Engaging and Empowering School Libraries

Today we revisited our discussion around ChatGPT and AI. As this new technology unfolds it is important for us to continue talking about our new learning and the impact these new tools will have on education, especially for school libraries. We were joined today by my co-host school librarian Sabrina Cox and our guests were Darryl Toerien, Head of Inquiry Learning and Jenny Toerien, School Librari...

In this episode, we talk about the role that senior leaders play in not only creating a good school library but helping ensure that it is used across the curriculum too. As always I am joined by my co-host Sabrina Cox and we are delighted to welcome back Peter Middleton, headmaster of Oswestry School alongside his school librarian Claire Livsey. They were joined by School librarian Ruth Maloney wh...

Tonight I was joined by my friend and colleague Stony Evans. We have been working collaboratively for nearly 7 years, starting when we were both ready to open the doors of our school libraries internationally for the benefit of our teachers and students. Tonight we are going to share our journey of international collaboration, highlighting the benefits as well as giving some ideas that you may wan...

This week we are discussing how school librarians can empower themselves and the profession by focusing on the organisations and schools they work in.  We also covered the importance of building support networks within and beyond school libraries.  I was joined by my co-hosts and school librarians Sabrina Cox and Ruth Maloney and our guests were Sue Wills MBE Assistant director: Arts, Culture, Her...

This week we are returning to the topic of online resources for school libraries. Back in November we chatted to school librarians about how school libraries could provide online resources on a budget. This time however we are looking more closely at 2 resources that bring something else to teaching and learning. The first is Bedrock learning, the second is Massolit, and for those with very little...

This week we are talking about campaigning for school libraries and why it is important. The Great School Libraries Campaign was set up 4 years ago as a joint venture between the School Library Association, CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) and CILIP SLG (School Library Group).  Tonight I am joined by my co-host and school librarian Sabrina Cox and our guests thi...

This podcast is about ChatGPT and AI within education and the role that the school librarian can play in helping students and teachers engage with with it. After initially deciding that I needed to know more about all of this back in December the AI world has exploded and it is virtually impossible to keep up to date with everything new that is now available. We felt that another conversation abou...

This podcast was recorded on Twitter Spaces in May 2022. Ruth Maloney and Elizabeth Hutchinson chatted to author, Ann Bryant about the role the school librarian plays in making an author visit something memorable for both the visiting author and the students.  We had a wonderful conversation about how to make sure the questions your students ask are of value to everyone. Some great ideas to ensure...

This podcast is about World Book Day, a day when many schools take the time to celebrate books and reading. Over the last few years, the interest in World book day has been dominated by the craze of ‘dressing up as your favourite book character’ and whilst this is fun it can cause much angst among parents and children who don’t have the time or money to join in. We have many school librarians who...

This podcast is about ChatGPT and how the skills needed to navigate it well are part of the skillset that school librarians already have.  I want to welcome back Domonic Sunderland Headteacher Capella House school who joined me a few weeks ago on my previous podcast about  ChatGPT and my other two guests who have got up rather early to talk to us from Australia, Andrew Herft who is a curriculum ad...

Are graphic novels just comics and do they have a place in our school libraries? In this episode, Ruth, Sabrina and I unpack the power of graphic novels on students reading and are joined by experts Paul Register, school librarian and founder of Excelsior awards and Rebecca Simpson-Hargreaves, Lecturer in Education, University of Manchester.  Resources mentioned in the podcast:- Richard Ruddick ht...

Today I talked to guests Sean McNamara, CEO of CILIP Scotland, Dr Dorothy Willaims, Emeritus professor from Robert Gordon University and school librarian Anne De’Ath about the essential role of school libraries and librarians within education looking at the impact of school library closures across Scotland.  Great School Libraries Campaign website https://www.greatschoollibraries.org.uk/   Some of...

Do head teachers have a responsibility to ensure that their school library and librarian are understood and valued in their schools? We talked to two esteemed leaders in education. Richard Gerver, an award-winning speaker, bestselling author, and School Library Association President, and Peter Middleton Headteacher of Oswestry school about the critical role senior leaders have in supporting their...

What is ChatGPT and AI? Where do you start with it? Is it a passing fad or here to stay? Tonight, I am joined by Domonic Sunderland Headteacher of Capella House School to chat through some of the possibilities for teachers and school librarians.  If you want to join my Webinar on Wednesday 18th January here is the link for more information https://www.elizabethahutchinson.com/service-page/chatgpt-...

(Start at 4.54 to miss set up chat). Elizabeth, Sabrina and Ruth chat with school librarians Emily, Hayden and Susan about the importance of digital resources and the school library. Here is a link to some of the free resources we discussed during the chat. https://wakelet.com/wake/dKdRDqTmVe5ZFth6a8BHx  from school librarian Clare Brumpton Search coach https://www.bigtechwire.com/2022/06/14/micro...

(Start at 5.47 mins to miss set up chat) Elizabeth, Ruth and Sabrina chat with Krystal Vittal, Deputy CEO of Suffolk libraries, Briony Birdi, Senior lecturer and dissertation supervisor at Sheffield University, Corin Peacock, a student at Sheffield University studying librarianship and Rachel Huskisson, school librarian about the different routes to a professional qualification. We discussed why i...

(Start at 4.55 mins to miss set up chat) Elizabeth, Ruth and Sabrina chat with school librarian, Clare Brumpton and teacher, Gaurav Dubay about reading. We discussed the importance of reading for recreation, how to support students reading for learning and give ideas for engaging reluctant readers in reading for life. Listen out for my snowman gaff... proves it is a live show!  Here is the link to...

(Start at 4 mins to miss set up chat) Elizabeth, Ruth and Sabrina chat with Raff Grasso, a teacher librarian from Melbourn and Haley Higgins and Alison Mercer-Cifola from Bolinda. We talked about ebooks in school libraries. We covered having a school collection and how to promote them. Using the public library collections and the increased use of audiobooks. We cover diversity and how this medium...

(Start at 4m 55sec to miss set up chat) Elizabeth, Ruth and Sabrina chat with Alison King, Will Lack and Jim Mcleod about selecting stock for your school library. We covered diversity, how to find hidden gems and how to choose genres we don't read ourselves. Thanks to Jim I have just downloaded my first ever horror story... Will I be a convert? https://www.elizabethahutchinson.com/   https://www.g...

#LSLLTS is not running during the holidays, this is an older episode we recorded on 15th November 2021. Ruth Maloney and Elizabeth Hutchinson talk to Debra Perrin, school librarian, about why collection development is important. "What a holistic and wide-ranging discussion with amazingly varied views yet librarians' hearts are all the same - we want our students reading, learning and growing" Iren...

(Start at 2m 50sec) Elizabeth and Sabrina (Ruth was poorly) chat with Amy Hermon and Steve Tetreault 2 US school librarians about book banning in the US. They talk about their situation and advise us on what we should do now before it is too late. Claire Marris a UK librarian who has recently written for the School Librarian about book banning joins the conversation from a UK perspective.  https:/...

(Start at 2mins 45 sec to miss set up chatter) Elizabeth and Ruth chat to Emma Wallace (School Librarian) and Dr Julie Greenhough (English teacher) about their recent FOSIL inquiry collaboration with year 8. They give a fascinating insight into the benefits of collaboration for their students and themselves. 

Elizabeth Hutchinson and Ruth Maloney chat to Jake Hope and Amy McKay who are both involved with the Carnegie and Greenaway Book Awards about how book awards are run and the nature of teenage fiction. We also discussed the merit of using illustrated books with older teenagers too. 

(Start at 2m 43s to miss out on set up chat) Ruth Maloney and Elizabeth Hutchinson discuss the relevance of non-fiction collections in school libraries with Jenny and Darryl Toerien.