When I first started in my current Teacher Librarian position, reference books were a thorn in my side. There were a wide variety of dictionaries, atlases, encyclopedias, and almanacs that were taking up a whole wall of valuable shelf space. As I began to look through them, I found that most (if not all) of the resources were very outdated. For example, two of the sets of atlases in our school library didn’t even show Nunavut as a Territory.
I am very lucky that I actually have a decent budget and a supportive PAC for my elementary school library that I can use to update these resources. It comes as a bit of a double-edged sword though. I came into this Teacher Librarian position after there had been a vacancy for quite some time. There had been a combination of TTOCs and Administration that had been filling the prep time coverage, but no maintenance had been done to the collection for a couple of years. That left a lot of gaps to fill in with newly released books that the students would enjoy reading, and a reference section that had been pushed to the side.
With the lapse in the Teacher Librarian position, there had also been a lack of consistency in library skills instruction, so teachers had been left with no support and few reliable materials in order to teach research skills.
Even though there are so many of these print books in the room, many students are not aware of what kind of reference materials are available to use in the library. They were just there and had become part of the background of the library. Many have grown up with the ability to use google to answer any questions they may have. I know that my bias tends to lean toward digital research also, so I need to make an effort to encourage print use as well. I believe that it is my responsibility in the library to expose students to as many information sources as I can, while teaching the pros and cons of each.
(1)Students learn in many different ways and if we bypass print resources, we are doing a disservice to those students who may learn better from holding a book in their hands. Learning how to find information from a variety of sources, with print and digital, and how to evaluate the validity of those sources is an important skill that Teacher Librarians can assist with.
Non-Fiction and Fact books are already quite popular resources in our elementary school library, but many other reference resources are overlooked. Teachers also have varied preferences towards using print vs digital sources, so some reference books are worth keeping. However, for sources that become outdated quickly it may be more prudent and cost effective to teach students how to use an online reference. Class sets of atlases for example, can be expensive to replace and those funds can be used elsewhere.
During the last school year, I tried to introduce some of the print reference materials we have to our intermediate students. We did some mini-lessons on how to use a dictionary and I directed students to the encyclopedias while they were researching Canadian animals. Then the pandemic hit! We were suddenly thrown headfirst into the digital learning world and the focus shifted. Teachers were reaching out for online research sources and I tried to compile some resources for them.
(2)https://sites.google.com/view/ame-library/learning-links/generalresearch?authuser=0
Now that we are back in the classroom, the BCERAC resource “Evaluating, Selecting and Acquiring Learning Resources: A Guide”(3) will be very helpful as I start to evaluate the reference books we have, in order to update the collection. I can already see that I need to focus on adding materials that address aboriginal education, gender-equity, and multiculturalism. “All children come to school with values, beliefs, and knowledge that reflect their personal, cultural, and social backgrounds.” This needs to be my focus as I begin to weed and update our reference section. I am excited to tackle this section in my library now, and I am happy to say that this thorn in my side will soon be a rose in our collection!
Bibliography
(1) Google Encyclopedia Meme
Funny Pictures Of The Day - August 21, 2014: Britannica, Funny pictures, World book encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved October 03, 2020, from https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/79376012160047790/?nic_v2=1a1l6LdwV
(2) School Library Website
Van der Loos, J. (2020). AME Library - General/Research. Retrieved October 02, 2020, from https://sites.google.com/view/ame-library/learning-links/generalresearch?authuser=0
(3) ERAC Resource
Evaluating, Selecting and Acquiring Learning Resources: A Guide. (n.d.). Retrieved 2020, from https://bcerac.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/ERAC_WB.pdf
Great reflection post that connected your experiences with your new understandings. You did a good job outlining the key aspects of your current library program, space and collection and what you could begin to address with some of the tools and skills from our course. A good overview of the topics that we covered and some solid reminders about the importance of funding and staffing to keep a program running. Overall, good look back.
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