Professional Development for the School Librarian

Reflection 2:
Activity:  Attend and document an event


2015: The Year Ahead In Youth Literature

Tuesday 2 December, 6pm – 8:30pm

The Courtyard, State Library of Victoria

Cost: $18 per person 

Hosted by the Centre for Youth Literature

This event hosted by the Centre for Youth Literature was an opportunity for local and international publishers to showcase some of their upcoming teen literature titles. The publishers involved were Bloomsbury, Egmont, Harper Collins, Penguin, Pan MacMillan, Ford Street, Text, Walker Books and Allen and Unwin. Each publisher was given a strict 5-minute limit to promote their latest publications, which allowed the event to progress very smoothly and was enough time for each publisher to mention their most noteworthy titles.

Some choose a machine gun approach and mentioned as many books as possible with, perhaps a 30 second description of each. Others chose to focus on just a couple of significant titles and spoke at (relative) length on each. It was a perfect way to get quick and convenient information about some of the major titles for next year.

I have to admit to some doubt in the beginning that it would be a productive night as I wasn’t really sure whether there would be enough titles and publishers to make the outing worthwhile. However I need not have feared, it was a satisfying selection of titles, in fact I was hard pressed to keep up with the ones mentioned.

The advantages of these events are numerous. Firstly having an insight into forthcoming titles assists with budgeting and pre-ordering. It also allows the librarian to develop displays and plan promotions to create anticipation with patrons. It helps to be known as an expert about books and reading by being the ‘first to know’ about what’s coming up. In a school, children rely on your expertise and you can influence their reading behaviours significantly with your knowledge.

Knowing who might be popular in advance is also an advantage for arranging author visits, in some schools these are an important part of the curriculum. A recent small-scale American study on author visits has suggested that after a visiting author… “ there were increases in student mean scores in reading interest, reading efficacy, writing interest, and positive attitudes about revision” (Schoolvisitexperts.com, 2015). More research is planned for next year.

Author visits, in my experience do really excite children and inspire them to read. It keeps reading and writing in their sights as an important and worthy activity. This can be particularly important in a boy’s school where the status of literacy can be swamped by other more valued events.

This PD session also provided me with a potential new title for our students to study that would fit with the cross curricular priorities of the Australian Curriculum. Input like that is of real use to teachers and helps them deliver the curriculum. This in turn strengthens the Teacher Librarian’s place in the school hierarchy and opens the door to collaborative efforts that help sustain the library.

Another advantage is meeting up with like-minded colleagues. This can be a real boon especially if you work alone .The organiser allowed plenty of time for this and although I didn’t take full advantage I will definitely screw up my courage next time. Librarianship is a collaborative industry and sharing helps us to all perform better.

Overall this was a useful professional development activity which of benefit to me.

References:

Schoolvisitexperts.com, (2015). School Visit Experts | Creating Programs That Kids, Teachers & Librarians Love. Retrieved 17 January 2015, from http://schoolvisitexperts.com/

Censorship in the School Library

ALA poster used to celebrate Banned Book week in the U.S
Copyright free

Reflection 1

Activity: Write an article for submission to  ALIA's journal ‘Energise, Enthuse, Inspire’

Topic:     Censorship

I wrote an 800-word article for submission to ALIA’s Incite magazine. The topic was censorship and the responsibility the school librarian has to protect her patrons or students from unsuitable books.  I started with the idea that I might be stocking my library with books that some of my school community would be uncomfortable with, but which I knew my readers would like. Sometimes, I too have felt discomfited by the dark themes and mature content of some teen and YA books. I have wondered if ‘I sail too close to the wind’ with some of the books I have in my library.  I concluded that children and teens do not need or want ‘sanitized and squeaky-clean’ stories. They are too mature, too accustomed to ‘racy’ modern life to be satisfied by that. Most teens have many leisure choices and we need to offer books, which have appeal and interest even if sometimes the content is possibly controversial. In addition I believe children and teens self-censor and won’t read material they instinctively know is unsuitable. Obviously I am subject to the overall moral values of the institution I work for and must pay some heed to parents opinions about books but I reject the suggestion that I should be the gatekeeper and will continue to choose books that satisfy a modern reading audience.

I have never written an article for publication before, although I have felt that it would be a good thing to do for career interest and advancement. Fundamentally I lacked the confidence to do it, feeling that I had less to contribute than others who have been in the industry for many years. However once I got started on the article, which is on a topic that I have been thinking about for a while, I am wondering whether it might, in fact, be suitable for publication. I haven’t read much in Australian library journals on this topic and if it were of interest to me as a teacher-librarian surely it would be of interest to others. I would certainly like to read an opposing view, as I am sure there would be one.

I do, however think that Incite is not the right publication for this article. It would be better suited to FYI, the School Librarians of Victoria’s journal or similar. The audience is really TLs, although obviously public librarians face censorship issues as well. With that in mind I have emailed the article to the editor of FYI for consideration and feedback.

Despite what some people might think about the conservative nature of librarianship, it is actually an industry, which moves at break neck speed and requires constant diligence to keep up with developments. Writing for journals is a way to discipline yourself to stay current and interested.

Apart from stimulating my interest in writing for an industry publication the most significant outcome of this exercise is that is has crystallized my thinking on this topic. I know where I stand now on the issue of censorship and I am prepared to defend my opinion. I will continue to research and take note of opinions and reporting on this topic.

To read the article Click here

New Wimpy Kid

Follow this link to read an extract from the new Wimpy Kid book - The Long Haul
Click here

Out soon

'Wonder' by R.J. Palacio- book trailer

New, unpublished Charlie and the Chocolate Factory chapter

Roald Dahl wrote a never-published chapter for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory called The Vanilla Fudge Room and you can read it here. Read here

What is very interesting is that Roald Dahl originally had all kinds of different names for his characters and it was his mother Mrs Bucket who took him on the factory tour not his Granpa. You will see this when you read the chapter. I think the names he ended up with are much better than his original choices. See what you think!

Quentin Blake's illustration for The Vanilla Fudge Room

New David Walliams book due soon

David Walliams has announced that he is about to release his seventh book The Awful Auntie.
Can't wait!

Fantastic Opportunity to be a Published Writer!

Want to be a published writer? Or know a talented 10-14-year-old who does? Read on.


Tristan Bancks' book My Life & Other Stuff That Went Wrong, features a short story, Morris, by 13 year-old writer Raph Atkins. (Raph also stars in the book trailer)


He is now searching for another young writer, aged 10-14 (on 22 Aug 2014) with a short story of less than 1000 words to publish in my next My Life book due out with Random House Australia in early 2015. The story has to be weird, funny and maybe a bit gross. You should read some My Life stories before you enter, especially Raph’s Morris story.


Check out Tristan's website for more details Click here