School Library Symposium

Last week I went to the School Library Symposium at MSU. This was a different experience than the Innovations for Learning Conference or the other professional networking/learning that I’ve participated in with librarians. There was little to no technological connection via social media, while at most of the PDs I’ve attended over the past few years an emphasis on connecting via Twitter, blogs, and websites and growing a PLN has always been a component of the presentations. The ed-tech that was incorporated in sessions was more about the roles of a librarian as a literacy and research specialist than as a digital learning coach. This fits more with the conceptualization of a school library that I had before entering the LIS program. This is not to say that there are not definite signs that all of these librarians are teaching their students 21st century skills, but in different ways than a library with a full makerspace. In many conversations that I had at the symposium, I realized that every school librarian I interact with is always on the forefront of innovation and new trends in a school, and that part of a librarian’s role seems to be to push their fellow faculty out of their comfort zone.

The Keynote speech was about STEM storytelling and we participated in the process ourselves as learners, working to construct a chair that could hold Goldilocks without breaking, given only the resources available to us in the room. This was a great STEM challenge, and as a math teacher had me thinking about how I could use stories to frame lessons and pique interest in my classroom. I like to talk about the history of the math, especially weird stories like that of Pythagoras, but the idea of taking a children’s story and then connecting it to a discipline would be a challenge for me, but one I think would help things really “stick” for my students.

The first breakout session I attended was about the secondary selections for the Kentucky Bluegrass Awards. Though I had heard of this award, and our school librarian regularly promotes these books, I did not realize that there as a voting process that included students. In addition to getting some great recommendations for books that I’d like to read over the summer from this presentataion, I my curiousity was piqued about the Kentucky Bluegrass Awards. Since I’m not nessecarily planning move from the classroom into library in the next few years, but want to stay connected to youth literature and the library world, I’m now considering applying to serve on the KBA selection committee. One of the things I’ve enjoyed in my current classroom teacher role during my time in the LIS program is being up to date with current youth literature, and thus being able to discuss more of the books my students are reading with them informally. Thus, I think I’d really enjoy serving on the KBA selection committee for that reason. Since one of the committee expectations is promoting the KBA selections in your own school, I plan to collaborate with our librarian this year to do just that!

My second session was regarding KYVL resources; I’ve always felt that the KYVL databases are a hidden treasure. Database research was a skill I was completely lacking when I entered undergrad, and I’m glad that librarians across the state are helping classroom teachers implement the KYVL resources into their classrooms. Two resources that I was particularly interested in were LearningExpress and Tumblebooks. I knew that LearningExpress had test prep for ACT, but I didn’t realize that it offered full length practice AP tests as well. I sent the link to the AP teachers in my department and both were defintely interested. Our librarian had emailed us about the Tumblebooks that KYVL added earlier in the year, and I saved that email, but never got around to checking it out. This is a great resource! So many quality titles avalible as e-books for multiple users for FREE!

After lunch I enjoyed learning about free technology resources, such as VSDC Free Video Editor, the Google Translate App, Open Broadcaster Software, and Canva.  Then, for the last breakout session, I attended one of the best PDs that I’ve ever went to about remembering to bring happiness into your work with the FISH! philosophy. This was just a great reminder about how as teachers and librarians we have to constantly remember to bring joy and happiness into our classrooms and to our colleagues and students.

Unrelated to the conference, I was interested in looking around at the building of the of MSU library. It is an older building, but the furniture, technology, and policies have obviously been intentionally chosen to create a 21st century learning commons space in this building. I really appreciate how the MSU library, from what I have observed, is working to combine the traditional roles and design of a library with the ever-changing world of information science as well.