1st April Library Snapshot Day

Library Snapshot Day takes place on 1st April. It is an engaging way to help capture the daily ongoings of libraries and the amount of support and appreciation they receive from communities. It involves sharing pictures, testimonials, and data on libraries to showcase their immeasurable impact on communities and society. 

For a school library here in Australia it is in the last week of school before the Easter holidays, so there will be a large number of books returned from classrooms, teachers and students. The parents can borrow over the school holidays. As well, I am busy collating bulk loans of books for units of inquiry for next term. These will be borrowed by the classroom teachers.

Library Snapshot Day began in New Jersey in 2007 to answer the question “What would happen if libraries went away, even for a day?” Libraries are vibrant and vital centres of community where people go to connect to the world, technology, information, stories, and each other. They’re also often the most fun place to be when at school!

The day aims to showcase how important and valuable libraries are to communities and the roles that they play in providing a proper environment to read, learn, and generally get some peace from the outside world. When we mention libraries we also should think about the staff who work in them.

I was really interested to read about this day now, as I spent a day last week, visiting other school libraries and I certainly took a lot of photos. The other teacher librarian and I are researching school libraries because our principal has asked us to see how they plan for and manage their libraries. The school is contemplating amalgamating our resources into one 'new' space. The schools we visited had purpose-built libraries with flexible spaces, small-group meeting places and nooks that provided third spaces and a well-being focus.

My Preschool to Year 2 school library does this well in a small area,  but the schools we visited had substantially less students than we do, less book resources, and the library numbers were limited at lunchtime.  I worry about my regulars and where they will 'fit' at lunchtime.

Some days I do feel that all the children who come to the library at lunchtime are 'special'; they don't like the playground, they don't like noise, they think it's too hot outside, they would prefer to talk to adults than their peers, they want to read to Dr Booklove or give Clifford a hug, they think they have no friends, but then spend all their library time talking and playing with someone. Yes, my school library plays a very big role in the wellbeing of some K-2 students. In a school library that has more than 100 students in it at lunch time ensuring each child's needs are met will be a hard task.

The parents that use the P-2 library can also use the 3-6 library  and they do if they feel their child 'needs' more, but the thing that makes both of us teacher librarians smile is that often what they borrow, they could have borrowed in the P-2 library anyway or they are totally unrealistic about what they think their able reader should be reading. Parents often overlook the fact that while advanced readers can read technically complex books they still have the emotional needs, coping skills, and life experiences of their actual age and reading teenage fiction may 'scare' young readers.

As the last week of term approaches it is time to look at borrowing statistics and analyse what they tell us, but as we will be too busy shelving this week it will have to wait till we can sit and contemplate. Just as well the library operating system gives us the ability to set date parameters.