as a part of the pedagogy and a basis for teaching strategies. Then the National Board of Education set up a working party and published a handbook for the advancement of school libraries. The Comprehensive School Act of 1983 defined the school library as a reference library. The deterioration of the economic situation and a lack of political will in municipalities froze the development to the level of rhetoric (Lindholm-Romantschuk, 1991).

268 Liisa Niinikangas and Esa Poikela A small study of upper secondary school libraries in 1998 revealed the weaknesses of Finnish school libraries. There was lack of a generally approved school library vision. The school library seldom had a room of its own, or it had a small book depository cabinet. Inside the school library, there was lack of up-to-date material and a lack of understanding of the importance of information literacy or the use of information technology for constructing knowledge. The school library was mainly linked with the promotion of reading. The school library was usually looked after by a Finnish language teacher with no school library competence and with a maximum five hours per week allotted for that purpose (Niinikangas, 1998). There is no coherent school library policy in Finland. At the national level, strategic guidance is given by the Ministry of Culture to public libraries and by the Ministry of Education and Science to the education sector (see Figure 2). The Ministry of Education does not have a single civil servant responsible for the strategic planning of school libraries, although public libraries and schools are central actors in the rhetoric of the Information Society (Ministry of Education, 2009). Public libraries in Finland are governed by the Library Law. They follow the national public library policy. In every municipality, there is a public library open to all inhabitants. The public library is the most frequently used cultural service in Finland. Libraries are run by local authorities who also determine the extent of services provided. Public libraries are financed from tax revenues. Municipalities receive statutory aid for operating a library. They decide independently about the amount allocated to libraries’ operational costs (Ministry of Education, 2011). It is true that school libraries are also mentioned in public library policy documents and in national public library strategies and guidelines. According to the public library strategies, public libraries should be involved in the organization of library services for schools together with the schools. The documents emphasize the importance of cooperation between these two (Ministry of Education, 2009).

Rhetoric or Action? In 1994, the Finnish Ministry of Education formed an expert group to prepare a strategy for education, training, and research in the information society for 1995-2000. Information literacy skills and access to information gained importance, and teachers’ knowledge and competences to use information technology in their teaching were emphasized (Eisenberg & Lowe, 2004). The Parliamentary Committee for Education and Culture addressed the need for development of school libraries and information services in connection with the discussion on new school legislation. School libraries were mentioned in the Basic Education Act: “In a school there can be a school library

Seize the Day! Developing School Libraries in Finland 269

for achieving the pedagogical goals of the school. The school library will be financed from the budget of the school” (Basic Education Act 628/1998). At the same time the Parliament introduced a resolution on school libraries which obligated and encouraged all levels of educational administration to find ways of developing school libraries to cater to the various needs of studying and teaching.

Figure 2. Administrative framework of Finnish libraries 2011 (Reproduced with the permission of the Ministry of Education, Finland)

Following the resolution of the Parliament, the Ministry of Education began actions for the advancement of school libraries: a National Strategy for the Education, Training and Research for 2000-2004 was published in 1999. School libraries were mentioned as central actors. The goals of school libraries were clear at the national level: • • •

“All teachers and pupils will have access to up-to-date library and information services that support teaching and learning. Major schools will have their own libraries, which must be open also outside the regular school hours, if possible. School libraries will be managed by a qualified school librarian.

270 Liisa Niinikangas and Esa Poikela •

A separate program will be drawn up to improve school libraries, to promote networking of public libraries and libraries in educational institutions and to improve the student services of public libraries.” (Koulutuksen 1999, p. 51; Ministry of Education, 1999).

Implementation of the National Strategy for 2000-2004 required support and funding. Teachers and students also needed to obtain skills necessary for using ICT (information and communication technology) and the modern school library efficiently. However, there were no noticeable official signs of necessary national funding or training for the development of school libraries. Due to the obscure status of school libraries, funding was mainly allocated to computer classrooms. The National Board of Education is the tactical-level actor in education and school library policy. It sets the goals of schooling, establishes curriculum guidelines and requirements, and evaluates student learning. One of the many tasks of the chief inspector of Finnish language teaching is to coordinate school library development (Niinikangas, 1999; Sinko, Pietila & Backman, 2005). The Strategy for Education, Training and Research (1999) proposed that the National Board of Education should publish a national program and guidelines for the advancement and development of school libraries (Koulutuksen, 1999). There is no sign of this yet. Both the Ministry of Education and the National Board of Education have allocated funding for joint development projects between public libraries and schools. They have also funded teachers’ and librarians’ in-service training in information literacy and supported publishing of Finnish language books dealing with school libraries (Frantsi, Kolu, & Salminen, 2002; Niinikangas, 1999; Niinikangas, 2000; Sinko, Pietila & Backman, 2005). Almost simultaneously, at the beginning of the 2000s, two cities decided to begin their school library development projects which were funded by either the European Regional Development Fund (Oulu) or by the city itself (Espoo). In another chapter in this book, Kurttila-Matero et al describe the school library development project in the City of Oulu with an emphasis on the collaborative operational culture within schools and between schools and the City Library.

The School Library Development Project in Espoo in 20002003 Espoo belongs to the fast-growing Helsinki metropolitan area in the southern part of Finland with the population of about 240,000 inhabitants. In 2000, Espoo had 62 Finnish comprehensive schools (grades 1-9) with 20,469 students and 14 Finnish upper secondary schools with 5747 students (Tilastoke-

Seize the Day! Developing School Libraries in Finland 271

skus, 2001). The school library development project began in Finnishspeaking schools. The decision-making process for the Espoo school library development project (see Figure 3) was facilitated by the increased attention given to school libraries in Finland in the 1990s. The most notable signs were the new education and public library legislation, resolution by the Parliament and the National Strategy for Education, Training and Research for 2000-2004 (Ministry of Education, 1999). New Finnish language books on school libraries were published jointly in 1999, 2000 and 2002 by the National Board of Education, a commercial publisher BTJ and the Finnish School Library Association. The UNESCO School Library Manifesto was translated into Finnish in 1999.

Figure 3. Administrative decision-making steps behind the school library development project in Espoo

The focus within schools in the early 2000s was mainly on facilitating learning processes simply by increasing the amount of computers and information and communication technology (ICT) (E-learning Nordic, 2006). In 1999, ten Espoo teachers who, in 1996, had developed an internationally recognized and an award -winning virtual reading circle, Netlibris (www.netlibris.net) initiated the school library development project. Netlibris was funded by the National Board of Education. From the very beginning of the project, the City of Espoo allocated extra funding for the school libraries in addition to the Netlibris resources from the National Board of Education (Frantsi, 2001; Sinko, Pietila, & Backman, 2005). At first, the teachers mapped the school library situation, assessed the needs in their schools and started some training themselves. In the autumn of

272 Liisa Niinikangas and Esa Poikela 2000, seven more schools joined in, and the project began officially. The City of Espoo engaged a coordinating teacher, Ms. H. Frantsi, to work as a fulltime school library consultant during 2000-2002. In the beginning, seventeen primary and secondary schools were committed to changing their school libraries into real learning centers. The aims of the project were to: • • • • • • • •

“Develop school libraries into modern learning centers. Assess the spaces and equipment and weed the collections. Increase and multiply collections to meet teachers’ and pupils’/students’ information needs. Support the methods of literature and literacy teaching Catalog school library collections into a joint computerized database. Train the first 24 Finnish teacher-librarians according to the IFLA guidelines (Hannisdottir, 1995). Establish two model school libraries, one for primary and one for secondary schools. Establish a joint school library center to serve and support school libraries in their collection building, cataloging and other tasks.” (Frantsi, 2001; Fyysisen, 2004)

The education authorities of the City of Espoo allocated support for the school libraries during 2000–2001, altogether 252282 euros for acquisitions and modernization of the school library collections. Every school received 1700– 3400 euros to acquire material (new books, periodicals, videos, and so on). Two librarians from the Espoo City Library were hired to go from school to school to assist in weeding the collections, and one librarian to catalog them after the weeding. A school library team of several teachers and an ICT teacher was established to combine the ICT and school library development strategies. Computers (see Figure 4) were purchased, and school library spaces were modernized and networked. A common computerized library system, Pretty Lib, was acquired for 15 schools. The same system will be expanded into every school library in Espoo. Besides a two-year training for 24 teachers provided by Turku Polytechnic and Oy Lighthouse Consulting Ltd, an official cooperation with the Espoo City Library was started. During this training, the participants acquired a formal Finnish librarian qualification of 20 study weeks. The training consisted of the following components: • • • •

Virtual learning environments – 5 study weeks. Practical school librarianship – 7 study weeks. Developing the role of the teacher towards guiding of learning processes – 5 study weeks. Theoretical foundations of teacher-librarianship – 3 study weeks. (Niinikangas, 2003; Sinko, Pietila & Backman, 2005)

Seize the Day! Developing School Libraries in Finland 273

In 2001-2002, ten new schools joined in. The task of building the joint database continued. Another catalog was introduced. The teacher-librarian training continued. Two model school libraries were started as training and visiting centers also for teachers outside of Espoo. School library development became a part of the schools’ ICT strategies. The results of the whole development project for 26 schools were in 2003: • • • • • • • •

A modern school library vision for Espoo schools was approved. Seventeen schools had the same computerized library system and a joint database. Librarians from the Espoo City Library cataloged the beginning of the joint database. From that time on the data base responsibility has been dispersed to the schools and to the teacher-librarians. Twenty-one teacher-librarians were qualified. The teacher consulting school libraries had worked for two years for the common good. Modernization of school library spaces was achieved. Internet access in school libraries increased from nine schools in 2000 to nineteen schools in 2003, total number of the project schools was 26. Cooperation with the Espoo City Libraries was continued. (Fyysisen, 2004; Fyysisen, 2008) No of schools Computers in school libraries 2000

2003

no computers

11

3

computers, but no answers of how many

1

1

1-5 computers

7

10

6-10 computers

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6

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1

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0

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4

1

Total number of schools

26

26

Figure 4. Computers in school libraries before and after the school library development project (Fyysisen 2004).

What was not achieved? • •

Joint school library center for cataloging and acquisition. Real integration of information literacy into the curriculum.

274 Liisa Niinikangas and Esa Poikela • •

Continuity of the school library development teams’ work in participating schools. The secure position of school libraries during the economic recession-the weekly resources of the teacher-librarians were decreased after the project 60 % (from 2003 to 2007) (Fyysisen 2008)

The school library development has continued in Espoo mainly as adding more schools to the development of school libraries and building up the joint database.

Significance of the Espoo School Library Project What makes the school library project significant? In Espoo, it was initiated by teachers and coordinated by one consulting teacher. It was a long-term, well planned and funded project consisting of 26 schools. It placed emphasis on centralized funding and guidance by the consulting teacher in acquiring collections and a joint library system. The project also tried to focus on information literacy and the pedagogical use of computers and the Internet. It enabled the two-year training of 21 Finnish teacher-librarians. The local education authority, the Espoo Board of Education, accepted a local information literacy curriculum in 2004 for all schools in Espoo (Frantsi, 2005). The project was significant for the advocacy of school librarianship by establishing model school libraries for further visits also from other parts of the country. It also gained importance through articles and books published about the project (see Frantsi, 2001; Niinikangas, 2004; Niinikangas, 2005). Local authorities allowed some schools from Espoo to participate in the “Reading Finland” (2002–2004) program of the National Board of Education as a coordinating body of the Network Literacy programs of the Ministry of Education and the National Board of Education. “Literacies of the Information Society” and “Reading Finland” have been important for the further school library development in Finland (Sinko, Pietila & Backman, 2005).

Conclusions It is easy to measure computers with numbers, but difficult to assess their pedagogical importance in school libraries. Still, in Espoo, it was a remarkable achievement to include ICT into school libraries. According to an internal evaluation of “School Libraries as Physical Learning Environments,” it was emphasized that computers in school libraries offer equal opportunities for pupils to use ICT (Fyysisen, 2004; Fyysisen, 2008). Integration of the school library into the whole learning environment and creating the information literate school community appear to have been the most difficult parts of the pro-

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ject. The recent economic recession seems to have diminished the funding of school libraries and weakened their pedagogical position (Fyysisen, 2008). Henri, Hay and Oberg (2002) have claimed that the most important factor for the success of the school library is the principal. That may be true for countries where there already is a school library network. According to the data collected in Espoo so far, it seems that there are also other equally important national factors: political will and the leadership inside, but also outside the school. Knuth (2002) has assessed the international development of school libraries. She has written about three phases: 1) the intention phase, when policy can shape the mission of school libraries and provide a philosophical basis, 2) the institutional phase, when policy can provide the basis for concrete support systems, and 3) the qualitative stage, when existing services are improved and guidelines are refined. Espoo school library development seems to have located between phases one and two. National school library policy should provide a continuing support in Espoo and also in other parts of Finland. The impact of school libraries on students’ learning has not been fully realized in Espoo. The 26 project school libraries are now visible, and they have found their place within the schools. They could be integrated more deeply into the teachers’ daily work; the process of implementation has, however, been slower than expected. School library development projects in Finland seem still to be random cases, local-level initiatives. It seems evident that the building of the infrastructure for school libraries still requires working on various levels. The administrative model of the Finnish library network reveals a paradox that has severe implications on the national level. School libraries are still officially invisible in spite of the Espoo and Oulu projects. After the National Strategy for Education, Training and Research for 2000-2004 in 1999, there has not been political will for the school library development on the national level or within municipalities. The Espoo and Oulu projects began right after this strategic national strategy statement. Public library strategies are not enough for the development of school libraries as important elements of learning environments. The UNESCO School Library Manifesto has stated it clearly: “As the responsibility of local, regional and national authorities, it [the school library] must be supported by specific legislation and policies” (UNESCO). The latest major development in the Finnish library network took place in the 1990s with the birth of polytechnic libraries. Within ten years, a whole network of new libraries literally grew from nothing. The reasons were evident: there was political will and sufficient funding. Do we still have to wait for the next pedagogical evolution? In light of the most recent PISA study, the reading skills of Finnish boys have deteriorated (PISA, 2009). Could the coherent development policy for school libraries be of any help?

276 Liisa Niinikangas and Esa Poikela

References Basic Education Act (628/1998), at URL: http://www.finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/1998/ en19980628.pdf (access date: 8.2.2011). E-learning Nordic. (2006). Kööpenhamina: Ramboll Management. Finnish National Board of Education. (2004). National core curriculum for basic education, at URL: http://www.oph.fi/ops/english/POPS_net_new_1.pdf (access date: 17.2. 2011) Frantsi, H. (2001). Koulukirjastot oppimisympäristöinä. Virke, no. 3, p. 6–9. Frantsi, H. (2005). Tiedonhallinta perusopetuksessa. In Liisa Niinikangas (Ed.), Koulukirjastonhoidon opas (p. 37-47). Helsinki: BTJ Kirjastopalvelu. Frantsi, H., Kolu, K., & Salminen, S. (2002). Hyvä koulukirjasto, at URL: http://www.oph. fi/download/48969_hyva koulukirjasto.pdf (access date: 17.2.2011) Fyysisen oppimisympäristön arviointi. (2004). Kirjastokysely 9 – 10/2003. Fyysisen oppimisympäristön arviointiryhmä. Espoo: Espoon kaupunki (moniste). Fyysisen oppimisympäristön arviointi. (2008). Kirjastokysely 10 - 11/2007. Fyysisen oppimisympäristön arviointiryhmä. Espoo: Espoon kaupunki (moniste). Haavisto, T. (1998): Country focus – Finland. In Information Europe, Spring, p. 28 –29. Hannisdottir, Sigrun Klara. (1995). School librarians: Guidelines for competency requirements (2nd rev. ed.). International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, IFLA Professional Reports, no. 41.The Hague: IFLA Headquarters. Henri, J., Hay, L., & Oberg, D. (2002). The school library - principal relationship. Guidelines for research and practice. International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions IFLA Professional Reports, no. 78. The Hague: IFLA Headquarters. Knuth, R. (2002). International models of school library development. In Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, vol. 70, suppl. 33, p. 264-244. Koulutuksen. (1999). Koulutuksen ja tutkimuksen tietostrategia 2000 – 2004. Helsinki: Opetusministeriö. Kurttila-Matero, E. (Ed.). (2004). Tietoyhteiskunnan koulukirjasto – ossaakko nää aatella? Helsinki: BTJ Kirjastopalvelu. Lindholm-Romantschuk, Y. (1991). Finland. In J. E. Lowrie, & M. Nagakura (Eds.), School libraries: International developments (p. 12-24). Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press. Ministry of Education. (1999). Education, Training and Research – A National Strategy for 2000-2004, at URL: http://www.minedu.fi/OPM/Julkaisut/1999/liitteet/englishU/welcome. html (access date: 17.2.2011). Ministry of Education. (2009). Finnish Public Library Policy 2015. National strategic areas of focus. Publications of the Ministry of Education 2009:31, at URL: http://www. minedu.fi/export/sites/default/OPM/Julkaisut/2009/liitteet/opm31.pdf?lang=fi (access date: 17.2.2011). Ministry of Education. (2011a). Education, at URL: http://www.minedu.fi/OPM/Koulutus/ ?lang=en (Access date 17.2.2011). Ministry of Education. (2011b). Formal education in Finland, at URL: http://www.minedu. fi/export/sites/default/OPM/Koulutus/koulutusjaerjestelmae/liitteet/finnish_education.pdf (access date: 5.2.2011). Niinikangas, L. (1995). An open learning environment – New challenges for the Finnish school library. Scandinavian Public Library Quarterly, vol. 28, no.4, p. 4–10. Niinikangas, L. (Ed.). (1999). Kirjasto koulussa – opas uuteen koulu- ja oppilaitoskirjastoon. Helsinki: Opetushallitus & BTJ Kirjastopalvelu.

Seize the Day! Developing School Libraries in Finland 277 Niinikangas, L. (Ed.). (2000). Koulu kirjastossa – kirjasto oppimisympäristönä. Helsinki: Opetushallitus & BTJ Kirjastopalvelu. Niinikangas, L. (Ed.). (2003). Voiko käärme kompastua? Opettajan tiedonhallintataitojen opas. Helsinki: BTJ Kirjastopalvelu. Niinikangas, L. (Ed.). (2004). Kotipihasta maailmalle - ympäristöopetuksen karttakirja. Helsinki: BTJ Kirjastopalvelu. Niinikangas, L. (2002). Report from Finland. In J. Henri, L. Hay, & D. Oberg, The school library -principal relationship: Guidelines for research and practice (p. 49–59). International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions IFLA Professional Reports, no. 78. The Hague: IFLA Headquarters. Opetushallitus. (2010), at URL: http://www.oph.fi/download/130716_Koulutuksen_maaralliset_ indikaattorit_2010.pdf (access date: 5.2.2011). Pentikäinen, M. (2011). Koulun penkilla. In Helsingin sanomat (access date: 25.1.2011). PISA. (2009), at URL: http://www.minedu.fi/pisa/2009.html?lang=en (access date: 17.2. 2011). Sinko, P., Pietila, A., & Backman, P. (2005). Luku-Suomessa taottua. Opetushallituksen Luku-Suomi-kärkihankkeen (2001-2004) raportti. Opetushallitus: Tammer-Paino, Tampere. Tilastokeskus. (2001). Koulutuksen järjestäjät ja oppilaitokset. Tilastokeskus. Koulutus; 3. Helsinki: Tilastokeskus. Tilastokeskus. (2005), at URL: http://193.166.173.45/til/opiskt/2005/opiskt_2005_2006-0119_tie_001.html (access date: 5.2.2011). UNESCO School Library Manifesto, at URL: http://www.unesco.org/webworld/libraries/ manifestos/school_manifesto.html#0 (access date:17.2.2011).

Author Notes Liisa Niinikangas, MA, worked as an information specialist in the libraries of Jyvaskyla and Tampere University, Finland. Since 1997 she has worked as a consultant in the family enterprise Oy Lighthouse Consulting Ltd. She is currently a doctoral Student in the Faculty of Education, University of Lapland. Her research topic is on the Espoo teacher-librarians’ contextual learning after their training (2001–2003). Her publications consist of books and articles on strategic planning in libraries, school librarianship and information skills learning within the school context. Contact email: [email protected] Esa Poikela, PhD, Professor of Education, University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, and Docent in Learning at Work, University of Tampere. His publications consist of numerous books and articles on adult and professional education, learning processes in different work and organizational contexts. He has supervised several dissertations. In the information science area, he has been the co-leader of the project: Web Searching, Information Literacy and Learning, Web-Seal, Team B 2005-2008 funded by the Academy of Finland. Contact email: [email protected]

A Long Walk to Significant School Libraries for All: Government Policies in Portugal, 1986-2010 Maria José Vitorino School Libraries Network, Lisbon, Portugal

Abstract School library development in Portugal is the aim of Rede de Bibliotecas Escolares (RBE - School Libraries Network).This program of the Portuguese government was created in 1996 by the ministries of Culture and Education in order to assure school library services to every school and every student (K12). RBE provides services to 2400 school libraries, publishes national school library guidelines, and promotes teamwork through a national coordinating body with full time school library network advisors working with about 1400 teacher librarians and other school staff. New school buildings follow RBE guidelines for facilities, both in primary and secondary level schools.

Keywords Portugal; Government initiatives; Library policies, Public libraries, Partnerships.

Background The development of school libraries in Portugal is part of a long and hard story. The Portuguese National Library was created in 1911, but public libraries were rare until the 1980s, and school libraries were even more rare. The first Public Education Law was passed in 1836, but there were few public schools for a long time. Mandatory primary education was legislated for boys in 1956 and for girls in 1961. Illiteracy was common in Portugal until the last quarter of the 20th Century: only in 1976 did the Constitution recognize universal rights to education and culture. In 1974, 30% of the population was non-literate. In spite of huge progress since then, illiteracy is still a problem: even in 2001, 11 % of women and 6 % of men were totally illiterate, unable to write or read. Assuring education for all is a crucial 21st century goal for Portugal.

A Long Walk to Significant School Libraries for all 279

Some high schools were created after 1904, about when the Government stopped imposing mandatory text books for primary education. The high schools built at that time were in beautiful buildings and had school library rooms for the use of the teachers. Some of these school library rooms, with wooden shelves, large tables and severe chairs, still exist in those beautiful old buildings. After 1936, mandatory text books selected by National Committees were legislated again for all school levels, and government policies simply ignored school libraries until the 1950s. In 1956, Rural Libraries for Primary Schools were created: each primary school was provided with a small collection of books by the Ministry of Education. There were no official policies and no funds for secondary school libraries. In 1957, free mobile public libraries were started up all over the country by a private entity, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Those mobile libraries were the first and, until 2002, the only public libraries many populations knew, and the only library services all students in the country could really access. Since 1987, school libraries have been mentioned in several official documents and measures. Then, at the end of 1995, the Government ordered a group of experts, from education as well from librarianship and coordinated by Isabel Alçada, to write a report on school library development (Veiga, 1996). In 1996, the Portuguese government established Rede de Bibliotecas Escolares (RBE, or School Libraries Network), in order to assure school library services for every school and every student in the K-12 education system. This program was created by the Ministries of Culture and Education. RBE, the School Libraries Network, based on partnerships between public and school libraries, is supported by School Directors, Local Governments (Municipalities) and the National Government (Education and Culture ministries). RBE supports 2400 school libraries, publishes national school library guidelines and promotes teamwork through a national coordination agency (directed by Teresa Calçada since 1996), involving 57 full time school library network advisors and about 1400 teacher librarians and other school staff. Each advisor has a defined working area (usually including several schools and school libraries, public libraries, local authorities, teacher training centres and others). New school buildings follow RBE guidelines for facilities, both in primary and secondary level schools. Schools must apply to get their school libraries included in and supported by the School Library Network and, to be involved in the network, they need to have public library and local government support, too. Each municipality has signed a formal document (Acordo de Cooperação) with all school principals and also with Education Ministry representatives, outlining the partnership principles. Local authorities provide School Library Support Services by Public Libraries (SABE). Since 2008, municipal networks have been emerging, providing online cooperative catalogues, local libraries websites and services, and involving all school and public libraries of each municipality.

280 Maria José Vitorino For 14 years, the School Library Network (RBE) has contributed to create and improve school libraries in every school, as well as to build an educational culture valuing school libraries and involving teachers, principals, education administration authorities, parents and community leaders. The tables below show the growth in the number of schools participating in the School Library Network and the financial investment made for the past 14 years.

In 2006, the Government created a National Reading Plan, Plano Nacional de Leitura (PNL), to be developed with RBE's support in schools. The National Educational Technological Plan also valued school library activities, mainly for their literacy agenda and curriculum support. Since 2008, RBE, with PNL support, also has been running a special project on school libraries and reading promotion, aLer+ (inspired by UK Reading Connects, sponsored by the National Reading Trust), within 80 school libraries all over the country. RBE also is running cooperative projects with school libraries overseas in Mozambique and Timor (see RBE, 2010).

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The School Library Evaluation Model (discussed in another chapter in this book) has been used since 2007 (Modelo…, 2010). An external evaluation on the RBE Program by a specialists team was recently published, recognising positive impact and recommending further measures to reaffirm the vision of the school library as a hub both for educational process dimensions (reading, literacy, ICT, curriculum learning) and for connecting what students read and write for school and what they read and write beyond the school (Costa, 2009). More than 2200 school libraries are now involved in RBE, following national school library guidelines, being regularly reviewed, and including new school buildings, both in primary and secondary level schools. For several years, schools have received financial support that enables them to change facilities--rooms, equipment, and collections. Expectations for school libraries are now much higher, and the demand has grown for the political vision and public resources required to consolidate what has been achieved, in order to avoid compromising future generations’ rights to quality education and cultural capital growth.

Training and Professional Development for School Libraries Human resources are a critical factor in the development of school libraries. Over the years, many teachers and other school staff have been engaged in the implementation of school libraries, often supported by local public librarians and technical staff, and many of them benefiting from further training, promoted by some universities through LIS and Education postgraduate or master courses, by Departments in the Education Ministry, by local teachers training centres, by RBE itself, and by others such as THEKA (2004-2008).

282 Maria José Vitorino

In 2006, RBE organized, along with BAD (the Portuguese Association of Librarians, Archivists and Documentalists), the 38th IASL Conference in Lisbon (image below). The conference was a great success, involving several hundreds of national participants, and many experts from Europe and other parts of the world, no doubt advancing the School Library Network’s national goals.

Since the international conference, many local and regional meetings on school library subjects have been held, multiplying the contributions from professionals, principals, public librarians and researchers. The Portuguese University/Science Research Open Access Repositorium (RCAAP), started in 2009, already has 655 thesis and dissertation texts on school library related themes (RCAAP, 2009).

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Current Status

Since 2009, the full time teacher librarian legislation supported more than 1500 professionals in school libraries; in 2010, they are a bit less (near 1400). In 2011-2012, the government required every teacher librarian to teach one class, reducing his/her time available to work within school library development. Each new school building, from pre-school to upper secondary level, recognises the importance of the school library. School libraries are “webvisible” through web content, blogs, websites, wikis and others, so school projects and agents are increasing expectations on school library work and collaborative partnerships, with a positive educational impact, in spite of staff reductions.

References Costa, António F. Da. (2009). Avaliação do Programa Rede de Bibliotecas Escolares. Lisboa: Rede de Bibliotecas Escolares, at URL: http://www.rbe.min-edu.pt/np4/ ?newsId=592&fileName=9789727423194.pdf (access date: 12.12.2010) Modelo de avaliação da biblioteca escolar. (2010). Lisboa: Rede de Bibliotecas Escolares, at URL: http://www.rbe.min-edu.pt/np4/file/745/mabe.pdf (access date: 12.12.2010) Mozambique Project (2010), at URL: http://bibliotecasemrede.blogspot.com/2010/ 06/programa-rbe-em-mocambique.html PNL (Plano Nacional de Leitura) [website]. (2008- ). Plano Tecnológico da Educação ERTE-PTE [website] Lisboa: Ministério da Educação, at URL: http://www.crie.minedu.pt/index.php?section=1 (access date: 12.12.2010) Portugal. Laws related to School Libraries Network [on line]. Lisboa. Rede de Bibliotecas Escolares, at URL: http://www.rbe.min-edu.pt/np4/16.html (access date: 12.12.2010)

284 Maria José Vitorino RCAAP (Repositário Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal). (2009- ), at URL: http:// www.rcaap.pt/index.jsp?locale=en (access date: 12.12.2010) RBE (Rede de Bibliotecas Escolares). (1998- ). Lisboa: Ministério da Educação, at URL: http://www.rbe.min-edu.pt/en/np4/19.html (access date: 12.12.2010) THEKA (Gulbenkian Teacher Training for School Libraries Development). (2004-2008), at URL: www.theka.org (retrieved 12.12.2010) Veiga, Isabel (Coord). (1996). Lancar a Rede de Bibliotecas Escolares. Lisboa: Ministério da Educação.

Author Note Maria José Vitorino works as a School Library Network advisor for the Portuguese School Libraries Network (RBE). She has worked as a teacher, a librarian responsible for the school library, a teacher trainer, a librarian trainer, and a project manager in several regions of Portugal since 1976. Her main professional interests are school libraries development and networking. Contact email: [email protected]

Part 6 Organizations for School Library Advocacy and Development

ENSIL: Advocacy of School Libraries in the Educational Context Lourense H. Das Meles Meles School Library Service

Abstract Advocacy is a complex and time consuming undertaking. Advocating school libraries in an rapid changing educational and technological era is challenging but also rewarding. The unique selling points of a library in the educational environment are the basics for the advocating process. The success factors as well as the challenges are described in the view of the development of the European network ENSIL. Together with other international organisations, the worldwide advocacy of libraries in schools has been taken up, focusing on the educational role of the school library.

Keywords Advocacy; Europe; ENSIL; ALIES; African Network for School Librarianship.

School Libraries in Europe The actual existence of school libraries in Europe is scattered and diverse. Each country has its own educational law and its own curriculum. Although in most European countries, education in general plays an important role, there is not a general rationale on the role of libraries in education. There is not much material about the history of school libraries in Europe (Clyde, 1981), and there are a number of elements hampering retrieving publications, statistics and other resources on school librarianship. An important factor seems to be the absence of a mutual understanding of the meaning of ‘school librarianship.’ Another factor is the large number of different languages in Europe. Publications and research in national or even regional languages are not easy to find, access, read and understand. The formation of the European Union (EU) has stimulated collaboration between schools and teachers, eventually leading to the formation of Eurydice in 1977. The Eurydice network includes descriptions of the national educational systems of the member states, comparative studies on specific educa-

288 Lourense H. Das tional topics and the collection of educational statistics. The number of reports is impressive and informative but so far there is no EU vision and policy on school libraries or the promotion of school libraries. The reason for this can be found in the fact that the educational agenda of each EU member state is part of national or regional legislation. Because the concept of school libraries is not determined within the EU or within Europe broadly and because it is difficult to locate and access national basics because of language problems, we need to build an understanding that does justice to international principles and aligns with current developments in education, social and technological developments. The significant amount of research on the impact of school libraries on student achievement together with new insights on youth behavior towards modern technology and the implementation in schools became also for Europe an interesting starting point. However, in the wide range of projects executed in the EU programs, the school library plays a minor role. This can be explained by the observation that there are few special training programs for school librarians available and that school library services in primary and secondary education (enrolling students from approximately 4-18 years) are promoted and sometimes executed by public libraries instead of schools. Several European governments advocate that public libraries can offer students the same services more efficiently (i.e., more cost-effectively) than can school libraries, or even that they can replace school libraries. This is remarkable in the light of the developments of libraries in colleges and universities and can be visualised by pyramid figures (see Figure 1. Average Number of Libraries in Education, and Figure 2. Average Number of Students in Education). Based on international research completed over the past 40 years, it can be stated that school libraries are vital in addressing special attention to literature (fiction and non-fiction), to information literacy and to the use of multimedia. Students perform better if there is special attention to (and pleasure in) reading, information literacy, transforming information into knowledge, and using that knowledge to process new information. As resources are published in multiple formats that can be accessed online through a range of devices 24/7, the need for physical places and spaces is complemented and sometimes replaced by virtual versions. The role of the school library is evolving from ‘a library in the school’ into ‘schooling in the library.’ The school library is an essential function in the primary educational process. This function exceeds the traditional role of issuing books and guarantees the specific role of the school library in education in current and future times.

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Figure 1. Average Number of Libraries in Education

Figure 2. Average Number of Students in Education

From an Informal Network to a Foundation: Stichting ENSIL The understanding of this concept of the school library is the basis for the advocacy of school libraries in the educational context as is shown in the case of Stichting ENSIL. The development of ENSIL and of projects such as ALIES and the African Network for School Librarianship has been realized through personal encounters between teachers, school leaders, school librarians and school library stakeholders from all over Europe and beyond. Their dedication and hands-on input are the basis for the network’s success in advocating school libraries and provide ideas for future developments of school libraries worldwide. At the IASL (International Association of School Librarianship) conference in Malmö, Sweden in 2000, the Director Europe Monica Nilsson invited all European delegates for a gathering. The aim was to build a European community of school library stakeholders, exchange information and collaborate. Although there were many differences in school libraries, educational systems and personal backgrounds, there was a common need for cooperation for the development of school libraries in Europe. The individuals present at that first meeting did not know much about school libraries or education in other countries but they were eager to learn from each other and to strenghten their views on their profession. There was a strong feeling of affinity as many of the challenges were common. The international scene generally has a strong Anglo-American flavour; the European component would address the significant cultural, educational, social and language differences in Europe. At the end of the meeting, a follow-up meeting was agreed on but there were many challenges to address: • • •

How were we going to proceed? How and where to meet: live or virtually? Who to invite and who would be able to travel, considering the costs and time?

290 Lourense H. Das • •

What was the best place to meet, considering finding a low-cost venue? What about possible sponsors? What was going to be the agenda? And most important what was our aim?

Monica Nilsson kept her finger on the pulse of the discussion, and eventually it was agreed that the meeting would be held in Amsterdam (Netherlands) on March 21-23, 2003. The individuals present in the Malmö conference were invited to join, resulting in 12 participants from eight European countries coming to Amsterdam (see Figure 3. The founding fathers and mothers of ENSIL). Lecturers from the Hogeschool of Amsterdam, Faculty of Media and Information Management, who are dedicated to school libraries, arranged for a meeting room and provided drinks and lunch. The Dutch school library software company Aura Software sponsored a social event, a boat tour through the Amsterdam Canals, and all other costs (such as travel and accommodation) were covered by the individual participants. Starting point for the discussion at the meeting was the School Library Manifesto (IFLA, 1999), which emphasizes equal opportunities for all learners. IASL’s president at the time Peter Genco attended the first of the range of meetings over the weekend to underline the importance of the event and to provide food for thought. From the beginning it was clear a tangible outcome of the meeting was essential to ensure impact. We could not foresee the amount of impact that the Amsterdam meeting would generate, but it was obvious that this event was going to be the start of a European movement in school librarianship. The participants were representatives of teacher and library associations, as well as some ministries of education. The agenda included discussions on the importance of school libraries in life-long-learning, their role in teaching information literacy and as a result of that, the improvement of student outcomes. The first day was used to get to know each other and to draw a sketch of the European school library landscape. The discussions were intense and sometimes complex. How to understand the respective educational systems, national legislation, budgets and library field? The working language of the Amsterdam meeting was English. For most participants however, English is their second or even third language. This brought one of the participants, Maria José Vitorino to the conclusion that the common language was ‘broken English’. The discussions demanded a lot of patience and persistence from all participants, but they revealed the basics of our common challenges and success factors. The final part of the Amsterdam meeting was used to work in small groups on the wording of our common beliefs. The participants were determined to produce a tangible outcome. This outcome was ‘The Amsterdam Statement’ (Amsterdam Statement, 2003), the first document ever written on European school librarianship, and the establishment of ENSIL: European Network for School Libraries and Information Literacy.

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Figure 3. The founding fathers and mothers of ENSIL Front from left to right: Astrid Flagstad (Norway), Luisa Marquardt (Italy), Lourense Das (Netherlands), Kathy Lemaire (UK); Middle from left to right: Eric Azalgov (Russia), Johanna Hladej (Austria); top from left to right: Olga Gromova Russia, Werner Schöggl (Austria), Maria Jose Vitorino (Portugal), Christer Holmqvist (Sweden), Helen Boelens (Netherlands), Ms. Boelens (meeting assistant), Monica Nilsson (Sweden).

And there was more. The close cooperation, exchange of information and personal discussions in Amsterdam built a network of school library professionals in Europe from different backgrounds: librarians, teacher-librarians and teachers. The common understanding on school libraries, their role in education and information literacy was a major achievement. It opened up further discussions and future collaboration. All participants brought an extensive and significant international (IASL, IFLA SLRC), national and/or regional network to share and include in the network, meaning the network expanded beyond the twelve participants only. The willingness to understand and learn from each other professionally and personally, despite the challenges as the range of languages spoken during the meeting, made friendships for life. At the meeting Helen Boelens introduced a proposal for research (Boelens, 2010) that acknowledged that retrieving and collecting data on school libraries is of major importance. Based on the outcomes and developments followed from the launch of ENSIL, it is fair to state that the advocacy of school librarianship on a European level started in Amsterdam, March 2003. Publishing the Amsterdam

292 Lourense H. Das Statement was intended to have significant impact on the advocacy and development of school libraries in Europe. The close alliances built in Amsterdam gave an enormous boost to further development of the network, despite the major challenges the network was and is facing. ENSIL had the Amsterdam Statement and a group of enthusiastic and professional participants, but no website, no communication tools, major language problems and no budget. The main questions were: who was going to be the spokesperson for the network, how to keep the network going and what is the next step, which communication tools are going to be used, how to solve the language problems and, very importantly, how to solve the budget constraints. It appeared to be difficult to address all issues at once. It was agreed that the host of the meeting in Amsterdam, Lourense Das was going to act as spokeswoman, using her business address as the network’s address. Email was chosen as the main communication tool and English as the working language. The Amsterdam meeting was followed by a number of other live meetings, discussions and participation in other events. At some of these occasions, ENSIL-meetings were held: Rome (2003), Oslo (2005) and Wels (2007). The informal status of the network turned out to have a positive impact on the format of these meetings: accessible non-hierarchic round tables with room for open discussions and exchange of information, attracted newcomers from the library and educational field each occasion. In most cases the participants, representing the network, travelled on their own expenses, paying for their own accommodation and registration fees to accept the invitations. This dedication of the network’s founders was essential to its success, because bit by bit the network’s existence was noticed. The personal affiliations of ENSIL’s founders proved their value as well: in 2005 the Flemish Association for Library, Archive and Documentation, VVBAD set up a website based on a blogsite and in 2006 the ENSIL-list (ENSIL List, 2006), a free discussion list was established exactly three years after ENSIL’s birth through personal relations with a Dutch organisation for higher education. The ENSIL-list is still the backbone of the network: the list has well over 100 subscribers from more then 20 countries in Europe and beyond. It is the communication tool: subscribers receive all messages in their mailbox, it is easy to use, allows sending attachments and gives access to the complete archive of all messages. After successful lobbying a sponsor was found resulting in a new website launched at the IASL conference 2009 in Abano Terme, Italy. The budget constraints were much more difficult to solve. Maintaining a network demands the input and physical work of many, but cannot survive without funding. Trying to find grants, subsidies and other sources of income to finance the necessary advocacy and development tools, such as a website with a registered domain name and email addresses, logo, flyers and other printed materials; but also covering postage costs, phone costs, travelling and accommodation costs, et cetera made clear that no budget can be found with-

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out establishing an official body for the network. Corporate, governmental and European bodies do not finance unregistered networks for a number of reasons: • • •

unregistered bodies (e.g., networks) cannot open a bank account; they are unattractive to financers to donate funds, because they are not eligible for tax deduction they are unattractive to financers, because of uncertainty of responsibilities and therefore difficult to audit.

It became clear that the network needed to be registered as an official body. Important issues related to the foundation of a registered body included questions as ‘where’ (which country) and ‘what’ (type of body) to register? In order to address these questions it took quite some work and time to find out what the best options were. A breakthrough was reached at the first European conference on school librarianship ‘School libraries as places of learning - no learning without reading’, organised by the Landesschulrat für Oberösterreich in Wels, Austria in 2007. Considerable grants from regional governments and (corporate) organisations allowed well over 300 participants from a range of European countries to attend this 3-day conference. Among them were many ENSIL participants. The host organisation gave room to ENSIL to advocate the network, including a free meeting place to organise an ENSIL meeting. At this meeting a brainstorm session was organised about the future of the network, including the ‘go or no-go’ on the establishment of a registered body. Based on the outcome of the discussions in Wels, Lourense Das investigated all options and wrote a proposal that was presented to all ENSIL participants the following Winter. The network’s participants were invited to submit their comments via the ENSIL-list and/or at the ENSIL-meeting at the 5th triennial ECIS Librarians' Conference in Berlin, February 29, 2008. This proposal included the establishment of a Foundation in the Netherlands. The main reasons to opt for a foundation were: • • • • •

Potential stakeholders, being paying members of national and international associations are not willing to pay a fee for a European equivalent Foundations are easy to establish It does not require rules about the organization and quorum of participants of (annual) meetings to make decisions A foundation is therefore a more decisive entity A foundation has many opportunities to raise funds and initiate and execute projects.

The Netherlands was chosen as the country to establish such a foundation for pragmatic reasons: the initial board needs to be formed by residents of the Netherlands, but immediately after their names are registered, other and non-

294 Lourense H. Das residential board members can be added without complicated bureaucratic procedures. During the process of becoming a registered body, which was finalised in the Spring of 2008, many activities and projects were initiated. Some of these initiatives were successful, meaning that the role of libraries in the educational process could be advocated. Even in the case that projects could not be executed or finalised, the fact that school libraries appeared on the agenda of policy and decision makers is a success in itself. State-of-the-art communication and publication tools have opened up all kinds of opportunities to create a stage for advocacy. Collaboration to join forces with affiliated organisations have proven to be valuable. Two cases showing that are presented below.

Alies: A Library in Every School Successful advocacy in any field finds its base in excellent communication. The advancing development in information technology including networking and communication tools known as Web 2.0 provide numerous possibilities to exchange information and involve stakeholders from all around the world. The initiative taken by library colleagues from the UK to submit an online petition (E-petition, 2010) to the UK Prime Minister, Mr. Gordon Brown on making school libraries statutory in the UK came just in time. Worldwide school libraries are subject to budget cuts and the assumption school libraries are a fossil from the 20th century to be replaced by modern tools as internet and mobile devices. The call for help from the UK was heard and echoed by many who signed the petition, including the ENSIL community. The reply from the Brown administration was disappointing and called for a strong answer. Together with representatives from CILIP, IASL, IFLA SLRC and SLA, ENSIL prepared an open letter to the UK’s Prime Minister (ENSIL, 2010) in order to advocate professional school libraries in the educational context. From the beginning of the action taken by the organizations mentioned above, ENSIL made it clear that this should lead to a worldwide campaign to advocate school libraries. The situation in the UK was and is not unique. More and more decision makers don’t see the relevance of 21st century school libraries and do not foresee the consequences of discarding school libraries as a function in the school. After the Open Letter to Mr. Brown was submitted, the text of the letter needed to be adapted for publication around the world. The chosen format was a proclamation: a more official but productive way to announce one’s views. With the help of many, but specifically Dr. Forest Woody Horton of UNESCO, the final text was designed and communicated to the other parties. The communication tools used, provided ample opportunities for all organizations involved to exchange their views and come to a common and final conclusive text (ALIES, 2010).

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After the proclamation was designed and adopted by IASL and IFLA SLRC, it was disseminated through a number of channels: conferences, websites, discussions lists, blogs, twitter and social networks. Especially the social networks appeared to be fruitful ways to share this advocacy tool. The dedicated Facebook page attracted 400 fans within two weeks, resulting in worldwide attention.

The African Network for School Librarianship The quick and easy Web 2.0 communication tools, together with personal contacts proved its value, trying to develop a new network to advocate school libraries in Africa. In the summer of 2010, a representative of Action Aid from Kenya met the coordinator of ENSIL in the Netherlands. The meeting was initiated by Daniel Mangale (ABC project), the coordinator of a school libraries project in Kenya who got in touch with ENSIL’s coordinator earlier to discuss options for collaboration. This personal meeting of Peter Kisombe (Action Aid) and Lourense Das (ENSIL) got the ball rolling. Again, knowing people personally, using your network and the willingness of people in that network to act resulted within 6 months in the initiation of The African Network for School Librarianship. Months before the meeting, Africa surprised the world by the 1 School – 1 Library – 1 Librarian Campaign, promoted by an NGO Equal Education in South Africa. This advocacy campaign with the input of hundreds of youngsters was supported by many organizations worldwide including ENSIL. The successful campaign showed there are many individuals and groups aiming for similar goals: school libraries in every school, contributing to learning. The issue is how to build connections between all these individuals and groups to collaborate together to achieve that goal. The African Network for School Librarianship is another example of this. The African Network is in the embryonic phase, but it can grow into a lovely baby. With the right care and nutrition, this baby is going to be a wonderful adolescent eager to learn and develop into an adult with the wisdom and the ability to use his knowledge and skills in a wider perspective.

296 Lourense H. Das Poster Africa Summit - May 2011, Gauteng South Africa.

Lessons Learned The success factors for advocacy are clearly shown in the cases described above: • A clear and common vision on school librarianship • Personal dedication and hands-on input • Leadership and the ability to use existing networks • The willingness to collaborate and cooperate These strong factors include weaknesses as well. There are certainly limits of what can be expected from individuals in their support. Collaboration is reinforced through personal relationships, which are reinforced through personal meetings. Personal dedication includes travelling time and costs. Additional costs follow from the development of supporting tools as websites and listserves. Sponsoring might be an option, but dealing with sponsors demand specific competencies and a clear and open financial administration as well as formalization of the organization. Despite these challenges, advocacy is a rewarding enterprise. However, the cases show that advocacy is not the end, but the beginning of the story. Advocating owns views should lead to actual operational change: in this particular case the implementation of the library function in all schools throughout the world. In order to reach this goal, advocacy campaigns should include translations in multiple languages, addressing multiple educational, cultural and social differences using state-of-the-art communication tools. Together with the success factors mentioned above, this is the basis for the implementation of this vision not only in the hearts and souls of people, but in the actual strategic planning.

References ABC-project, at URL: http://www.abcproject.nl Action Aid, at URL: http://www.actionaid.org African Network for School Librarianship, at URL: http://www.facebook.com/pages/AfricanNetwork-for-Schoollibrarianship/151582838200985 ALIES: A Library in Every School Proclamation. (2010), at URL: http://www.facebook.com/ home.php#!/ALibraryInEverySchool

ENSIL: Advocacy of School Libraries in the Educational Context 297 Amsterdam Statement. (2003), at URL: http://www.ensil-online.org/site/templates/ensil/ images/pdf/Amsterdam%20Statement2003.pdf Boelens, H. (2010). The evolving role of the school library and information centre in education in digital Europe. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Middlesex University, School of Arts and Education, UK. Clyde, L. A., (1981). The magic casements: A survey of school library history from the eighth to the twentieth century. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, James Cook University, Australia. ENSIL Foundation (European Network for School Libraries and Information Literacy), at URL: http://www.ensil.eu ENSIL Foundation: The European Network for School Libraries and Information Literacy. (2010). Rebuttal letter to the UK PM Office, at URL: http://www.ensil-online.org/ site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17:open-letter-to-uk-primeminister&catid=3:last-news&Itemid=13 ENSIL-LIST. (2006), at URL: http://list.ecompass.nl/cgi-bin/wa?A0=ENSIL-LIST E-petition UK. (2010). Number 10.gov.uk: The official site of the Prime Minister’s Office, at URL: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page 22227 Eurydice, at URL: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/index_en.php Equal Education, at URL: http://www.equaleducation.org.za/ IASL (International Association of School Librarianship), at URL: http://www.iasl-online. org IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations). (1999). The IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto, at URL: http://www.ifla.org/en/publications/iflaunescoschool-library-manifesto-1999 IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations). (2002/1). The IFLA/UNESCO School Library Guidelines, at URL: http://www.ifla.org/en/publications/the-iflaunescoschool-library-guidelines-2002 IFLA SLRC (International Federation of Library Associations, Section 11 School Libraries and Resource Centers), at URL: http://www.ifla.org/en/school-libraries-resource-centers UNESCO. “Training the Trainers in Information Literacy” workshops, at URL: http://en. tttworkshop.net/index.php

Author Note Lourense H. Das has a BA in library sciences and worked in various schools and educational libraries before establishing a private school library consultancy in 1996. Lourense has worked as executive officer for school library associations (2000-2008). She publishes in various journals and her blog on school librarianship and she won a prestigious Innovation Award in 2009 for FacTotem 2.0. Her international work includes: secretary of the IFLA School Libraries and Resource Centres Section (2005-2007); coordinator (since 2003) and President (since 2008) of Stichting ENSIL; and Director Europe (20032009) and Vice-President Association Relations for IASL (since 2010). More information at www.smd.meles.nl Contact email: [email protected]

SLA: Using Evidence to Move Forward in the UK Tricia Adams School Library Association, UK

Abstract This chapter provides an overview of the current situation in school libraries in the United Kingdom (UK) and of several important recent research reports into school libraries, their organisation and impact. The chapter then goes on to look at the response that the research engenders in an association such as the School Library Association and how it impacts on the work going forward.

Keywords United Kingdom; Associations; Research; Advocacy; Primary School Library Charter; Impact Research.

School Libraries in the UK School libraries have long been a recognised part of schools in the United Kingdom (UK)--even though they have no statutory basis. The provision of a school library is usually due to the Head teacher and governors in a school being in favour of a library and showing the commitment to providing one through staffing and funding. This chapter will give an overview of the current picture of school libraries across the UK and will elaborate on some of the campaigns and activities that the School Library Association, of which I am Director, has responded to and plans to respond to in the future. Schools in the UK are organised in phases according to the ages of the pupils--these are broadly primary, from 4-11 years, and secondary, from 11-18 years, followed by Further or Higher education as chosen by the student. Some areas in the UK also have a three tier system in place where First schools take 4-9 year olds, Middle schools, 9-13 year olds and Upper schools, 13-18 year olds. This mix is leavened with both state and independent schools; the local authority education body runs state schools whilst independent schools are often charities, and the school charges fees for students to attend. This diverse picture is further complicated by the recent inclusion of Acad-

SLA: Using Evidence to Move Forward in the UK 299

emies and Specialist Schools. These have been set up to have a specific specialism, for example, Performing Arts, Sport, Arts or Business and they are freed from lots of the areas of control that other state schools are subject to, particularly in the area of academies. The UK also has a history of faith schools, schools closely allied to and run with the involvement of diocesan or other faith input, most of which will take any pupil but it will be understood that the ethos of the school follows a specific faith. The recent change in Government in the UK to the current Coalition Government is resulting in a huge program of change: there will soon be Primary Academies and Free Schools, based on the Swedish model, in the UK too, as well as a big expansion in the number of Academies generally. Schools where provision of education from ages 0 to 19 on one site is often accompanied with various community based services, called all through schools, are also relatively new developments in the UK. All schools, whatever their form of organisation, are financially responsible for planning and spending their own budget--though the income to that budget will be from different sources dependent on their affiliation. The Senior Leadership Team (SLT) in any school, in conjunction with the Governors of the school, are responsible for setting the priorities in response to the needs of the pupils and communities and then making the budget balance. This underlines the importance placed on the support of the Head teacher in making provision for a school library and librarian--with all the conflicting financial pressures on schools, it is a committed Head that will give funds and staffing to the library in the school. Schools Library Services (SLS) have long been a feature of the provision of resources, advice and training to schools in support of their school libraries. These are of particular importance to the many relatively smaller primary schools who may have a library but are less likely to have a dedicated member of staff to look after it. The SLS is usually run by the local authority (i.e., the local government of the area) and is either a part of the public library service or part of the education department but, since 1990 when LMS--Local Management of Schools, i.e., of their budgets--was introduced the SLSs have offered traded services--so schools have had to opt to buy in the array of services from the SLS. As with any choice, some schools decided against buying SLS services. Many of the SLSs offer a varied and full program whilst others have been slowly declining over a number of years. The financial crisis of 2008-2009 and the resultant harsh recovery measures of the current period has resulted in many well established SLSs closing their doors in 2011, or of radically reforming their offer so that resource lending (an expensive service to maintain) is no longer a part of the support offered. The gap they leave may be viewed as an opportunity for other providers or other SLSs, but there is inevitably a period as services develop and change where schools may be left to fend for themselves to some extent.

300 Tricia Adams

Research and Advocacy for School Libraries Throughout this period there have been campaigns in England and in Wales to make school libraries and school librarians a statutory part of school provision. The situation in Scotland is slightly different--school libraries are statutory in secondary schools but there is no statement that they must be staffed by librarians, or for how long they should be open--thus some excellent librarians face current difficulties in several places where hours and status (and salaries) are being cut. The English campaign, a campaign to make school libraries and their librarians a statutory service is part of the Campaign for the Book--headed by author Alan Gibbons (2010)--was rebuffed by the UK Labour government in 2009. In Wales a petition for school libraries, and most importantly school librarians, is currently being discussed by the Welsh assembly (2011)--we eagerly await their deliberations, having contributed to the debate. With all this activity, plus less than favourable UK performance in the PISA studies recently, there has been a huge media interest in the whole impact of libraries in general and school libraries in particular, which has resulted in several major research activities and a School Library Commission facilitated by the National Literacy Trust (NLT) and the Museums Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) (2010) reporting in detail on the current position in the area. Interestingly, the school inspectors, Ofsted (2011) have underlined the contribution school libraries have in enabling literacy in their most recent subject report: The primary and secondary schools visited emphasised the school library as contributing markedly to improving literacy skills. All the schools visited had well-resourced libraries, often with computerised loan systems and facilities for accessing learning resources on an intranet. Libraries in the secondary schools were often open for much longer than the school day. This enabled students to complete their homework on the school’s computers before and after school. The enthusiasm and responsiveness of the librarian generally had a direct impact on the attitudes of the students towards the library and reading. (p.42)

Booktrust (2007) found that: Just 1% of those who run libraries in primary schools have a professional qualification. 42% of secondary school libraries are run by a chartered librarian full-time; 58% of secondary school libraries are run by staff without a professional library qualification… Nearly all primary schools consider the library to be important, but many are under-utilising it as a resource. Some do not have a dedicated budget for the library. (p. 4-5)

This led onto Booktrust commissioning a study of what made a successful primary school library the following year (Greenwood, Creaser & Maynard, 2008). This report is a series of case studies of successful libraries:

SLA: Using Evidence to Move Forward in the UK 301 The case studies presented by the study are of rounded school libraries, which are engaging children in reading and in the use of information in ways that support the wider educational and social aspirations of the school. All of this is within, and despite, constraints of space and budget. (p. 57 )

CILIP (2010) undertook a major research project into school libraries that showed that the situation had not really changed in the past few years. Their conclusions included: In secondary schools • • • • • •

More than half of book stocks are seen as good but 13% are patchy or poor Almost a third of the libraries have insufficient space Over half of the libraries house up to twenty computers or laptops; 17% have enough for an average class Almost half the library budgets for stock and resources are stuck at last year’s level; almost a third have been cut, some from a very low base On average, independent schools spend more on stock and services than secondary schools Qualified librarians have more money to spend on stock and services, on average, than do other types of library manager.

Whilst in primary schools – • • • •

Confirmed that relatively few primary schools have a designated librarian, although some professional support is usually to hand Shows a wide disparity in times when the library is open and accessible to pupils There is a fairly direct relationship between pupil numbers and stock size Most primary school library budgets are declining.

But the librarian does make a difference, even though there were only just over half of all school librarians who had recognised qualifications – • • •

•

Professionally qualified school librarians make a positive difference They do more to promote reading by running reading clubs and undertaking literacy teaching More frequently engage in information literacy development work – equipping students to operate in a more complex and fragmented information environment - and many of them do more, e.g. they conduct more lessons They do more to support learning in other ways, such as book marking websites and creating links to Internet resources

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Senior managers in schools can actively support best practice by supervising librarians effectively; too many librarians are seen as support staff rather than supporting teaching and learning.

At the same time the National Literacy Trust (NLT) and the Museums Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) set up the school library commission who reported in September 2010. The report was called School Libraries: A Plan for Improvement: What this Commission has established is that in many schools the school library is a wasted resource, poorly embedded in the infrastructure of the school: encouraging reading for pleasure but resistant to “teaching” literacy and phonics; absent from school development plans, official guidance and inspection frameworks; staffed (in one third of primary school libraries) by people who have no specialist knowledge of children’s literature. (p.4)

This was followed by a series of strong recommendations to all stakeholders in the future of school libraries but especially to the Department for Education – thus: all would be supported in their work if, at a national level, the Department for Education were to wholeheartedly endorse the role of school libraries and schools library services in supporting the new government’s renewed commitment to literacy…. In future, major education initiatives need to consider the potential role of school libraries. (p.18 )

Sitting behind the commission’s report is a large piece of work looking at young people’s use of the school library (NLT 2010) which found that nearly 70% of all pupils with access to a school library use it as they appreciate that it is a valuable resource, that it is a help to their attainment at school and that it helped them enjoy reading. The school library does make a difference – and nothing else has quite the same offer as the school library, and thus they are a valuable and valued part of the school. At the same time the Cambridge Primary Review (Alexander, 2010) was also reporting, after an intensive period of research and consultation, on a possible shape for a future primary curriculum. Alexander noted, the school library featured in children’s submissions as a favourite area. Optimum Education expressed concern that school libraries were often ‘under-used or inaccessible’ because of timetabling and space problems. Ofsted noted that, in many primary schools, children were often not able to access the library and concluded that there were significant weaknesses in their funding, accommodation, resources, staffing and management. (p.348 )

This resulted in their strongly worded recommendation that the review “strongly opposes moves to reduce children’s access to [school libraries].” (p.502 )

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Response of SLA So, as the School Library Association (SLA) for the UK--where does this leave us, and how can we use all this research to inform our work for the future? First, some background--the SLA was set up in 1937 to support all who work in school libraries, based on the vision that all pupils are entitled to effective school library provision and to promoting high quality reading and learning opportunities for all. The SLA is an independent charity, reliant on membership fees and sales income, which offers training, a journal, advice, publications and support for members plus taking an advocacy role on behalf of all involved in school libraries. The association is governed in law by its charitable purpose and must not act beyond that purpose in its everyday dealings. For many years, the SLA has been aware of the very mixed picture of library provision in schools and has worked to raise its profile through a varied collection of publications advocating best practice and practical ways to achieve it. Training courses are offered all over the country giving high quality instruction to delegates, as well as networking opportunities for school librarians who are often the lone library professional in their school. The research has given us a more focussed platform on which to base the work for the future. Renowned author Aidan Chambers, who was the President of the School Library Association at that time, proposed the School Librarian of the Year Award in 2003. This award is given annually 'in recognition of outstanding and exemplary work by a school librarian ... whose work may be within the conventional bounds of library and information resource centres or be in unconventional areas.’ School librarians from all sectors of education are eligible for the award (primary, secondary, and special school staff as well as those working with students aged 16-18). The nominations can come from anyone working in a school library from 'an innovative chartered librarian in charge of a highly developed secondary school library.... to someone working with limited resources in ways that demonstrate what can be achieved in nursery schools'. The idea of the award is to raise the profile of school librarians in order to help spread the message that school libraries and more especially their librarian practitioners do make a difference to their students. This award continues--and the quality of the nominations received continues to be exceptional. Within the UK there are many organisations that have a stake in school libraries – of especial importance in the library sphere are the professional bodies for all library and information specialists – Chartered Institute for Librarians and Information Professionals (CILIP) who also have special interest groups including School Libraries Group (SLG), Youth Libraries Group (YLG) and Education Libraries Group (ELG). ASCEL, the Association of Senior Children’s and Education Librarians, represents all the heads of service

304 Tricia Adams in public and schools library services (SLS), all major stakeholders and supporters of the librarian in school libraries. SLA has worked hard to build wider and more diverse partnerships with all the organisations involved in libraries, promoting reading and information literacy skills to schools and families. This creates lots of meetings, discussions and work but the advantages can be huge for the perceived benefits to school libraries. Partnerships take time to build and can be very labour intensive but the benefit to the libraries and the pupils is worth the effort – SLA would have struggled as an organisation to have commissioned any one of the pieces of research alluded to here – but by being a partner to all the organisations involved SLA has been represented in the discussion and dissemination of the reports. This all impacts on our annual work plan for the association. We have raised the amount of time we devote to advocacy and dissemination across the year by approximately a third. The role of our regular online blogging activity has risen, both informing members of what we are doing and also commenting on government policy and news items as appropriate. Time is spent on making sure that SLA always offers submissions to government consultations on young people and education so that the profile of school libraries and their impact is made to people with influence. The role of the head teacher being so important in the support of the libraries in their schools means that SLA always takes every opportunity to talk to teachers and head teachers – making it imperative that we work with partners in the teaching unions and with publishing partners to reach the widest possible audience. As examples – the SLA will be taking part in various seminars and conferences this year including the National Union of Teachers (NUT) ‘Reading 4 Pleasure’ conference, having a fringe meeting at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers annual conference (ATL) and taking part in a Booktrust organised seminar at the London Book Fair, as well as attending other partners conferences and training opportunities to promote school libraries and librarians. In all of these we have made sure that our partners are also included in the events – a concerted approach gives a stronger message to all the people we are intending to influence. The follow on work from the School Library Commission, to ensure that it’s recommendations are acted upon and do improve the future for all the students we care so much about, is ongoing and is part of the continued partnership activity we must fulfil. This must also be seen as a balance to the work we must maintain to support our members in their day-to-day work – without our members we will not exist! A major piece of work for the organisation in 2010 was to help illuminate the position in primary school libraries. The lack of professional input into the primary school library and the varied space and budgetary positions of many primary schools means that no ‘one size fits all’ rule will work; so the SLA set out to create a practical document that could be used in schools to help plan or improve a primary school library. Part of the planning behind this was that this

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could also include some elements of advocacy so that it was useful to parents, head teachers and governors, as well as the person tasked with caring for the library. This resulted in the Primary School Library Charter (School Library Association, 2010), a document that, with the help of partners from schools library services and publishers, could be delivered in hard copy to all primary schools in England and Wales. This was very well received and has also been downloaded from the SLA website many times. The emphasis of this document is to include the library in the centre of the school’s planning, to make sure the library supports all the school development plans and the curriculum followed by the school, thus all the resource in the library is central to the delivery of outcomes for the students. Lynn Barrett, a respected practitioner in the UK, summed up the situation well in her article published in School Librarian (2010): several things need to be done to improve the development of school libraries in the UK. Librarians need to be trained to become school librarians, well versed in pedagogy and curricula. Only by developing an expertise in the educational arena will they be able to collaborate successfully with teachers, be valued as leaders in their schools and fulfill their potential to contribute to the academic success of their students. Teachers need to receive training about the skills of information literacy and the techniques of effective inquiry learning where students are challenged to engage with the glut of sources available to them, and to question, select, analyse and synthesise until they are able to discern paths to new understandings and knowledge construction. (p. 139)

It must figure in our future work plans how we make this happen, through working in partnership and continuing to advocate at the highest levels for a trained and developing workforce for school libraries across all phases of education.

References Alexander, Robin (Ed.). (2010). Children, their world, their education: Final report and recomendations of the Cambridge Primary Review. Oxford: Routledge. Barrett, L. (2010). Effective school libraries: Evidence of impact on student achievement. School Librarian, vol. 58, no. 3, p. 136-139. Booktrust. (2007). Library books in schools: Spending and provision in primary and secondary schools in England, at URL: http://booktrustadmin.kentlyons.com/downloads/ publicfinance.pdf (access date: 3.02.2011) CILIP. (2010) School Libraries in the UK; A worthwhile past, a difficult present – and a transformed future? Main report of the UK National Survey, by David Streatfield, Sue Shaper and Simon Rae-Scott for School Libraries Group of CILIP. http://www. cilip.org.uk/get-involved/special-interest-groups/school/Documents/full-schoollibraries-report.pdf (access date: 27.09.2010) Gibbons, Alan. (2010- ). Campaign for the Book blog, at URL: http://alangibbons.net (accessdate: 3/02/11)

306 Tricia Adams Greenwood, H., Creaser, C., & Maynard, S. (2008). Successful primary school libraries: Case studies of good practice. LISU & Loughborough University, at URL: www.booktrust.org.uk (accessdate: 3.02.2011) Museums, Libraries and Archives /National Literacy Trust (2010) – School Libraries: A plan for Improvement, at URL: http://www.mla.gov.uk/news_and_views/press_releases/ 2010/~/media/Files/pdf/2010/policy/SLC_Report (access date: 27.09.2010) National Literacy Trust. (2010). Linking school libraries and literacy: Young people’s reading habits and attitudes to their school library, an exploration of the relationship between school library use and school attainment by Christina Clark, at URL: http:// www.literacytrust.org.uk/policy/nlt_policy/school_library_commission (access date: 3. 02.2011) Ofsted. (2011). Removing barriers to literacy 2011 HMI 090237, at URL: http://www. ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Publications-and-research/Browse-all-by/Documents-bytype/Thematic-reports/Removing-barriers-to-literacy/%28language%29/eng-GB (access date: 3.02.2011) OECD. (2010). Program for international student assessment 2009 rankings, at URL: http:// www.pisa.oecd.org/document/61/0,3746,en_32252351_32235731_46567613_1_1_1_ 1,00.html (access date: 3.02.2011) School Library Association. (2010). Primary School Library Charter, at URL: http://www. sla.org.uk/primary-charter.php (access date: 3.02.2011) Welsh Assembly. (2011). Committee Papers. http://www.cynulliadcymru.org/bus-home/ bus-committees/bus-committees-other-committees/bus-committees-third-pc-home/buscommittees-third-pc-agendas.htm (access date: 3.02.2011)

Author Note Tricia Adams, BA MCLIP, has worked in several sectors including government libraries and as a self employed information specialist but came back to her favourite--working with children--for the last 19 years. This has included a period as a primary school librarian, before moving back to public libraries in her home county of Northamptonshire, where she was Head of Children’s and Young People’s Public Library Services and the manager of the Schools’ Library Service–Learning Resources for Education. She has been Director of the School Library Association, an independent charity, since 2008. Email: [email protected]

RuSLA: Policymaker for School Library Development Tatiana Zhukova Russian School Library Association, Moscow, Russia

Abstract The Russian School Library Association (RuSLA) was founded in 2004 as an initiative of the School Library magazine. Because there was no government agency responsible for school libraries, there was a need a professional organization to pursue four main directions: (a) integrating school libraries into the library community with well-established communication; (b) supporting innovations in school libraries; (c) creating public and state management mechanisms to solve the professional problems of school libraries; and (d) promoting the school library in society and promoting the development of school library policy in order to gain recognition of the new mission of school libraries in the knowledge society. The RuSLA works to achieve its goals through many initiatives: congresses, parliamentary hearings, contests and special events, professional seminars, partnerships with other organizations and agencies, and publications.

Key Words Russia; Russian School Library Association; Advocacy; Associations; Educational role; Reading promotion; Mission.

School Libraries in Russia School libraries in Russia provide teachers and students with library services and contribute to the education and upbringing of children. They are educational libraries within the structure of comprehensive schools reporting to the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia. The network of Russian school libraries includes more than 62,000 libraries with 39,631 librarians on staff. School libraries comprise almost half (49 %) of the library network in Russia. The primary mission of school libraries is to serve young citizens of the country, the future users of all the other types of libraries. School libraries are an

308 Tatiana Zhukova integral part of the Russian educational system. They are available free of charge for students, teachers, trainers, and other school workers. The average school library in Russia develops under the conditions of the particular school. Therefore, changes in school programs and plans as well as the school profile cause changes in the structure and functions of school libraries. The school library provides teachers and students with information. In addition, the library provides extra resources for students supporting them in their home reading and after-school activities. Modern school library holdings comprise the collection of both traditional print publications (books and periodicals) and audio-visual and electronic materials. The core of the holdings is the literature listed for the main educational and after-school reading programs. These are the “School Library” books--Russian and foreign classics, science literature, and methodological literature for teachers. Each school library in Russia has approximately 15,000 books, about half of which are educational materials. For the last ten years, library acquisition has been very problematic. New books appear unsystematically, in limited amounts and assortment; schools cannot order the literature they need. There is a lack of new reference books and encyclopedias for students and of pedagogical literature for teachers. This problem needs a governmental solution. Library education in modern Russia includes: (a) specialized college education, (b) university education, (c) post-university professional education, and (d) professional training and retraining of librarians. Most school librarians have a college or university degree and significant work experience. The average length of librarian service is usually fifteen years. More than half of the schools have only one part-time librarian or employee on staff. Some schools do not have librarians; this responsibility is put on teachers. More than 80% of school librarians are members of the pedagogical school committee, but only 36% have the right to be involved in all school or pedagogical problem solving. Current data show an alarming trend of an ageing school library staff. Because of low salaries, young people and most specialists with higher education in librarianship do not want to work in school libraries. The need for qualified school library specialists suggests that the faculties of school, children’s and youth libraries in the universities of arts and culture need to be restored and the number of available places in these faculties needs to be increased. However, it takes a request from the Ministry of Education to allow universities to create an independent course of training for specialists in library work with children. The Russian school library is in a conflict position right now; its high goals do not mesh with its collection poverty. The practical implementation of the new mission and new status for school libraries is connected with the need to overcome serious problems and obstacles, among which the most urgent are the condition of school library stocks and the library program’s gap relative to

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educational goals. In 2009 the President of the Russian Federation initiated the national educational project “Our New School” which is aimed at a totally new educational process to ensure all-round development of the child’s personality. One of the goals of the initiative is to turn the modern school into a space supportive of children’s development, into a centre for creative work and information. The solution for the problems of school libraries (as generators for the innovative space for creative work of teachers and students) corresponds to the main conditions of the National educational initiative. The year 2010 was declared in Russia as the Year of the Teacher, which largely added to attracting society’s attention to the problems of today’s education and to the need for drawing parents and teachers into the discussion of current school problems. In 2011 Russia initiated the Strategy for Innovative Development in the Russian Federation for the period up to 2020, where such elements as reading, libraries, education, integrated and creative personality development, innovative person and human capital formation will take an important place. In this context, libraries, including school libraries, assume specific significance. A library can become an important helping hand for the government in modernizing education as well as developing innovations in other life spheres. Elaborating the new mission of the school library is an important step in development of Russian school libraries.

The Work of the Russian School Library Association The Russian School Library Association (RuSLA) was founded in 2004 as an initiative of the School Library magazine. Uniting school libraries into one professional organization was needed because, in Russia at the beginning of the 21st century, there was no governmental direction as to what kind of school libraries are necessary to address educational issues. Because school libraries did not have any clear directions for development, there was a need to create a professional organization which would pursue four main directions: • • • •

integrating school libraries into the library community with well- established communication; supporting innovations in school libraries; creating public and state management mechanisms to solve the professional problems of school libraries; and promoting the school library in society and promoting the development of school library policy in order to gain recognition of the new mission of school libraries in the knowledge society.

The strategic goal of RuSLA is to unite spiritual and intellectual resources for the development of Russian school libraries as a catalyst of education, improving the quality of children’s life processes, and developing the creative poten-

310 Tatiana Zhukova tial and infrastructure for school libraries and its specialists. In order to achieve these goals, a number of problems will have to be addressed: • • • •

protecting social and professional interests in government, scientific community, public and professional organizations, and media; enhancing the status of school library and the prestige of the school librarian profession; creating convenient conditions for school library participation in various all-Russian and international projects, helping to improve the quality of education; and integrating RuSLA activities with the experience of domestic and foreign school libraries, leading in reading promotion, and the development of civil, informational, and functional literacy.

RuSLA’s statutes support the creation of affiliates which can and should take into account the specifics of regions, regional laws, and specific goals of school development in their work. In 2010, there were 21 regional RuSLA affiliates, representing different regions and areas of Russia from Arkhangelsk, Kaliningrad, Kostroma, and Novosibirsk to the Chechen Republic. First Congress of School Librarians At first, RuSLA’s main priority was to attract government and public attention to the problems of school libraries and to give professional awareness and educational level equalization to school librarians. To implement this priority, in 2007 RuSLA initiated the First Congress of School Librarians. It took place in a very significant place for Russians, in the culture preserve “Mikhailovskoe,” the ancestral estate of poet Alexander Pushkin. The Congress gathered 300 delegates from 69 regions of Russia. The Congress became a significant public relations event for the school library community. Thanks to RuSLA’s efforts, the ideas of the First Congress of School Librarians of the Russian Federation developed at the regional level. Congresses of school libraries took place in the Southern District (2008), the Privolzhskiy District (2008), the Ural District (2008), the Central District (2008) and the North-Western District (2010). The congresses were organized at the initiative of Russian School Library Association and with the support of the districts’ authorized representatives of the President of the Russian Federation which are the district education authorities. The congresses focused on speeding up regional processes for school library modernization and resulted in the following achievements: regional programs for school libraries’ development were created in several regions of Russia and a support system for school librarians was created through contests, grants and various bonuses. In 2010, a Presidential Grant made it possible to establish a specific award given to school librarians for Dedication to the Profession in order to enhance the prestige of the school librarian profession. The award recognizes librarians’ long service, their achievements in professional and public work, and the value of their significant contributions to educational activities. Held with the

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participation of the Russian Prime-Minister’s spouse Ludmila Putina, the awards ceremony became a broad promotional event for the school library profession. Parliament Hearings on School Libraries Currently, the main goal of RuSLA is to establish the legitimate status of school library as one of the most important social institutions contributing to the all-round development and upbringing of youth. RuSLA thinks that this main problem must be solved before the role of the school librarian as an informational leader of school with responsibility, rights, and status in the comprehensive school system can be determined. RuSLA expresses the social and professional interests of school librarians of Russia. It develops partnerships in the network of public and state systems with different branches of authorities, both executive and legislative, to achieve work goals. RuSLA has established an active partnership with the State Duma of the Russian Federation, with authorized representatives of the President of the Russian Federation in federal districts, along with the Russian Federation Ministry of Education and Science. RuSLA conducted Parliament hearings in the State Duma on the topic of school libraries, on enhancing the status of school librarian and on forming a legislative basis for school libraries. These hearings took place on June 1, 2009. The theme was “Legislative System of Comprehensive School Libraries: Activities in the Realm of Spiritual and Moral Upbringing of Children.” The hearings were organized by three committees of the State Duma: the Family, Women and Children’s Issues Committee, the Culture Committee, and the Education Committee. Duma deputies, authority and public representatives, library scientists, education governance specialists, school directors, library collection methodologists, school library directors from around thirty regions of Russia, publishers’ representatives, and writers took part in the discussions. More than 200 people gathered for the hearings. RuSLA submitted for approval a public state project--“Comprehensive School Libraries Development for the Period up to 2015.” On this basis, the participants of the Parliament hearings formulated recommendations for librarianship development in schools of the country addressed to the Government of the Russian Federation, the State Duma, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Culture, and the local regional authorities of Russia. For the comparatively short period of its work, RUSLA has become a powerful public professional organization. RuSLA’s influence on the school librarians’ professional community is demonstrated by the increasing number of its regional affiliates, as well as by the First Congress of School Librarians of Russia and other regional congresses, by annual all-Russia forums of school librarians in Mikhalovskoe (2008, 2009, 2010), by the megaproject “Bibliobraz” (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009), and finally by the 2009 Parliament hearings in the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

312 Tatiana Zhukova Young Russia is Reading RuSLA also runs several projects on increasing performance on the PISA index by Russian students. The flagship project of RuSLA in this direction, worked out in 2007, was the movement, “Young Russia is Reading.” This movement identified three parts of society’s development: • • •

books--as a spiritual and intellectual product of nation; reading--as an activity that helps generate thoughts and increase the quality of thinking as a very important tool of personality spiritual development; and libraries--as a catalyst of society development.

A range of projects were planned by the movement network to attract children and youth to reading good books. The project “Parents’ Meeting for Children’s Reading” united three important parts of a child’s reading environment: family, school and school library; it was an effective widespread event for reading promotion. In 2008 an all-Russian contest for librarians called “Opening the Book We Open the World” was organized to promote cultural and spiritual moral upbringing of Russian children. The “Contest of Children’s Bookplates about Books, Reading and Libraries,” the contest “100 Fairytales about Books and Reading”, and small children’s clubs openings in school libraries called “Chitaika” and other projects are the RuSLA’s contribution to the spiritual and moral development of our children, to their reading development, and to creating spaces for intellectual and creative leisure activities. All those events, as well as RuSLA’s work in general, have demonstrated the significant role of the self-organization processes in school library community. They have defined the main streams of school library development and showed the opportunities that school libraries to play, not only the role of subsidiary part of educational process, but the role of the creative department of schools as well. Data Portal for School Libraries One of the most important steps in the Association’s development was appearance of the data portal for Russian school libraries (http://www.rusla.ru). The web site was created with the support of the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications of the Russian Federation. The portal has become an effective tool for the communications development in school library community to overcome both geographical distances and cultural and information gaps. The web site also helps school librarians to integrate into the world information space. The development of Web 2.0, Library 2.0 and social net services all over the world resonates with Russian librarians. Web 2.0 initiates the development of new forms of school library activities, it changes librarians’ traditional and non-traditional forms of work, and gives opportunities for the members of the education community (teachers, students, parents) to participate in library changes. In order to develop innovations in libraries, RuSLA

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organized on the website distance courses on net services, for example, on the topic “I’m learning how to blog.” During their studies, school librarians learned how to work with text, graphic, animation and audio information--the newest means of communication--which let them organize communication and discussions with each other both in real and virtual spaces. Such distance studies resulted in the formation of the information community of Russian school librarians who clearly understand the opportunities that new information technologies offer, in expanding the forms and methods of the modern school library, in interacting and communicating with each other, in exchanging experiences, and in including teachers and school administrators as well in the discussions of professional problems. For instance, the following blogs have been launched by leaders in the school library community: Library Experience, Chitayushka, Favorite Books, Literature Puzzle, “Point of Attraction” (to help parents in home reading development), and “Homo Legens” [The reading human] (about modern literature for high school students). In 2010 the Association proposed another important initiative--to create the School Library Centre for comprehensive school library development. The concept for the Centre is a nonstop education system, offering qualifications enhancement, professional retraining of teaching and managing staff, municipal instructional services, specialists of educational institutions of different levels, both responsible for the institution’s library issues and/or working in there. The Centre’s primary goals and objectives are: 1. Creation and extension of innovations for renewing mechanisms for school libraries activities, institutes for qualification enhancement, education and teachers’ development, training centres, pedagogical universities, modernizing Russian education; 2. Scientific support for instructional service activities in order to realize innovative development of school libraries; and 3. Elaboration of an inspection of regulations for school library activities and development, adding to the modernization of Russian education. Special Events for School Libraries and Reading Development For the last few years, at the initiative of RuSLA and with federal government support, several events for school librarians and children’s reading specialists were held, united by the goal of creating an effective structure for school libraries and children’s reading development in Russia. These events helped librarians, in spite of difficult work conditions and the lowest salary in educational system, to demonstrate their highly creative and innovative potential. These events also served as one form of support for library specialists at the time of crisis. Here is a summary of some of the events: All-Russian Contest “Best Children’s Bookplate for School Library” (2007). The goal of this contest was to increase the level of book culture among teenagers from different parts of Russia, to open up not only their crea-

314 Tatiana Zhukova tivity, but to teach them to express their thoughts appropriately. Almost 200 works from forty Russian regions were submitted to the contest. Participants of the contest included students, librarians, and art teachers. All-Russian Contests “School Librarians of the Year” (2008, 2009, 2010). The goal of the contest was to revive the best soviet traditions of reading in school libraries, the first libraries in children’s lives. The contest’s objectives were to increase the prestige of the school librarian profession, publicize innovative school librarians’ work experience, attract public attention to the problems of school libraries, and widen the professional network. Statistics show how much school librarians’ interest such contest gained: the 2008 Contest gathered more than 1000 works from 65 Russian regions; in 2009, more than 500 works from 60 Russian regions came to the Contest. School librarians who entered the Contest provided an essay and/or art project on “My Profession is a School Librarian.” The Contests helped to gain the attention of executive and legislative authorities to the school librarian profession and became an effective tool for increasing public recognition of this socially important profession. All-Russian Seminar “Reading Surroundings of a Child: Family, Library, School” (2008). This theoretical and practical seminar-training was directed to support A Year of Family in Russia. It helped to unite three constituents of child’s reading surroundings: family, school, and library. The goals of the seminar were: to activate parent committee work and parents’ movements to promote and develop children’s reading in the family and at school; to develop active reading surroundings for children; and to position the book as one of the most important parts of a child’s social upbringing. All-Russian Contest “100 Fairytales about Books and Reading” (2009). This contest was a bright socio-cultural event of the Association: 1412 works from 59 Russian regions were submitted for competition. The contest helped children, parents, teachers and librarians to discover the world of Russian folk fairytales. The contest results showed that children love and want to read fairytales, but homes and school libraries lack them. The contest opened an opportunity to address the cultural and historical inheritance of the Russian nation, uniting many families in arts projects. That year there was also a theoretical and practical seminar training on “Teenagers Reading” aimed to support the government initiative A Year of Youth in Russia. The goal of the seminar was to bring together specialists and all other interested parties to solve the problems of supporting and developing teenagers’ reading. “Bibliobraz,” the Russian School Libraries’ Festival (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009). The goal of the megaproject “Bibliobraz,” one of the most important library projects in Russia, is to support the creative work of school libraries and school librarians. The first Bibliobraz was organized by the Center of Russian Language and the Russian Federation Ministry of Education with the support of the Russian Federation Ministry of Culture. The megaproject came to fruition under the patronage of Lyudmila Alexandrovna Putina (the wife of

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V. V. Putin, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and former President of the Russian Federation). Festivals take place every two years in different regions of Russia. Bibliobraz changes form but it always has the main goals of supporting school libraries and attracting public attention to the current needs and problems of children’s and youth reading. Festival Bibliobraz is a celebration of learning. It showcases and motivates creative work of school libraries, disseminates best practice, provides dialog between school libraries and state organizations, and increases the prestige of school libraries and the library profession. Library Media in Russia In 2010, there were 43 periodicals were published in Russia covering libraries, books, reading, publishing, book sales, library and informational work. Three are applicable specifically to school librarians: the bimonthly newspaper Library at School of the September First publishing house; the methodological collection “Professional Library of School Librarian” published in two series, and the professional informational methodological magazine School Library. The School Library magazine (ten issues a year, 96 pages in length, with a 12,000-15,000 print run) is the RuSLA’s publisher. Among the comparatively “young” magazines for librarians, School Library, founded in 2000, reflects breakthroughs in the life of the Russian State educational system and comprehensive schools system. This magazine has now became powerful and authoritative and was conferred a decoration “Golden Media Stock”. The magazine tells about main events that happen in the librarian community, promoting best practices of school libraries in Russia and from all around the world. The problems of school libraries are discussed, and new methods and forms of service to students are offered. For the ten years of its existence, this magazine has fulfilled its informational, educating, developmental, and consolidating function. Authors of the magazine are library scientists, university professors, children’s reading specialists, practicing librarians. The magazine articles call readers not only to criticize and complain about problems, but also to look for solutions and to be pro-active. The magazine also publishes supplements which appear in two series: Series 1 Professional Library of School Librarian is a book series including monographs, educational materials, reference books, and collections of articles covering the current problems of school library activities. This series comprises such publications as School Librarian: Profession Formation, Children’s Reading Psychology from A to Z, and There’s No Village without a Library. Series 2 Exhibitions in School Libraries is comprised of illustrative materials related to book exhibitions in school libraries. Series 2 materials tell about the life and creative work of writers, poets and outstanding culture professionals. All in all, 140 supplements to the School Library magazine have been published for the period from 2000 to 2009. The School Library magazine helps school librarians in their practical work. The magazine also spreads its influence through the development of the

316 Tatiana Zhukova RuSLA web site (www.rusla.ru). Also, since 2007, in the network of the movement “Young Russia is Reading,” RuSLA has published a whole complex of magazines for supporting and developing reading: Chitaika for children, Wings and Young Student of Local History for teenagers, and Family Reading for parents.

Problems and Perspectives in the School Libraries of Russia Throughout the world, the purpose of school library as an institution of society is being reappraised. The understandings about the place of the school library and the role of the school librarian are changing: there is a new awareness of the school library as a basis of educational school work and the school librarian as an equal participant in educational process. Analyses of modern Russian school libraries point to the next major priorities for their work: • • • •

renewing the legislative basis of comprehensive school libraries’ work and, on its basis, increasing the status of school libraries and school librarians; improving technical equipment of school libraries and broadening implementation of informational communicational technologies in school library practice; collecting quality book holdings; and renewing and developing training, retraining and qualification training system for school librarians.

As an important social institution of childhood, today’s school library is able to support and realize innovations in the Russian system of education and librarianship. Thus, it is remarkable that in the list of projects to implement the Main Directions of the Russian government’s work for a period up to 2012 “Development of Libraries” takes the eighth place. In spite of the multiple governmental and public efforts to modernize, library service to students is not very widespread and does not step beyond the limits of separate innovative projects of Russian leaders. To solve urgent problems of school libraries network will take a whole complex of steps directed mainly on increasing social status of the school librarian. In January 2011 RuSLA managed to solve the problem of school librarians’ social status on the ministerial level: The Prime Minister and the Minister of Education and Science made a decision to work out and implement new job position “librarian-pedagogue” which will provide librarians with all the social guarantees of pedagogues and make librarians a member of pedagogical community. Currently the proposed federal law “About Education in Russian Federation” is being widely discussed in Russia. Issuing this law will create legislative conditions turning education into one of the most important mechanisms

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of forming society’s innovative potential while simultaneously preserving the guarantees of equal access to education, fulfilling personal educational needs, and increasing the status of pedagogical workers. Today library professionals face the challenge to ensure that this new law includes a statue proclaiming the library as an obligatory structural department of the school. The government, professional associations and Russian school librarians share the goal of forming a new philosophy of school library work that will position the school library to become the “heart of the school,” the territory of childhood. Multiple social initiatives, the community self organization enhancement, the development of social and state management of the school library system can become a catalyst for school libraries development in Russia and to solve the most urgent problems of school libraries: staff and collections. The year 2011 can be an important step in school libraries system development. The most important RuSLA’s event in 2011 is going to be the 5th Anniversary AllRussia Forum for School Librarians “Mikhailovskoe” (2011). This special event for school librarians annually gathers more than 300 school library specialists from more than 60 regions of the Russian Federation. Three days of professional program includes more than 25 events. The Forum is an important space for qualifications enhancement and for the development of school library community’s communications.

Author Note Tatiana Zhukova, President of the Russian School Library Association, Chief-editor of the School Library magazine, and candidate of pedagogical sciences T. Zhukova has a number of scientific and professional interests connected with the development of education, marketing, synergy, the formation of global society of knowledge, informational and spiritual safety, professional recognition etc. T. Zhukova takes active part in various conferences and seminars presenting reports and other messages, directs several socially important projects realized by RuSLA with the support of the authorities. Contact email: [email protected]

IFLA SLRC: Developing Policy and Guidelines Randi Lundvall IFLA School Libraries and Resource Centers Section

Abstract IFLA School Libraries and Resource Centers Section (IFLA SLRC) concerns itself with the improvement and development of school libraries and resource centers worldwide, especially advocacy for their qualified and adequate staffing. It provides an international forum for exchanging ideas, experiences, research results and advocacy. IFLA SLRC, formed in 1977, is one of 44 sections within IFLA, the leading international body representing the interests of library and information services and their users, established in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1927. It provides opportunities for professional development, networking with colleagues from many different countries and helping to advance the profession in the field of school librarianship through the annual conferences, its website, publications and cooperation with other organisations.

Keywords IFLA; International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions; Associations; IFLA School Libraries and Resource Centers Section; Collaboration; Partnerships; School Library Manifesto.

An Introduction to IFLA IFLA SLRC Section is one of 44 Sections of IFLA, The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. Each Section deals with the many different areas of the library field, whether it is, for example, government libraries or libraries for the multi cultural population. To learn how IFLA SLRC Section works, it is necessary to learn more about the mother organisation, IFLA. The headquarters of IFLA is situated in The Hague at The Royal Library, the national library of the Netherlands. The organisation comprises a President who is elected every four years, a Governing Board with an Executive Committee, a Professional Committee, the Sections and several Special Interest

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Groups in addition to the staff of the IFLA Headquarters. IFLA has approximately 1600 members in 150 countries. IFLA was founded in 1927 at the Annual Meeting of the United Kingdom Library Association in Edinburgh, Scotland. Prior to this, there had been occasional efforts to form an international body for library matters. After several attempts of arranging regular conferences, they gradually developed into the annual conferences of today. IFLA/UNESCO Manifestos Since 1947 IFLA has had an agreement of mutual recognition with United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO. The publication of the UNESCO Public Library Manifesto in 1949 proclaimed the public library as an instrument for democracy. In 1994, the third version was published and it rapidly became recognized as an important statement of the fundamental principles of the public library service. In 1999 it was followed by the IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto which by now has been translated into 37 languages. There are several IFLA Manifestos, but only three that have been ratified by UNESCO. The third IFLA/UNESCO manifesto is the Multicultural Manifesto. Other IFLA Publications The results of the programs developed by IFLA’s professional groups are recorded and disseminated in publications such as the IFLA Journal, the Annual Report, the IFLA Publication Series, and IFLA Professional Reports. World Library and Information Congress Held annually in August in different parts of the world, the IFLA World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) is the largest international professional and trade event for the library and information services sector. More than 3500 participants from more than 120 countries meet to set the international agenda for the profession and take the opportunities for networking and professional development to all delegates. Some of the Sections’ most important work is to develop interesting sessions and seminars for the Congress. Meetings of the Sections’ Standing Committees also take place during Congress. Divisions and Sections The professional structure of IFLA is based on divisions including sections and special interest groups, SIGs. Sections are the primary focus for the Federation’s work. All IFLA members are entitled to register for Sections of their choice. Once registered, voting members have the right to nominate specialists for the Standing Committee of the Sections for which they are registered. The Standing Committee is the key group of professionals who develop and monitor the program of the Section. Sections are grouped into five divisions: •

Division 1: Library types, e.g., School Library and Resource Centers Section

320 Randi Lundvall • • • •

Division 2: Library collections, e.g., rare books and manuscripts Division 3: Library services, e.g., reference and information services Division 4: Support of the profession, e.g., library associations Division 5: Regions, e.g., Asia and Oceania.

Sections and Standing Committees Serving on a Standing Committee is one of the best ways of contributing to the work of IFLA. Standing Committees are at the heart of the Federation. They help develop policies, carry out surveys and other projects, prepare guidelines, and organise open sessions and workshops at the IFLA WLIC. Serving on a Standing Committee provides opportunities for professional development, networking with colleagues from many different countries and helping to advance the profession in specific areas of practice. A member of a Standing Committee serves in a personal capacity. Members of a Standing Committee do not themselves have to be members of IFLA, but they have to be nominated by current IFLA Association Members, Institutional Members, Institutional Affiliates or Individual Affiliates. A Standing Committee member can only serve for two terms of four years. The expectations of a member of a Standing Committee are: • • •

•

• • • •

to have an appropriate knowledge and experience to contribute to the Section's work. to be keen to be involved in IFLA. to have a working knowledge of at least one of the working languages of IFLA (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Russian and Spanish). Since the business meetings of IFLA are generally conducted in English, reasonable fluency in this language is highly desirable. to have a reasonable expectation of support to be able to participate in the work of the Standing Committees at no expense to IFLA. This means that the member has to be able to attend meetings. Standing Committees meet before the annual IFLA WLIC on the Saturday before the Congress starts and there is usually another meeting during the Congress week. Standing Committee members will be expected to attend 5 Congresses. In between these meetings, business is conducted by email and post. Some Standing Committees hold midyear meetings by agreement of the Committee. Standing Committee members must be able to arrange their travel plans accordingly. to contribute actively to ideas for projects and conference program meetings. to join in the work of the Section, for example, by undertaking projects, organising workshops, preparing translations, etc. to recruit new members to the Section and to IFLA. to respond to requests from IFLA Headquarters for advice, representation at meetings, etc.

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• • • •

•

to assist in the production of a newsletter, promotional leaflets, and generally disseminating information about Section activities. to help with the translation of newsletters, conference papers, promotional leaflets and other documents where appropriate. to encourage participation in the Section by people in different parts of the world, by identifying potential new candidates and corresponding members. to assist in the allocation of "portfolios" to individuals serving on the committee (for example, editing the newsletter, acting as information coordinator, Section membership recruitment, organising translations, preparing workshops, etc.) to act with respect, trust, confidentiality and transparency within the Committee and recognise the need to protect personal and privileged information. The member shall declare any conflicts of interest and abstain from consideration of any matters in which they have an interest.

Corresponding Members Each Standing Committee may appoint up to five Corresponding Members. These places are intended for people who are normally unable to attend the IFLA World Library and Information Congress (and therefore the meetings of the Standing Committee) for geographical or financial reasons. Their role is to represent countries in geographical areas which might not otherwise be represented, or to provide expertise in a specific subject field. Such member shall be appointed for an initial two-year term, renewable for one further term of two years on the decision of the chair. Corresponding Members receive the Committee papers and are expected of to maintain regular contact with the officers and other Committee members. They contribute their opinions and active support through involvement in projects, and preparation of translations, etc. Corresponding Members have no voting rights, but if they are able to attend a meeting of the Committee, they are entitled to speak.

School Libraries and Resource Centers Section Formed in 1977, the SLRC Section is one of the 44 sections of IFLA. It concerns itself with the improvement and development of school libraries and resource centers worldwide, especially advocacy for their qualified and adequate staffing. It provides an international forum for exchanging ideas, experiences, research results and advocacy. At the present there are 16 members serving on the Standing Committee. The Committee is administered by a Chair, a Secretary, a Treasurer and an Information Manager. As mentioned above, the number of physical meetings is small, mainly taking place at the annual Congress. Therefore, most of the committee’s work is done via e-mail and sometimes also telephone conferences. The majority of

322 Randi Lundvall the work is conducted by the Chair and the Secretary. At the Standing Committee’s two meetings at the Congress, decisions must be taken or, if not made at that time, possibly postponed to next year’s Congress. Therefore the decision process can be rather long. It is a challenge for the committee’s work that some members, despite having said yes to joining, are not attending every committee meeting that take place during the 4-year period. The reason for this is often due to lack of financial support. This is also the case when it comes to achieving a more varied representation of nationalities of members in the committee. There are few representatives from the countries of the emerging world. Publications Twice a year a Newsletter is published with news from all over the world on the theme of school libraries. In addition to the IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto, the Section also published the IFLA/UNESCO School Library Guidelines in 2002 ( http://www.ifla.org/en/publications/52) . Joint Work of IFLA/IASL As there are two international school library organisations, The IFLA SLRC Section and IASL, it is only natural that the two work together for a common cause, namely the enhancement of school libraries worldwide. The governing bodies of IASL and IFLA have acknowledged the importance of working together, now and in the future, to better meet the professional needs of those within or interested in the school library and information sector. To achieve this objective the two governing bodies agreed in 2006 to cooperate and collaborate on the initiatives that are of mutual benefit to each organisation and membership, having a current and future practice focus with an emphasis on the library and information services within the school community. At the WLIC in Gothenburg in 2010, the joint executive committee, with three members from each association, met physically to participate in the first joint meeting. One of the items that was on the agenda was a joint preconference or satellite conference to join together in August 2011 the participants of the IASL conference in Kingston, Jamaica and the participants of the IFLA WLIC in Puerto Rico. The two conferences were set in the same area of the world and at a convenient time, namely two continuous weeks in August, so that it would be practical and feasible to arrange such an event. Another item was the planning of the publication of this book. The joint work of IFLA SLRC and IASL is well-established. If it is going to continue, it will depend on the effort of the members of the two associations to collaborate and perhaps also practical matters as the timing and locality of their conferences. The agreement and statutes are there to employ.

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IFLA SLRC Section: Future Challenges It will always be a challenge to find members for any Section of IFLA who are really keen on working on the Section and who can find adequate support to make them able to attend meetings at every Congress during their nomination period. This is also true for the SLRC Section. In the future it will also be important to recognize the value of joint work with IASL and other organisations that will benefit a common cause: the School Library.

Resources http://www.ifla.org/ http://www.ifla.org/en/school-libraries-resource-centers

Author Note Randi Lundvall is a school librarian and teacher of English in Lokeberg Primary School in Baerum, Norway. Situated about 20 km south of the capital Oslo, the municipality has had a strong tradition of regarding school librarians as part of the educational staff in all schools since the 1970s. This is not common in Norway. Lokeberg Primary School has about 560 students aged 6-13 and 40 teachers. Randi Lundvall is also Chair of the Norwegian Library Association Section for School Libraries. Contact email: [email protected]

IASL: Sustaining the Vision for 40 Years Dianne Oberg University of Alberta, Canada

Abstract For 40 years, the International Association of School Librarianship (IASL) has provided a venue for learning about school libraries and for supporting the development of school library services around the world. IASL originated within the World Confederation of Organizations of the Teaching Profession (WCOTP) and was inaugurated as an independent member-supported organization in Jamaica in 1971. Its mission is to provide an international forum for those people interested in promoting effective school library media programs as viable instruments in the educational process. IASL provides opportunities for sharing knowledge about school libraries through its annual conferences and through its website and publications. IASL supports school library implementation and research through its initiatives, programs, and awards.

Keywords IASL; International Association of School Librarianship; Advocacy; Associations; School Libraries Online; Mission; Leadership.

History of the Organization In the post-World War II world, “societal change brought educational reform to traditional societies, both developed and developing” (Knuth, 1996a, p. 1). Part of the educational reform in many countries was an increased interest in school libraries as an essential instrument of education. With curriculum reforms that shifted attention to individualized instruction, inquiry-based learning, and the use of audiovisual materials, school libraries gained a new importance. By the 1960s, in Australia, Canada and the United States, school library development had made great progress, enhanced by national funding programs such as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in the US, the Commonwealth School Library program in Australia, and a variety of provincial and local funding programs in Canada. Around the world, universities and

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colleges established and expanded their programs of school library education; national associations developed policy statements and standards documents to articulate the role of the school library in education; and a professional and research literature in school librarianship developed. Within national library organizations around the world, “school library activists” (Knuth, 1996a, p. 3) began to exercise their leadership, and some of those activists began to talk about the potential of an international forum devoted to school libraries. Throughout the 1960s, informal and formal discussions about this idea took place at meetings of IFLA, the International Association of Library Associations and Institutions, and at meetings of WCOTP, the World Confederation of Organizations of the Teaching Profession. Various ideas about the form and affiliation of the new organization--as a committee of IFLA, as a committee of WCOTP, or as an independent organization-were proposed and debated. In the end, at the 1970 WCOTP conference in Sydney Australia, the formal decision was made to establish a new organization, and the inaugural conference of the International Association of School Librarianship was held in 1971 in Kingston, Jamaica. The charter and bylaws of the new association were accepted at that conference, and the first executive was elected. The president was Jean E. Lowrie from the USA; other members of the executive came from Sweden, Canada, Jamaica, England, Nigeria, Singapore, and Australia. The association began with 110 individual members and 5 institutional members.

IASL on its 40th Anniversary Description of the Association IASL is a member-supported international organization, directed by executive officers (president, three vice-presidents, and treasurer) and regional directors from around the world. The work of the Association is facilitated by an executive secretary who currently also serves as the association’s webmaster. “The mission of the International Association of School Librarianship (IASL) is to provide an international forum for those people interested in promoting effective school library media programs as viable instruments in the educational process” (School Libraries Online, About, para. 1). The Association offers a variety of membership programs—personal, institutional, association, student—and membership rates are prorated according to the economic status of the country of the member. About 80% of members working in library, education or related fields and 40% are school library practitioners (Knuth, 1996b, p. 34-35). IASL has an annual conference, an extensive website, a newsletter and journal, and a number of special initiatives and award programs.

326 Dianne Oberg Aims and Objectives of the Association The objectives of the Association have been revised several times since 1971. The objectives of IASL as listed in Article 5 of the current Constitution (revised 2008) are these: 1. To advocate the development of school libraries throughout all countries; 2. To encourage the integration of school library programs into the instructional and curriculum development of the school; 3. To promote the professional preparation and continuing education of school library personnel; 4. To foster a sense of community among school librarians in all parts of the world; 5. To foster and extend relationships between school librarians and other professions in connection with children and youth; 6. To foster research in the field of school librarianship and the integration of its conclusions with pertinent knowledge from related fields; 7. To promote the publication and dissemination of information about successful advocacy and program initiatives in school librarianship; 8. To share information about programs and materials for children and youth throughout the international community; 9. To initiate and coordinate activities, conferences and other projects in the field of school librarianship and information services. Strategies and Resources The most valuable resource of IASL is the expertise and creativity of its members who perform the work of the association. The financial resources of the Association come from a variety of sources: membership dues, sponsorships, and conference and publication revenues. The mission and objectives of the Association are achieved through a wide range of programs and services: conferences, website resources, publications, programs, and awards. Conferences. IASL holds annual conferences in different areas of the world. The last five have been held in Australia, Italy, United States, Taiwan and Portugal. Each conference includes professional and research presentations as well as the official business meetings of the Association. Meetings of the Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and of the Assembly of Associations allow members with special interests and concerns to come together during the conference. At each conference, the Children’s and Young Adult Literature SIG invites registrants to bring children’s books that represent something of their home country to be displayed in the International Book Exhibit: these collections are then donated to a local school or to a school in a developing country. Another special event at IASL conferences is an auction of small items donated by registrants; the proceeds of this fun event go to the Leadership Development Program.

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Website Resources. The IASL website, School Libraries Online, documents and provides access to the programs and services of the association. The public access part of the website provides information related to the governance of the association, resources for school library advocacy, research on school libraries, reviews of professional resources, publications for sale, and programs for school libraries such as the International School Library Month, GiggleIT (an international collaborative project for children), and the IASL Meeting Place ning. The Research section of School Libraries Online contains material of interest to people who are undertaking research in the field of school librarianship and to people who wish to incorporate the results of research into their professional practice. The "Site of the Week" is a regular feature of the website which was started in 1995 by Dr. L. Anne Clyde, the first IASL webmaster. The members-only section of the website provides access to the current issues of the newsletter and journal. The most frequent users of the website, based on more than 500 visits in the past six months, are from the United States, Australia, Portugal, Canada, India, United Kingdom, Poland, Croatia, Spain, Italy, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emarites. Publications. The IASL Newsletter is published three times a year, and the IASL journal, School Libraries Worldwide, is published twice a year. The newsletter provides news related to association business, school library reports from around the world, and other short items of interest to members. The journal is peer-reviewed and publishes new scholarly works, such as research reports and reviews of research. The journal is a membership service, but one article of every issue is selcted for public access on the website. Conference proceedings, once published in hard copy, are now published digitally. Programs. Every year in October, IASL sponsors International School Library Month (ISLM) and invites people from around the world to celebrate school libraries. ISLM grew from International School Library Day which was established in 1999 in conjunction with a special issue of School Libraries Worldwide which invited articles on “A Day in the Life” of a school librarian. School librarians celebrate the month with projects which are reported on the School Libraries Online website, and several school library associations have used the initiative as an impetus to establish their own official School Library Day in October. Awards. The International Awards Program of IASL recognises excellence in school librarianship, encourages research and development activities, and supports and assists the development of school libraries and school library leadership in developing countries. Four awards recognize excellence in school librarianship: the IASL School Librarianship Award is given to individuals for their contribution to the national development of school libraries and services within their own country or internationally; the IASL/Softlink International Excellence Award, for leadership in school library programs and training modules; the LinksPlus Library Commendation Award, for innovative school library projects, plans, publications or programs that could serve as

328 Dianne Oberg models for replication; and the IASL School Library Technology Innovation Award, for school library programs or projects that effectively utilise current and emerging technologies for school libraries and information service delivery. The Takeshi Murofushi Research Award supports research projects that are of international interest. Three awards support the development of school libraries and school library leadership in developing countries: the IASL Books for Children Award (previously known as the UNESCO Project #554 Books for Children Award) provides funding for books for children; the Jean Lowrie Leadership Development Grant and the Ken Haycock Leadership Development Grant help school library leaders in developing nations to attend their first IASL annual conference; and the Support-A-Member program and the Partner Associations/Schools program provide two-year complimentary IASL memberships to individuals, schools, and associations in developing countries who wish to benefit from the Association’s programs and services.

Outcomes The basic test of any organization is survival over time: IASL has achieved that in surviving over 40 years. Today, IASL provides a wide range of programs and services to its members in over 80 countries. Another test might be the degree to which services provided in a timely manner. Thanks to an efficient and effective Secretariat, the Association’s services are reliably provided—conferences are held every year, awards are given, and the website is updated. The exception to this criterion has been the publication schedule of the Association’s journal, but this should improve with the recent appointment of two new editors. A third test might be growth in membership. Here the Association continues to struggle: membership numbers have hovered between 500 and 1000 over the past decade, and this has been and continues to be a worry since IASL is a member-supported organization. Meeting Association Objectives Another way to examine the outcomes of the Association is to look at the programs and activities that are being carried out in relation to its objectives, keeping in mind that a particular program or activity may, in fact, contribute to the achievement of several objectives. Below are listed several of the current objectives of the Association with selected examples of the ways in which the Association attempts to meet its objectives. To advocate the development of school libraries throughout all countries. The annual conference provides formal opportunities for sharing and learning about professional practice and research in the field of school librarianship. Also, the local organizing committees who have responsibilities for hosting a conference often use the occasion of the conference for increasing the visibility of school libraries in the local area and for encouraging local decision-makers to consider ways of enhancing local school library practice.

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Local organizing committees often invite ministry officials responsible for schools and libraries to be part of the official opening of the conference and arrange for media interviews with keynote speakers in order to raise the visibility of school library issues locally. The Lowrie and Haycock leadership awards are offered to support the attendance at the annual conference of school library leaders from developing countries with a view to supporting the development of school libraries in those countries. However, even with the financial support of the award, it is very difficult for individuals to find sufficient resources to come to the conference, and the individuals who do manage to attend the conference still need to find ways to interpret and apply to their own situations and contexts the research and practice knowledge that is presented at the conference. To foster a sense of community among school librarians in all parts of the world. The Association’s listserv, IASL-LINK, and its ning, The IASL Meeting Place, offer opportunities to share school-library-related news, to ask for advice and assistance, and to comment on school-library-related issues and concerns. The annual conference also is place where international connections and friendships are begun and sustained. To foster research in the field of school librarianship and the integration of its conclusions with pertinent knowledge from related fields. Dissemination of school library research is supported through the publication of the Association’s journal, School Libraries Worldwide (see Oberg, 2006), through providing research summaries and links on School Libraries Online. Conducting research is supported through the annual Murofushi Award; recipients of this award share their completed research through the International Forum on Research in School Librarianship which has been part of the IASL conference since 1997. To promote the publication and dissemination of information about successful advocacy and program initiatives in school librarianship. The IASL website, School Libraries Online, brings together a wealth of materials to assist in the development of school libraries, such as research that answers the question “Do school libraries make a difference?” and information on how to establish a school library association. To initiate and coordinate activities, conferences and other projects in the field of school librarianship and information services. Through its history, IASL has attempted to maintain its affiliation with the IFLA Section for School Libraries and Resource Centers, and IASL as an association member of IFLA has the right to nominate members for election to several IFLA Standing Committees including that of the School Libraries and Resource Centres Section. Working together has had varied success, depending on the will of the executive members of each group, as well as the linguistic flexibility and ability of those involved since IASL is an English-language association while IFLA is a multilingual association. The two groups worked together on developing and disseminating the IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto

330 Dianne Oberg and IFLA/UNESCO School Library Guidelines. Translations of the UNESCO School Library Manifesto, originally initiated by IASL, are now available on the IFLA website in over in 35 languages. Recently, the two groups have jointly sponsored “pre-conference” sessions in the time interval between their conferences, and they have jointly contributed to the writing and editing of this book.

Assessment and Evaluation As pointed out by a past president of IASL, Sigrún Klara Hannesdóttir (1996), the roles of an international association are as many and varied as the needs and interests of its members. Always, IASL has to be working to make its activities meaningful within a changing environment. In some ways, technology has made the operation of an international association easier than it has ever been, but in other ways the challenges remain the same. These challenges can be understood in terms of the problems endemic to the development of any organization: adaptation; goal achievement; integration; and latency (Blau & Scott, 1962, cited in Knuth, 1996c): 1. The problem of adaptation: the system’s need to accommodate the real demands of the environment at the same time as it strives to effect active transformation of an external situation; 2. The program of goal achievement: the need to define objectives and to mobilize resources to achieve these objectives; 3. The problem of integration: the need to establish and organize, among the member units of the system, a set of relationships that will serve to coordinate and unify the components into a single entity; 4. The problem of latency: the need to maintain over time the system’s motivational and cultural programs. (Knuth, 1996c, p. 55) IASL has “survived” for 40 years: it continues to “strive” but it cannot truly be said to “thrive.” Blau and Scott’s framework can be used to give several examples of the problems that will be facing the Association in the years ahead. 1. The problem of adaptation: The Association faces the ongoing need to build membership and engagement in a time of financial “restraint” and of demands for accountability in both education and library sectors in almost every country around the world. What does an international association offer to maintain current members and to entice new members, all of whom are facing many competing demands on their finances and their energies? 2. The program of goal achievement: The role of the Assembly of Associations needs to be examined in light of the objectives of the Association. The Assembly’s role has shifted back and forth, from a forum in which representatives of local and national associations report on and

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discuss their accomplishments and concerns to a forum in which IASL members from local and national associations provide input and feedback on IASL’s accomplishments and concerns. How should or could an international association supported mostly by individual members work with national and local association members for mutual benefit? 3. The problem of integration: The Association needs to examine its relationship with the IFLA School Library and Resource Centers Section in light of the objectives of the Association. How can these two international groups work together for mutual benefit? 4. The problem of latency: the need to maintain over time the system’s motivational and cultural programs. New leadership and new initiatives bring energy into the Association but, in time, that energy flags and both leadership and initiatives have to be renewed. The Association needs to review its processes for renewal on a regular basis.

Lessons Learned and Recommendations Every association has to change if it is to thrive. The Task Force strategy has worked well over the years to examine problematic areas of the Association’s work and to help provide direction for renewal. Every association has to maintain members as well as recruit and retain new members. Both long time and new members might benefit from the Assocaition giving some attention to mentorship: this could be accomplished through online connections as well as through the opportunities afforded by the annual conference (such as a conference session for first-timers). The relationships between IASL and IFLA-SLRC have not been smooth over the years, but each has resources that can be used to further their shared objective of providing effective school library services for young people all over the world. For example, IASL brings a comparatively large membership base which includes a strong cadre of researchers, while IFLA-SLRC brings a multilingual membership and entre to UNESCO and its programs. Recent successful joint projects are providing a foundation for both groups to benefit from their relationships. For more information about IASL and its work, please contact: IASL PRESIDENT Dr Diljit Singh Faculty of Computer Science & Information Technology University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

332 Dianne Oberg

References Blau, P. M., & Scott, W. R. (1962). Formal organizations. San Franscisco, CA: Chandler. Hannesdóttir, Sigrún Klara. (1996). Present programs and future perspectives of the International Association of School Librarianship. School Libraries Worldwide, vol. 2, no. 2, p. 98-109. Knuth, Rebecca. (1996a). An international forum: The history of the International Association of School Librarianship. School Libraries Worldwide, vol. 2, no. 2, p. 1-32. Knuth, Rebecca. (1996b). Through members’ eyes: A survey of the membership of the International Association of School Librarianship. School Libraries Worldwide, vol. 2, no. 2, p. 33-53. Knuth, Rebecca. (1996c). Adaptation, goal Aachievement, integration, and latency: An analysis of the projects and programs of the International Association of School Librarianship. School Libraries Worldwide, vol. 2, no. 2, p. 54-97. Oberg, Dianne. (2006). School Libraries Worldwide as a source of evidence for evidencebased practice, 1995-2006. School Libraries Worldwide, vol. 12, no. 2, p. i-xii. School Libraries Online: International Association of School Libraries, at URL http:// www.iasl-online.org/ (access date: 15/02/2011)

Author Note Dr. Dianne Oberg is a Professor at the University of Alberta in Canada and a Faculty Advisor for the online MEd program, Teacher-Librarianship by Distance Learning (TL-DL). Before coming to the University, Dianne worked as a classroom teacher and teacher-librarian in the public school system. Her research focuses on school library education and on the implementation and evaluation of school library programs. She has conducted research on the role of principals, teachers, and teacher-librarians in implementing the integrated school library program. Dianne was the first editor of IASL’s refereed journal, School Libraries Worldwide, and she is an active member of several school library associations. Contact email: [email protected]

Afterword This book would not have been possible without the contributions of the authors and the collaborative efforts among colleagues of the two Associations. We acknowledge, with thanks, the authors of the chapters, the executive members of IASL and IFLA SLRC, the members of the Joint Committee of IASL and IFLA SLRC, IFLA’s Professional Programs Director Sjoerd Koopman, and the editorial team of DeGruyter Saur. It has been an honour and a privilege to serve the two Associations and the school library community throughout the world. Completing this publication has involved several challenges for us. On one hand, there was the number, the diversity and the richness of the chapters we received, and on the other hand, a limited number of pages and a tight schedule to meet: both kinds of challenges made the whole process not as easy as one might imagine. The contributions presented here cover many important topics: nevertheless, other topics are missing, and they could form the content of future publications. It is our hope that this information-rich and inspiring book can foster the professional development of school librarians around the world and that it can widen the horizons, not only of school librarians, but also of the school administrators, stakeholders and partners who work with them to enhance the potential of the school library. It is our hope as well that the book will interest public librarians and other cultural professionals who work closely with schools. This publication offers an amazing “voyage” through topics, methodologies, approaches, experiences, cultures and countries. In so many diverse ways, the school library offers a wonderful bridge between the school and the knowledge infrastructures outside the school! Luisa Marquardt and Dianne Oberg Editors April 18, 2011

Index access to books 159, 160, 163, 164, 165, 166 Activity Theory 57, 58, 60 advocacy 7, 14, 15, 19, 40, 54, 185, 274, 287, 289, 291, 292, 294, 295, 296, 303, 304, 305, 318, 321, 326, 327, 329 African Network for School Librarianship 287, 289, 295, 296 Alberta Education 201, 203, 204, 205, 206, 208, 210, 211 Argentina vi, 212, 213, 214, 221, 222 associations 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 109, 113, 119, 157, 290, 293, 297, 317, 320, 322, 325, 327, 328, 330, 332 Australia v, vi, 71, 81, 85, 89, 94, 105, 118, 119, 124, 125, 126, 127, 129, 130, 139, 232, 234, 237, 240, 241, 297, 324, 325, 326, 327 Azerbaijan 159, 164, 167 books for all 97, 165 Botswana vi, 140, 141, 144, 145, 147, 149, 168, 169, 170, 174, 175, 176 Canada 44, 45, 53, 56, 69, 159, 167, 201, 204, 211, 324, 325, 327, 332 cell phones 213, 215, 218, 219, 223, 224, 228, 229, 230 collaboration 1, 4, 20, 35, 39, 47, 48, 57, 58, 59, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 69, 73, 102, 104, 105, 118, 119, 131, 137, 138, 168, 183, 184, 195, 218, 221, 236, 258, 263, 287, 291, 295 Columbia 56, 159, 162, 163, 165 connectivism 44, 45, 51 continuous education 180 creativity 4, 5, 103, 121, 181, 224, 246, 326 Croatia 33, 34, 35, 36, 39, 42, 177, 178, 179, 327 distance education 54, 129 early literacy 167, 192 education 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 15, 18, 20, 21, 22, 34, 35, 36, 38, 40, 42,

44, 45, 46, 47, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 63, 65, 68, 74, 81, 85, 106, 110, 111, 115, 116, 117, 123, 124, 126, 127, 128, 129, 139, 143, 145, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 161, 166, 167, 177, 178, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 188, 190, 193, 194, 196, 201, 202, 205, 210, 213, 216, 222, 236, 237, 240, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 262, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 270, 271, 272, 274, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 297, 298, 299, 302, 303, 304, 305, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 316, 317, 324, 325, 326, 330 education system 18, 180, 190, 265, 266, 267, 279, 313 educational community 207 educational role 287 elementary schools 57, 61, 76, 178, 180 English curriculum 85, 86, 90, 93, 95, 130, 132 ENSIL vii, 8, 68, 287, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 297 Ethiopia 159, 161, 162 Europe 8, 34, 42, 119, 276, 282, 287, 288, 289, 291, 292, 297 Finland v, vi, 58, 64, 164, 165, 264, 266, 267, 268, 270, 271, 274, 275 GiggleIT project 125, 127 goal achievement 246, 251, 330 government policies 279 HIV/AIDS vi, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 189 human rights 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158 IASL 1, vii, 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 42, 68, 105, 116, 118, 120, 121, 122, 124, 125, 126, 127, 148, 149, 157, 176, 231, 253, 282, 289, 290, 291, 292, 294, 295, 297, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332, 333

Index 335 ICT 5, 12, 58, 60, 62, 63, 67, 116, 203, 212, 214, 216, 219, 220, 233, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 281 IFLA SLRC 1, vii, 1, 4, 6, 8, 291, 294, 295, 297, 318, 322, 323, 333 inclusive 137 Indonesia v, 22, 24, 30, 31, 165 information literacy 3, 5, 8, 13, 30, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 55, 60, 62, 69, 70, 76, 95, 108, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 129, 130, 132, 137, 138, 139, 180, 181, 182, 187, 202, 203, 223, 224, 225, 227, 230, 245, 246, 247, 249, 251, 254, 256, 257,룀258, 260, 261, 262, 263, 268, 270, 273, 274, 288, 290, 291, 301, 304, 305 information management 20, 70 Kenya 159, 160, 161, 197, 295 key competencies 128 knowledge construction 131, 305 leadership 6, 18, 50, 59, 109, 114, 139, 189, 194, 209, 214, 232, 239, 247, 267, 275, 325, 327, 329, 331 learning environments 34, 64, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 131, 272, 275 learning in the school library 240 library buildings 191 library corners 140, 141, 143, 146, 148 library periods 108, 113, 115, 117 licensing 203, 205, 209 literacy for all 5, 159 Lubuto Library Project vi, 188, 189, 190, 191, 194, 196, 197 Madrasah libraries 22 mission 13, 34, 35, 36, 39, 58, 170, 180, 215, 267, 275, 307, 308, 309, 324, 325, 326 mobile learning 224 mobile phones 231 Namibia 96, 99, 101, 102, 104, 105, 106, 168 Netherlands 71, 81, 153, 158, 290, 291, 293, 295, 318 Netlibris 264, 271 Netvibes vi, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 229, 230, 231

Nigeria v, 108, 109, 111, 113, 116, 117, 325 Norway 159, 164, 165, 167, 254, 255, 263, 291, 323 online databases 227 Online Reference Centre 201, 202, 203, 205, 206, 211 online research skills 202 operational culture 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 63, 64, 270 orphans 141, 170, 188 participatory culture 44, 45, 51, 53, 54 partnerships 34, 157, 279, 283, 304, 307, 311 pedagogy 54, 59, 186, 238, 267, 305 personal learning networks 44, 51, 52, 53, 54 PISA study 264, 275 Portugal v, vii, 11, 14, 20, 42, 278, 283, 284, 291, 326, 327 primary school curriculum 111 Primary School Library Charter 298, 305, 306 primary schools 108, 109, 110, 116, 117, 143, 148, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 176, 211, 299, 300, 301, 302, 304 principals 24, 31, 36, 40, 57, 58, 60, 61, 62, 105, 206, 207, 208, 245, 246, 247, 249, 253, 255, 256, 279, 280, 282, 332 project work 108, 110, 111, 112, 114, 115 project-based learning 132, 136, 138 promotion of reading 143, 167, 268 public libraries 56, 57, 70, 141, 148, 168, 169, 174, 175, 202, 265, 268, 270, 278, 279, 288, 306 public schools 170, 278 Quick Response Codes (QR Codes) 227 Readathon v, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106 reading culture 96, 98, 101, 105, 106, 190 reading education 254, 256, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262 reading programs 56, 160, 180, 191, 308

336 Index reading promotion 13, 21, 109, 112, 117, 138, 173, 180, 280, 310, 312 Rede de Bibliotecas Escolares (RBE) 11 remote communities 160, 164 research 7, 8, 13, 16, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 34, 36, 42, 46, 47, 48, 51, 52, 53, 55, 56, 62, 64, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 76, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 86, 94, 95, 106, 109, 117, 120, 126, 128, 130, 132, 136, 137, 139, 158, 167, 180, 197, 201, 203, 206, 208, 210, 223, 224, 225, 226, 229, 230, 231, 233, 245, 246, 247, 248, 251, 254, 255, 256, 263, 267, 268, 276, 277, 287, 288, 291, 298, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 306, 318, 321, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 332 Rights of the Child 153, 154, 155, 157, 178 Russia 264, 291, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317 Russian School Library Association (RuSLA) 307, 309 school development 245, 246, 247, 248, 250, 251, 302, 305, 310 School Libraries Network 11, 17, 20, 21, 278, 279, 283, 284 School Libraries Online 324, 325, 327, 329, 332 School Library Association (SLA) 303 school library education 184, 262, 325, 332 School Library Manifesto 8, 22, 31, 153, 154, 213, 267, 271, 275, 277, 290, 297, 318, 319, 322, 329 science curriculum 138 SearchingCommunicatingLearning project 245 Self-Evaluation Model v, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21 SmiLE project 245 street children 193 students with intellectual disabilities 180, 181, 183 Sub-Saharan Africa 149, 176, 188, 189

Sweden 3, 167, 176, 245, 246, 247, 251, 252, 253, 264, 289, 291, 325 teachers 6, 12, 13, 15, 16, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 53, 54, 55, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 71, 73, 74, 76, 78, 80, 97, 98, 99, 100, 103, 104, 108, 110, 112, 113, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 123, 124, 125, 126, 131, 132, 134, 136, 137, 138, 140, 141, 145, 153, 156, 157, 168, 171, 172, 173, 174, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 189, 190, 192, 194, 196, 202, 203, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 212, 214, 215, 216, 217, 219, 222, 229, 232, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 265, 266, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 279, 280, 281, 287, 289, 291, 304, 305, 307, 308, 309, 312, 313, 314, 323, 332 technology 44, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 54, 55, 56, 58, 59, 72, 75, 85, 86, 90, 92, 116, 118, 120, 122, 131, 132, 137, 202, 206, 213, 214, 216, 218, 220, 221, 223, 224, 228, 230, 233, 238, 239, 257, 268, 270, 271, 288, 294, 330 Thailand 159, 163, 165 United Kingdom 208, 223, 298, 319, 327 United Nations 3, 7, 153, 154, 186, 319 United States 5, 48, 71, 119, 155, 191, 239, 324, 326, 327 Venezuela 159, 163 Virtual classroom 212, 216 Vulnerable children 188 Web 2.0 vi, 42, 44, 46, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 139, 211, 217, 222, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 241, 294, 295, 312 Zambia 168, 188, 189, 191, 192, 194, 196, 197