By Lila Armstrong
In 2014, the directors of the now defunct Canadian Library Association collaborated to create Leading Learning: Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada. The ideas for this new and groundbreaking document were inspired by the Treasure Mountain Conference, a combined conference of American and Canadian teacher-librarians and library academics. The new document was presented at the next Treasure Mountain Canada, in 2016 (Sykes).
Since then, Treasure Mountain Canada (TMC), a biennial national conference, has continued to inspire teacher-librarians, provide a collaborative outlet for innovation, and create opportunities for gathering grassroots information. In 2022, co-chairs Anita Brooks Kirkland and Carol Koechlin compiled feedback and ideas from the closing Big Think activity and proposed to bring a group together to rethink the themes in the standards of practice.
It soon became apparent that this was actually two big projects: redefining and rethinking the themes, and creating an entirely new support document for Leading Learning. A writing team was created with the gentle shoulder tapping for which Carol and Anita are known.
Foundations for School Library Learning Commons in Canada: A Framework for Success grew out of the need to create conditions that would make achieving the growth stages in Leading Learning possible. Without a strong foundation, how could teacher-librarians and districts hope to make their learning commons thriving, innovating and welcoming places?
The three pillars of this foundation are strong policy, robust funding, and equity of access. Many of the policy and funding structures currently in place do not appropriately address the actual educational needs of students in Canada. Inequities exist in staffing, facilities, resources and programming, and among others, the frequent lack of policy documents. The critical foundations presented address “the basic yet essential success criteria for the very survival of school libraries” (Canadian School Libraries, p. 6) and are positioned to promote advocacy, equity, change and continuous growth.
Complementing the critical foundations are a set of eight Essential Frameworks: Physical and Virtual LLC Spaces, Human Resources, Technological Infrastructures, Accessibility, Ethical Standards, LLC Management, Culture of Growth, and Accountability. These frameworks have been structured so that they may serve as an educational tool for those professionals who may not be working in an LLC, and for LLC staff to be able to take a deeper look at how to innovate their spaces, programs and practice via detailed appendices. Ongoing advocacy between teacher-librarians, administrators and policy makers will be thoroughly supported with this document. Unlike Leading Learning, this Foundations and Frameworks document will not be “living” in the same way; its purpose is to provide pathways for enrichment and deeper learning, options for professional growth and the critical foundations needed for LLCs to progress, measured by the growth standards of Leading Learning.
While the calls for critical foundations and essential frameworks came from a nationally attended TMC in 2022, the CSL committee returned the call, sending the final draft document to provincial school library association presidents, academic institutions, and other leading library professionals to provide their feedback. Their reaction was encouraging and insightful.
One of the first questions addressed by the writing team was, “Who is the target audience of this document?” While the nature of this action and advocacy document seemed clear to us, we appreciated the opportunity to add in three clarifying statements to the preface.
When it came to the contents of the document, several standout sections were noted by survey respondents. This included the staffing models section in the Human Resources Framework in terms of how the roles of library technicians differ from teacher-librarians. Another was the highlighted list from the International Federation of Library Association’s School Library Guidelines, 2nd revised edition (Schultz-Jones & Oberg, 2015) sharing key teaching roles of the teacher-librarian in the Expert Instruction and Guidance section.
One interesting revelation from our respondents was the differences in provincial structures regarding the management, collection development, design, and support of library learning commons. The geographic location of our respondent factored in quite heavily to their reading of Foundations and Frameworks. Cleary, a national approach is needed to address the variability of school library services and programs across the country.
When asked how they might share this document, how it could be used to mentor and support library staff, and how it could be used as an advocacy tool, respondents stated that they would share it with administrators at the school board level to educate decision-makers, collaborate with their own library staff using the document as a shared reference, use certain sections in training sessions, use it to address ongoing staffing issues, and to work to change the mindset of service-delivery model systems. While Foundations and Frameworks will not be “living,” like Leading Learning, we can see how the foundation document provides so many avenues to open eyes to what the library learning commons can and should be for students everywhere.
While every effort was made to keep Foundations and Frameworks concise, the LLC is like a Rubik’s cube: as soon as you solve one side, you see what work can be done on another side. The undertaking of this new document was monumental and the team did not want to leave anything out! So you may need to read it in chunks, you may want to explore it section by section with your administrators, specialist association or library team. You will probably need to read it several times before you connect with all of the rich findings. Luckily, Leading Learning is constantly updated with new exemplars (“See It In Action”) so that you can see all of the excellent work already being done in Canada, and you can use these exemplars to bring the Foundations to life in the eyes of your team.
References
Canadian School Libraries (2023). Foundations for School Library Learning Commons in Canada: A Framework for Success. Retrieved from: https://www.canadianschoollibraries.ca/foundations-frameworks/
Schultz-Jones, B. & Oberg, D., eds. (2015). IFLA School Library Guidelines 2nd revised edition. Retrieved from https://www.ifla.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/assets/school-libraries-resource-centers/publications/ifla-schoollibrary-guidelines.pdf.
Sykes, J. A. (2016). The Whole School Library Learning Commons: An educator’s guide. Libraries Unlimited.
Lila Armstrong is a teacher-librarian in Courtenay, BC, SD71 and a member of the CSL Leading Learning committee. She is also an asparagus farmer, beekeeper, and all about learning. She is currently pursuing studies in Educational Leadership. Lila is dedicated to making her LLC vibrant and to growing the strength of the TL group in the district. She enjoys the adventures that come with a farm with her sons, husband and critters.