Chambers, Julia
Johnson, Dean. (2013, October). Power up! The new school library. Leveraging Teacher Leadership/Educational Leadership 71(2) p.84-85. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct13/vol71/num02/The-New-School-Library.aspx
Summary: This article provides an overview of the physical learning commons. The author likens the Learning Commons to a kitchen in contrast to the “grocery store” qualities of a traditional school library. The transformation from one to the other requires repurposing the space to match the digital age of learning. Giving students ownership is key to the process and buy-in and can be achieved through physical comforts, accessibile hours, enabling spaces to produce and showcase work. The author suggests that the emphasis of the traditional library has shifted from teaching how to find and organize information to how to evaluate and use information for higher learning, and so the librarian needs to have a teaching space and his/her desk should be prominently placed and set up for one-on-one assistance.
Key technologies include laptops; video/laptop projection systems for computerized slideshows with accompanying sound; audio amplification; interactive whiteboards; audience response systems. The article also provides some selling points for school leaders,such as focusing more on the library program vs. space, viewing librarians as teachers who can lead the implementation of technology into existing curriculum, and recognizing the role students play in shaping this space.
Evaluation: I thought this was a great overview that sells the idea well. I’m planning on sending this article to our head of school.
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