This was an interesting chapter. I will be going to the AMORES website to read more about it. I found it very telling that this project did not achieve what it set out to do - increase/promote reading. I guess it goes to prove that the concept of reading for pleasure has to be introduced to children at an early age so that they discover the intrinsic value in reading. I do not teach but might bring this to the attention of my teachers. One of the TLs at our schools has used coding in the classroom linking it to narratives. This is a link to her blog post. She will also be presenting at ISTE2020 later this year about her work. (This GIF because I was humming the song every time I read the acronym)

Copyright conversations are few and far between 😔. I am fairly confident in my knowledge of copyright to be able to guide the teachers and students. Luckily at a primary school level, copyright talk is at a basic level. In casual conversations with teachers I have found that they have a good understanding of what they can and cannot do around copyright. I usually have copyright conversations with the year 5 and year 6 students when they work on their writing projects. I am sure the teachers have conversations with the students about copyright and attribution but I would love to be able to talk to them more about creative commons.

I love learning, playing and experimenting 😁. A lot of my CPD is self directed and I learn a lot from forums such as this, Twitter, and FB groups. I am very lucky to be working in a school that is part of a very large systemic school system. We have a dedicated library services team that offers us (TLs and library assistants) a lot of support in terms of training and advice. We have professional learning meetings once a term that cover topics ranging from email wrangling and tech tips to collection development and management. These learning topics are usually in response to our needs - we have input into what we would like to learn. We also have the opportunity to share our work, concerns, triumphs, and challenges with each other. The library services team also has a website that has information to support us as well as teachers and students. We also have regular training sessions on our library management system. Sharing my learning with teachers at school is a tad more tricky because of time constraints. I do send out emails to teachers when I find a new tool or app they might find useful in class but I am not sure about the efficacy of this method of communication. I would love to get some ideas, insights, suggestions as to how to share learning with teachers more constructively and effectively.

I agree with you @micwag. There is a big gap in the online resource sector for age appropriate content. One of our database providers markets content at a primary level but there are still big holes. My other big concern is that students tend to be rather liberal with the 'copy-paste' function on their devices and I really don't know if teachers keep track of it and/or have the time to change that behaviour. I know it is part of their instruction but do they send the students back to re-do work? (Makes note to chat with teacher friends)

Thanks @micwag. It is fascinating (and very sad) to read about the number of children that don't have access to books at home. The things we take for granted..... At my primary school I have noticed the same families 'lose' books every year. We deduced that these might be the only books they would have at home. I do send reminders home but at the end of the year I end up wiping them off our books.

@micwag what is Bookbuzz? :)

@Elizabeth ... and this is where things get tricky. Schools should have Teacher Librarians (TL) in their libraries. Unfortunately, too many don't. TLs leave and are replaced by teachers (who quite often have no clue whatsoever) or by library assistants (paid acc to their regular paygrade). So then promoting the library as a place of literacy expertise or information expertise becomes rather difficult. I think that kind of becomes a catch-22 situation. Bring in an untrained and inexperienced person to work in the library and then complain that the library is stuck in the 19th century, is not modern, and is a budget blackhole. Add to it the fact that people (teachers and other staff) still think that you can get everything on Google - not the internet, mind you, but Google. I do not swear but by golly that statement gets me close everytime 😝

John Chrastka made some very good points re having a spokesperson - the key one being keeping them in the loop always. I would not be comfortable being my own spokesperson - I struggle with advocacy! 😜 Having said that, I will definitely think about it.

Like you, @Elizabeth, I have thought of teachers as my allies. And the other librarians within our school network. I guess the parents at my school are my allies as they support our annual book fair and help with organising the Scholastic Book Club though I have never consciously thought of them as such. I wonder if parents have any idea as to why libraries are important in schools and how they enrich their children's lives. I think a very small percentage of my parents would. Would love to know the experiences and thoughts of others here.

@Elizabeth I will try and ask my admin lady these questions re budgets and get back to you.

Thanks, @Elizabeth. The quotes range from spiritual and philosophical to reading and library related. I have no hard and fast rule for choosing a quote - it is what speaks to me at that time. My last signature was "Science tip: You can tell the difference between an alligator and a crocodile by paying attention to whether they will see you later or in a while" in a bid to lighten things up at the end of the year. I have also had "ask me what I'm reading" and "Currently reading ... ". I try to change the quote every 3-4 weeks. At times I have also had an image which is linked to an event such as Book Week. These images are created by the event organisers as promotional tools.

I am really not so sure that this is information that leadership would share with me if I asked for it. At the beginning of last year I did have a meeting with the principal and she gave me a figure that was to be my budget. I tried to keep track of it but unfortunately there were some outstanding invoices that needed attention as well and it got quite messy. I am 99% sure I am starting with a clean slate this year. I think it would be good to understand the bounds of our own budgets. For example: do authors' visits come out of the school budget or library budget? or are books purchased to support the curriculum bought from the library budget or KLA (key learning area) budget? I don't know the answers to these questions in my own context - something I would need to pluck up the courage to address.

I would agree with this being an important point. To quote any teenager "D'huh" 😉. We are in the information business so it only stands to reason that we should keep abreast of happenings in the school. Knowing what is going on is essential not only to advocacy but to meeting teachers' and students' needs in a timely manner. At our school we have staff briefing once a fortnight, a staff memo emailed out weekly which also lives in Google Drive, and access to school policies and documents also on Google Drive.

@Elizabeth Glad to hear that you found the courage to speak up and make a difference. I was just about to say I have never been in this position but remembered just in time that a couple of years ago I had to speak up against the closure of our school library. All the library staff (3 of us) sent in written submissions to top leadership and encouraged teachers and students to write/speak up on their own behalf as well. It was daunting and scary but I was outraged on behalf of the students and that gave me the courage to speak up. I discovered that I have a lot more courage when fighting for others than speaking up for myself.

As you say, @Elizabeth, we have spoken about advocacy and the importance of advocating for libraries many times :). I still feel very uncomfortable tooting my own horn but I do see the need for making my work known to others. Last school year I began with some baby steps. Being at school in a nearly full-time capacity, my main focus was on building relationships with the teachers - chats in the staffroom, emails with memes (were very popular)/news, organising ILLs (not really a done thing in our network), and, most interestingly, changing the quotes on my email signature regularly generated much conversation. This has helped with teachers being comfortable to reach out to me for assistance. Another step I took was to begin tweeting library happenings. And I had interactive displays where I encouraged teachers to participate too. This year I plan on being more intentional with the tweeting and perhaps posting on our school FB page.

@Elizabeth I could do it in about 4 Indian languages, German, Italian, Spanish and Japanese. Now only 4 remain!

@micwag I can just imagine how all us in future meetings going 'jackal' 'dolphin' 'hedgehog' etc in our minds as we observe and participate!!!! 🤣🤣 Having said that, this is a good 'tool' to keep in mind as I can see the benefits of being more measured and mindful in my personal life too.

Thanks for sharing a great TED talk, @Elizabeth. Plenty of food for thought and some concrete tips for changing our reactions and responses to conversations around us. Specially conversations that have negative undertones re a library's purpose or its importance. This talk will help me to better understand the other person's mode as well not just my own.

I love all the comments here... I have always loved giraffes and dolphins and now I have another connection with them. I think when we have unsupportive or unknowledgeable management we tend to retreat into hedgehog mode.

I really enjoyed this talk (I love TED talks). As Louise said, these are things that are not taught at school. Yes, we are taught how to collaborate or work in teams but these little nuances are what would make a world of difference in our success.... or even finding the confidence to speak up.