By Carol Koechlin and Anita Brooks Kirkland
The theme for Canadian School Library Day 2023 was Speak Up for School Libraries, and that theme could not be more timely. Many school districts are making hard decisions in the face of funding cutbacks post-pandemic, and in many cases libraries and library staffing are the casualties. Add to that the wave of moral panic sweeping across North America resulting in an unprecedented level of book challenges, we find ourselves once again on the front lines of advocacy for freedom of expression rights and the freedom to read. Canadian School Libraries has been and continues to speak up inspired by the very foundations of school library practice, and the stories of exemplary practice such as those in this edition.
Speaking Up Against Censorship and for Students’ Right to Freedom of Expression
Canadian School Libraries made its position clear last May, issuing our Statement on Book Challenges and Censorship in Canada’s School Libraries. About half of the articles in the Spring 2023 edition of CSL Journal were dedicated to the issue. CSL Board member and longtime intellectual freedom advocate Richard Beaudry has been called upon to write and speak on the issue, and CSL Chair Anita Brooks Kirkland has been interviewed for national publications, appeared on radio talk shows across the country, and even delegated to school boards on issues related to censorship. CSL congratulates the Ontario School Library Association on the publication of its new and comprehensive Guide to the Selection and Deselection of School Library Resources, and applauds the work of the Manitoba School Library Association and the British Columbia Teacher-Librarians’ Association in supporting their members and speaking up against censorship.
Speaking Up for the Foundations of School Library Learning Commons
Canadian School Libraries (CSL) is very pleased to announce the release of Foundations for School Library Learning Commons in Canada: A Framework for Success. This new document grew out of concerns raised by representatives of school library associations from across the country, and by participants at CSL’s TMC7 Symposium 2022. With continued erosion of funding, professional staffing, and policy support for school libraries, there has been increasing demand for a Canadian resource that clearly presents the conditions necessary for building the effective library learning commons program as presented in Leading Learning: Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada.
Purpose: This document was designed to support the successful implementation of Leading Learning: Standards of Practice for School Library Learning Commons in Canada.
Audience: This document is for school library staff and leaders to help build foundational understandings related to school library learning commons in Canada.
Scope: This document presents clear structures to support the pedagogical approaches described in Leading Learning.
“All schools in Canada need to be able to develop and support excellent school libraries responsive to the diverse needs of learners today and into the future.” This new document provides the foundational blueprint for schools to design the infrastructure needed to assure that critical elements such as flexible physical and virtual spaces, adequate funding, strong policy and commitment to equity are in place so school library professionals can get on with providing excellent teaching and learning experiences. The clear foundations and frameworks outlined in this guiding document gives everyone concerned about school library issues the voice they need to stand up for school library learning commons in every school in Canada.
Speaking Up for Leading Learning and Program Growth
Since first publication in 2014 hundreds of new See It in Action exemplars have been added to each standard from schools and organizations across the country, keeping the promise that the national standards site would continue to evolve as living documentation of authentic implementation of Leading Learning standards of practice in Canada..This summer the Leading Learning Committee developed several new themes to ensure that the standards remain relevant to current changes and needs. See the article, To Infinity and Beyond! New and Updated Leading Learning Standards and celebrate the new additions. Explore the new element of provocative questions for each theme which will help users frame their own goals and actions for program growth. Referencing CSL Leading Learning national standards in your reports and program advocacy is a powerful professional approach when speaking up for your work in the library learning commons.
We thank everyone for speaking up for school libraries on CSLD and sharing the wonderful work you do. We especially thank the many publishers and school districts who recognized the importance of adding voice to the day. CSL will continue to speak up for how excellent school library learning commons are needed in every school in Canada to ensure student success. CSL will continue to speak up for equity, diversity and reading rights and freedoms for students.