The Read/Write School Library

The School Library Journal Leadership Summit was inspiring (See “Librarians Embrace the Digital World,” p. 18). I was happy to participate in the November event as a “School Library 2.0” panelist and was blown away by the forward-thinking ideas generated by my fellow participants, who spoke of navigating “the new information landscape” and creating a “participatory, social, and interactive” school media center.

Although I’ve written frequently about Web 2.0 and libraries, I did, indeed, gain new insight in Chicago on the impact of blogs, wikis, and other interactive technologies, particularly regarding youngsters. Education technology pundit David Warlick, seated beside me on the panel, declared that today’s students experience a rich, collaborative world—until they enter school. The same goes for libraries. Can blocking social networking sites do students any good as they navigate the information world? I don’t think so. How then can school librarians and others who serve digital natives begin to engage these technologies?

Experience the tools

For starters, take a look at the Learning 2.0 course (plcmclearning.blogspot.com) sponsored by the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County. Any of us could adapt this free program—a hands-on staff development workshop on how to build a wiki or use Flickr, LibraryThing, and other social applications—or learn from it ourselves. Even better, bringing the course to teachers and administrators could foster the buy-in necessary to facilitate a 2.0 framework. Before teachers and principals can authorize blogging, they must understand how the tools work.

The same goes for hardware. Despite being banned in many schools, the ubiquitous iPod is being harnessed by educators from kindergarten through college as an effective tool for coursework and student collaboration. How about creating an iMovie project in the library to detail a history project or science exploration? You can then load the video onto a student’s digital media player, where it becomes part of their content collection. Or you can share the same project online, via the library’s YouTube account, where students can add their own comments and links.

Break down barriers

To me, the concept of Library 2.0 requires that we actively seek to break down barriers: barriers of place and time and barriers inherent in old school methods. In this user-centered paradigm, libraries must get information, entertainment, and knowledge into the hands of our users, wherever they are, by whatever means work best. This applies to School Library 2.0, as well. What barriers exist in your library media center?

For example, limited bandwidth, a frequent problem plaguing schools, can prevent students from accessing streaming content in the library. Or consider the 43 percent of young people, according to a recent Pew study, who, because of limited access to technology, are not even online, much less podcasting, blogging, or building wikis. What role can the school library play in providing opportunities to engage the Web-based social world?

The library, in fact, should be everywhere, not to mention the librarian, who must guide students and enable collaboration. Through instant messaging, for example, a media specialist could make him- or herself available after school. Just imagine the students adding your screen name to their list of trusted buddies!

Rebooting the school library

Trends in social software and customized, participatory technologies are changing user expectations. Libraries—especially in schools—must, in turn, adjust to meet those needs. And the payoff for this investment? Young people who will carry over their school media center experience to public and academic libraries as engaged, interactive learners for life. So look for ways to experience the social tools of the Web. Immerse yourself, experiment, and have fun. Your students will benefit and so will you.