LIBE 477 Inquiry Blog Post #5

An Inquiry Reflection 

Over the past few weeks, I was able to explore topics I wanted to learn more about, discover new ways to foster a reading culture within my school, learn about new opportunities for professional growth as well as ways to support my colleagues, all the while delving into a world of new knowledge and information found on social media, blogs, and through interactions with my peers. 

 

Fostering a reading culture has been a passion of mine for some time and I am always excited to learn new ideas and tools I can use in my library learning commons. 

TheBookWhisperer.com, n.d.

In a previous course, I was introduced to the text, Reading in the Wild: The Book Whisperer's Keys to Cultivating Lifelong Reading Habits, by Donalyn Miller and Susan Kelley. This book was a must have for me and motivated me to expand my learning in this area. During this inquiry week, I decided to search these authors and found several more books and articles as well as the blog, The Book Whisperer. This search also led me to other great articles that cited Donalyn Miller, and provided a wealth of ideas to promote a reading culture within the school. I also learned new ideas from my classmates' blogs, something I will miss tremendously when this course ends. As mentioned in a previous post, I can easily get lost in my research, but in many ways this journey is what makes inquiry so engaging, the ability to search one author or topic and through many twists and turns, emerge having discovered unexpected treasures and new perspectives.

One of the fears that keeps rearing its head as I near the end of the teacher librarianship diploma is the realization that I will soon be "on my own". What this inquiry experience reminded me, is that unless I isolate myself, I am not alone. Things will look different and I may be pushed out of my comfort zone from time to time, but there are vast educational opportunities and networks of support available as I continue my lifelong journey as a teacher librarian.

Image ID: 1543632293 (Shutterstock, n.d.)

Once I started digging, I was surprised at the amount of resources available. I have always thought of professional development in narrow terms, such as formal workshops, rather than discussions with colleagues or discovering new ideas on social media and blogs. I also found I unwittingly limited myself to my district's offerings, rarely exploring other workshops, webinars, or online opportunities. The greatest take away from my inquiry into professional development, both for myself and for staff, is that professional development can take many forms and can happen daily. Being open to ideas and spending some time each week proactively seeking out new learning is an effective strategy to stay current and informed. I still find myself a little fearful of leading others in their professional development, but this lesson certainly reduced those fears and enabled me to envision this role through a different lens. I no longer feel the pressure to always be the expert or teacher, but rather to facilitate learning opportunities by tapping into the expertise of others. A lot of this fear is due to my anxiety with public speaking (in front of my peers). As my confidence grows, I hope to be more active and efficient in this role. In the meantime, I may need to muster up some courage. A quote I came across recently has served as a good reminder:

“Be brave.....Or pretend to be. It’s all the same.” ― Kristin Hannah, The Four Winds

Image ID: 1308311953 (Shutterstock, n.d.)

When I think of my position, I think of myself as a teacher first and foremost, and while this is important when it comes to promoting the library learning commons and my role as an educator in supporting staff and students within the school community, it is important to realize that I am also a part of a community of librarians, and this field expands far beyond the school walls. Our last inquiry week reminded me of librarians' and libraries' significant impact in communities across the globe and inspired me to learn more about how libraries can influence change and positively affect peoples' well-being. 

References: 

Hannah, K. (2022). Four winds. Pan Books.

Miller, D., & Kelley, S. (2013). Reading in the wild : The book whisperer's keys to cultivating lifelong reading habits. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.

Shutterstock (2022). Image ID: 1543632293 [Image]. Shutterstock. https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/man-woman-carry-each-other-big-1543632293

Shutterstock (2022).  Image ID: 1308311953 [Image]. Shutterstock.  https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/businesswoman-shadow-superhero-super-manager-leader-1308311953