All presentation materials are archived on this website.
L’Association des bibliothéquaires du Québec / Quebec Library Association Conference, May 13, 2022. Introducing the Canadian School Libraries Collection Diversity Toolkit.
Upheaval and change. Over the past few years and as the pandemic raged in the background, Canadians have witnessed the dramatic uncovering of the colonial brutality of Canada’s residential school system, and the ongoing realities of systemic racism. Add onto that populist backlash, with the current epidemic of book challenges and censorship south of the border. Against this tumultuous backdrop, we, as school librarians, feel the urgency to effect positive change for equity, diversity, and representation, starting with our collections.
Who is represented in our collections? Can students see themselves reflected in what they read? Are the cultural practices of Canada’s Indigenous peoples represented as historical anachronisms, or as part of lived, contemporary culture? Why is weeding an important part of developing and maintaining diverse collections? How do selection and reconsideration procedures provide library professionals with confidence to develop diverse collections? What does an equity-informed library collection look like?
The CSL Collection Diversity Toolkit provides a framework for building vibrant collections through an equity lens. Join us as we tackle the tough questions, and explore the toolkit’s comprehensive and practical suggestions for making sure that school library collections meet all of our students’ needs, representing the full diversity of Canadian society.
Ontario Library Association Super Conference 2022. Voices for School Libraries. A panel discussion with members of the Save School Libraries Coalition (SSL). Advocacy resources from SSL and session transcript.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, school libraries across Canada continue to be under threat. The pandemic has exacerbated existing inequities in access to qualified staff, programs, and resources. There is a critical need to protect the future of school libraries by restoring and maintaining pre-pandemic school library staffing levels, ensuring that students have ongoing access to quality resources, and making adequate and stable funding for school libraries an ongoing priority, post-pandemic.
Save School Libraries is a national coalition dedicated to advocating for the critical importance of school libraries and their professional staff. There have been some significant advocacy gains in Ontario as the pandemic continues, but has anything improved in schools as a result? How can we mobilize allies to raise their voices to support school libraries? Join our panel of school library advocates as we confront current realities, and gather your ideas for next steps.
School Library Association of New South Wales (Australia). International Speakers Series (August 22, 2020). The Post-Pandemic Library Learning Commons: Assessing Innovation and Moving Forward.
Do we really matter? Do our actions improve student outcomes and have an impact on their learning and their lives? Do the strategies that we use in the library program have a positive influence on how well the school reaches its goals? These are pressing questions that can be addressed through research, especially the “homegrown” research that decision-makers trust the most. School libraries worldwide are innovating and dramatically shifting practice, particularly since the global pandemic has turned things upside-down. We need to have real plans to assess our successes and share what we are learning. The Canadian School Libraries Research Toolkit was created to address a compelling need for practitioner research in Canada, but we are sure that it is as relevant in New South Wales and all of Australia. The toolkit and other initiatives from Canadian School Libraries may help frame the path forward, post-pandemic.
Build Your Own Virtual Library Learning Commons: A 3-Part Webinar as part of The Learning Revolution Online Conference, April 20, 27 & May 4, 2020.
Presenters: Anita Brooks Kirkland, Chair, Canadian School Libraries; Dr. David Loertscher, San José State University School of Information; Pippa Davies, Learning Commons Director, Heritage Christian Online School
It is time to transform the school library website as a one-way push out of links to a school-wide participatory virtual learning community. Yes, the school might have an administrative website for organizational business, and yes, the school may link teachers and students to a content management system, but we imagine a collaborative community building learning experiences, curating content together, doing major design thinking projects, providing a major help center, including not just library resources but art, music, p.e., health, and counselling that create an exciting school culture…the place where students, teachers, and parents click on first.
Treasure Mountain Canada 6 2020: Participatory Learning the the Library Learning Commons. Co-Planner and facilitator for this biennial research symposium from Canadian School Libraries.
Treasure Mountain Canada 6 2020: The Eric Walters School Library Summer Lending Challenge: Findings from the Research. Co-author of research project and symposium presenter.
OLA Super Conference 2020 (January 31, 2020)
Poster Session: Keep Them Reading, Thinking, and Making. The Eric Walters School Library Summer Lending Challenge
QSLiN: Quebec School Librarians Network (March 28, 2019)
The Strategic Librarian: Action Advocacy for the School Library Learning Commons
Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board Secondary Teacher-Librarians (April 24, 2019): Action is Eloquence: The Strategic Teacher-Librarian
Ontario Library Association Super Conference 2019
Doing Data: A fun and innovative way to count what matters
With Caroline Freibauer
Action Advocacy for the School Library Learning Commons
La promotion d’action de la bibliothèque scolaire Journées des formations de l’APSDS, December 2018
OLA Super Conference 2018
Poster Session: Boldly Moving Forward with Canadian School Libraries
Imagine Your Library: OASC Library Conference, October 2017
Action is Eloquence: Leadership from the School Library Learning Commons: Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, September 2017
Action is Eloquence: Leadership from the School Library Learning Commons: York Region District School Board May 2017
OLA Super Conference 2017
Soapbox 3.0: Action Advocacy for School Libraries
It’s New! Canadian School Libraries
with Carol Koechlin and Jo-Anne Gibson
Leading Learning from the Library Learning Commons: Edifide, 2016
The Virtual Library Learning Commons: York Catholic District School Board, May 2016
Leading Learning from the Library Learning Commons: Halifax Regional School Board, May 2016
Designing for Learning: Moving from Covering Information to Uncovering Deeper Understanding: University of Toronto Libraries, March 2016
Flipped Orientation: GAFE Ontario Summit, April 2016, with Carlo Fusco
OLA Super Conference, January 2016
Flip Your Library Orientation
with Carlo Fusco
Learning Commons Lightning Round
Featuring teacher-librarians Caroline Freibauer, Carlo Fusco, Alanna King, Kate Johnson-McGregor and Melanie Mulcaster
eLearning in Libraries Symposium
iSchool, University of Toronto, November 13, 2015
Just Say No to PowerPoint Poisoning!, with Jennifer Thiessen
Designing for Learning
Algonquin Lakeside Catholic DSB TechFest
November 14, 2015
Your Library Learning Commons, with Peggy Lunn
Finding Images You Can Use
Bring IT Together 2015
November 4 – 6, 2015
Year of the Learning Commons, with Jeanne Conte
Learning Commons Lightning Round
Innovation Station: Music in a Lifetime
International Association of School Librarianship 2015
Collaborative Leadership in School Library Learning Commons: New Canadian Standards and New Possibilities
A paper by Carol Koechlin and Anita Brooks Kirkland
Dr. Diane Oberg presented this paper on our behalf at the IASL Annual Conference 2015 in Maastricht, The Netherlands.
Ontario Library Association Super Conference 2015
Leading Learning to Transform School Libraries
A Taste of Treasure Mountain
Library Programming for Children: Using iPads Toronto Public Library, December 2 & 3, 2014
eLearning in Libraries Symposium: Instructional Design for eLearning Ryerson University, November 14, 2014
Advocacy for School Libraries with Wendy Newman. Course Guest, iSchool, University of Toronto, November 11-17, 2014.
Collaborative Leadership in the Library Learning Commons Interdivisional Learning Commons Day for Teacher-Librarians, Winnipeg, Manitoba, October 16, 2014
Leading Learning in the School Library Learning Commons: System and School Planning in the GECDSB, and Flip Your Library Orientation Greater Essex County District School Board, October 9, 2014
TMC 2014: A National Symposium – Leading Libraries for the Future
Myths, Realities and Opportunities: What the Research Says about Digital Literacy
Defining New Metrics for Library Success: School Library Panel
University of Toronto iSchool Symposium, April 22, 2014
With Jeanne Conte
Ontario Library Association Super Conference 2014
Designed for Thinkers: A Critical Thinking Approach to Digital Citizenship
With Ruth Hall, members of TALCO & student guests
Annual Institute of the Library as Place, July 2013
Teen Territories: Creating Their Special Places in Libraries
With Carol Koechlin and Sofia di Sabatino
York Catholic DSB Teacher-Librarians’ PD, February 2013
The Connected Teacher-Librarian
Kicking It Up A Notch With T4L
Ontario Library Association Super Conference 2013
Together for Learning Showcase
With Elizabeth Gordon, Isabelle Hobbs, Carol Koechlin
Research Matters!
Part 1: Librarians’ Perspectives on Research
Part 2: Getting Started and Going Deeper
With Joanna Aegard, Kristin Hoffman, Shauna-Lee Konrad, and Kevin Manuel.
Treasure Mountain Canada 2012
School Library Websites: The Bricks and Mortar of the Virtual Library Space
Waterloo Goes Wireless, April 2012
Inquiry Untethered
Ontario Library Association Super Conference 2012
Construction Zones for Learning
Virtual Knowledge Building
The Partnership’s Education Institute, November 2011
The Great Web 2.0 Face-Off Post-Game Show (Webinar)
Durham District School Board, November 2011
Together for Learning Progress Report
Internet Librarian 2011
The Great Web Tools Face-Off!
Educational Computing Organization of Ontario (ECOO) 2011
Imagine Your Library
The Great Web 2.0 Face-Off Re-Match!
Virtual Knowledge Building
Simcoe County District School Board, April 2011
Together for Learning First Year Progress Report
Online Knowledge Building Centres Using Google Sites
Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board, April 2011
Virtual Learning Commons: Building New Literacies
Why librarians should be in charge of educational technology
Upper Grand District School Board, April 2011
Teach Wikipedia? First Let’s Learn Wikipedia
Ontario Library Association Super Conference 2011
The Great Web 2.0 Face-Off! OSLA Spotlight Session
From Vision to Action: Building an Online Library Learning Commons
Treasure Mountain Canada 2010
Teacher-Librarians and the New Learning Divide
Educational Computing Organization of Ontario (ECOO) 2010
Building an Online Library Learning Commons
Ontario Library Association Super Conference 2009
The Social Web Goes To School: Enabling 21st Century Learning
Top Tech Trends – K-12 Education & The New School Library
Success Through Synergy: Developing a Framework for Student Success
Ontario Library Association Super Conference 2008
Teaching Wikipedia
Wiki With Us (Pre-Conference Workshop)
Wiki Models for Student Research
