CSL Journal Volume 1, Number 2, Fall 2017
Dedicated to the Memory of Kevin Mowat
By Anita Brooks Kirkland and Carol Koechlin,
Interim Co-Editors
Welcome to the second edition of Canadian School Libraries Journal. The journal builds on the fine reputation of its predecessor, School Libraries in Canada (SLiC), which ceased publication in 2016 with the dissolution of the Canadian Library Association. We are pleased to have the SLiC Archives available on this site, and will continue to feature SLiC articles that deserve continued attention. In this edition we re-publish a recent article featuring resources for financial literacy.
TMC5: Sharing Our Learning
Much of our focus with this edition is on the fifth Treasure Mountain Canada research symposium, held last month in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Michelle Campbell shares her impressions of the event, and we also feature ideas relevant to its theme, Culturally Relevant and Responsive School Library Learning Commons. Deborah McCallum’s article gets us thinking about identity and culture, and deals directly with the cognitive dissonance experienced by many educators from dominant cultures as they strive to engage in culturally responsive pedagogy. As she says, “learning is not culturally neutral”. Deborah sets out her own plans in moving forward through collaborative teacher inquiry and leveraging the cultural knowledge that students bring to their own learning. McCallum’s thinking is bookmarked by Dr. Dianne Oberg’s study of theoretical frameworks for moving forward with culturally responsive pedagogy and developing school library learning commons that are truly inclusive for all.
Building Character in the Learning Commons
Sarah Murray and Barbara Fedorowicz’s story of Character Day at their school and our featured interview with teacher-librarian and Social LEADia author Jennifer Casa-Todd provide us with inspiration for building on students’ strengths to build a positive social and learning culture at school and in online environments. Both of these articles provide powerful exemplars of the themes in the Leading Learning standard, Fostering Literacies to Empower Life-Long Learners – Cultural Literacy and Digital Literacy and Citizenship. Leading Into the future, indeed!
CSL Moving Fearlessly Forward
Our new organization has been very aggressive in moving forward with its mission to foster research and education about the library learning commons, expanded upon in this edition. We are very pleased to announce the establishment of the CSL Research Archive, which makes the cumulative work of TMC symposiums visible and searchable. Our Leading Learning committee has been very busy, and with this edition we take a snapshot of how the standards are being used across the country as an implementation guide, measurement tool, for professional learning, and as a framework for practitioner action research. We are very pleased to feature an article by Sandra Bebbington telling us about some very exciting strategies related to Leading Learning, and for promoting confidence in school libraries in Quebec’s schools.
Partnering with Resource Links Magazine
We are very excited to feature our first book review article presented in partnership with Resource Links magazine, Canada’s national journal devoted to the review and evaluation of Canadian resources for children and young adults. Our partnership highlights reviews of great new resources, and connects our readers with the greater riches offered by Resource Links.
Establishing Our New Publication
The first edition of CSL Journal, released in May 2017, and was very favourably received, due in no small part to the guidance of former SLiC editor-in-chief and interim CSL Journal editor, Derrick Grose. We take this opportunity to congratulate Derrick for his outstanding contribution as SLiC editor, and thank him for working with us on the launch of CSL Journal.
We have now established an editorial board of outstanding professionals. Sandra Bebbington, Kathy Conroy, Kate Johnson-McGregor, Deborah McCallum, Sarah Murray and Glenn Turner bring their expertise as school library professionals, writers, and connected learners to the board. CSL board members Carol Koechlin and Anita Brooks Kirkland continue as interim co-editors as the board gets established. This enthusiastic group is already busy keeping abreast of news from across the country and spotting exemplary practice that deserves to be recognized and shared, lining up content for the Winter 2018 edition. They are also working on establishing editorial guidelines and procedures.
Dedicated to the Memory of Kevin Mowat
Finally, we dedicate this edition of CSL Journal to the memory of Kevin Mowat, who passed suddenly at the beginning of this school year. His dear friend and colleague Kathy Atkins shares her memories of Kevin, who was the Library Learning Consultant for the Winnipeg School Division.