Size Really Does Matter!

Post date: Nov 11, 2015 1:37:22 AM

I have been unbelievably tardy about writing about my professional development since I started my new job a year ago. I actually feel like the whole year has been continuing professional development, but this weekend I attended an EARCOS conference for librarian's at the Taipei American School and feel the need to document at least a part of my personal learning journey here. It was fantastic. Every session was relevant and thought provoking. Prior to the conference several of us visited other international school libraries, a magazine library and a storage solutions showroom. As always, these visits provided us with some great takeaways, some so simple and so effective, it was fantastic to see.

The networking at the social event was fantastic, over breakfast I learnt about Kim's lego wall, Kurt's use of Google cardboard and Rob's program for Library Support staff PD.

I stayed on and extra day and spent several hours with Barb Middleton from the TAS elementary library.  It was great to talk to someone with a library so close in size to ours, who also supports Reading and Writing Workshop. Barb has much more experience in this than me and it was so reassuring to discuss one another's experiences and to discover that some of the issues I face are not just because I am new to it, but are common issues. We both felt that the size of our libraries limited us in many ways as to the amount and type of contact we have with users, however, physical space can be a great enabler. I have a detailed account of my visit here that I will give you access to if requested.