Other People's School Libraries

It is a gift to be able to see how other people manage their school library learning commons spaces and develop their programming. I had the chance twice this week to get a glimpse at other school libraries and it was inspiring.

On Tuesday, October 14, I hosted a guest speaker at the York University Teacher Librarianship AQ I facilitate. Our guest was David Hoang. David addresses one of the cohorts this past summer and did such a phenomenal job that Francis and I asked him to return.

 Again, David did not disappoint. In fact, he tweaked his presentation from last time and made it even better! 

There are two things that David shared that I really want to consider incorporating. The first was the way he "levels up" the Land Acknowledgement. Not only did he personalize it, like he did in the above photo, he used Lucid Spark for some interactive reflection from the participants.

The other thing David does that impresses the heck out of me involves his approach to classroom collaboration. He uses a menu metaphor that makes sense and provides structured options for teachers to use.

He effectively uses technology, like Lucid Spark and like a Google Form, to gather data to demonstrate how the SLLC and the TL make a difference to his school.

The next day, Wednesday, October 15, my friend and fellow TDSB teacher-librarian-network-facilitator Kim Davidson hosted a local TL Network meeting in Tamara Morrissette's school library at Thomas L. Wells P.S. with a small but dedicated group of attendees. How devoted were they? Our meeting began at 4:00 pm and we didn't leave until after 6:00 pm! 

Kim and I really like having these meetings rotate around to different locations. It's so helpful to see how other teacher-librarians set up the space. Last year, we went to Banting and Best P.S. (with Molly) in the fall (October 2024) and then Mary Shadd P.S. in the spring (with Vanessa, March 2025). 

In Tamara's space, we took photos of all sorts of things.

I really like how Tamara set up this QR Code center for audio books using library iPads and technology.

Kim checked out the primary "nook".

Lots of us admired this word cloud that adorns Tamara's office door. 

These tags, to indicate where Dewey sections begin, seem really useful!

I would have posted the group selfie of everyone that attended the meeting, but I didn't have consent. (If you know me, you know that consent is important to obtain.)

Thank you to all the teacher-librarians, past and present, who opened their doors to visitors and/or provided windows into their professional practice. It really helps everyone, even if your space isn't "Pinterest Perfect", to imagine the possibilities.