Mrs. Laura Bouknight at Newberry High school is trying to keep students engaged in the library program this year. She keeps students engaged by including many different facets of learning. Because of COVID restrictions, students are using more varied resources and sources this year. She is including more digital resources that students can use at home because for the first half of the year, students were on a hybrid schedule. These digital resources include Follett eBooks, Follett audiobooks, and JLG Digital. Students were also encouraged to use Teen Book Cloud through DISCUS. She is also utilizing the collections tool in Destiny to promote books online since students cannot use the library like in previous years. Ensuring students have equitable access to all library materials is of utmost importance to Mrs. Bouknight which is why she is trying to diversify the collection to allow for more digital content.
Mrs. Bouknight is providing ways to include teachers in the learning as well. She creates video tutorials for the teachers to watch about new resources and technology tools. Because of COID restrictions, the whole faculty rarely meets together. By creating these video tutorials, she is able to show teachers new library and technological resources. All teachers are included in the learning, and they can rewatch the videos as needed. Teachers have also been including Mrs. Bouknight in lessons virtually when she is not able to come to classrooms.
Professionally, Mrs. Bouknight is using the new diversity analysis tool in Follett to help make sure that her library has an inclusive collection where all students are represented. She is looking for areas to build on so that she can serve all users more powerfully. As gaps are identified, she is looking to find materials, either print or digital, that can fill the need.
As with all the other librarians that I interviewed, time is the biggest challenge that she faces. Technology troubleshooting is taking up the majority of the day since this is the first year that the whole school is 1:1 with devices. Students come to the library to get help with the device because there is not a IT person on in the building. She puts in the work orders for students if she cannot repair the device. Teachers do not have as much time to collaborate either because they are busy learning a new learning management system. Trying to build an inclusive culture in the library is hard when classes are not utilizing the library in the same way as years past. Mrs. Bouknight has been proactive meeting students and teachers where they are. By responding to the needs, her library is still an inclusive place for all stakeholders even though it looks a little different this year.
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