Australian School Library Day

The theme for 2025 is 'All the Literacies'. 

A well-resourced school library with supported staff is the most precious and effective resource a school can have when it comes to supporting reading literacy, reading for pleasure 

and whole school reading initiatives. 

Image Source: Students Need School Libraries

It is Children's Book Week here in Australia and SO some media focus is on libraries and especially school libraries, so the timing of this celebration seems perfect. 

Australian School Library Day was started in 2022 by Students Need School Libraries. The purpose of Australian School Library Day is to celebrate and highlight the glorious variety of things that your school library staff do - especially those things that may normally be ‘hidden’ from view but are so essential to the far-reaching web of impact that the school library has in your school. By raising awareness of the benefits of a well-resourced and suitably staffed school library we hope to ensure that future generations enjoy them as well.

The 2025 Australian School Library Day theme recognises that while school libraries are critical for reading literacy to be meaningful and enduring, they are also essential to EVERY long -term education strategy and every student deserves access to one in order to be the very best they can be, no matter where they live or what kind of learning challenges they may face.

Things I love to see when I visit a school library:

• Lots of children using the space
• School signs that show visitors how to find the school library
• Front facing shelves that show off book covers

Concord Public Library

• Displays that look fresh and in Term Three displays that celebrate the CBCA slogan
• Tidy shelves - I find messy shelves off-putting
• New books but also old books 
• Book labels in clear print and spine labels right at the bottom of the spine so the books look uniform on the shelf (take at look at these two images)

Messy - almost makes me dizzy

Better!

Perfect!

• Books in great condition 
• Comfortable seating
• Lots of light

• Clear well-designed signage
• Defined collections - nonfiction, easy chapter books, picture books etc and series boxes or sections
• Library staff - a trained Teacher-Librarian and library support staff
• Use of the correct terms - School Library and Teacher-Librarian

“A librarian recommended this book to me when I was 12 called A Rag, A Bone and a Hank of Hair by Nicholas Fisk,” she says. “A good librarian asks you questions to find out what your interests are before recommending books that may be up your alley. I told them I liked sci-fi and Star Wars and they sent me in this direction. The book was written decades ago, but it just blew my mind.”

Take a look at some of my previous posts:

Wisdom for Teacher-Librarians (and teachers too)

Libraries, books, time for reading, and more

Always, Sometimes, Rarely, Never

Here are some quotes from the book Raising Readers by Megan Daley:

"Well-resourced school libraries, with exemplary teacher librarians and library support staff, develop and sustain a vibrant reading culture, promote innovative use of digital technologies and are a participatory hub within the school."  

"School libraries are wonderful places which are the beating heart of many school communities and a refuge for those in need of time away from a busy school environment."

"Library displays should be dotted around the library, be ever-changing, professional, eye catching with all the books facing forwards and able to be borrowed from the display."

You might know I constantly 'bang on' about the correct term - Teacher-Librarian. Here are two of the tasks listed in ALIA statement about the role of the Teacher-Librarian that shows the scope of this vital school role:

Teacher Librarian  

A teacher librarian is dual qualified in the fields of education and librarianship. They hold a recognised teaching qualification that meets eligibility for teacher registration in their respective jurisdiction, as well as an undergraduate, graduate or post graduate university qualification in library and information science that ideally includes specialisations related to the school library context and meets eligibility for Associate professional membership of ALIA.  

Teacher librarians possess high-level curriculum knowledge and pedagogical expertise. In 

addition to the tasks that may be undertaken by library technicians and librarians, teacher 

librarians are qualified to:  

• foster and maintain reading culture and reading for pleasure across the school 

• specialise in literature for children and young people