Set The Books Free: Compelling reasons why your school library should embrace summer lending as a stand for equity
by Kelly Johnson
If you have wondered about the pros and cons of letting your students borrow books from the school library collection over the summer then you must study Kelly Johnson’s paper. You can rely on Kelly’s rational and guidance because she is a seasoned believer in summer reading programs. Find out how it worked for Kelly and other participating schools.
Kelly Johnson is the Coordinator for Libraries and Information Services in Richmond SD38, BC. She supports teacher-librarians in creating welcoming and inclusive spaces that invite participatory learning. Kelly also manages the District Resource Centre, where her team carefully curates a wide range of resources to support educators and students. During the summer, she enjoys time with family at their oyster farm in beautiful Desolation Sound, BC. Outside of work, she finds joy in her garden, baking, reading, and hiking with her dog, Murphy.
Kelly, thanks for adding more research to such a valuable topic. I know that this area is dear to the hearts of many in Canadian School Libraries, as the big project in 2020 with author Eric Walters (that you quoted in your own paper) indicates.
ReplyDeleteOn page 4, you mentioned barriers that TLs offer as impediments to launching summer lending programs. Was this from the literature, casual conversations, or via surveys from your Richmond SD38 BC TLs?
I must say, I've done summer lending loans. The first two years were excellent, but on my third, I had a much larger percentage of books lost or unreturned until late. I could not determine why there was such a shift. I suspect that the pandemic had something to do with it, as the first two years were pre-pandemic and the third was post-pandemic. (I did not do it last year because of an end-of-school absence and I did not do it the year before due to a big summer inventory project.) Your paper is giving me the nudge I need to bring this practice back to my SLLC!
Diana
Hi Diana, thanks for taking the time to read the paper and give thoughtful feedback. The information I refer to as barriers facing TLs was sourced through surveys and in conversations during professional development workshops in our district. It's interesting that in your experience, losses went up post-pandemic. Can you pinpoint a commonality between book losses? I'm wondering about student's sudden or unexpected school or district changes? This was the reason we lost the few books that we did...
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to hear that paper has inspired a return to summer lending. In all case studies within our TL Richmond SD38 community, the resounding success stories are prompting colleagues in our district to give it a try. And in my experience, the front loading and (steps outlined in paper) make the process a little more manageable, with fewer barriers.
Kelly
Kelly, I really like how you have used both quantitative and qualitative data to advocate for the program and record its progress. I'm so glad you're address access to resources as a primary point. The other item that one of your student respondents said really resonates with me: "I know this school library better and it has books for me compared to the lack of resources for me at the public library." To me, that sounds like an inclusivity problem at the public library. We live in a strange public library system based on rural and municipal boundaries, so this really matters to a lot of students who actually don't have access to a public library. The other thing I'm wondering is if that student didn't see themselves in the public library collection -- and if this wouldn't be an awesome next level collaboration to share purchasing lists, diversity audits, etc. Why DON'T we talk more to each other about these things? After all, public libraries are staffed 12 months of the year.
ReplyDeleteAlana, thank you so much for your thoughtful response! I completely agree—your point about inclusivity in public library collections really stands out. Strengthening our school libraries’ partnership with public libraries could be such a powerful next step. Sharing our school libraries' work around diversity audits, and even discussing collection gaps could help ensure students see themselves reflected in both spaces. And, as you said, public libraries are open year-round—what an opportunity to create more seamless access for students! I’d love to explore ways to build this kind of collaboration, and, I think they'd welcome the conversation... sounds like I may have a follow-up project for TM9.
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