Tag Archives: #LibraryExperience

Contact with the library is more than entering with a need and exiting with a resource, it is a unique and vital experience that needs to be nurtured and enhanced by design.

Complex Systems, Embodied Mind, Inquiry, language, Library Management, Technology

The embodied library : learning to read

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(1800 words)

Everything the school library does is in the service of student learning. Learning is change. For the most part, we are not consciously aware of all the changes that occur in our brain and body when we are learning. We can often describe observable aspects of learning such as an improvements in our accuracy in kicking a ball through the goal posts, the ability to solve a challenging math problem, a new way to fold the worlds best ever paper plane, or a new historical insight but the neurological and physiological changes in our bodies are hidden. These new skills or new knowledge may indicate that learning has occurred however they are far from providing a complete understanding of the change that has taken place. This is where understanding the embodied mind can lead us to a more holistic view of learning. Learning that we can directly observe, test or that we are conscious of is only the very tip of the iceberg. Learning is a process that involves the entire body in a complex system of interdependent subsystems. The brain is a dominant arbiter in the learning process however the brain only functions within the context of the body – as Guy Claxton explains, the “brain and the body function as a single unit” (Claxton, 2015 p 89). Continue reading The embodied library : learning to read →

Complex Systems, Connectivism, Library Management, Technology

Rebranding libraries 2 : in with new, in with the old.

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Social media and new digital channels ensure that our connected world is always evolving. Branding in the commercial environment is no longer about projecting a message to an audience, it is about connections between people. This is where the traditionally commercial role of branding and the role of libraries converge. Libraries are still about books, knowledge and ideas but both the format, the medium and the modes libraries work across have expanded exponentially. imageEmbedded in this expansion are the ways in which the library connects with people and more importantly, the ways the library connects people-to-people, ideas-to-ideas, needs-to-needs. Advertising agencies are no longer isolated in silos working to a brief provided by a company CEO, they are getting into the shoes of a company and into the shoes of the customers, connecting networking, working across platforms, focusing their message, and co-creating with their clients.
This is where libraries have always been and where they are ideally placed to meet the needs of patrons in a connected world. For libraries, branding is an important piece to this puzzle and is an often neglected one. Branding a library is not about projecting a new modern face and it is not about sending the right message. The message is what libraries do. In this context, branding is about making connections between what people do and what libraries do. imageLibraries do things in society that no other organisation or system does. Libraries offer an experience, a collaborative space, an inspiration, and a story that no other physical or virtual space offers. Leveraging branding and marketing strategies offers useful insights into how libraries can make more authentic and meaningful connections within the community.

 

Some lessons from the world of marketing

1. Research

Continue reading Rebranding libraries 2 : in with new, in with the old. →

Agency, Complex Systems, Library Management

Student Agency: A Paradigm Shift in the Role of the Library in Learning

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(1779 words)

A core belief in my approach to the role of the library in learning is that it involves empowering student and teacher agency. In many respects, libraries still retain the traditional pillars of library service, expertise and resources (see the IFLA School Library Guidelines) and continue to stand strongly behind ideals such as freedom of information and freedom of human expression. The required paradigm shift in the role of the library comes when we consider how the learning community is empowered to engage with the library. The basis for this paradigm shift embodies the very meaning of learning. That is, simply learning the content and ideas that the library hosts is not enough but learning how to access these ideas is critical. Many traditional approaches to learning in the library do aim to support this process of learning however in reality, many patrons feel that the library is a closely controlled and a fiercely protected space that is

VIS librairy
Putting the technology in the hands of the students to search the library catalogue enables them to control what they access in the library. The catalogue app displays book covers making choice intuitive.

dominated by librarian-mediated access. Often, as a revered space, there can be a heavy sense that the administration of an ordered library is the most important feature of the library experience. These traditional features of the library remain important but we need to ask which of these features dominate the culture within the library itself and the culture surrounding the library. I wrote a post a while ago about the perfect library and posed the idea that it is about focus and getting the balance right to ensure the library is achieving the key outcomes it is striving for. Student agency is one of those critical outcomes that must define how we go about running our libraries.

Student agency refers to a sense of ownership, independence and self determination that leads a student to feel empowered to take action. In the learning context this looks like a student who feels supported and secure enough to take risks, to ask questions, to fail, to apply critical analysis and take action based on their understandings and beliefs. Choice is crucial to a sense of agency. In contrast, narrow, authoritarian and predefining contexts curtail this sense of independence and limit student influence over the process of learning. Building a sense of agency in our students is integral to developing an inquiry learning context based on questioning, critical analysis, meta-cognition, reasoning, problem solving and creativity.
Coming back to the role of the library in learning, student agency clearly becomes a necessary focus that defines how we run a library. Where job descriptions for librarians can look more like a manifesto of the modern cosmopolitan superhuman the key to unlocking these documents is to discern which of this list of positive attributes, skills and tasks will have the most profound impact on student agency and therefore learning.

Each element of the role of the library is important and should define the role of the librarian however not in equal proportions.

Trying to achieve all of these guidelines and expectations in equal measure is neither realistic nor desirable. An example may help to illustrate what I mean. These may be controversial for some readers so if you feel I am being unbalanced here, please respond and enter the discussion.

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Library Management

Rebranding libraries

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(1651 words)

There are many aspects of modern libraries that are agreeable elements incorporating the more traditional aspects of libraries that to a greater or lesser extent are well accepted. What we need in libraries is a vision that not only encompasses these elements but extends and challenges the current paradigms that have defined libraries. Changing the name to a “learning commons” or “hub” is an attempt to do this but the change needs to come in the culture around libraries and the dialogues that happen around libraries (and often exclude libraries). Libraries are already the most trusted institution ahead of the military, the police, small businesses, and religious institutions (Pew Research Center ) so we mess with this brand at our own peril. We need to rebrand the library by redefining our relevance in the modern information landscape. Here are some ideas that can help libraries to do this.

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Uncategorized

Thanks for the introduction Dianne, Librarygrits.blogspot.com

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Dianne McKenzie of Librarygrits.blogspot.com fame very kindly invited me to write a guest post on her site to help kickstart my own blog. I have also included the post below to complete the loop. I was recently lucky enough to attend a workshop lead by Dianne and her colleague Gary Green where I was inspired (and gently pressured by Dianne) to begin this blog to document some my thinking, frustrations and successes, to pose questions and engage in a wider conversation about the unique role of the library in the communities they are a part of. We can never underestimate the library element in our communities and never shy away from connecting to librarians across the world.

So here is my guest post on librarygrits.blogspot.com. Thanks Dianne!

>> Imagine creating the library you have always dreamt of.

Continue reading Thanks for the introduction Dianne, Librarygrits.blogspot.com →

Uncategorized

What is “The Library Element”?

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Welcome to new The Library Element blog. I have poured myself into renovating, developing, refining and honing our library here are Vientiane International School. After often being asked about the redevelopment process, I have decided to begin The Library Element to document and share the many details and facets about the what, the how and, most importantly, the why behind what we have done. Please feel free to contact me if you have any comments or questions about anything you read on The Library Element.

So why “The Library Element”? The word “element” has multiple meanings in different contexts so it is suitably ambiguous for the purposes of considering the many different elements of the library.

We can find ourselves in our element in the library. The library is a unique space not found in other physical or social structures in our community.

Never understimate the significance of the library element in our communities. The connection between student achievement across all ages and a well resourced library with professional staff is unarguable. The correlation has been reinforced through numerous studies [ala; alsa; NY Comprehensive Center; IOE London]. We are not just talking about student achievement but also a personal and community sense of wellbeing is enhanced by the presence of a cultural centre such as the libary. Without the library element we begin to lose the very fabric of our community and society as a whole.

The library is an element in our community that cannot be reduced to a simpler form. In fact the role of the library in the information age has only expanded [New literacies; IASL; ASLA Learning without frontiers] .

The library is a primary constituent of our society. There is a reason why any despot, tyrant, marauder or dictatorship targets the destruction of the library as a means for control and the suppression of independent thought and free speech [Books on Fire].

Welcome to The Library Element.

Philip

Element: Oxford dictionary (British & World English)

Continue reading What is “The Library Element”? →