‘‘ I
Many people are frightened of social media, but I believe that all school librarians should make themselves familiar with it.
F you are like many of the school librarians I know, you are probably the last person to get a sniff of any professional development
or training. I am sure many don’t even feel they can ask, as they would rather spend their budget on resources.
Personal learning network However, we do all need to find ways to continue to develop. Some will happily read Information Professional and I am very glad you are reading this now. Some will have branched out and created a personal learning network (PLN) on social media.
If I am honest, this is where I really started to find my path. Twitter and Facebook groups have really opened up the amount of learning I do. I used to struggle to know where to find what I wanted before, but now I find that social media does it for me. I follow some amazing people who are willing to share so much that I no longer need to look for it as it is there in front of me every day.
Drop the negative perceptions Many people are frightened of social media, but I believe that all school librarians should make themselves familiar with it. Not only for themselves and what they can learn but in order to understand it for the students they work with. There is so much negativity around social media but unless we make the effort to understand it, I believe we are at risk of being left behind.
A voice on social media I only took the plunge because my children wanted to use it, and I didn’t want to stop them just because I didn’t
March 2019
understand it. I joined Facebook with them and insisted they were my friends and then I moved on to Twitter. They now say that I use it more than they do. It can take over your life and those that follow me on Twitter probably think that it has.
Social media has given me a voice, it has given me learning and growing opportunities (in fact without it I would not have had the opportunity to write this column).
Books and book clubs I talked about webinars in my last article, and there are many free ones out there if you are willing to give time to them. But if all of this is just too scary, what else can you do? How about reading a professional book? Ok, I already hear you saying that they are too expensive but I wonder if you went to your administrator and to suggest that instead of asking to go on an expensive course, you would like to buy a book. I wonder if they would support you? It is definitely worth a try.
Your next problem is to choose the books you want to read and this is where I may be able to help. Last year, I set up an online book club for school library staff. The aim was twofold, firstly to give me the motivation to read more non-fiction and secondly to provide something for others. Over the last year, the book club has seen many changes and has now landed on my own website.
We choose between three to four books a year and I then post questions up for everyone to think about and answer. We don’t conduct it “live” as there are librarians in different time zones, so we answer when we can. Not everyone joins in every time and I am happy for your input even if you haven’t read the book. This really is open to all.
Elizabeth Hutchinson FCLIP (@Elizabethutch
ehutchinson@library.gg www.elizabethahutchinson.com) is Head of Schools’ Library Service, Guille-Allès Library, St Peter Port Guernsey.
Just a little of your time However, I do appreciate that not everyone can afford to buy the books, so I post articles up for discussion too. This costs nothing apart from your time. Find what works for you and keep learning.
The online book club can be found
at
https://www.elizabethahutchinson.com/ forum/online-chat. IP
INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 51
School Libraries
pp50-51.indd 3
07/03/2019 12:45
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
