Reading makes a comeback at Melba Copland Secondary School

The college library has undergone a transformation in the past couple of years, with teacher librarian Lisette Robey taking the reins.

The expansive space has been rearranged with armchairs nestled in between the fiction section, an updated non-fiction section and enticing book displays.

Year 11 student Siobhan Wann said she visits the library every single day between classes and in her free time.

"It's kind of the central part of the school. Like, it's a bit cliche, but it's literally the heart of the school," she said.

"It's where everyone goes when they have free time, when they need help, when they need to get away from things ... it's the most comfortable space in the school."

Lisette works closely with Mali Jorm, the teacher librarian at the school's year 7 to 10 campus, to empower students to be good library users and be part of their planning process.

About 80 per cent of the new books they purchase are directly requested by students. As a result, the borrowing in the college library has increased 20 fold from 2019 to 2021 and this year it's likely to be up by another 20 to 25 per cent.

"We're building an approach that we're calling student-driven services here," Ms Robey said.

"I know that students feel safe here and they feel welcomed."

The librarians are expecting the increase in students reading for pleasure will improve their overall academic outcomes.

"Reading is a magical literacy skill that actually improves all other literacy skills," Mali said.

"It's one of the most powerful things that they can actually do because it improves obviously their reading skills, but also their vocabulary, their spelling, their oral language."

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Librarians around the country will be putting the spotlight on their important work in the education system today as part of the first annual Australian School Library Day.

Coinciding with Children's Book Week, the day intends to draw attention to the fact that the majority of Australian students do not have access to a strong school library with qualified staff and led by a teacher librarian.

Lake Tuggeranong College teacher librarian Holly Godfree is the coordinator of Students Need School Libraries campaign.

She said the decline of school libraries began about 20 years ago with the rise of the internet and school-based decision making.

"Principals felt the pinch to try to save pennies and ... people were really swept up in what we now know to be naive understandings about the information landscape and this kind of myth that students were just naturally good at anything to do with any kind of online activity."

Teaching students how to find and evaluate credible sources of information, both in printed material and digital sources, is now the bread and butter of a teacher librarian's work.

They also support classroom teachers in the school to find resources for particular units of work, from impressionist artists to the Aboriginal land rights movement.

The ACT government is leading the nation through its scholarships to help teachers to become qualified as teacher librarians and commitments to centrally fund librarian jobs.

Around Australia, the picture is not as bright. A 2019 study by Australian Council for Educational Research found only 23 per cent of South Australian school libraries were run by a qualified teacher librarian.

The same study found students in schools with a teacher librarian had up to two month's learning gain compared to students in schools with no staff members managing the library.

"What we are hoping as a profession with this campaign is that parents will start asking questions like, who is running my child's school library?' Mrs Godfree said.

"And then secondly, do some local advocacy to say, actually, we really care about this, we know how important this is to get my child hooked on reading, to have my child have really strong research skills, to have their wellbeing supported by having friendly and helpful people in a welcoming space. These things are really vital."

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