Bookseller #KidsConf19: Innovative Librarianship in a Time of Economic Cuts

I was very fortunate to be asked to speak at the 2019 Bookseller's Children's Conference in London this week.

I was speaking with super Librarian Jo Clarke, both of us were presenting under the title "Innovative Librarianship in a Time of Economic Cuts".

I'll start by saying that I share a lot of these ideas and other great ideas from educators from around the world on my monthly newsletter. If you'd like to access all 14 back issues you can click here.

If you'd like to receive the newsletter in your inbox every month you can email me at lml@glenthorne.sutton.sch.uk to sign up.

Here are the things I spoke about at the Bookseller Conference. I'm expanding on them and adding new things in case anyone finds this info useful and wants to take it further.

Student Library Assistants

We have twelve of them at Glenthorne High School. They do a large number of activities, mainly checking books in and out at the information desk. They also create and deliver debates, make displays, run our podcast and engage staff when it comes to promoting the Library. Student Library Assistants are the heart and soul of the Library, they make it run smoothly and ensure other students understand that the Library belongs to them.

You can access a post on 5 Tips on Starting a Student Library Assistant Program here.





Staff Outreach

Having a plan to put the Library on the map must also include the staff at your school. This can be tricky considering how busy they are but through some creative programs and student involvement it can be done.

At Glenthorne, we ensure all staff have a Library card and attend events throughout the year that puts books in their hands. This is key in generating conversations between staff and students that go beyond their subject matter. You can read about this program here.

We do a variety of programs that bring staff into the Library like Open Mics, World Book Day and back to school bags to welcome new and existing staff back after the summer break. You can read about the back to school bags here.

Staff also go away for the summer with a book that they review for us in Sept which we put on display. You can read about this program here.





Educational Technologies

I talked briefly on free technologies as did Jo. Each technology I list below has a link to a post on how I have used it with students. Each one is free to create an account and use.

Authorfy

Flipgrid

Nearpod

Padlet

Mystery Skypes

Professional Skype Series

Twitter Chats

I spoke briefly on the benefits of the Twitter chats our students have with authors. Students pose questions to authors via the Library's Twitter account (@glenthornelrc). They are fun, engaging and always full of surprises.
You can read the kinds of things we do with this program here.












Getting Boys to Read

I spoke on student engagement, we are focusing a lot on boys' reading this year at Glenthorne. You can read 5 tips I use to increase boys' use of the Library here.


I also talked about using a whiteboard and bringing the Library outside to meet the students. You can read all about these kinds of programs here.