The Library is My Happy Place

For reference label, photo by Holly Broadland Analysis of the Reference Collection In order to develop a plan to evaluate the reference services at my school, University Hill Elementary, I first analyzed the reference collection, both print and digital. In doing so, I kept our school population in mind. We have approximately 360 K-5 students with 40% English language learners (Vancouver School Board, 2017). I am currently a classroom teacher at the school, so I interviewed our teacher librarian to learn more about his priorities for the reference section. His comment was that he leans heavily on digital resources such as the World Book suite and other databases the Vancouver School Board has made available. This made me curious to learn more about how these databases are purchased and selected. I spoke with our district principal of learning technologies and learned that in order to take advantage of cost savings, our district purchases subscriptions to various databases through...

Quote from http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/collaboration-and-reflection.html Image created in Wordswag app by Holly Broadland Collaboration It is widely acknowledged that there are huge benefits to collaboration in school libraries. The Canadian Library Association's Leading Learning document states, "The library learning commons plays a key role in cultivating and facilitating collaboration to provide rich experiential learning opportunities. It provides not only a physical space to develop skills and engage learners, but is also a portal to virtual connections, both local and global. It is important to acknowledge the diverse needs and contributions of all players within the school learning commons community, both in terms of resource formats and access to information and collaboration opportunities." (Canadian Library Association, 2004). My current position is as a classroom teacher in a primary class. Unfortunately, I am not able to collaborate wit...