UGDSB teacher attends international conference to discuss the evolution of libraries
November 14, 2019
GUELPH, Ontario – Alanna King, a teacher at Centre Wellington District High School, is sharing her passion and knowledge of school libraries with an international audience.
Earlier this fall, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) invited King to attend a conference in Argentina, as a keynote speaker and panelist.
The First Conference of School Libraries of the City of Buenos Aires was held on Sept. 9, 2019, and focused on school libraries and digital culture.
The conference invites members of the educational community to come together and learn about the challenges and opportunities that school libraries face in the 21st century. Its purpose is to help educators and governments in developing countries improve their digital literacy and prepare kids to be more future-ready by evolving and reimagining their school libraries.
King was invited to attend as a keynote speaker and to be part of a panel, focusing on topics such as the emergence of digital media, the physical changes needed to allow for new learning models, the infrastructure that has allowed for change, and how to create this change over time.
More than 700 educators attended the conference.
As part of her keynote, King spoke to four areas: the infrastructure needed to create such big change, the amount of time change can take, the changing nature of reading and literacy, and how libraries can be the pedagogical leaders with these changes.
King said that despite being the only native English speaker presenting at the conference, the space was set up so that language and culture were not barriers, for example, UNESCO provided translation headphones to all 700 participants. She said that when people are motivated for change, barriers can be overcome.
King’s reflections on her experience at the conference have been published in the Canadian School Libraries Journal.
Her next goals include bringing librarians from overseas here to see all of the work being done in libraries and library learning commons in our region. Conference participants came from many areas struggling with massive amounts of inequality and instability, and as such libraries do not necessarily operate at the same standard as libraries here are, and certainly not in the UGDSB, said King.
King said she is excited to work with UNESCO to move this work forward and keep the global sharing going.
Well done Alanna!