Monday, October 10, 2011

School Libraries Looking Forward

I've been thinking a lot today about what the library program should look like to best serve students in the future. If I walked into my library in five years, what changes would/should I see in the physical library? What would like virtual library have to offer? How would I be working with students and teachers?

This idea of looking forward was inspired by working in the present. On Friday I did a couple of workshops for teachers. One was entitled Research Boot Camp. While it was a promising idea, I was disappointed with the execution. I can show staff and students cool tools and resources. But I always feel this disconnect when it comes to teaching people how to use these things, especially in the case of the workshop where there isn't an immediate information need. I thought the boot camp model of hands on practice would be an effective way to learn, but I think if I did this again I would have to do more modeling and then more chance to practice.