A Guerrilla Librarian

1
A Guerrilla Librarian

• Or, how to fight back against the threats to
  reading today

Find this presentation online at
www.slideshare.net/carolineroche
2
Introducing myself

• I work in an 11-18 high school in Kent, an
  authority which still has grammar schools
• So the top 25 of pupils who are good at English
  and Maths are missing
• We are therefore, as are many Kent Schools, now
  in National Challenge
• We achieved 32 in English and Maths last year
• My school is Holmesdale Technology College, and
  we have Federated Trust Status with The Malling
  School, also in National Challenge

3
About me

• We are using Accelerated Reader in Project Based
  Learning lessons to boost low literacy levels
• We also use it with SEN pupils up to age 16
• I have used Accelerated Reader in three schools
  in Kent to raise standards

4
Why do we need to fight?

• School libraries are closing all round the
  country
• Its all on the internet now isnt it?
• The rise of e-books and reading online
• It is no longer a given that schools have
  libraries

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Threats to reading

• Reading ages and literacy are dropping
• Computers and television are taking up time
  previously used by reading
• Reading can be done elsewhere books are no
  longer physical
• Concentration spans are becoming shorter
  children find whole books too long for them
• The English curriculum no longer requires pupils
  to read whole books, only extracts

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Other ways of reading
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So, do we need libraries?

• YES where else would you find professionals
  whose job is solely dedicated to finding the best
  resources for you to use in your project?
• YES where else would you find professionals
  whose job it is to read the latest childrens
  literature and make recommendations?

8
So what?

• Where there is no vision, the people perish
  (Proverbs 2918)
• To remove reading means that you remove
  imagination and empathy from pupils
• Is this what you want for the students in your
  school?
• To be another brick in the wall

9
Is this your view of a library? Is this your
students view too?
Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo.
www.cmb.ac.lk
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How about this library?
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My school Library page on VLE
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News and Weather page (using RSS feeds)
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Creating your physical library

• Buy appropriate shelving we used folding
  shelving from a library catalogue, or use
  spinners
• You can create a comfortable space at the back of
  a classroom using beanbags and soft seating

14
Creating an online library

• There are lots of free Web 2.0 applications you
  can use to help you
• Making the library virtual and available to all
  students increases its visibility
• You can build a large online community, and then
  grow your demand for more physical space
• (All websites mentioned in this presentation are
  referenced in a list at the end)

15
Building an online library

• You could use your blog to flag up the Reader of
  the Week
• You could use the blog to advertise new purchases
  of books
• You could use the blog to
  advertise competitions and author
  visits

Author Joe Craig at a book signing with one of
our pupils
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LibraryThing
www.librarything.com
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Uses of LibraryThing

• Can be used to catalogue books for free after
  200 books you pay a small fee monthly
• You can put a widget on your blog for people to
  search your books
• It is very easy to use well trained pupils can
  help you with this

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How do I use a blog?

• There are several good free blog providers, two
  recommended ones are Wordpress and Edublogs
• Both will allow you to have free blogs, you can
  upgrade if you choose
• Paying for your blog will mean you have more
  control over content, your own address, and extra
  features

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An excellent library blog
Delicious online bookmarks tagging tool
LibraryThing book search
List of previous blog posts
Covers of books in your library
Online bookmarks hosted at Diigo
Dixie Grammar School online library blog
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And another one .
Pictures of library space being used
Welcome and introduction to the library
Most used tags in blog seen as word cloud
Hinde House School Library
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Features you can use to promote your online
library

• Flickr or Picasa to store online photographs
• Diigo or Delicious for online bookmarks for
  students to use
• Have links to lots of exciting online book and
  author sites for them to enjoy and get
  enthusiastic about

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Other features

• Use online book trailers (from YouTube and
  elsewhere) to create interest in books you may
  have
• Ask pupils to create their own videos or podcasts
  about their favourite books and feature them on
  your blog

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Student participation

• Start topics, and allow students to make comments
  to gauge their views
• Hold online polls and questionnaires for
  favourite books
• Have an online suggestion box where pupils can
  post book requests
• Have an online chat box where students can ask
  questions

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How do I win the reading war?

• Use your blog to stimulate love of reading in
  pupils
• Use borrowing figures to prove to Senior
  Management team that a library is invaluable and
  necessary
• Insist that your library is staffed by someone
  who is enthusiastic and knowledgeable about
  childrens books

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Keep the enthusiasm going!

• Have lots of information posted to your blog all
  the time
• Keep up to date with the new books, have a good
  mix of fiction/non-fiction/comic
  books/magazines/ebooks
• Have visits and workshops from authors and poets
  to boost interest

26
Outside people who can help

• Have you thought of using parents to help with
  reading?
• How about approaching your local football club to
  see if they have reading champions?
• Use the expertise of your local public library or
  Schools Library Service

27
Can I really do this?

• Yes if you have the enthusiasm and heart to
  build reading back into lives
• Yes if you dont want to see school libraries
  disappear and be replaced by computers, we need
  to act now
• Yes, embrace other forms of reading get an
  ebook reader! but encourage reading for
  pleasure, always!

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My web presence

• School website www.holmesdalegateway.co.uk
• My personal blog http//uulibrarian.wordpress.com
  
• My Library blog (new) http//www.mhfederation.co.
  uk/mhfederationvle/readingmatters
• My screenname to find me on these applications
  carolineroche
• Delicious Diigo Twitter Slideshare

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List of websites referenced in talk

• Blog providers Wordpress http//wordpress.com
  Edublogs http//edublogs.org
• LibraryThing www.librarything.com
• Photo sites Flickr www.flickr.com Picasa
  http//picasa.google.co.uk
• Online questionnaires SurveyMonkey
  www.surveymonkey.com
• Online chat box to add to blog Meebo
  http//www.meebo.com
• Football clubs link from the Literacy Trust
  site http//www.literacytrust.org.uk/football/ind
  ex.html
• Author booking site www.contactanauthor.co.uk
• Storyteller booking site www.sfs.org.uk
• Performance poets booking site
  www.applesandsnakes.org
• Collaboration with other professionals
  www.twitter.com

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Online book trailers and author sites

• See these on Play.com http//www.play.com/campaig
  n.aspx?campaign4841cid9345018
• Meet the Author www.meettheauthor.co.uk
• Reading Rockets http//www.readingrockets.org/boo
  ks/interviews
• Wikireadia http//www.readingforlife.org.uk/wikir
  eadia
• Readergirlz http//www.readergirlz.com
• Childrens Book Sequels http//www.childrensbooks
  equels.co.uk
• Some American books, but some relevant
  http//booktrailers.wikispaces.com

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Websites continued

• Excellent examples of school library blogs to
  have a look at
• Dixie Grammar school library blog, maintained by
  Anne Robinson http//library-online.org.uk
• Hinde House school library blog, maintained by
  Shaun http//library-online.org.uk
• A blog with a slightly different look, on a
  website called a ning http//jcclibrary.ning.co
  m/ Maintained by Aine Garvey
• Excellent wiki site which brings a lot of the
  best web tools together a good place to start
  looking http//webtools4u2use.wikispaces.com