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Hello everyone, and welcome to my blog.
As an avid reader, I have always seen libraries as cozy, quiet and calm environments which allow people to read, study and engross themselves in their print texts in peace. Until recently, I saw libraries as a space for solitude. It turns out, I have been quite wrong.
Libraries are a place for all people to engage with all manners of texts, individually and collaboratively.
Libraries are not growing stale and outdated, but are in fact evolving with the times by embracing the development of new texts, technologies and learning styles. Throughout this blog, I will explore the ways which high school libraries can not only keep up with the rest of the world, but trail blaze a path for others by becoming innovative, fresh and exciting.
The School Library - An Innovative Learning Space 
Really looking forward to seeing your posts Ashleigh. I completely agree with your observations about how the library environment is changing to suit the changing tastes of clientele particularly appealing to youth with digital based engagement. I have been taking my two year old son to toddler story time and even in this medium there is use of digital technologies such as a data projection. I have also observed that the libraries are running STEM and robotics programs for students even targeting the younger primary grades which I found the be incredibly interesting, given how much the digital landscape has changed since I was in school! Looking forward to reading more 🙂
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Hi Ashleigh. This post reminds me of some of the key points that Helen Godfree was making in the recent Softlink Webinar (https://www.softlinkint.com/edu/blog/students-need-school-libraries-Q-and-A) about the #studentsneedschoollibraries campaign. School libraries are viewed by the public as a quiet place to study and read, with their main role as promoting literacy. However, as you state in your post, libraries are ‘evolving with the times’, embracing digital literacy and the skills needed for students to analyse and engage with digital texts. Godfree states in her webinar that this is a key concern for 80% of parents in Australia surveyed. It is easy to make the link to recent political climates in the age of the 24 hour news cycle. Parents are right to be concerned. Students are not born ‘digital natives’ in the sense that critical thinking and digital literacy must be taught – and so many of our teachers are already struggling with crowded curriculums and increasing workloads. ACER is currently undertaking a teacher workload survey which closes in November. It will be interesting to see the results as anecdotally, my colleagues are feeling more pressure than ever. This is a great opportunity for teacher-librarians and school libraries. We are in a unique position as specialists to be able to support teachers with resources and with the vital task of teaching digital literacy to students. I hope to see you online for Tuesday night’s campaign launch! #studentsneedschoollibraries
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