It is time to reinvent the entire concept of the school library! For 50 years, we have been guided by a great conceptual base; however our students have changed their information habits totally in the explosion of the Internet. They Google around us. They network socially. Web 2.0 tools change the face of ICT literacy. It is just a different world.
Loertscher, Koechlin, and Zwaan team up in this book to rethink everything about the function and role of school libraries and computer labs. It is often a case of 180 degree reconsideration. What does this mean? The profession has been on a command and control model: If we build it, they will come. We build a website and expect students and teachers to use it on our terms. They Google, instead. We expect teachers to appreciate the collections we build. They want classroom collections. We open our doors during the school day. Our patrons want 24/7-365 service.
The turn-around suggested is to think about and construct a client-side organization built around the idea that: If THEY build it, THEY will use it. This means competing with Google. It means collaboratively constructing a virtual learning commons that replaces the library web site. It means incorporating Web 2.0 tools that really boost teaching and learning. But we get ahead of ourselves.
The authors recommend that the school library be converted into a learning commons. What is that? It is both a physical and virtual place consisting of two major spaces: the Open Commons and the Experimental Learning Center each governed by its own calendar. The Open Commons is not only a flexible access space; it is a flexible physical and virtual space where exemplary teaching and learning is demonstrated for all to see. The Experimental Learning Center is the center of professional development for the entire school. This physical and virtual space is where students and teachers work to improve the quality of teaching and learning. It is the place for all new educational initiatives, professional learning communities, experimental technology, action research. It is the hub of school improvement.
Chapters in the book first justify the reasons for a change in foundational thinking. This is followed by a tour of the new learning commons with its Open Commons and Experimental Learning Center in full operation. We then take a look at knowledge building where learners are using their social networking skills linked to inquiry to build world-class excellence. Then we look at the range of new literacies required with reading as one central element. How do learners turn from struggling to meet required minimums to wanting to develop world-class abilities? We then turn to the world of technology and away from the concrete walls of administrative computing into the world of instructional computing where technology becomes the slave of the learners and teachers, not the other way around.
Next, we look at the role of collaboration, not just from the point of view of the librarian, but from the point of view of all the specialists in the school such as literacy coaches, technology specialists, nurses, counselors, Physical education teachers, art, music, etc. who have wonderful dreams about change but are locked out of the classroom.
We examine the elements of the learning commons organizational structure that turns the physical and virtual spaces from kingdoms into a personal extension of each learner and teacher. Finally, we make connections to major ideas and leaders across education that push us toward the reinvention of the school library.
You are sure to have an opinion about this re-conceptualization; It is controversial. And, you will be invited to lodge comments and discuss new directions on the book's companion wiki. It is a major shift in ideas about who we are and what we do. We are already being reinvented in the educational literature. Isn't the best defense a strong offence? Come with us on a journey of new ideas.
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