By Alanna King
In September 2019, I had the opportunity to present recommendations on the cultural shift in school libraries, based on my 10 years of experience, to 700 people in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I was asked to both keynote and be part of a panel for the Jornada de Bibliotecas Escolares. The topics that I was asked to include were: the emergence of digital media, the physical changes needed to allow for new learning models, the infrastructure that has allowed for change, and how to create this change over time. The three weeks of preparation and the event itself allowed me to network greatly with key players and I have aimed to capture multiple perspectives on the event’s necessity. In preparation for this article, I interviewed by email five people who I believe represent these perspectives:
I hope to explain here how this extraordinary opportunity came about and our global partnerships in school libraries becomes deeper.
all of the Twitter words at the hashtag
for the event #BibliotecasEscolaresBA
Location: Buenos Aires
As with many developing countries in South America, Argentina has strong Spanish colonial ties. Argentina is classified by the UN as a developing country based on their Gross National Income (GNI) (2019). Buenos Aires is the second largest city in all of South America with about 3 million people. It has the same number of people as Toronto, but in ⅓ of Toronto’s geographic area. Like Toronto again, the work week population exponentially increases in the city’s core each day as people from the suburbs commute each day (Savage, 2019). As a beautiful port city, Buenos Aires shares a lot of culture with its neighbouring country Uruguay. The city seems to be attractive to many South Americans who are looking for a better life as I met service people from Venezuela, Bolivia and Chile in my time there. With cultural and linguistic similarities, and with UNESCO’s main office for Latin America just a short ferry ride away in Montevideo, the Usina del Arte building in Buenos Aires was a perfect site for this large, internationally focused event.
Rationale for the Event
The expanding digital divide has global implications. In 2016, the United Nations (UN) developed the 17 Sustainable Development Goals “an urgent call for action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth…” (UN, 2019). Although we may be feeling the effects of a lack of national focus on digital fluency here in Canada, our economic stability, globally recognized education system and the professional qualifications of our teachers give our students unparalleled advantages.
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/
For the event, we can focus on two of these sustainable development goals as the catalysts for the immense effort to bring these stakeholders together: #4 Quality Education and #17 Partnerships for the Goals. For the mission of the event, Goal 4 is really focussing on these aspects:
| Target | Indicator |
| 4.3 By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university | 4.3.1 Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months, by sex |
| 4.4 By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship | 4.4.1 Proportion of youth and adults with information and communications technology (ICT) skills, by type of skill |
| 4.5 By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations | 4.5.1 Parity indices (female/male, rural/urban, bottom/top wealth quintile and others such as disability status, indigenous peoples and conflict-affected, as data become available) for all education indicators on this list that can be disaggregated |
| 4.6 By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy | 4.6.1 Percentage of population in a given age group achieving at least a fixed level of proficiency in functional (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills, by sex |
| 4.7 By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development | 4.7.1 Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development, including gender equality and human rights, are mainstreamed at all levels in: (a) national education policies, (b) curricula, (c) teacher education and (d) student assessment |
| 4.A Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all | 4.A.1 Proportion of schools with access to: (a) electricity; (b) the Internet for pedagogical purposes; (c) computers for pedagogical purposes; (d) adapted infrastructure and materials for students with disabilities; (e) basic drinking water; (f) single-sex basic sanitation facilities; and (g) basic handwashing facilities (as per the WASH indicator definitions) |
Summary of select targets and indicators of Sustainable Development Goal #4, Education. (UN, 2019.)
From Goal 17, the event specifically references these targets in technology and capacity building:
| Target | Indicator |
| 17.6 Enhance North-South, South-South and triangular regional and international cooperation on and access to science, technology and innovation and enhance knowledge sharing on mutually agreed terms, including through improved coordination among existing mechanisms, in particular at the United Nations level, and through a global technology facilitation mechanism | 17.6.1 Number of science and/or technology cooperation agreements and programmes between countries, by type of cooperation 17.6.2 Fixed Internet broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, by speed |
| 17.8 Fully operationalize the technology bank and science, technology and innovation capacity-building mechanism for least developed countries by 2017 and enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology | 17.8.1 Proportion of individuals using the Internet |
Summary of select targets and indicators of Sustainable Development Goal #17, Partnerships for the Goals: Technology. (UN, 2019.)
These Sustainable Development Goals have informed the work of UN Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). “[UNESCO] seeks to build peace through international cooperation in Education, the Sciences and Culture” (UNESCO, 2019). The South American office of UNESCO is in Montevideo, Uruguay which directly supported the event coming together, and gave the event access to the resources available to support the Sustainable Development Goals.
The initiative for this event came from the Ministry of Education and Innovation in Buenos Aires. The city of Buenos Aires is governed on the same scale as a province in Canada. Nicolás Parola, is the General Director of Digital Education for the Buenos Aires Ministry of Education and Innovation and this day was really his brainchild. When I asked Nicolas how this idea first started coming together, he said:
As part of the Digital Education Direction in the Ministry, I manage and present projects related to … innovation in the teaching learning process in our schools. One of the projects we are working on with enthusiasm is the transformation of the school libraries. Our intention is [to] collaborate with the school librarians and experts in the co-design of a library-centered [public] school.
(Parola, 2019)
Nicolas ambitiously wanted to include all the library stakeholders in Buenos Aires, and anticipated a crowd of 1000 participants. As part of this idea, Nicolas reached out to UNESCO to assist him in putting the event together. Zelmira May said that the challenge “was to think and organize the technical aspects of the workshop, including international participants, dynamics, etc. as well as to convene the large group of participants, ensuring a neutral and comfortable environment for the free flow of exchange of ideas” (May, 2019). Zelmira reached out to Stephen Wyber of IFLA to help include international presenters.
In 2015, IFLA updated its School Library Guidelines, putting renewed emphasis on the role of school libraries in developing digital technologies in education. For many developing countries, equitable access to digital technologies has become a barrier compounded by lacking infrastructure. IFLA recognizes the importance of school libraries in breaking down these barriers which have long term effects:
New funding models for education are needed in financial and legislative contexts in many countries that emphasize reducing costs and public expenditure on schools and universities. The number of high school graduates is increasing worldwide but the number of tertiary graduates is still lagging in many countries.
(IFLA School Libraries Standing Committee, 2019)
In my conversations with UNESCO and IFLA, I was asked to include the role of infrastructure and how my administration and my school board helped provide the professional development necessary to emphasize to all of the participants that this enormous cultural shift requires grassroots and top down approaches. Carola Martinez Arroyo describes the necessity of the event’s catalyzing effect on the cultural shift as “The objectives were to give librarians tools, they being the moderators of reading, they must be the change managers of the libraries” (2019).
The Role of International Speakers
As one of the international presenters representing the northern hemisphere, and the only native English speaker present, I had to work really hard to understand the context of the event, the stakeholders and how my presence could help move the agenda forward. I think all of the international presenters felt a really strong imperative to make an impact as we knew that the organizers had gone to colossal efforts in order to bring us there. Zelmira May described UNESCO’s rationale for their inclusion in this way:
“Among the roles of UNESCO, exchange of experiences is a major one, considering the possibility of identifying expertise and best practices worldwide that can feed national and local discussions, as well as to provide valuable information about lessons [learned] in similar processes”.
I prepared for each international speaker.
As we arrived in the fresh September spring rain, the hall bustled and I immediately set to work introducing myself to as many people as possible, regardless of our lingual diversity. According to the agenda, I prepared little gift packages for each of the international presenters of our Ontario and Canadian School Library documents and included a new notebook and pen. I asked my local member of parliament, Michael Chong, for some lapel pins, and he gave me 500 to take with me so I handed those out to participants as I met them. Shaking hands, and handing out my small tokens, helped me connect with people and network. I was overjoyed to be kissed on both cheeks by most everyone.
Not understanding fully the political landscape, I asked each of the organizers who in this room has the most influence and power to really make the changes that you want to happen. They each pointed to Soledad Acuña, the Minister of Education and Innovation so I asked to be introduced to her and I gave her one of the large I Support School Libraries pins from the Ontario Library Association. The organizers watched with approval as the Minister wore the button and referenced our brief exchange in her opening speech. I wasn’t the only international presenter who pushed buttons. Whether it was a turn of phrase or having the whole audience join in singing a common song, the effect of the international presenters reverberated and each of us had many participants who wanted to talk one-on-one. Everyone asked agreed that the expense and effort to bring together international presenters together for the event was worth it. Stephen summarizes the rationale very well:
International experience can help show different ways of doing things, and provide ideas which can inspire change. Sometimes it’s also refreshing to find out what is being done elsewhere, and people in Argentina – a country of immigrants – are very open to the wider world.
Three of us were asked to assist on the second day of the event by working directly with 80 hand-chosen library leaders from the area. Considering the response that I received informally in conversation the day before, I had just 20 minutes in rotation with most of the participants to dissect their thinking in response to the previous day’s presentations. Zelmira May acted as my translator in this case, as I tried to both listen and respond. As a catalyst for the discussion, I focused on just two ideas: the triangulation of assessment and design-thinking. I showed these slides again on my iPad and then asked if we could talk together about these ideas. There wasn’t a pre-set ending to these discussions other than to gather our thoughts on a poster. The richness of these discussions, even in our short time for sharing, cemented the ideas of the previous day. I believe that the participants entered the day feeling anxious about the overwhelming changes ahead, but were feeling somewhat reassured and fortified by the end of the second day.
Measuring the Success of the Event
With long-term goals that are far-reaching, the point of the event was to stir up ideas, to demonstrate possibilities and to show ways to begin the work from different aspects. In my personal experience, there isn’t necessarily a linear way to proceed when trying to create this kind of massive cultural shift. Event organizer Carola described the situation well when she said:
“We will know that it was successful over time” (2019). Zelmira May echoes this sentiment when asked to comment on the overall success of the event:
It was assessed as very positive for the participants and for the Ministry of Education, and therefore it was also successful for UNESCO. Nevertheless, it is only the starting point for future work towards continuing promoting change in the school libraries to meet the goals of innovating in quality education.
Everyone agreed that the event was positive, encouraging and that the message would spread now throughout the education system.
Next Steps
Of course, the end of the second day came with that intimidating feeling of looking at a blank page. The participants looked to their local instigator, Nicolas Parola for guidance, who responded with his next steps:
We are designing a comprehensive public policy to transform our libraries. We are going to replace old computers in all libraries with new ones, develop a new system to manage libraries (books and readers) and create new courses on digital technologies and how to use them in the library. And we will begin, at the beginning of the year, in the planning of the second event.
Carola Martinez agrees with the necessity of the infrastructure’s overhaul and doesn’t want to depart from the fundamentals of literacy.
We want students to leave school as critical citizens with skills that allow them …to understand the world as they understand different types of texts and can distinguish between the false and the true, and can dissent and have criteria that are so lacking today. As the guest of Uruguay said, the most important skill of the 21st century is reading.
The nature of the global sharing resonated as well, and many people said that they had never spoken with a native English speaker before. Panelist Javier Areco was already imagining the sharing possibilities saying “I will continue spreading the presentations of this event among school librarians of South America. It would be interesting to connect Argentinian School libraries with school libraries Canadian”.
In their day-to-day work, school library staff underestimate the importance of our work. The experience expanded my mind so greatly that my career ideals have been forever changed. What I learned in my bare four days in the city, could fill a book. Many times before and since, I heard myself saying something like “I have just lived what you are about to experience.” When I became teacher-librarian in 2009, I stood at the same crossroads wondering how to best proceed to improve digital fluency for staff and students, with inadequate infrastructure and limited funding. I plan to share my full presentation as a paper for the research symposium Treasure Mountain Canada in January to continue the sharing of experience, at home and abroad.
References
Areco, J. M. (2019, October 10). [E-mail interview by the author].
IFLA School Libraries Standing Committee. (2015, June). IFLA School Library Guidelines, 2nd edition (B. Schultz-Jones & D. Oberg, Ed.). Retrieved from IFLA website: https://www.ifla.org/files/assets/school-libraries-resource-centers/publications/ifla-school-library-guidelines.pdf
May, Z. (2019, October 18). [E-mail interview by the author].
Parola, N. (2019, September 24). [E-mail interview by the author].
Reeve, I. (2016, November 1). City Of Buenos Aires residents spend 13 days commuting every year. Retrieved October 20, 2019, from The Bubble website: https://www.thebubble.com/city-of-buenos-aires-residents-spend-13-days-commuting-every-year
Savage, K. (2019, May 29). Results from the 2016 census: Commuting within Canada’s largest cities. Retrieved October 20, 2019, from Statistics Canada website: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-006-x/2019001/article/00008-eng.htm
UNESCO. (2019). UNESCO in brief – mission and mandate. Retrieved October 14, 2019, from UNESCO website: https://en.unesco.org/about-us/introducing-unesco
UNESCO office in Montevideo. (2019, August 21). Conference of school libraries in the city of Buenos Aires [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/office-in-montevideo/about-this-office/single-view/news/argentina_proposes_to_transform_its_school_libraries_into_in/
United Nations. (2019). Country classification. Retrieved October 13, 2019, from Department of Economic and Social Affairs Economic Analysis website: https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/wesp/wesp_current/2014wesp_country_classification.pdf
United Nations. (2019). Sustainable Development Goals. Retrieved October 10, 2019, from Sustainable Development Goals Knowledge Platform website: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300
United Nations. (2019). Sustainable development goal 17. Retrieved October 13, 2019, from Sustainable Development Goals Knowledge Platform website: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg17
Alanna King is an agent of change in Ontario’s Upper Grand District School Board. A shameless promoter of her own professional development, she tirelessly spends her time sharing her learning and tracking its impact. She can best be reached on Twitter @banana29