A Look at the Future
The face of education is changing and with it, libraries are changing as well. It's the simple fact of progress, just like in any industry -- either change with the times or get left behind. So where are libraries going in the future?
I see school libraries becoming hubs of technology, centers of digital learning and making. Education is focusing more and more on the use of technology for collaboration and student-driven learning and the library is in a unique position to provide for that change. Makerspaces, virtual reality and augmented reality, 3D printing: all of these are tools the librarian can use to help provide the school what it needs to meet the changing needs of our students.
If I had to pick just one thing I've learned through this course that I will take with me into the profession of school librarianship it would be the importance of digital curation. Librarians have always been the curators of knowledge, the keepers of the information, tasked with the arduous job of maintaining records and creating collections to share that information with posterity. Digital curation takes the heart of librarianship into the future by creating an area for librarians to create collections that are relevant to today's students and teachers.
As a former teacher, I know how valuable a good lib guide can be. It can save you hours and hours of research on a topic, time that you simply don't have to spend. Digital curation is a way that librarians can provide a lib guide not on a conceptual topic but on teaching methods and digital tools. So many teachers today are struggling to keep up with the changes in technology. Either they are just 'old school' teachers who have a hard time with tech or they are fully open and willing to learn but they just don't have the time to devote to learning the ins and outs of the latest and greatest.
And this is where the librarian enters stage right. It is our job to provide those resources, to do that research and help our teachers find the best tools for their job. By keeping up with great blogs (I have a bookmark folder full of blog links already!), reading trend reports and attending conferences, school librarians can keep up with the latest and greatest, then create collections of tools to share with teachers. Tutorials, blogs, videos of the tools in action, ideas for implementation.
The idea of helping teachers teach is truly where my heart is and is why I have entered into librarianship. I can't wait to be in a position where I can provide the answer when a teacher says "how can I do 'xyz' with my students?" That, to me, is the future of libraries in the digital future that lies ahead.
Image Credit: https://pixabay.com/en/dublin-trinity-college-library-2344423/
I see school libraries becoming hubs of technology, centers of digital learning and making. Education is focusing more and more on the use of technology for collaboration and student-driven learning and the library is in a unique position to provide for that change. Makerspaces, virtual reality and augmented reality, 3D printing: all of these are tools the librarian can use to help provide the school what it needs to meet the changing needs of our students.
If I had to pick just one thing I've learned through this course that I will take with me into the profession of school librarianship it would be the importance of digital curation. Librarians have always been the curators of knowledge, the keepers of the information, tasked with the arduous job of maintaining records and creating collections to share that information with posterity. Digital curation takes the heart of librarianship into the future by creating an area for librarians to create collections that are relevant to today's students and teachers.
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| One of my favorite places that houses knowledge of the ages - old school fashion: Long Room in the Old Library at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland |
As a former teacher, I know how valuable a good lib guide can be. It can save you hours and hours of research on a topic, time that you simply don't have to spend. Digital curation is a way that librarians can provide a lib guide not on a conceptual topic but on teaching methods and digital tools. So many teachers today are struggling to keep up with the changes in technology. Either they are just 'old school' teachers who have a hard time with tech or they are fully open and willing to learn but they just don't have the time to devote to learning the ins and outs of the latest and greatest.
And this is where the librarian enters stage right. It is our job to provide those resources, to do that research and help our teachers find the best tools for their job. By keeping up with great blogs (I have a bookmark folder full of blog links already!), reading trend reports and attending conferences, school librarians can keep up with the latest and greatest, then create collections of tools to share with teachers. Tutorials, blogs, videos of the tools in action, ideas for implementation.
The idea of helping teachers teach is truly where my heart is and is why I have entered into librarianship. I can't wait to be in a position where I can provide the answer when a teacher says "how can I do 'xyz' with my students?" That, to me, is the future of libraries in the digital future that lies ahead.
Image Credit: https://pixabay.com/en/dublin-trinity-college-library-2344423/
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