The Future Ready Library A LITERACY INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM VISION FOR THE COLUMBUS SCHOOL PRESENTED BY TIMOTHY TRIPLETT

Rationale for Change  Digital information, readily accessed from classrooms, homes, and mobile devices, is the choice of today's students and teachers—resulting in increasingly fewer in-person visits to libraries.  For 100 years, many schools have created spacious rooms that contain thousands of books and other physical materials to support reading programs, aid research projects, and expand the curriculum. Numerous studies 1 show that schools with good library programs are more successful than those without, validating the wisdom of education leaders who have invested in school libraries. 1  Yet information seekers today have less need to visit a physical library to meet their needs. Many school leaders are asking, Why does a school need a physical library when students can readily access information using a laptop, a tablet computer, or a mobile phone?  Students still want to meet and learn in physical environments. (Check any shopping mall, coffee shop, or teen center.) Online bookstores have not killed the physical bookstore. But like bookstores, the school library needs to become a high- touch environment in a high-tech world.  The modern library is a place for teams to work together, formally and informally. For schools that have no other spaces for recreation and play, such as a student commons or a playground, the library can provide such spaces, especially before and after school. A successful library adopts a liberal definition of what constitutes a constructive activity, allowing users to engage in gaming and research on topics of personal interest. Such a library may be the only place at school where some students feel at home.  The school library can become a learning commons by encouraging a wider scope of use by more school personnel for tutoring, vocational education, gifted and talented services, and a raft of instructional support services. Technology integration specialists' offices and workspaces should be a part of the library so that users can readily collaborate with them and access their expertise.  Johnson, D. (2013, October). Power Up! The New School Library. Educational Leadership. 71:

First Year Plan : Network, Collaborate, Partner, and Learn!  Initial steps:  Establish a Library Advisory Committee  Conduct a survey of teachers and students to determine what level of technology access exists at school.  Begin gathering the data needed to complete the LIT Template. Try to complete by mid-October.  Begin marketing the Librarian-Teacher program and position.  Become actively involved in the school’s leadership team.  Begin a dialogue/partnership with the MS/HS librarían.  Broaden the inclusion of the Spanish Dept. in library activities.  Join 1-2 professional associations.  Read as much professional literature as possible.  Be an active member of the UW Cohort Group

First Year Plan : Network, Collaborate, Partner, and Learn! Information Literacy and Technology Instruction Begin to establish LIT Standards. Focus on Digital Citizenship.. Reading Advocacy Broaden School-wide promotions Promote Reading for Pleasure through Readers’ Advisory Tools, Book Talks, Book Clubs, etc. Involve ASOPAF in more library initiatives Information Management and Services Become familiar with Destiny Quest. Expand the online resources available. Facilitate Professional Development Mini Sessions. Begin creating screencasts/tutorials.

Fifth Year Vision: The Columbus School will be known as the leading model for School Libraries (Learning Commons) among Latin American Private/International and Public Schools Information Literacy and Technology Instruction Full implementation of Standards for LIT. LIT skills are assessed and reported. Vertical alignment between the Elementary and Middle/High School libraries. Planning and Instruction is carried out through collaboration of teaching staff and library. Full inclusión of Spanish Dept. Reading Advocacy Parent community is a full partner in the activities of the libraries. The local professional community is engaged in promoting and interacting with the LIT program Information Management and Services Both libraries are blended centers of Virtual and Physical Spaces. Students are no longer library visitors or guests; rather, they are clients, who are in command of their information access and learning.

Summary  School librarians everywhere are assessing their library spaces and their patrons in order to employ user-based design strategies to improve student learning, provide easier access to resources, and create a more welcoming space for students and teachers. Instead of patrons seeking resources for use elsewhere, school libraries have become places where students and teachers gather to access library resources and create new information spaces that can be shared.  “That the granite walls and marble halls of libraries are breaking down is inarguable,” says AASL President Dickinson in the March/April 2014 issue of AASL’s Knowledge Quest. “As the walls of the library have expanded, so has the job of the librarian. Teachers and students expect assistance nearly 24/7 in whatever tasks they undertake.” The issue focuses on ways to create, adapt, and use student-centered physical and virtual library spaces and includes discussion of learning commons, “maker spaces,” mobile libraries, virtual libraries, and maintaining a quiet space among collaborative learning and multimedia projects.  Retrieved from: /school-libraries