Not+Your+Parents'+School+Library!

@The Library as Art Gallery

Not Your Mother's School Library!

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|| We are entering a new library today. Years ago it would have been considered the Science Fiction of virtual worlds. For thus it has become a virtual world of boundless possibilities. Dr. Curtis Bonk’s book //The World is Open// begins with the statement “Anyone can now learn anything from anyone at anytime.” As educators embrace the shifting paradigm; teachers as learners and learners as teachers, the school library will change as well. Hard copy books are being replaced by ebooks and databases. Multimedia has become Youtube, TeacherTube, Discovery Education, and Snag Films. Students create Personal Learning Networks using RSS feeds from information sources and blogs. They create content using podcasting, voicethread, and in our district, Apple's iLife suite of tools. They communicate and collaborate with others using skype, by blogging and at home, they share using Facebook, MySpace and Second Life. They learn information literacy as they assign rights to their own work. The technology, openness and access to information have placed learning in the hands of our students. This is the virtual world in which many of them dwell. However, students need an inviting physical space as well. Rethinking the space, the hours of availability, and the ambiance requires a vision beyond the traditional text-based, library world. We look to a bookstore type environment for our community to use. That community will include students, parents, and district residents. With our rich and varied resources we will support the curriculum in order to increase student achievement and provide our community with access to the world.

These students are reading Othello online using the traditional text and a modern interpretation. They rearrange the "comfy" chairs and read out loud. It seems to be working well and the students love the change from the sterile classroom to the bright, airy library. Many students come in for their literature reading time so they can sit on the soft chairs in the sunshine.

Some our English classes recorded their "Story Corps" projects in the library. Hopefully, we will be able to archive them in the library catalog. ||

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Interesting information at the Pew site.