Final Project!

This iMovie was created for my final project for EDES 545. The topic of this final project was my vision of the future of school libraries. Please be kind. It was my first attempt with iMovie!


This video was inspired by so much of my professional readings this term but none can compare to the fire that Joyce Valenza lit under me with her Manifesto For The 21st Century Librarian.
In her manifesto, she marries best practices of the 20th century with the new pedagogy of teaching in our ever-changing landscape of Web 2.0. In my time as a TL I have met other TLs that have been weighed down with ever-increasing workloads and shrinking library time and budgets. There was even a time when I (the ever-effervescent optimist) wondered if I was getting into a dying profession. Joyce's Manifesto gave me a focus, a goal to concentrate on and I will ever be in her debt. I knew that I had to pay homage to Joyce's Manifesto in my final project for this course.

Another great visionary that inspired this movie was Rolf Erikson. Rolf has 30 years experience being a media-specialist for students in k-12 and has been working as a library design consultant for the past 15 years. Like Joyce, his view of the school library is not shrinking but expanding to encompass what libraries need to be for 21st century learners. He sees libraries as "much more than a book repository; it should be the school’s information hub, an environment that supports multiple learning activities for 100 per cent of the school’s population". His focus in on using book collections and digital collections to supplement one another and having teacher-librarians as the teachers of information fluency, no matter what the medium may be.

Both Joyce and Rolf focus on the needs of the learners, one of which is the need to socialize, collaborate, and access cutting edge and quality resources while being guided by professionals equipped to teach information synthesis, analysis, and critical thinking. Both also view TLs as the "bringers" of quality information, information fluency, and 21st century pedagogy to their teachers and students.

I understand that many of you may be thinking that I am avoiding or downright ignoring the challenges that face todays education system. Believe me when I say that I am all too aware of the gap between my vision and reality in many of todays schools; but, also believe me when I say that I believe that great vision, optimism, and a squeaky wheel (that's me!) get things moving in the right direction. It's truly amazing what one LOUD (and passionate) voice can do...........