The role of the school library as an "extension of the classroom"

In the wake of School Reading Action Plan (PALE), a committee from the Regional Table of Librarians of School Boards 03-12 drafted a document specifying the mission, roles and respective content of the school library and the classroom library, and produced a video presenting this vision of complementarity through existing practices.

This project was featured in the June 2015 edition of the newsletter Language and culture not^o 7 intended for educational advisers in French, the language of instruction. From the section Word of mouth ... news from school boards (p. 16), here is an excerpt from the description of the project entitled The role of the school library and the classroom library: complementarity in the implementation of convincing practices.

“For several years, the Commission scolaire de la Capitale has been working to put in place convincing practices in the teaching of French at the elementary level by encouraging teachers to integrate literature into their teaching. In the wake of these changes, a growing need for children's literature books has arisen among teachers. At the time of shopping, however, discussions arose: books for the school library or for class libraries? The fact that there is no allocated budget for the classroom library puts schools in front of difficult choices and causes disparity between schools and between classes.

At the instigation of […] the Regional Table of Librarians of School Boards 03-12 (Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches), Ms. Claire Baillargeon, representative of the SEJ of the CS de la Capitale, took the opportunity to share her thoughts with his colleagues and all realize that they have the same concerns. From these exchanges was born a sub-committee with the mandate to write an accompanying document intended for schools: For a complementarity of the school library and the classroom library in primary education. This specifies the mission, roles and respective content of the school library and the classroom library, then suggests avenues for use for a better complementarity of these two places. […]

This document will also be presented at the congress Words and Chalk in spring 2016.

[…] In support of regional document adapted to the colors of the Commission scolaire de la Capitale, the committee proposed to produce a video presenting this vision of complementarity with existing practices. Thus, the video features female teachers who genuinely operate the school library as an "extension of the classroom." Comments from Annie Pelletier, educational advisor, and Claire Baillargeon, librarian, complete this presentation. This video, titled For a complementarity between the school library and the classroom library - Winning practices, was posted on YouTube.

Several staff awareness strategies have been put in place, including a presentation to the principals of primary schools. They were encouraged to view the video with their staff to generate a discussion about current practices in their school. "

Modality for the purchase of books

Within the framework of School Reading Action Plan (PALE), the Youth Educational Services (SEJ) of the Commission scolaire de la Capitale “[…] have established a privileged collaborative agreement with an approved bookstore in the region. This regularly sends them news in order to supply an exhibition hall intended for the purchase of books from primary schools. Teachers can make an appointment with a documentation technician from the documentary services team to make a selection of books to buy, either for the school or for their class. As the technicians know the expectations of the teachers and the resources already available in the school, they can make judicious proposals and feed the children's literature needs of educational advisers in all disciplines. "