The future is now
It is almost the end of the first year at Amesbury School and for Carolyn Knight, library-based teacher it has been the first year of developing and fine-tuning an innovative and inclusive school library.
The Amesbury School Library was deliberately designed to be at the heart of the school and quickly became the place to gather at any time of day. It is the place for children, teachers, parents, pre-schoolers and others from the local community to call in and read, research and relax. The library has been described as the ‘living-room of the school.’
The library reflects and supports the flexible and insightful ways of learning at Amesbury School. Student involvement has also been integral to the library becoming the heart of the school. The library blog includes students’ reflections on inquiry, library quizzes created by students, and book reviews online or through QR codes on the library’s books. The transactional elements of the library are unobtrusive. Children issue and return their own books using the RFID pad, friends of the school community cover and process the books, and the interactions in the library are focused on creating, thinking and learning.
Digital technologies play an important part in the holistic framework of the library. The school library web page is accessible at any time from anywhere in the world and from here children and their families can research, read e-books, listen to audio books or check their library book issues. A touch screen, iPads, tablets and a range of different e-readers are located in the library and can be used anywhere in the school during the day. E-readers can be taken home for reading too.
Carolyn reflects that it has been very much a learning journey – experimenting with different digital devices and talking with students about the devices they enjoy using most and why. This reflective approach to learning means that the library and its programmes are not static but instead responsive to the learning and social needs of the Amesbury School community.
As library-based teacher Carolyn can be found teaching anywhere in the school including the library. Literature circles, problem solving, or an inquiry into the kind of furniture design that works best in learning environments can all take place in the library or in one of the learning hubs. The library and the learning that it embodies can be found anywhere and the library as place is both living room and kitchen.
For some first time visitors it may seem that this is a glimpse into the future of libraries and learning. However with careful planning and a sense of purpose and adventure all school libraries can build on the principles, ways of learning, and openness that make the Amesbury School library a paradigm for this decade.
To get a glimpse of Carolyn, the Amesbury library and schools, take a look at the video we have made as part of our excellence in practice series.