By Jonelle St. Aubyn & Beth Lyons
CSL Journal is pleased to share this multimedia presentation from Jonelle St. Aubyn and Beth Lyons, teacher-librarians with the Peel District School Board in Ontario, and leaders in the network of teacher-librarians across Canada. They recently had the opportunity to present at the superintendent meeting for their family of schools about their journeys within the LLC and how a library learning commons can support the school community.
In the episode of the Read Into This podcast embedded into the presentation, Jonelle and Beth talk about their connection as TLs within a family of schools and the joy and support that comes from meeting together as a teacher-librarian collective, and share their presentations highlighting four guiding principles they felt spoke to the vision of their space. While the four guiding principles chosen for each LLC may be different, the two discuss their interwoven nature and ongoing learning as they continue to curate a space that evolves with the needs of the school community.
Connect directly to the presentation here.
The LLC is often described as the “heart and the hub” of a school community. Looking back at how the LLCs have evolved and continued to evolve is an important reflection piece for all school library professionals. Considering the ongoing and ever-changing needs of a school community, the support of your fellow educators and administration within the building and building your PLN is all part of a school library professional’s role. As our schools continue to grapple with the COVID 19 pandemic and the ever-present cuts to our education systems, it’s necessary to connect the value of a fully staffed and fully funded school library to student success and 21st century competencies.
Jonelle St. Aubyn & Beth Lyons
Jonelle St. Aubyn is a teacher-librarian at Louise Arbour Secondary School in the Peel District School Board, Ontario. She has been teaching for 21 years with the last 7 being in the library learning commons. Passionate about social justice, equity and human rights, Jonelle has been curating resources for staff, students and community members to move this work forward at Louise Arbour Secondary School and beyond. Jonelle was one of the team members that revised the Teacher-Librarianship Additional Qualification course guidelines for the Ontario College of Teachers. She is also the recent recipient of the OSSTF District 19 Inspiring Moments Campaign and the Teachers Life Exceptional Educator Award.
Beth Lyons is currently a teacher-librarian in the Peel District School Board. She reflects and shares about her own learning journey as an educator and a teacher-librarian on her blog The Librarian’s Journey and on Twitter (@MrsLyonsLibrary). Currently, Beth is serving as president of the Ontario School Library Association (OSLA), is a contributor to both The Teaching Librarian Magazine and the Canadian School Libraries Journal, and is one of the co-hosts for the podcast Read Into This (@into_read).