Module 2: School Libraries as Places of Literacy and Learning – Learning Log 1 – Assignment #1
This module was filled with a plethora of learning nuggets. The two videos with Jason Reynolds (“The Libraries Within Us”), and Michael Beirut (“How to Design a Library That Makes Kids Want to Read”) were inspirational and gave me much food for thought on the enormous impact a School Library Learning Commons has on its students and school community.
What struck me most was the metaphor of a recipe or blueprint that an SLLC has in order to make it a “Learning Commons”, and what is most important, a Learning Commons that all stakeholders benefit from and want to be in.
Factors such as open spaces, soft seating and carpets, movable furniture, makerspaces, digital tools for coding and research, an up to date and extensive physical and digital collection, and an open and inviting atmosphere. This is not the library model of 50 years ago when libraries were repositories for texts and patrons needed to keep a “tight lip”.
Unfortunately, the traditional model of what libraries were, is what many educators and parents still hold onto when asked what a library should be. When pondering what to create for Learning Log 1, Assignment 1 I drafted a storyboard of what I would want to know that is essential in understanding what SLLC’s of today offer, their benefits, and what are the roads to get there.
I used the platform, Canva for Educators to create a slideshow that I would use with staff and parents when pitching the idea of transforming my school’s traditional library into a School Library Learning Commons. My aim was to keep it simple in graphics, but informative, comprehensive, and engaging. Watch it and let me know what you think.
Blueprint of an effective SLLC – video
Click the link to watch this short video on a blueprint for creating a dynamic and effective SLLC.