Over the past four years we have taken our grade 11 – 12 students to a University Library for a one day field trip. Over the last three years we have gone to Koç University.
The students start their day with a tour of the campus and then spend 20 minutes in a seminar room in the library with one of the University Librarians. In the seminar the librarian opens the wifi to our students and shows them how to search the University catalog and databases. We then spend the next four hours researching the academic essay DP students have to write known as “The Extended Essay”. Every student has their own particular topic. They also have appointments to meet with the College counselor
One of the main reasons we go on this field trip is to introduce the students to University Campus life. Koç University is a large private University in our city and when we visit it is being actively used by the students on campus. Admittedly we try to visit during exam weeks or in between semesters so there are fewer students, but our students still get to see University students at work in the library.
These visits are usually welcomed by the University libraries as they get a chance to show off their campus and facilities to prospective students (Jung- Matthews). We do have a special relationship with Koç University built up over the years and with our own school librarians attending their Erasmus conference last year.
The teachers who attend the day with the students are there to guide them with developing research questions that will help their information search. As the Teacher Librarian I have a very busy day helping students to cite their sources, find resources and develop questions and key words to help with the search.
Koç University has its own agreements with databases and ebook subscription services and not all of their collection is open to us. Students may only use the print and electronic resources on the day so it is important to get the citations correctly recorded in order for the student to take good notes. Some of the resources our students found as ebooks while not available to them on the day they did find them on our school ebook Central subscription service. Knowing this ahead of time meant students could use their time in the library wisely (Ury).
We want to thank Koç University for their generosity in using their resources, their study rooms and the second floor of their library and to Vasia Mole the academic librarian who give her time each year for our orientation lecture.
It is always a great day.
Our dedicated students and teachers
Works Cited
Jung-Mathews, Anne. “Why (and How) to Set Up a College Library Visit for Middle Schoolers.” School Library Journal, 4 Jan. 2016, www.slj.com/?detailStory=why-and-how-to-set-up-a-college-library-visit-for-middle-schoolers. Accessed 25 Mar. 2019.
Ury, Connie J. “Value Added: High School Research Projects in an Academic Library.” Clearing House, vol. 69, no. 5, May 1996, p. 313. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/00098655.1996.10114328. Accessed 25 Mar. 2019.
Last year we resurrected our student librarian internship programme. It had died off due to the numerous changes in the CAS (Creativity, Activity and Service, part of the core of the IB Diploma) programme about five years ago. With new CAS programme leaders and a renewed focus which allowed for in school service we decided, we would bring it back – with great success.
The hardest place to serve is in your own school.
What makes for a successful student librarian programme? Well apart from the enthusiastic students there are some key elements that we have discovered and research also confirms.
Ask students to apply (Braxton, McGown, Sproul). We have an application form which includes questions about why the student has applied and what they feel they can bring to the role.
Give a job description and make your expectations of the students very clear (Braxton, McGown, Sproul). Our job description is very generic but now I have read the articles cited below I have decided to add the need of commitment, reliability, cooperation, responsibility, trust and work ethic (Braxton).
Provide training (Braxton, McGown, Sproul). We have a 90 minute training session after school. We did try on the job training but it was very ad hoc and not as effective as training the students. Braxton suggests having levels of achievement within a training and student librarianship programme and have the students track their own progress.
Change up the tasks the students are required to do each week. We have four key roles and the students rotate through those roles.
Have experienced students lead team and help to train the new students (Braxton, Sproul)
Celebrate the successes and show appreciation for their efforts (Sproul). We find actually closing the library and ‘breaking’ the rules of no food with a pizza lunch or coffee and cake are all much appreciated by our student librarians.
Below are some helpful articles and websites I have found. Some of them are about adult volunteers as well.
Works Cited
Barack, Lauren. “Are There Any Volunteers?: A Pain-Free Approach to Getting the Very Best out of Parents.” School Library Journal, vol. 56, no. 12, Dec. 2010, pp. 40–43. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ922995&site=ehost-live.
Braxton, Barbara. “Make Your Load Lighter with STARS.” Teacher Librarian, vol. 32, no. 5, June 2005. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ728077&site=ehost-live.
Lincoln, Margaret. “Information Literacy: An Online Course for Student Library Assistants.” School Library Media Activities Monthly, vol. 25, no. 10, June 2009, pp. 29–30. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ840834&site=ehost-live.
McGown, Sue W. “Valuable Volunteers: How to Find, Use, and Keep Them.” Library Media Connection, vol. 26, no. 2, Oct. 2007, pp. 10–13. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ776631&site=ehost-live.
Snyder, Beth. “Recruiting Library Volunteers.” Library Media Connection, vol. 28, no. 1, Jan. 2009, pp. 22–23. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ857455&site=ehost-live.
Sproul, Betty. “Implementing a Library Helper Program Is Easy, Economical, and Energizing.” Library Media Connection, vol. 24, no. 7, Jan. 2006, p. 44. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ762332&site=ehost-live.
“Student librarians.” National Library of New Zealand, natlib.govt.nz/schools/school-libraries/leading-and-managing/managing-your-school-library-staff/student-librarians. Accessed 18 Feb. 2019.
This week I had the pleasure of seeing a student who was making a documentary go through the process of determining whether permission was needed to use some film clips from two published films (in one case no and in the other case – hmm not so sure). She decided to ask permission from the filmmaker but wasn’t sure if they would reply before her deadline to complete the film. We discussed a plan B – to use the information in the film and cite it but use voice-over or text over her own filmed footage at a Museum. It was not ideal and certainly would not have had the same impact. We discussed how to cite other people’s work in her film credits and in her write up. The very next day she came into the library with a brilliant smile – the filmmakers had given her permission to use their film. What a great outcome for her and what a delight for me to see a student being encouraged by professional filmmakers.
Students often do not understand or even consider copyright when using content (text, images, video) created by other people. Admittedly it is more difficult in an international setting but almost all countries have some sort of copyright protections and ignorance of the law of the land is no defense.
There is the idea of “Fair Use”. Richard Stim in his blog post for Stanford University Libraries explains Fair Use this way: ” fair use is any copying of copyrighted material done for a limited and “transformative” purpose, such as to comment upon, criticize, or parody a copyrighted work. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner. In other words, fair use is a defense against a claim of copyright infringement. If your use qualifies as a fair use, then it would not be considered an infringement.” Stim goes on to explain that actually, the word “transformative” is open to different interpretations. There have been times when people thinking they have adapted someone else’s work have been prosecuted for copyright infringement.
I always advise that when in doubt ask permission. Stim, has also written a blog post advising on the basics of getting permission which outlines 6 steps for students to follow. The first two are to see if you need permission and then find out who to ask.
I hope that more students follow this student’s example and experience encouragement from academics, researchers and professionals as they seek to do the right thing.
Works Cited
Stim, R. “The basics of getting permission.” Stanford University Libraries, fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/introduction/getting-permission/. Accessed 25 Jan. 2019.
—. “What is fair use?” Stanford University Libraries, fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/what-is-fair-use/. Accessed 25 Jan. 2019.
This year for reading week our theme is “The world is my book.” We will be adding book covers to our world map as we read them. Follow our progress as we document where we have been traveling through the books we read.
We have noticed something very extraordinary about students who use book bags for their library books
they bring their library books back to the library when it is library lesson
their drink bottle or yoghurt or snack food is never found on their library books
their library books are never dumped on the floor and trodden on
the students have a place to put their library books when they are using them at home
their library books remain in good condition
these students can check out more books to take home in their book bags
if by any chance they mislay their library book bag it is found by someone and returned to them or to us
At IICS we do not provide our students with book bags, we simply don’t have the resources to do this BUT the good news is that with the move away from plastic bags many shops are embracing re-usable bags. These bags make great book bags for our students. All we ask is that each child brings a reusable book bag with them to take their library books to and from home.
Last year we had some KOZA bags to give children
Some book bags from our students this year
There is a group in Hong Kong called “Bring me a Book” and they have banks and other organizations sponsor Book Bag libraries. A book bag includes books that have
– Pictures, few words
– Pictures, more words
– Words, few pictures
– Chapter books
– Some books with audio recordings
This reminded us of a presentation we saw at the IASL conference about lending families book bags. I wrote about it on my personal blog. This is something we would like to explore with our friends of the library this year – or with the student librarians. The goal is to encourage whole families to read together and as individuals. The backpacks created in the libraries in Croatia included books for the whole family.
Book bags can lead to some wonderful reading for the whole family. Time to make sure your child has one.
This year we are inviting parents to join the library team through a group called “Friends of the Library”
We want to encourage more parental involvement with our school libraries. Hopefully, as in true friendship, the relationship will be mutually beneficial.
So far our wonderful friends have translated Russian book information into English so we can catalogue, arranged transport to Istanbul for some books, covered books with our plastic wrap to help them last longer and discussed the formation of a book club.
What can the IICS libraries bring to the friendship?
* Unlimited borrowing from our collection at both libraries. Sign up with one of our librarians to be added as a borrower.
* Come and enjoy the library. This year every time there is a primary assembly at Marmara the library has a space booked for “Friends of the Library” so you can use the space for a book club meeting or simply browsing.
* We are open to your suggestions. http://my.iics.k12.tr/library/talk-to-your-librarians/
What can parents bring to the friendship?
* Translating book information into English. We have some books in languages other than English waiting to be catalogued. We need help to have the titles and book information translated so we can add them to our catalogue.
* Reading aloud to children in your home language. A couple of times each year we have a home language storytime in the primary school on both campuses. If you would like to read to children in your own language you help can make this a fun experience for our students.
* Help grow our collection. When you are back in your home countries visit a bookshop and find out what is the most popular book for your age child. Buy a copy and donate it to our library for everyone to enjoy.
* Donate your read magazines or books in good condition when your own bookshelves become too full to take any more new additions.
* Prepare books for cataloguing at Marmara campus. If you have a spare hour or so we could use your help getting books ready to catalogue.
* Transporting book orders from the USA or the UK. We have a service for our students and staff called “Buy this book please” where they can request books and we purchase them on Amazon. Unfortunately, the cost of delivery is almost as much as the cost of the books. We could make our budget go so much further if you could let us know of a trip to the USA so we can order a few books, have them delivered to you and then you bring them back. We would need about 2 weeks notice and you definitely set the limit in terms of numbers of books
If you want to be a friend of our library please let one of our librarians know in person or email library@iics.k12.tr or Amanda Bond abond@iics.k12.tr
Next meeting for Friends of the library will be on Wednesday 11 October at 10 am Marmara Campus library
