A Guerrilla Librarian

Or, how to fight back against the threats to reading today

Find this presentation online at: www.slideshare.net/carolineroche

About me

We are using Accelerated Reader in Project Based Learning lessons to boost low literacy levels

We also use it with SEN pupils up to age 16

I have used Accelerated Reader in three schools in Kent to raise standards

My web presence

My personal blog: http://uulibrarian.wordpress.com

My Library blog (new): http://www.mhfederation.co.uk/mhfederationvle/readingmatters

My screenname to find me on these applications: carolineroche

Delicious; Diigo; Twitter; Slideshare

Why do we need to fight?

School libraries are closing all round the country

‘It’s all on the internet now’ – isn’t it? The rise of e-books and reading online It is no longer a ‘given’ that schools

have libraries

Threats to reading

Reading ages and literacy are dropping Computers and television are taking up time

previously used by reading Reading can be done elsewhere – books

are no longer physical Concentration spans are becoming shorter –

children find whole books too long for them The English curriculum no longer requires

pupils to read whole books, only extracts

Other ways of reading

So, do we need libraries?

YES – where else would you find professionals whose job is solely dedicated to finding the best resources for you to use in your project?

YES – where else would you find professionals whose job it is to read the latest children’s literature and make recommendations?

So what?

‘Where there is no vision, the people perish’ (Proverbs 29:18)

To remove reading means that you remove imagination and empathy from pupils

Is this what you want for the students in your school?

To be another brick in the wall? (2.27)

Is this your view of a library? Is this your student’s view too?

Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo. www.cmb.ac.lk

How about this library?

Creating your physical library

Buy appropriate shelving – we used folding shelving from a library catalogue, or use spinners

You can create a comfortable space at the back of a classroom using beanbags and soft seating

Creating an online library

There are lots of free Web 2.0 applications you can use to help you

Making the library ‘virtual’ and available to all students increases its visibility

You can build a large online community, and then grow your demand for more physical space

(All websites mentioned in this presentation are referenced in a list at the end)

Building an online library

You could use your blog to flag up the ‘Reader of the Week’

You could use the blog to advertise new purchases of books

You could use the blog to advertise competitions and author visits

Author Joe Craig at a book signing with one of our pupils

LibraryThing

www.librarything.com

Uses of LibraryThing

Can be used to catalogue books for free – after 200 books you pay a small fee monthly

You can put a ‘widget’ on your blog for people to search your books

It is very easy to use – well trained pupils can help you with this

How do I use a blog?

There are several good free blog providers, two recommended ones are Wordpress and Edublogs

Both will allow you to have free blogs, you can upgrade if you choose

Paying for your blog will mean you have more control over content, your own address, and extra features

An excellent library blog

Dixie Grammar School online library blog

LibraryThing book search

Covers of books in your library

Online bookmarks hosted at Diigo

List of previous blog posts

Delicious online bookmarks tagging tool

And another one ….

Hinde House School Library

Pictures of library space being used

Most used tags in blog seen as word cloud

Welcome and introduction to the library

Features you can use to promote your online library

Flikr or Picasa – to store online photographs

Diigo or Delicious for online bookmarks for students to use

Have links to lots of exciting online book and author sites for them to enjoy and get enthusiastic about

Other features

Use online book trailers (from YouTube and elsewhere) to create interest in books you may have

Ask pupils to create their own videos or podcasts about their favourite books and feature them on your blog

Student participation

Start topics, and allow students to make comments to gauge their views

Hold online polls and questionnaires for favourite books

Have an online suggestion box where pupils can ‘post’ book requests

Have an online chat box where students can ask questions

How do I win the reading war?

Use your blog to stimulate love of reading in pupils

Use borrowing figures to prove to Senior Management team that a library is invaluable and necessary

Insist that your library is staffed by someone who is enthusiastic and knowledgeable about children’s books

Keep the enthusiasm going!

Have lots of information posted to your blog all the time

Keep up to date with the new books, have a good mix of fiction/non-fiction/comic books/magazines/ebooks

Have visits and workshops from authors and poets to boost interest

Outside people who can help

Have you thought of using parents to help with reading?

How about approaching your local football club to see if they have reading champions?

Use the expertise of your local public library or Schools Library Service

Can I really do this?

Yes – if you have the enthusiasm and heart to build reading back into lives

Yes – if you don’t want to see school libraries disappear and be replaced by computers, we need to act now

Yes, embrace other forms of reading – get an ebook reader! – but encourage reading for pleasure, always!

List of websites referenced in talk

Blog providers: Wordpress http://wordpress.com Edublogs http://edublogs.org

LibraryThing www.librarything.com Photo sites: Flikr www.flikr.com Picasa http://picasa.google.co.uk

Online questionnaires: SurveyMonkey: www.surveymonkey.com Online chat box to add to blog: Meebo http://www.meebo.com Football clubs link: from the Literacy Trust site: http://

www.literacytrust.org.uk/football/index.html Author booking site: www.contactanauthor.co.uk Storyteller booking site: www.sfs.org.uk Performance poets booking site: www.applesandsnakes.org Collaboration with other professionals: www.twitter.com

Online book trailers and author sites

See these on Play.com: http://www.play.com/campaign.aspx?campaign=4841&cid=9345018

Meet the Author: www.meettheauthor.co.uk Reading Rockets:

http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews Wikireadia: http://www.readingforlife.org.uk/wikireadia Readergirlz: http://www.readergirlz.com Children’s Book Sequels:

http://www.childrensbooksequels.co.uk Some American books, but some relevant:

http://booktrailers.wikispaces.com

Websites continued

Excellent examples of school library blogs to have a look at:

Dixie Grammar school library blog, http://library-online.org.uk Hinde House school library blog, http://library-online.org.uk A blog with a slightly different look, on a website called a

‘ning’: http://jcclibrary.ning.com/ Excellent wiki site which brings a lot of the best web tools

together – a good place to start looking: http://webtools4u2use.wikispaces.com