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The future is bright
By Authored by Future You and SCIS
Issue 121, Term 2 2022
Children begin to aspire to careers in early primary school. However, their teachers often lack the confidence to explain science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) careers, and there are societal expectations about careers and gender that can put girls off STEM. This can affect children’s a
SCIS is more
By Anthony Shaw
Issue 124, Term 1 2023
Welcome to the Term 1, 2023 issue of Connections . SCIS is back on the road in 2023, having restarted running our popular in-person workshops late last year. In November 2022, we undertook our first interstate trip since the pandemic began, running two wonderful workshops in Perth. It was a grea
Making an impact: A guide for new school librarians
By Caroline Roche, MA, FCLIP
Issue 124, Term 1 2023
This book was borne out of a desire to help and inspire school librarians new to the job, and share the collective knowledge of the UK School Librarians Group (SLG) Committee, which is a subgroup of CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals), our professional organisation
SCIS is more
By Anthony Shaw
Issue 126, Term 3 2023
Welcome to Term 3, 2023 issue of Connections. For the SCIS team, Term 2, 2023 was a great chance to learn from our subscriber base. In-person workshops, library association conferences, and the 2023 Customer Survey have collectively provided us with helpful feedback that will inform future develo
School library spotlight: Northcote High School
By Richard Smallcombe
Issue 126, Term 3 2023
What is your job title and what does your role entail? I’m the library coordinator at Northcote High School. It is structured in two parts. There’s helping students find books, checking books out, general day-to-day, and then there’s also looking after the library budget, collection developmen
The story of Story Store
By Joanna Baynes
Issue 127, Term 4 2023
Joanna Baynes began her library career while still a student at school, then moved on to public libraries, before finding her dream job at King’s School, working with and for boys aged between 4 and 13 years. I loved my 35 years at King’s. Life was always busy and challenging, but in the back of
Join the Educational Lending Right Survey: Shape the future of Australian literature and learning!
By Education Services Australia (ESA)
Issue 129, Term 2 2024
Lending rights payments are a significant part of my income and go a long way towards me being able to earn a living as a writer. – George Ivanof Here in Australia, we are lucky to have a government-funded Educational Lending Right (ELR) scheme that sees Australian authors, illustrators and publis
School library spotlight: Strathtulloh Primary School
By Krista Thomas
Issue 129, Term 2 2024
What is your role in your school library? I am a library technician at Strathtulloh Primary School in Victoria. My role title is Library and Resources, so I am in charge of getting resources for the library, as well as some whole-school resources. It’s my job to make sure that the resources are
What is a future ready librarian?
By Mark Ray
Issue 113, Term 2 2020
Librarians of the past or future? In my 2016 TEDx Talk, Changing the conversation about librarians , I suggested that we are good at associating librarians with our past, but may not be as clear about their role in the future. Later that same year, Future Ready Librarians launched in the Unite
Fathers reading week: a case study for the Great School Libraries campaign
By Lucy Chambers, BAHons; DipLib; MSc; MCLIP
Issue 115, Term 4 2020
Summary The UK Great School Libraries Campaign1 invites school librarians to submit case studies, to demonstrate how their library contributes to teaching and learning in the school. I take you through the process of writing a new case study based on Fathers Reading Week. Note: the word ‘Fathers’
TikTok and libraries: a powerful partnership
By Kelsey Bogan
Issue 115, Term 4 2020
‘Miss Bogan, you’re TikTok famous!’ These words greeted me early one morning shortly after I had finally caved in and created a TikTok account for our high school library. I had posted a TikTok video the previous night, you see, and in less than a day, it had more than 300,000 views! Within a wee
Pivot! Moving a library forward when COVID gets in the way
By Catherine Barnes
Issue 117, Term 2 2021
‘Pivot’ used to be a word from the netball court, then it became the butt of a joke from the much loved Friends TV show, but over the last 12 months it has become an everyday reality in our schools. In 2020, our school calendar was full of excursions and incursions overwritten with the word ‘Canc
The time to read
By Gabrielle Mace, Merrilyn Lean
Issue 117, Term 2 2021
As educators we often lament that our students are no longer reading books for enjoyment. Sadly, our students are not alone. With an ever growing curriculum and the frenetic pace of the academic school year many teachers are reading for enjoyment far less than ever before – or worse, not at all.
Genrefication 3.5 years later: Reflections
By Susan Davenport
Issue 117, Term 2 2021
Radford College Secondary Library (SL) for years 5–12 students began our genrefication journey in 2017. This article reflects upon those first steps and what changes have been implemented since. What have we learnt? Genrefication works! Yes, it really does. Our years 5–12 students find the
Unique libraries: The School of St Jude in Tanzania
By Rebecca Hansford
Issue 119, Term 4 2021
The School of St Jude is a unique school that is home to three unique libraries. St Jude’s is located in Arusha, Tanzania. The school provides 1,800 bright students from poor backgrounds with free, quality education. Established in 2002 with just three students, St Jude’s now stretches across thr
Connecting through couch co-op: the important role of school libraries for social gaming groups
By Matthew Harrison, Jess Rowlings
Issue 123, Term 4 2022
Looking back at our childhoods, we often talk about the important role played by gaming and gamer culture in our social and personal development. Long before mainstream online play revolutionised the ways people play together, local couch co-op on a PlayStation 2, or sharing a single keyboard on a
Metadata to enhance diversity, connection and belonging
By Catherine Barnes
Issue 123, Term 4 2022
School libraries are dynamic, innovative and exciting places, but they are also a place for diversity, connection and belonging. Ben Chadwick (2020) explains: ‘Some things are fundamental to providing a library service. Of course, you need a decent collection of resources, but you also need to sup
Dystopian literature: more than just the end of the world to teens
By Jessica Finden
Issue 123, Term 4 2022
It’s not the end of the world… Can you remember what it was like to be a teenager? The constant worry – about your identity, whether or not you fit in with your friends, your family, and your overall place in the world. The catch phrase, ‘it’s not the end of the world’ is regularly bandied ab
School library spotlight: University High School, Melbourne
By Stephanie Ward
Issue 123, Term 4 2022
1. What is your role and what does your job entail? My job is Head of Library and Research, so most of my work is library management and overseeing the events, programs, services and work of the team. We’re really lucky at Uni High, we’ve got a staff of five; two library technicians and three tea
The Information Fluency Framework
By Carmel Grimmett
Issue 123, Term 4 2022
The Information Fluency Framework (IFF) is a new tool for teacher librarians in primary and secondary settings. The IFF is the primary source of information outcomes and processes for teacher librarians in the NSW Department of Education to use together with Information skills in the school as a