St Kilda Park Classroom Libraries

All learning spaces have had their Classroom Library shelves built and their beautiful new books have been labelled, contacted and placed in their new homes. The libraries look fabulous and are super inviting for our students. I am thrilled to be able to share some images of a few of the libraries below.

WHY ARE CLASSROOM LIBRARIES IMPORTANT?

Below is what research has to say about why Classroom Libraries are important in our schools: (taken from the Oz Lit Teacher website, Nov 2021)

• * Equitable access to books promotes reading achievement and motivation (National Council of Teachers of English Executive Committee, 2017).
•  “Providing access to high-quality, diverse books and content” was recently listed as one of the top five most critical topics for improving literacy outcomes in the next decade, as revealed in the International Literacy Association’s 2020 What’s Hot in Literacy Report.
• The quality and range of books to which students are exposed (e.g., electronic texts, leveled books, student/teacher published work) has a strong relationship with students’ reading comprehension (e.g., Hoffman, Sailors, Duffy, & Beretvas, 2004).
• Students in higher-achieving schools had more books in classroom library collections than students in lowering achieving schools (Allington, 2012; Duke, 2000).
• Classroom libraries significantly improve student motivation and engagement towards reading as well as student reading habits. (Yi et al., 2018).
• Students in classes with classroom libraries borrow more and read more. (Yi et al., 2018; Allington, 2012).
• Students who read widely and frequently are higher achievers than students who read rarely and narrowly (Guthrie, 2004; Atwell, 2007). (In fact, Guthrie found that the ‘engaged readers’ in his study actually spent 500% more time reading than the ‘disengaged readers’.)

Our classroom Libraries are also placed in all learning spaces to ensure a plethora of quality literature at the fingertips of our teachers and students to promote good writing and the power of rich language and a strong writers’ voice.

Good quality mentor texts are one of the best tools we have for teaching literacy. This is especially true in writing where, if we can “show” our students what good writing looks like rather than “tell” them, they’re much more likely to apply the learning in their own work.

We cannot wait to invite you all into to see Stage 1 of our new libraries.

Jac Morphy

Literacy Leader