Great School Libraries

Students, Parents, Staff and School communities voted for their favourite school libraries in Australia in 2015. This post is a summary of these results as reported by Freedom of Access to information and Resources as to what makes School Libraries great: 1) A qualified Teacher Librarian managing the library. 2) The library is open whenever the school is open. 3) students can learn information skills in the library. 4) students can borrow resources when they need them with 24/7 digital access. 5) Students can borrow popular Fiction without long waiting periods - balancing the breadth and depth of the collection so that keen readers can have access to their favourite author, the next title in a series or the latest movie tie-in. 6) Have enough space for a whole class to fit into the library. 7) Have high speed access to the Internet. 8) Students are encouraged to use online resources. 9) Hold special activities, eg. Book Week, Book Fairs, visiting speakers/performers eg. Authors/Illustrators/poets, Clubs such as Chess Clubs, Robotics. 10) Students, Parents and Teachers think that a library is Awesome for its physical space, the digital experience, the warm welcome, the print collections and electronic resources, 21st Century learning space, the 'wow' factor, well designed, highly active and support for all ages.