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A not so secret garden

By Kathryn Williams, Heather Harrison

Issue 112, Term 1 2020

op students’ understanding of their natural and human environments. People questioned why we needed changes when our facility was still so new, but libraries should never remain static and, when the funds became available, we wanted to bring something innovative and dynamic to our already much-lov

Do we need library lessons?

By Barbara Band

Issue 104, Term 1 2018

l initiatives. Communication via tutors and promotional posters has a limited reach. Lifelong learning In addition to library skills, many school libraries deliver an information skills program teaching basic competencies that are essential for both further education and the workplace, and that

School library spotlight: Mt St Michael's College

By Sandra Mannion

Issue 106, Term 3 2018

ed in-house to provide students with subject-specific digital and interactive resources, including links to relevant websites and databases. School libraries are places where all students feel welcomed and are encouraged to grow and learn. We do a lot more than just provide books and information;

Ten ways to transform your library into a flexible learning space

By Liza Moss

Issue 107, Term 4 2018

While it is true that its uses may vary among assemblies, exams and PE classes, generally each use takes place sequentially rather than concurrently. Libraries are the true multipurpose centres. The library at my school can be hosting a farewell ceremony for visiting Japanese students, providing a p

How Monmia Primary School refurbished its library

By Article by the Schools Catalogue Information Service (SCIS)

Issue 136, Term 1, 2026

re continuing to build on that. The biggest shift has been in the narrative the school community has around books. Classrooms now have their own mini libraries that echo the main library, and it is very clear to everyone that Monmia is a school that values reading. The library has also achieved exte

Promoting reading for pleasure in school libraries

By Emma Suffield

Issue 108, Term 1 2019

I have been a school librarian for five years now and what a journey it has been. The reason I applied for this role was to promote reading for pleasure and share my love of reading with young learners; there is nothing more satisfying than turning a reluctant reader into an avid one. When I star

Educational Lending Right school library survey

By Daniel Hughes

Issue 120, Term 1 2022

tralian Government’s Office for the Arts. The purpose of the survey is to determine an estimate of the number of copies of books in Australian school libraries. The Office for the Arts then combines the school scores with university and TAFE estimates to determine how much money will be paid to elig

Making an impact: A guide for new school librarians

By Caroline Roche, MA, FCLIP

Issue 124, Term 1 2023

questions. The situation, in the UK at least, was exacerbated by the fact that sometimes people were being appointed with absolutely no knowledge of libraries at all. They had been thrown into the ‘deep end’. Sometimes this was because the school’s Senior Leadership did not understand the full exte

What the School Library Survey has taught me

By Jen Sheridan

Issue 117, Term 2 2021

’t occurred to me as a student is that this doesn’t happen by accident but through the hard work and heart of the committed staff that work in school libraries. This has been highlighted to me through comments shared, many of which have been collated in these feature documents: softlinkint.com/blog

Turning the school library into a thriving community hub

By Anne Devenish

Issue 103, Term 4 2017

iture, colour, contemporary interior design, and a sense of space are an excellent start. At Camberwell Girls Grammar School, the senior and junior libraries are currently in their third successful year of contributing to the school calendar by offering an array of community programs, including Ta

Improving literacy levels in remote Indigenous communities

By Karen Williams

Issue 111, Term 4 2019

ndation (ILF) is an Australian organisation that works to reduce low literacy rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children by supplying libraries of culturally appropriate books to remote Indigenous communities. Many early literacy academics and researchers argue that cultivating a l

Looking back: school library catalogues and the online revolution

By Lance Deveson

Issue 100, Term 1 2017

terial, purchased in rolls. We usually wasted a complete set getting the cards to line up, which furthered our interest in computing and their use in libraries. But as a young teacher librarian, I was excited to be using this new technology, and thought it a major leap forward in getting books onto

SCIS: News for subscribers

By Anthony Shaw

Issue 136, Term 1, 2026

sed, and Term 1 is upon us once again. The theme of this issue of Connections is school library spaces, which got me reminiscing about the school libraries from my school days. If I go back a (very) long way to when I started school in suburban Sydney, my first memory is of a school library that

School library spotlight: Macleans College

By Christine Hurst

Issue 110, Term 3 2019

e library manager and my role is a mixture of behind the scenes and ‘front of house’ tasks. An ordinary day — if there is such a thing in high school libraries — could involve acquisition and purchases, showing a class how to access the databases we have, updating procedure documents, curating onlin

School library spotlight: Cerdon college

By Nancy Sylaprany

Issue 124, Term 1 2023

conversation about an interest they have in a particular area, or instructing them in skills to become discerning users of information.  In school libraries, we are in a unique position to be able to develop relationships with students over a number of years. Students know that the library can be

School library spotlight: Strathtulloh Primary School

By Krista Thomas

Issue 129, Term 2 2024

g new in certain series, for example, they won’t read anything. That’s why I’ve genrefied our collection. I’ve genrefied collections in my last three libraries – it helps students find the type of thing they’re looking for. I can now say something like ‘Everything with the orange tag on it is Humour

School library spotlight: Chisholm Catholic College

By Monique McQueen

Issue 100, Term 1 2017

maintain, and promote digital resources; run events; and lead the development of learning spaces in the school. How long have you worked in school libraries, and what inspired you to go down this path? I have worked in both primary and secondary school libraries for nine years. After 13 years a

Library makerspaces: revolution or evolution?

By Chris Harte

Issue 97, Term 2 2016

The makerspace movement is gaining momentum in the world of libraries, although it is not an entirely new concept. One of the first makerspaces built specifically to invigorate the hearts, hands, and minds of young inventors opened in 1876. Established by Thomas Edison in the New Jersey hamlet of M

School library spotlight: Melbourne High School

By Pam Saunders

Issue 99, Term 4 2016

potlight’. This article gives us an opportunity to interview school library staff, so we can share with our readers what is happening within school libraries in Australia and New Zealand. Do you have any questions you’d like us to include in this section? Please email [email protected]

The future role of the teacher librarian

By Dr James E Herring

Issue 100, Term 1 2017

ervice leader will continue to be the teacher librarian’s key role within the school. Resources There may still be printed books in future school libraries, and, at least in the foreseeable future, there will be — perhaps mainly for recreational reading. Educational resources may increasingly be