These two days were just part of a week long celebration of children’s literature. Approximately 80 librarians from school and public libraries in the North Island attended the two days to listen, share ideas and learn from others.
Day one
Day One provided participants with an opportunity to talk through networking and discussion groups. A speaker provided an introduction to each of the ten topics covered which was followed by animated discussion within each group.
Topics covered were pre-school storytimes, strategies for behaviour management in the library (including adults at storytimes, class visits and teens), Book Clubs and reading groups for primary school children, collection management, electronic resources available free to schools and Any Questions and Many Answers.
We heard Frances McEwan, Children’s Librarian at Upper Hutt City Library, speak about a school membership programme, “A Book in every Backpack”. This is an inspiring project aimed at ensuring each child in Upper Hutt has access to library programmes and resources and encouraging reading. It is being achieved by developing strong relationships between library staff, schools, teachers and families, simplifying the joining process for schoolchildren and removing any barriers to membership. Class visits to the library during school time are a vital part of this programme. Of the schools involved so far, only 11% of children have not taken part. The next step is to roll the programme out to intermediate schools and preschools in Upper Hutt.
Jan Watts, NLNZ School Library Adviser, provided tips on reading aloud. She referred to
“The Power of Reading” by Stephen Krashen, “The Read Aloud handbook” by Jim Trelease, Effective Literacy Practice Years 1-4 and Years 5-8 published for the Ministry of Education and Mem Fox’s website.
Ruth and John McIntyre from The Children’s Bookshop in Wellington gave an excellent session on some great current titles and emphasized the importance of staff reading books before recommending them.
Day two
Day two was our chance to listen and learn from a number of key speakers. A highlight was a session with Margaret Spillman, teacher-librarian at Mackay West State School in Queensland. Margaret spoke about “Productive Partnerships – Learning for Life”, a successful partnership she has developed with Mackay Libraries, helping to ensure a quality learning environment for students to develop their literacy skills. There are five key elements to the programme:
- Work shadowing (Public and school library staff spend a week at each others libraries)
- Library monitor programme for students
- Grade Ones at the library (GOAL) programme – every child should be member of public library
- School website – link to public library website
- Database workshops for students in the public library (Cool Clicks and Data Dudes)
The outcome of this partnership is that the Public Library is seen as an extension of the school library with students moving seamlessly and comfortably between the two. Take a look at the school website and Productive Partnerships
Jan Watts, School Library Adviser, explored the world of the graphic novel. She reminded us that the visual is now just as important as text for young people and that visual literacy is now part of the New Zealand curriculum. Students now understand visual text very quickly and can often be drawn into reading through graphic novels.
Sue's presentation
Sue Jackson gave a presentation on the Active Movement programme for under twos and its success at 12 Auckland City Libraries. This programme is delivered in partnership with Sport Auckland by library and Sport Auckland staff. Sue spoke about the need for such a programme in order to build early literacy skills in the very young and to educate parents on the importance of movement for their child’s development. She outlined the structure of a session, explaining some of the activities and their contribution to the development of literacy skills. Sue provided information on how other libraries could become involved in the programme through contact with their local Regional Sports Trust.
It was a very busy two days spent listening and networking with staff from public and school libraries. All of these people have a passion for working with young people and want to contribute to developing their literacy skills and encouraging a love of reading.
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