O'Brien Resource Centre
What is a Library?
As Term 1 draws to a close at Mount Carmel College, I have been reflecting on how the library has been supporting the teaching and learning so far this year at the College. What do we actually do? In what areas, do we need to grow if we are to truly augment teaching and learning at Mount Carmel College?
As a starting point in answering these queries, I have revisited the IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto: The School Library in Teaching and Learning for All (1999). Although this manifesto was created 20 years ago, it remains current with guidelines for its use being updated as recently as 2015 by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. Interestingly, this document has been translated into over 20 languages for use around the world, making it very much a global document for school libraries.
The ‘School Library Manifesto’ states: The school library provides information and ideas that are fundamental to functioning successfully in today's information and knowledge-based society. The school library equips students with lifelong learning skills and develops the imagination, enabling them to live as responsible citizens.
This statement meaningfully resonates with what we, as library staff, see as our role here at Mount Carmel College Library. We continually update our information sources to ensure that students and teachers have access to the most recent information and ideas from Australia and around the world to inform their teaching and learning programs. We strive to make sure that information is offered in multiple formats to ensure access and engagement for all. Most importantly we want to ensure that students are given the opportunity consider their learning through exploring and valuing diverse ‘points of views’. To support their lifetime of learning, we have begun to engage our students in an explicit inquiry process using the Guided Inquiry Design Model developed by Carol Kuhlthau, Leslie Maniotes & Ann Caspari.
Mrs Hill and myself are both enthusiastic lifelong learners, we see it as our role in the library to empower students to also become learners for life and we welcome the opportunity to work with students on their research tasks. With the introduction of the Project Based Learning elective this year we have been really enjoying assisting students in finding information, guiding their inquiry questions and hopefully inspiring them to think creatively and ‘out of the box’!
The concept of the school library ‘developing the imagination’ does not immediately come to mind when considering the role of the school library in a student’s education. But we know that knowledge in today’s society is fluid and evolving making it ever more important that we cultivate the imaginations of our students so that they have the skills to negotiate and engage fully in our technology driven global society. Professor Pendleton-Jullian, of the Ohio State University, who explores the interchange between culture, environment, and technology across a diverse range of fields from astrophysics, architecture, innovation models for K-12 education, and human and economic development in marginalised populations, states ‘that agency in the world today requires a productive entanglement of imagination and action.’ (Knowlton.osu.edu, 2019). I plan to ponder this over the holidays and hope to come up with some ‘imaginative’ pedagogy to further cultivate the imaginations of our students.
Ms Melinda Levy
Teacher Librarian
Knowlton.osu.edu. (2019). Pendleton-Jullian | Knowlton School. [online] Available at: https://knowlton.osu.edu/people/pendleton-jullian [Accessed 9 Apr. 2019].