Standard: Fostering Literacies to Empower Life-Long Learners
Theme: Building Reader Skills and Capacity
Growth Phase: Evolving
Growth Indicator: Teacher-librarian/LLC teacher works with the school community to promote the values of independent reading and students’ right to read.
Through an annual “Professional Learning Inquiry Grant” program provided by the district, a K-8 French Immersion teacher-librarian in British Columbia conducted LLC action research on the essential question “What impact could access to audiobooks and/or eBooks have on the engagement and interest in reading for so called “reluctant readers”? Includes each step of the research process, outcomes, slide presentations and resources list.
Wallace, N. (2022). Audiobooks in the LLC. Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/sd62learns.org/audiobooksinthellc/home
Canadian School Libraries (CSL) issued this statement on May 24, 2023, in response to growing calls across the country to remove or restrict access to books in school library collections that express LGBTQia2s+ perspectives, represent characters of differing sexual orientations or gender identities, or deal with sexual health, and books where the main characters are people of colour. Read the full statement here and share it widely.
Canadian School Libraries (CSL). (2023, May 24). CSL Statement: Book Challenges and Censorship in Canada’s School Libraries.
Retrieved from https://journal.canadianschoollibraries.ca/csl-statement-book-challenges-and-censorship-in-canadas-school-libraries/
Teacher-librarian and 2022/23 President of the British Columbia Teacher-Librarians’ Association (BCTLA) Tammy Le is interviewed in this news story regarding a group calling for book bans in BC schools. Le discusses the selection process and issue with expertise and sensitivity.
Hyslop, K. (2023, March 22). What a BC Librarian Thinks about Calls to Ban Books. The Tyee. Retrieved from https://thetyee.ca/News/2023/03/22/What-A-BC-Librarian-Thinks-About-Book-Bans/
Coordinator of the Teacher Librarianship program at the University of British Columbia and Canadian School Libraries (CSL) Director, Beaudry discusses the growing misinformation spreading on social media about what happens in library book challenges through examples and resolutions.
Beaudry, R. (2023, July 7). I’ve helped librarians handle attempted book bans for 20 years. Here’s why it’s getting worse. MacLean’s.Retrieved from https://macleans.ca/society/ive-helped-librarians-handle-attempted-book-bans-for-20-years-heres-why-its-getting-worse/
British Columbia teacher-librarian and CSL Director Armstrong reflects on a key learning session she organized during a district-wide PD day involving videos of a panel of Canadian experts speaking on book challenges.
Armstrong, L. (2024, March 14). Centre the child in book challenge debates. Canadian School Library Journal 8 (1). https://journal.canadianschoollibraries.ca/centre-the-child-in-book-challenge-debates/
Ontario Library Association (OLA) Executive Director Arbuckle takes pride in being part of the OLA team that organizes Freedom to Read Week, celebrating the right to read across the country. In this article Arbuckle discusses the role of school libraries in the freedom to read and strategies to overcome challenges.
Arbuckle, M. (2024, March 14). Reflecting on 40 years of freedom to read: Championing free expression in Canada school libraries. Canadian School Library Journal 8 (1). https://journal.canadianschoollibraries.ca/reflecting-on-40-years-of-freedom-to-read/
Editorial Coordinator for the Top Grade: CanLit for the Classroom, a program of the Association of Canadian Publishers’ Children’s Committee, shares several titles K-12 on the importance of representation in reading.
Miller, S. (2024, March 14). Challenge accepted: 12 books for “reading woke” – Canadian Indie Publisher edition. Canadian School Library Journal 8 (1). https://journal.canadianschoollibraries.ca/challenge-accepted-12-books-for-reading-woke/