2MCE FM Advocacy for School Libraries
SICS Radio August 25, 2022
This August marks the inaugural celebrations of school libraries in New Zealand with School Library Week from 8-12 August and Australian School Library Day on 24 August, the Wednesday of Book Week. Research strongly supports the positive impact a well-resourced school library staffed by a qualified teacher librarian can have on student learning and well-being. However, school libraries are still at risk worldwide. In this episode of SICS Radio, we talk advocacy with four practicing teacher librarians and leaders in school libraries in Australia and New Zealand including Natalie Otten, President of the Australian School Library Association, Claudine Crabtree, President-elect of the School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa, Rebecca Murray, President of the Western Australia School Library Association, and Holly Godfree, coordinator of the Students Need School Libraries Campaign. They discuss the importance of school libraries, the value they can add to a school and student learning, and ways that you can get involved in supporting your local school library, potentially at risk in times of understaffing and budget cuts. Researchers at CSU are also launching the Knowledge Bank of Australian and New Zealand School Libraries (KBANZSL), a one-stop shop for historical and contemporary resources and information on everything school libraries and teacher librarians in the Oceania region.
