October International School Library Month

International School Library Month (ISLM) is an opportunity for those in charge of school libraries around the world to choose a day, week, or the entire month in October to celebrate the importance of school libraries and to celebrate everything great about them.

Here in Australia, ALIA is proud to celebrate International School Library Day. This day celebrates school libraries and their staff and the work that they undertake to support students. This year we are celebrating on 19 October with the theme 'Growing Global Citizens'.

Given that the students at my school have not had access to their library while we have been in lockdown due to COVID, when they are all back at school on Monday 18th October, many of them will be super keen to borrow books. During Zoom sessions there has been a constant lament...I need something new to read.

Yes, my students did have access to online reading resources, plenty of them, 'but it's not the same' they kept saying. Also every time I thought of something I wanted to use or recommend I couldn't just leap up, find it and give it to them. The libraries at the school I work at are very well-resourced and the students have plenty of choice, but they did take it for granted and so did their parents. Students under 8 years old need books! It is very important when learning to read to be able to touch the words, turn the pages, examine the illustrations closely and just 'soak' in the book.

I have been putting together a poster for the pinboard just inside the door , something to this effect. Once before I collected all the library toys together and sat them on the mat reading, took a photo and told the students that this is what happens in the library when you're not here. For some of my avid Year 1 and Year 2 readers I will put a post-it heart and their name on the book with a suggestion from the book saying that they might like to read it.

Another interesting outcome from Covid is the number of parents who emailed me saying I want  to order some books for my child, what would you recommend? Parents borrow a large number of books from the school library to supplement their child's reading or as bedtime reads for their children, so as soon as the library is staffed again we will be putting together book bags for parents. We do this in two ways. They either email us with requests or we supply a 'lucky dip' bag of ten books where we include a selection of picture books, together with a chapter book, a nonfiction information book, a biography, a graphic novel, a textless book, an indigenous title and a poetry book. In this way they get to sample things that they might not otherwise choose to borrow.

To match the theme of 'Growing Global Citizens' we will make sure that the choice is very international. We have a large collection of books that are translations from other languages. We can provide books by authors and illustrators who do not live in Australia and who do not write about Australia. We could highlight some picture books that show children using libraries that are nothing like theirs. They would need to make a bigger effort to access these:

 My Librarian is a Camel by Margaret Ruirs The Book Boat's In by Cynthia Cotten & Frane Lessac That Book Woman by Heather Henson & David Small Biblioburro  by Jeannette Winter

 Waiting for the Biblioburro by Monica Brown & John Parra Planting Stories  by Anika Aldamuy Denise & Paola Escobar

 Inside Books  by Terri Buzzeo & Jude Daly

The Librarian of Basra by Jeanette Winter

     The Library Bus  by Bahram Rahman & Gabrielle Grimard

And for fun

  

Leilong the Library Bus by Julia Liu & Bei Lynn

Now back to thinking about my school library, what can we do to make it more flexible, innovative and contemporary?

20th September Barbara Ker Wilson (1929 -2020)

I seem to have had reason to dip into the death notices in the paper lately and am always saddened when I read about someone I know of. A couple of weeks ago I read of the passing of Barbara Ker Wilson who was quite a prominent person in the children's book world here in Australia. She not only wrote her own books but was instrumental in publishing others. I first met Barbara's writing when I read her book The Willow Pattern Story. I have long collected blue and white plates and am fascinated by the Chinese love story about a  Mandarin girl who defies her rich father and elopes with the poor boy who she loves. I have a copy of this book ready to share with any grandchildren interested enough to know why there are so many versions of willow pattern plates in my house.

I decided to reread many of her books that we have in our library. She certainly had a broad range:

• Wishbones a Chinese Cinderella beautifully illustrated by Meilo So.

• The Turtle and the Island a folktale that tells the story of how a sea turtle builds the island of New Guinea with illustrations by Frane Lessac.

• Maui and the Big Fish  is a Polynesian creation myth with illustrations by Frane Lessac.

• Acacia Terrace tells the story of one family who lives in this house in Sydney from the 1860s to after World War II. This book is used often because it fits in with the current History syllabus.

• The Day of the Elephant illustrated by Frane Leassac was written in response to the Asian tsunami which devastated Indonesia, India and Thailand.

And the fun birthday story Meltdown illustrated by David Cox which tells what happens when an ice-cream cake melts on a very hot day.

11th November Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day is observed in Australia on the 11th November to recall the date that World War 1 ended in 1918. In schools and public places at 11.00am on this day, a minute's silence is held and a bugler may play the Last Post. This pause in the day's bustle is to remember men and women who have died or suffered as the result of war. Three Australian picture books that could be read as part of your school day are:

• Memorial by Gary Crew and Shaun Tan. This story looks among other things, at the number of members of one family who have fought in a war and how important it is to remember them.

• In Flanders Fields by Norman Jorgenson and Brian Harrison-Lever is also pertinent as we approach Christmas, as it tells the story of how fighting stopped in the trenches on Christmas Day during WW1 and it helps to show children what is really important when soldiers are away from home.

• The Donkey of Gallipoli: A True Story of Courage in World War 1 by Mark Greenwood and Frane Lessac. This story shows children the amazing bravery and camaraderie among the soldiers.