Library Projects
The Ancaster High Library Learning Commons is always a busy place - even during a pandemic! Curious about what we do when students aren't in the building? Here's a partial list of our past and present projects!
AUGUST 2020
As I prepared for the teacher librarian role, I knew that I wanted decolonization to be the main focus of the year. This brainstorm encapsulates some of the thoughts and questions I had initially.
LLC Beginning of Year Report 2020-2021.pdfBy analyzing where funds were spent in the past, I could see where we needed to focus in the future. Creating this presentation allowed me to clearly communicate some of my intentions to administration and Mr. Bower.
SEPTEMBER 2020
Mrs. Bentham commissioned this piece from a local Indigenous scroll saw artist. The colours around the outside represent the medicine wheel, and the languages are Mohawk, French, and English, representing the order in which the languages arrived in this land.
When some students are in class and others are remote, creating posters for the HUB is an eye-catching way to communicate with both cohorts. There was a lot of positive feedback from staff.
The pandemic necessitated moving book sign outs online. Mrs. Bentham created this site to ensure that staff and students had access to book sign outs, contests, and new library acquisitions.
OCTOBER 2020
Mrs. Bentham submitted daily announcements highlighting achievements of past and present Canadian Muslims.
Creating HUB posters for virtual classrooms helps get the message out to all students and also creates a sense of community.
Once we decided that along with a thorough weeding of outdated materials we would also have front-facing books to increase student engagement, Mr. Bower did a fantastic job with the stacks! We can't wait for students to see this!
As the teacher advisor for The Royal Gazette, I wanted to help get the word out about the upcoming issue. I created a poster for the LLC Hub, and there are future plans to move the Gazette and its back issues onto the LLC website.
Despite fewer students being in school, creating engaging displays added a bit of normalcy to a very strange year.
NOVEMBER 2020
Mrs. Bentham submitted daily announcements to be read for Treaty Recognition Week and welcomed the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt into the LLC where it can be viewed by all staff and students.
Part of the increased accessibility to the collection is improved signage. Simple things like labelling the stacks clearly can help students more easily navigate the library learning commons.
Strange times call for creative solutions - Ms. Harris' class needed a dropbox to return their novels after a rotation change, and the LLC helped create a space and a poster to ensure they knew where to go.
Creating contests to bring students together was a fun way for the LLC to build community and increase usage of the library collection.
DECEMBER 2020
Mrs. Bentham used a student's original design and created a Black Lives Matter bulletin board in the main hall. This is part of the equity focus of the LLC.
Mrs. Bentham and our awesome Library Technician, Al, participated in an end-of-the-year lip synch contest. We are still aghast that we did not win.
Students received digital gift cards to Indigo for their participation in the contest.
Managing iPads, both post-grad collection and the collection of devices that are underutilized, was a big focus in December as a second lockdown was looming.
Creating digital posters helps bring students together and celebrate achievements when we are apart, like Jocelyn winning a writing contest!
JANUARY 2021
The LLC is usually very involved in Canada Reads events, but due to the pandemic and temporary inability to purchase books and distribute them to staff/students during this month, there was less I could do besides inform students of the picks.
FEBRUARY 2021
Collaborating with other departments to create content for students is something that I love to do, so I was so happy when Student Services asked me to design a HUB poster for their assembly.
I worked in collaboration with IIT to field test a new Teams feature, and in response to security breaches within Teams meetings I created a presentation to show the difference between calendar and channel invites within Teams. I presented this during a staff meeting and helped many colleagues set up new meetings.
MARCH 2021
Creating posters to inform students of upcoming rotation changes has become a tradition in the LLC, and this time I thought we could use a punch of colour to cheer everyone up. This poster was also resized and designed for Instagram where it was used by multiple school accounts to keep students organized.
The LLC engaged students with Canada Reads through posters on the announcement feed that showed each day's eliminated text and through the LLC Instagram account.
This graphic went into the school announcement feed and Instagram. The intention was to have students engage with the LLC HUB site, and it worked! When I checked the date of last access many students had visited.