If You Curate it, Will They Come?: Reference Services in an Alternative School
I didn’t know that one could look so extensively at
this particular section of the library. Also, I can see now that it’s more than
just a “section” of the library. The use of references can extend far into the
digital realm and benefit our students more than they understand. However, with
these four weeks came a lot of confusion on what my beliefs were in respect to
digital or non-digital reference tools. Even now, I’m still not sure where I
fully stand on the argument and have determined that it would differ depending
on the school context.
If I was in a “regular” school, one with consistent
library usage and physical students to ask questions and do research projects,
I may feel more strongly towards promoting and keeping a physical reference
section. But, my current school, where my limited 0.20 FTE as the TL means that
I, either don’t get much time to interact with students and staff, or there are
so few students who frequent the library that I can’t justify keeping and
promoting a well-curated physical reference section. Obviously TLs before me
thought the same thing because dictionaries are the some of the only texts
located in my school’s reference section. Without going into too much detail,
my school has nearly 1400 enrolled students between three “schools.”
However, almost 700 are online learners. Many of those students never step into
the building. The next school is an Alternative Education program with
approximately 180 students, many with challenges, and a general aversion for school. Coming to the library to check
Facebook or watch YouTube is common from these students. The final group are
the Continuing Education (CE) students, some who take classes during the day or at night. These CE students are upgrading their classes
and are more interested in studying for chemistry or pre-calculus tests than
doing research or checking out novels. As such, the library learning commons is fairly quiet.
And, my reference section is even more uncirculated and referenced. So, it has
been challenging for me to fit all of the suggestions and findings from Riedling
into my evolving and unique practice.
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| The Library Learning Commons... on a regular day. There's a kid on the couch in the corner that you can't see! (Image by C. Goes Clarke) |
Luckily, even if I don’t feel like I’m connecting students in person with physical texts, I feel comfortable in the digital reference sources provided through my district and accessible on my school’s library learning commons website (http://sjwlibrary.weebly.com/). In Riedling’s Chapter 2 it is suggested that, “the Learning Commons model for school libraries embraces this holistic vision, in which the library is a flexible space functioning as a learning hub for information inquiry and technology. School libraries based on this model have… expansive virtual reference resources” (p. 25). While I may not call my “virtual reference resources” “expansive,” there are far more than my text versions (Riedling, p. 25). Some of my goals for the rest of the school year include curating and promoting the resources available through the school website - the virtual learning commons page is currently lacking and broken links don't look good. Oops! Having inherited this website from last year's TL, I haven't had the time to invest in making sure that it's fully stocked with resources and links to help teachers with inquiry based learning and research. Yet, if I put effort into curating the references and supports online, I’m not convinced, given the current library learning commons usage at the school, that it will increase traffic or usage of the reference or regular materials. So, if I curate it, will they come?
References:
Riedling, Ann, Reference
skills for the school library media specialist: Tools and tips,
(Third
Edition). Linworth. 2013.
A good reflective blog post that asks important questions. My answer is that yes, they will come, but you need to add more to keep them coming back. Starting with your library website, you need to build it up, promote it, make it simple and easy to access resources, help, citations, everything your different communities might need to be successful in their studies. You've highlighted some of the key learning and ongoing questions you have and shared some excellent background on your school and community. Building it will get people to check it out, keeping them coming back, requires some dynamism, relationship building, and frequent useful tools and materials.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to your experience, our school library has a very limited reference section. We had a whopping 5 reference books when I went looking and they were mixed within all the non-fiction resources. I myself am leaning more towards the digital realm of reference resources. I work in a K-3 school and have found that many reference works are written at a reading level well beyond the highest reading level of the patrons who would be using them. As such, they merely become another snippet of information provided by the teacher during a unit of study or lesson. For this reason I am more interested in the accessibility the digital option affords. I too hope to create ways to make accessing digital sources more accessible to our learners.
ReplyDeleteIt is a difficult situation to have an untraditional school with almost 700 online learners! In this case, it seems to me to alleviate the dilemma of what to do about replenishing your reference section. For you, the online databases make the most sense. Seeing as you inherited this space recently and only have .2 amount of time, it is hard to tackle any one part of the job, short of circulation! Your website may be a great way to communicate when the library has new materials and encourage physical visits. Getting Learning Commons information out there digitally makes sense with your clientele.
ReplyDelete