By Leigh Borden
“Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.”
– Amy Poehler
Momentum is an interesting concept. Physics specific definitions aside, the English Oxford Dictionary also explains momentum as “The impetus and driving force gained by the development of a process or course of events”. That’s what the school library learning commons movement has in Newfoundland and Labrador: Momentum.
School libraries in Newfoundland and Labrador have been experiencing varying different levels of engagement for many years. Student access to successful school libraries and teacher librarians has been inequitable, with some schools having vibrant programs and teacher librarians, and others with little to no access. That’s changing. Part of what is leading the change is the spreading of a new philosophy. The space in the school that once housed books and computers, will still house books and computers, but it is no longer a space where students must only sit and read or work quietly. Collaboration, independent work, inquiry, accessibility, adaptability, creativity, and engagement are now the norm. Virtual spaces are becoming common, with teacher librarians now being able to reach not only students, but also families. The physical space has become the hub of the school, not only for students, but also for teachers. Some educators question whether this is something new. They maintain that this has been happening in some of their schools for many years, and this is likely accurate. Some individual schools have experienced maintained a vibrant and engaging school library but now we have something different happening. We have momentum.
More than five years ago, a committee of teacher-librarians, teachers, and administrators began work on a document that would deliver a common message to educators about school libraries and their potential. Facilitated by personnel at The Department of Education and Early Childhood Education, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, educators developed Extending the Classroom: The Learning Commons Approach, a curriculum support document, intended to guide schools who wish to transform their school libraries.
During the 2016-2017 school year, four schools participated in a project to pilot the document and transform their existing library spaces into a learning commons. Heather Godden, then-president of Teacher Librarians of Newfoundland and Labrador (TLNL), a special interest council of the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers Association, and I were invited to serve as mentor teacher librarians to the pilot schools. The pilot project included eight schools over a two-year period. Components included:
- initial and ongoing professional learning
- provision of substitute time to allow teacher librarians to plan individually or collaboratively
- regular, full group, virtual meetings to share progress and review the support document,
- school visits by TL mentors to support individual schools and teachers
- gathering of professional learning (PL) videos from each school
- ongoing discussion and sharing via Google Classroom as well as reporting via Google Drive
- final revisions to the curriculum support document
- long term plans by participating schools
By the time it was completed, Extending the Classroom: The Learning Commons Approach, had been through numerous revisions, yet the message remained the same. This document follows The Canadian Library Association’s (CLA) five core standards of practice for school library learning commons in Canada in guiding “the transformation of school libraries to create future-oriented hubs of learning, innovation, and knowledge creation” (Leading Learning, 2014, 4).
Bobbie, a teacher-librarian who was part of this pilot, teaches English language arts as well as other courses in a small school. She is also the teacher librarian. Her teacher librarian allocation has meant that she is able to be physically present in the library learning commons for only a very small portion of the day. She has, however, embraced the challenges associated with a small allocation and has achieved great success.
“Transforming from a traditional library to a learning commons proffers teachers an opportunity to practice what they teach to students: learning, exploring, creativity, collaboration, independence, and more. It requires stepping outside of the comfort zone, which teachers ask students to do daily; we ask students to change, adapt and grow, all of which can happen to students and teachers with the adoption of a learning commons mentality. The physical changes are the easiest, though often most costly. However, seeing the big smiles and hearing the excited voices of students in the learning commons is the biggest reward any teacher could ask for. The students in our K-12 school love when their classes take place in the learning commons. Just by entering the space, students know something untraditional is happening, whether it is using texts for research, computers to design, or blocks to make.
One of the biggest challenges I have encountered as a teacher librarian at my school is scheduling. We have always had a fixed schedule and the time was used for students to check in/out books; ideally, I wanted a flex schedule or even fixed-flex, but this has not been successful, so it’s back to a fixed schedule for the foreseeable. Collaboration itself has not been a challenge, as the staff at my school is open to and accepting of new ideas, however, I find myself to be predominantly the one approaching colleagues and inserting myself into their classes as opposed to a balance of them approaching me and vice versa. The transition to a learning commons and having the position as teacher librarian shift from circulation to programming is still new for our school and so with time the collaboration process will become more mutual.
My advice to anyone involved in this process: if you have an idea try it; if it doesn’t work, try something else. Our profession is one that is continuously evolving and we need to do the same.”
Bobbie Keeping-Sibley, Teacher-Librarian
Gill Memorial Academy, Musgrave Harbour, NL
The Power of Social Media
Sometimes a curse, other times a blessing, social media has played an interesting role in the library learning commons movement in Newfoundland and Labrador. Because our pilot project group was a small circle of keen educators, collaborative efforts were realized frequently in a number of different ways. Google Classroom provided a quick and easy way to share ideas and successes, ask questions, and post photos of student learning. The group felt momentum building within but to reach a wider audience, we knew we needed more. Enter Twitter. As use within our pilot group grew, we realized that we were able to connect, not only with other schools throughout the province, but also throughout the country. We also realized that we were no longer a small pocket; within our own province many schools had already started a transformation of their library spaces; they had just not connected with each other. It was now easier to join that network and momentum was building.
Education Action Plan
Now is the Time, a report by the Premier’s Task Force on Improving Education Outcomes, was released in the summer of 2017. An Education Action Plan based on that report was released in 2018. One recommendation focused on increasing the capacity of school libraries and teacher-librarians to support the curriculum and as part of a multi-year implementation, 40 schools were identified to begin the phase-in in September 2018. Coincidence or not, the timing was perfect. Having already begun to make connections with teacher librarians and school staffs who were already making incredible gains, more schools were now were becoming involved in the movement, along with provisions for increased teacher librarian allocation as well as funding. Added to that, teacher librarians now have added support in the form of program specialists for reading who facilitate collaboration and provide support from a district level.
Just three years ago, although great things were happening in individual schools, the provincial community as a whole didn’t exist. Today, an incredible network exists throughout Newfoundland and Labrador whereby teacher librarians connect with each other as well as with other educators, both inside and outside their schools. Both the Department of Education and the school district support teacher librarians through continuous professional learning, discussion forums, school visits, book studies, podcasts with Twitter chats and reflection sessions, and much more. A new level of collaboration and collegiality amongst the Department of Education, the school district, and Teacher Librarians of Newfoundland and Labrador, a special interest council of our union, has been achieved through this partnership for planning and professional learning.
Brenda, teacher-librarian at a school with about 450 students, explains the impact the Education Action Plan investments have had on her school library:
“As a newly opened school in 2013, Carbonear Academy’s library was already a lovely space, large, bright, and airy with wall-mounted shelves, moveable bookshelves, large windows, a teamboard, student computers, and large tables. However, for the first five years of the school’s opening the space was rarely used. There was little to no time assigned to a teacher librarian and many days the library sat empty. All of this changed in September 2019, when Carbonear Academy became a phase one school as part of the Education Action Plan. This new initiative allocated a full-time teacher librarian to our school who was assigned the task of transforming the library into a library learning commons, a physical and virtual environment within the school which becomes a flexible, active hub for both collaborative and independent learning throughout the entire school. For optimal use of this space, the initial organization required a great deal of planning, scheduling assigned library periods, collaborating with classroom teachers, and developing a cross-curricular approach with flexible lessons . A room that was rarely used has been turned into prime educational real estate, with almost all periods in a cycle booked because so many teachers/students want to use the space!
As the demand for the new LLC grew, so did the need to revamp the physical space to meet the requirements of ALL students and to maximize student engagement, at all levels, ages, and abilities. With that in mind, we rearranged existing furniture and added new equipment/furniture, such as flexible/comfy seating, wheelchair accessibility, teacher workspace, a LEGO wall (which was big hit with all ages!), board games, K’nex, a makerspace, and the Insignia library system, all to inspire students’ creative learning and increase the learning/teaching process. To allow students to explore their creative learning side, we opened the LLC to students during their lunch free-time, and we have gone from a handful of students using the space at the beginning of the year to over 80 students engaged in free learning at any given time. The level of engagement is amazing!
Another step in making our LLC a collaborative learning environment was to encourage all members of the school community to be partners in our learning. Currently, we successfully reach out to our community through Facebook live videos, twitter, school website, and the creation of a new LLC website where information, pictures, and videos are shared. We now have regular student helpers and community volunteers. Many of our volunteers are working on updating our new Insignia program, weeding out older books and cataloguing and preparing our newer books for student use.
Volunteers are instrumental in the smooth running of the LLC. We just recently began gearing up for our spring book fair, and teachers, retired teachers, and students gathered to help set up. Unlike in the past, when the LLC was rarely in use, many students and teachers expressed their disappointment that the library would be closed for a week. To avoid the loss of such sought-after time in the LLC, I decided to set up our book fair in one third of the space, leaving the remaining space open for student use. Students and teachers alike were overjoyed that they would not lose their precious LLC time! We are currently in the middle of our book fair, and so far things are working out exceptionally well. I like to approach all things as a learning experience, open to suggestion, change, and improvement. This rings true in my current role as Teacher Librarian; I am only just starting one project when I already have ideas bouncing around in my head as to how it can be done even better next time around!
My favourite quote from a grade three student which really sums up our commitment to creating an engaging space in our new LLC, “Miss, most libraries are boring, but not ours. Ours is awesome!” as she smiles and settles into a bean bag chair with her favourite book.
Brenda Singleton, Teacher-Librarian
Carbonear Academy, Carbonear, NL
As teacher-librarians, we believe that the future of Newfoundland and Labrador’s economic success depends on growing a generation of young people who are highly-educated, technologically savvy, and globally interconnected. Fostering growth in tech industries that aren’t dependent on urban location will be assisted by greater investment in growing a multiliterate population. Through phase one of the Education Action Plan, school libraries across Newfoundland and Labrador have seen additional support, with teacher librarians in these schools developing engaging learning experiences that stimulate students’ interests in reading, writing, coding, creating, and innovating solutions to authentic problems. More support in this area will enhance students’ entrepreneurial and creative spirits and lead to growth in the emerging tech-based economy in our province.
The Real Superstars
“A group becomes a team when each member is sure enough of himself and his contribution to praise the skill of the others.”
– Norman Shidle
Who are they? The real superstars? They are the students, the teacher librarians, the whole school staff, and the list can go one. At different times, in each school, they may all surface at the same time or they may surface one at a time. They are on the ground, in the schools, and they are committed and engaged.
Melanie, a teacher librarian at an urban school in St. John’s, demonstrates how she has transformed her school library learning commons through reflective practice:
Change, renewal, growth, all words to describe the library learning commons (LLC) movement in Newfoundland and Labrador schools. At St. Teresa’s we have embraced this transition and have put great effort into not only transforming our physical space to make it a more flexible and inviting space, but we have also begun to transform the mindset of our our students and teachers. We have made continual changes to our schedule to accommodate student groups as teachers participate in daily professional learning communities, we have added more free-flow book exchange periods to meet the borrowing needs of students as our circulation increases and we have removed fixed storytime and book exchange periods for grades 3-6 to allow for longer, dedicated periods for hands-on and inquiry based learning experiences. From one day to the next we may see students working on a writing activity using green screen technology, retelling stories or demonstrating science concepts through the use of makerspace and coding materials or immersed in rich learning experiences across the curriculum as our learning space is transformed to a campground or circus arts performance space. As we’ve worked through this year of growth and change, I have consistently reflected on the question “What is the smallest change I can make at this point in time that will make the biggest difference at this point in time?” I have let this question guide me through the process and have focused on making small changes, breaking things into manageable tasks, setting small goals while keeping the big picture in the back of my mind. I would suggest that anyone beginning the transition from library to learning commons ask themselves the same question and be prepared to be at times overwhelmed by the process, but also by the progress.”
Melanie Forward, Teacher-Librarian
St. Teresa’s School / École Ste-Thérèse, St. John’s, NL
At Holy Name of Mary Academy in Lawn, Beverly has motivated tremendous changes at her school library learning commons. Holy Name of Mary Academy is a K-12 school located in the community of Lawn, Newfoundland, a small fishing community located on the province’s south coast. H.N.M.A. currently has approx. 95 students and 13 teachers. And now, they also have a wonderful LLC!
“We started with a beautiful space that was never properly used, in just 4 months we have kids begging to go to our library learning commons! It has been a fantastic transition, that is still underway. Every day is a new journey, but our team is fantastic and collaboration is our strength! We’re working to make learning a lifelong, exciting adventure for all our students, and I think we’re on the right track!”
Beverly Edwards, Teacher-Librarian
Holy Name of Mary Academy, Lawn, NL
A New Era for School Libraries
The momentum we’ve built will continue. As announced in the recent Newfoundland and Labrador Budget, more money has been allocated for teacher librarians and school libraries, as per the Education Action Plan released last summer. And we, as teacher-librarians, are committed to growing a generation of kids who can innovate, who are fearless and confident risk-takers, who can embrace their rural traditions while fostering global connections. The school library learning commons movement in Newfoundland and Labrador has been ignited!
Leigh Borden’s presentation at the Ontario Library Association Super Conference 2019, Growing Kids Who Can Change the Game, was recorded and broadcast by VoicEd Radio. Listen to the VoicEd Podcast:
VoicEd Radio is a 24/7 Internet-based radio station dedicated to both broadening and deepening the conversations we have about education.
Leigh Borden is a K-4 teacher-librarian and President of Teacher Librarians of Newfoundland and Labrador. Over the past decade, she’s worked to advocate for school librarians and teacher-librarians across Newfoundland and Labrador, and has served on a variety of committees and working groups intended to grow the school library learning commons movement in the province. Leigh completed a BA (Hons) at Memorial University of Newfoundland, an MA in English literature at the University of Toronto, and a Master of Teaching at OISE/UT. When not happily working in her school library, Leigh loves to read, run, hike, and camp.
Canadian School Libraries congratulates the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Education and Early Childhood Development in publishing their support document for the school library learning commons. The document is available on the Ministry website in English and in French.
Extending the Classroom: The Library Learning Commons
Enrichir la salle de classe : Les carrefours d’apprentissage