Beyond bookshelves: Unlocking the full potential of your school library
By Gamelle FitzGibbon (she/her), teacher, and Kat Thomson (she/her), teacher-librarian, North Vancouver
At our secondary school, staff are constantly devising creative and engaging ways to teach and support students across all subject areas. Our library is an open and welcoming space, both in layout and through our atmosphere. Collaboration is a cornerstone of our practice. As a dedicated teacher- librarian, I continually look for ways to support and build connections that will foster a relationship with the library. – Kat Thomson
Over the years, our school library at Carson Graham has become one of the most powerful teaching partners in my Spanish program. With the support of an engaged and innovative teacher-librarian team, I have been able to move learning beyond my classroom and into a space designed for curiosity, exploration, and connection. At each level of Spanish, I now build projects that intentionally use the library’s physical spaces, curated resources, and professional expertise to enrich students’ learning experiences. – Gamelle FitzGibbon
The school library at Carson Graham Secondary allows for student engagement by offering an intentional, alternate setting to the classroom. The library space and programs are structured around collaboration between students, teachers, and teacher-librarians. When classes come into the library, we want the space to feel expansive rather than siloed. Learning here is collective, visible, and social.
Students work together in an open, communal space that we refer to as “the racetrack”: a long oval table equipped with laptops. Sitting in a circle allows us to easily communicate ideas, pivot laptop screens to the centre to view each other’s work, and experience the shared momentum that comes from creating together. Heading to the library to start a project feels like a little field trip, and the projects themselves seem to have extra “fizz” when we gather around the library racetrack.
Collaborating in this space also strengthens us as educators, offering built-in professional dialogue, shared problem-solving, and the creative spark that comes from working alongside colleagues.
On the opposite page are some examples of how these spatial choices and resources translate into concrete practices that foster collaboration among colleagues and engagement from students.
Class Lego set
Our library houses rolling carts of multicoloured Lego in all shapes and sizes, as well as figures and decor for different settings. Sometimes we think of items like Lego as “toys” or “simplistic,” but real student collaboration and conversation happen in the process of constructing and in the negotiation of ideas.
We have flat Lego bases for students to build on and safe places in the library to leave works-in-progress until next class. This allows students time to think about what they’re building together and not have to rush their work to complete it before the bell.
Students in Grade 12 Spanish do a unit about community and compare and contrast communities in Spanish-speaking places and their lived experiences. As a culminating project in the unit, we travel to the library where the class divides into groups and builds their own “ideal” community out of Lego, then speak about it and share with the other groups in the class. It’s amazing to see how different the communities are and to see different interests and personalities shine through the designs of each community. (And also how silly Grade 12s can be!) Many students have said this is their favourite project of the year.
Green screen and iPads
Our library has purchased two retractable and portable green screens and a set of iPads that teachers can book and use. This has been very popular with our marketing class for creating and editing advertisement projects. For senior Spanish, students work in small groups to record and edit an international “newscast” presenting on festivals from around the world. Students work on scripts and take turns filming in front of the green screens, then use an app called Do Ink to easily edit all the clips together and download to watch as a class.
Make room from UrbanBarn
Students in Grade 11 Spanish learn about housing and architecture, and as a culminating project students go to the library and use the laptops and a free online program to design one-bedroom apartments for themselves that they label with Spanish vocabulary for household items. The fun that ensues, as well as the practical learning about vocabulary related to daily life, is immeasurable! Students love to share their progress around the racetrack. The encouragement students receive from each other and from the teachers make the learning meaningful in a way that applies to real life — shopping within a budget while engaging with new vocabulary. It’s immersive language-learning, using tech, thinking about responsible purchasing, and, overall, having fun with an assignment.
Grade 8 engagement with the library
We book different Grade 8 subject areas throughout the school year (with a focus on science blocks and our music rotation) to ensure the 8s are comfortable and confident in using the library (and the teacher-librarian!) as a resource. We show them tools for referencing and constructing a works-cited page, and we make sure they know how to access our districts’ databases and subscriptions and how to collaborate with teachers on resources. With the help of the subject expert, we gather relevant sites and texts that can help students with their research topic and upload them into an online collection. Students and staff can access the collection via our library website; a one-stop shop for subject-specific articles and websites all housed in the same location.
We hope these ideas jump-start collaboration between teachers and teacher-librarians at your school. Ask for guidance, make requests for resources that tie into your classroom initiatives, and start making those magical library connections with students. The relationship you help students build now with their school library will be a warm association that extends beyond graduation, establishing a comfortable rapport with post-secondary and public libraries and the resources they have to offer.
