From Library to Learning Commons NESLA. Library 2.0 | always learning. Reflections on the ECIS Conference Since I accepted the position of 21st Century Literacy Specialist at ISB just over a year ago, I’ve been thinking about how natural the connection is between the library and technology. Granted, I had never worked in a library before I set foot in our fabulous Learning Hub this past August, but having been a technology facilitator for seven years, I knew how much more I could accomplish when working in collaboration with the librarian. And, now, after attending the excellent ECIS Librarians Conference in Berlin last week, I can see an even stronger connection between these two essential resource teams. As an outsider roaming incognito amongst the librarians of European international schools, I have to admit I felt a little bit of an impostor, but I am definitely glad I went!
Big Idea Number One: How Technology Facilitators Can Help Librarians Some of Ross’ key points were: Libraries need to embrace the power of web 2.0. Some of Toni’s key points were: Library Design Showcase 2012: Super Schools | American Libraries Magazine. With the success of the recent White House petition on school libraries, the American public has asserted its support for this vital aspect of childhood education. The following schools have demonstrated their understanding of the centrality of their libraries by creating spaces that support 21st-century learning. Monroe High School Campus Library, New York City Monroe High School's library renovation incorporated bright, inviting colors and materials to add appeal. Features such as dropped ceilings, soft seating, and freestanding computer pods define different zones within the library, allowing it to serve changing needs.
Renovation Architect: di Domenico + Partners LLP Size: 3,000 sq. ft. Cost: $700,000 Photo: Bartelstone Bridge City (Tex.) Super Schools: Serving pre-K through 2nd-grade students, the new interior of Bridge City Elementary School Library incorporates the school's cardinal mascot and a transportation theme. New Construction Architect: Mark Magnuson & Associates, Inc. C. Elizabeth Forward Media Center. EF Media Center at Elizabeth Forward High School features a library, video production studio, audio recording booth, coding stations, and more. Elizabeth Forward High School’s library is unlike most you’ll see around the region. There, among the rows of books, you’ll find students working with audio-visual equipment to make video resumes, creating comic strips, or studying stages of infant development with interactive tools. The re-christened Media Center is a place where traditional learning can coexist with new technology, with students creating poetry iBooks or completing projects about the Vietnam War using the app, Aurasma.
It’s a resource for the entire school, where teachers can bring their students for special projects With a cafe, stage, a place for board games and video games, and an industry-level video studio where the daily morning announcements are filmed, the Media Center is not just a great place to learn, but a great place to hang out. Divine Design: How to create the 21st-century school library of your dreams. Things are changing. For starters, ebooks, apps, and the web are now a part of your students’ daily lives. So how do you determine the best way to turn your library space into a learning center that’s right for today’s rapidly changing digital world?
Take it from me, a longtime designer of school libraries, it’s not easy. Things are looking up at P.S. 189, in Manhattan’s Washington Heights, where a flock of books (fabricated from sheet metal) soars beneath a digitally printed sky, turning florescent light fixtures into inspiring works of art. The libraries shown in this article are located in some of New York City’s poorest neighborhoods, and were created as part of an initiative by the Robin Hood Foundation-a leader in school library design-and the New York City Department of Education.
Photo ©Albert Vecerka/Esto I’ve discovered that the things I used to labor over just five year ago don’t seem as important anymore. 1. 2. The John J. 3. Don’t cut corners by underpowering your library. MLEs – library space. Last week I had the privilege of working with the staff at Auckland Girls Grammar School, where they've been working for some time on how they integrate digital technologies into their teaching and learning programmes. The strategic approach to their thinking and planning extends to the way they've re-designed their library space to provide a wonderful open 'learning centre' that provides a sense of 'flow' that embraces access to traditional paper-based books and resources through to a technology support area where students can book out netbooks and other technologies such as cameras etc. for them to use in conjunction with their learning in this space.
Also included in this end of the space are rooms that can be used for audio and video work (including a green room), plus plans to introduce a video conferencing room in the near future. The Robin Hood Library Initiative (The Best of Book Riot) Much of the good ship Book Riot is off at Book Expo America this week, so we’re running some of our best stuff from the first half of 2013. We’ll be back with reports from BEA next week and our usual array of new book-nerdery. While I was researching some of our reader-nominations for Book Riot’s 2013 charitable partner, I stumbled across The Library Initiative of The Robin Hood Foundation and was, to be perfectly honest, blown away. The Robin Hood Foundation itself is a large organization dedicated to fighting poverty in New York City. One of their specific projects, though, is something I hadn’t seen before: partnering with the New York City Board of Education to rehabilitate and rejuvenate the city’s school libraries.
Since 2002, the Library Initiative has raised more than $40 million in donations and renovated more than 60 libraries. Here’s a sampling: From Public School 60 in the Bronx: From Public School 106 in Brooklyn From Public School 16 in Brooklyn.