Think that you could benefit from a better relationship with your librarian? Ask them for help! In my experience, there are three stand-out ways that Accessit Library can empower librarians to really make a difference for teachers and tamariki, writes Carole Gardiner.

Having made the step from fulltime librarian to working with library software here at Accessit, it’s been amazing to see how different librarians work and how so many across the country are firmly establishing the library as a cornerstone of their school’s learning journey.

So, I wanted to inspire you with some of the best practices I’ve seen in action and the features of Accessit Library that make it possible to enhance and improve literacy throughout the school, and clearly demonstrate that a library is about so much more than just books!

Librarians have the skills to be involved in all areas of learning. In fact, we have the power to extend kids’ learning beyond the library walls. We do more than just issue and return books, and I’m inspired by the librarians I see every day who are getting the library involved with a range of topics across the curriculum.

While I’ve used Accessit Library here, take these ideas as inspiration to try something new, or see them as a positive reminder that what you’re doing is great for our tamariki and your colleagues.

Here are three ways a librarian can help you:

1. Content curation

Creating separate Web App dashboards for curriculum and inquiry topics, bringing together library and other online resources in one easy to find place, and facilitating collaborative resource sharing between library staff and teaching colleagues. The outcomes are:

2. Teaching safe searching

With the quality of content found with a Google search now being more in question than ever, we need to teach smart and safe research skills.

Accessit Library’s One Search helps students find quality information from trusted sources. The outcomes are:

3. Reporting for the better

Reporting goes beyond just finding the most popular books or stocktaking, it can also be a really powerful tool to help you and teachers find out more about how students are using all the resources that the library provides. The outcomes are:

By Carole Gardiner, BA (Hons) MLIS and Accessit Library legend.

Find out more at accessitlibrary.com/great/

INTERFACE May 2023