Diary+of+a+Learner+Librarian

=** SPP Hours **=

Placement 1 - Secondary College
The first SPP occurred in an all girls' Catholic secondary college with an enrolment of approximately 350. The College has both boarders and day students and a diverse socio-econmic background. Some students are from remote rural or indigenous communities while others live locally.

I approached my first 20 hours of situated professional practice in the library with keen enthusiasm and excitement. What would the experience be like? Would I remember everything I had to do? I felt like a school girl again only now I was in charge of my own learning in an era of education that encourages inquiry-based learning within a world with unprecedented levels of information!


 * ** Task ** || **Hours ** ||
 * ** Introduction to the circulation desk ** – this included instruction on how to use Libcode, the library resources management tool for tracking the status of resources. Lunchtime and in-class coverage of the circulation desk occurred over a period of days. || 6 hours over 2 weeks ||
 * ** Reshelving resources ** – a refresher on the dewey decimal system. Non-fiction and fiction texts were re-shelved as they were returned. DVD and video resources were also re-shelved. || 4 hours over 2 weeks ||
 * ** Culling of resources ** – checking the age of resources to ensure that if they were older than 10 years, they were still useful. This included liaising with other teaching staff to verify if the resources were being used or not. || 2 hours ||
 * ** Promoting Book Week ** – assisting with the book week display. Encouraging students to write the name of their favourite book on a leaf to add to the jungle- themed display. || 1 hour setting up display ||
 * ** Collection management ** – learning how to access SCIS to import data to Libcode for the accessioning of new resources. This required a hands-on experience with the software and close work with the TL to check if barcodes were appropriate for our collection. I learned that SCIS details may be changed if the resource would be accessed more easily under other subject headings. || 5 hours ||
 * ** Resource selection ** – working in collaboration with the TL to choose new fiction texts. Novel blurbs were read to gauge the suitability of the text for our students. These resources were then purchased and SCIS data for each item was retrieved. || 2 hours ||
 * ** Library Maintenance ** – shutting down computers and unplugging laptops in the ‘pod’ area. Emptying bins and rearranging the research room furniture. Conducting a backup of the circulation data on a daily basis to ensure that information is stored on a portable device in the event of a fire etc. || 3 hours over 2 weeks ||
 * ** TOTAL HOURS ** || 23 hours ||

Placement 2 - Primary School
My second lot of 20 hours was gained working at the local primary school. The state run primary school is the newest primary school in the region and consequently has been purpose built to include technology. My placement occurred in 2010 shortly before the school's 700 population of students gained access to a brand new technology hub.

This professional practice was very different to the first round of library work. In a primary context I had more contact with the classroom teachers and worked closely with a Year 6 class to develop resources suitable for a unit on animation and narratives. Hunting for the physical resources was easy enough, what I enjoyed more was searching for the Web 2.0 technology that was suitable for a Year 6 context. There are manyfree tools available on the internet such as [|Muzivu]. This software was relatively easy to use and allowed students to animate the narratives they had been working on in class.

The placement also allowed me to rethink the layout of the primary school space as the current librarian and the 2 aides were keen for a change. I recalled my work from the unit Designing Spaces where I explored the idea of novelty reading zones. NOVELTY READING This element of the design sees the introduction of an interactive reading element that can be changed easily to suit current and future trends. Young children are attracted to the unusual and one lighting trend available at the moment is the use of black lights (see figures 1 and 2 below). Used widely in nightclubs and fun zones, these black lights make all white and fluorescent colours glow in the dark and there are many opportunities to create 30 minute reading activities under this light.





For one week we trialed the use of a black light in a space we could cover over with curtains. The children loved reading the picture books that glowed in the dark and the smaller children worked with glow in the dark animals to create narrarives of their own. My 20 hours were also spent doing a stocktake of resources. I was surprised by how much the library has to keep track of as there was not only books to account for but also maths, science and english resources of all shapes and sizes. For a while there, the library looked like it was hosting a garage sale. There were stacks of resources all over the carpet and spilling into the reading area. This didn't put an end to my reading sessions with the Year Ones. They still came in for a story at lunch time.

Placement 3 - Secondary College
By the end of 2011 I was finally in my element and was filling in for the College librarian while she was on leave. I had 10 weeks of a full time library role in my own College again and spent this time trialing other initiatives to increase reading in the library. I wanted to see if secondary students were too old for the themed dispalys I saw in my primary school placement or whether they would actually enjoy some the dispalys. The aide and I decorated the circulation desk in Halloween cobwebs and displayed the library's collection of spooky stories during October. This display was then replaced by one on Remeberance Day and we finished the term off with a Christmas themed library with tinsel and inflatable 6ft high Santa. These themed displayes (although not entirely new as the librarian had done dispalys in the past) had a huge impact on the number of visitors to the library and the circulation of books increased significantly as a result. I was pleased that I achieved my goal of increasing circulation numbers and did so with great fun and increased spirit in the library environment. Staff members also came to view the displays and it was during these visits that I discussed the purchase of resources for the next financial year, reviewed the value of magazine renewals or just chatted about the resources in general.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my SPP and look forward to graduating and gaining a permanent position in a library in the near future.