Professional Inquiry Project

Kayta Brown
September-December 2016
The Goal:
Gain access to more books for students in rural communities.
The Situation:
I have looked through the books in my school library and am saddened by how few books
there are. Our community also does not have a public library to bring the kids to.
Vision:
By the end of my semester, I hope to at least gain access to library cards for all of the students
in Livingstone School. As well, I hope to add to our schools library as well.
Plan/Steps:
Our school librarian is already doing her part to do this by personally bringing in books from
the library, but I would like to help more. I would love to find a way to get the kids in our
school library cards for online books, audio books, etc. That may entail a fundraiser to raise
funds for library cards or if that would mean some sort of a partnership with the public library.
As well, I would love to write grants to get more books for the school and get the kids involved
as well. I would like to do a grant writing project with the kids to get them more involved with
the process of improving the resources available to them.
I will also be asking for any book donations from the community to help stock our library and
classrooms.
I may even set up a little library in our community that community members can take a book/
leave a book to help encourage literacy.
I could look into more community involvement by doing events such as reading to seniors,
book swaps, etc.

Project Evidence
Library Cards
After working for the Chinook Arch Regional Library System as the
Summer Reading Program Coordinator for 3 years in a row, I have a passion
for libraries and wanted to include them in my project. During my time at
Chinook Arch, I was fortunate to have met most of the librarians and
volunteers in the libraries within our system. I had a wonderful connection
with both of the librarians in the Lundbreck area, so I decided to contact them
and see what their thoughts were on my goal. From there, we set up a plan.
My goal was not only to get students into the libraries in their area,
but also to gain access for my students to ebooks and audiobooks. While it
can be difficult to find time for a trip to the library when my students live a
distance away, they can gain access to more books online. Therefore, during
both of our evenings for parent-teacher interviews in October, I invited
representatives from both the Crowsnest Pass Community Library and the
Pincher Creek Municipal Library to sign students up for library cards. The
librarians set up a table in the entry way of our school and signed students up
as they came for their interviews. We decided to do it this way so that parents
would remain in the loop, would encourage their children use the cards, and
would understand the responsibilities placed on the student to return books in
a timely matter.
For the Pincher Creek Library, we signed up 29 students for new
library cards and 14 students renewed their preexisting cards. In the
Crowsnest Pass, 12 students in total signed up. All together we signed up 55
students for library cards. Considering the small size of our school and how
many families came for the parent-teacher interview nights, I was thrilled that
so many
Our first student signing up
students signed
for a library card!
up. I was
especially proud
of the specific
students that signed up. The idea of reading
on a device seemed to appeal to more of my
non-readers. After they had the cards, I
moved on to ensure that they would use
them.
I have done workshops in both my grade
9 and grade 10 English classes to show
students how to login to their Chinook Arch
account and how to get books onto their
devices. I plan on showing our staff how to
Janice Day (Pincher Creek Library) and Diane
do so at our next staff meeting on December
DeLauw (Crowsnest Pass Library) with myself in
12th so that they can also assist students.
front of our table for parent-teacher interview night.

My Own Library, Book Talks, & Special Cases

In both my grade 9 and 10 classes, I gave weekly book talks on books that fit into what
we were discussing in class or books that I had really enjoyed. I had all of the books in my
possession when I spoke about them, whether they were from the library or my own books.
Almost every time I did a talk, hands would shoot into the air and students would ask to borrow
the book. I had my own shelf filled with my books at the back of the classroom that students
were free to take out as long as they let me know which book they took. Most of my books were
not ones that could be found in the school library and the students had not heard of before. My
collection was even added to throughout the semester by one of my avid readers who wanted to
share some of her favourite books with me and her classmates and grow my collection of books.
However, sometimes my students were desperate to get books that we did not have access
to. In these cases, I did my best to get the students the books they wanted to encourage their
reading. For example, I introduced the Crank trilogy to my students in a book talk and had
several students fall in love with the series - especially one of my reluctant readers in grade 9.
She read the first book quickly and was ready to move onto the second one. She was able to get
the book on her device through the library. However, the novel is written in verse and the effect
was lost for her when she tried reading it on her device. Therefore, she asked me to buy the
second book for her from Chapters. This was one of my reluctant readers begging for a book! I
rushed to Chapters that weekend and bought her the book, which has since gone through most of
my students in grade 9 and 10 classes.
In another example, one student had started reading a book on his iPod, but his device
broke and he was unable to replace it. I searched the library system for his book, but had no luck.
I decided that I would buy him the book from Chapters but they had none in stock and had no
intention of getting a copy any time soon. So, I went on Amazon and waited a few weeks to get
my hands on the book, staying in contact with the student the whole time about my struggle to
locate a copy. Finally, I received the book in the mail and gave it to my student. He is another
reluctant reader but was excited to read a novel he is interested in. The book will stay with my
student after my practicum is over in an effort to encourage him to continue reading.

Little Library
In my last 6 weeks of practicum, I began to feel like I wanted to do more for my project.
After a discussion with my grade 9 students, they encouraged me to look into a Little Library for
the community. Little Libraries are structures popping up in communities across North America.
The concept is to take a book, leave a book, providing communities with a self-run library
built upon an honour system. Because our community does not have a public library, I wondered
if there would be interest in something like this. I was eager to speak to my principal about the
idea and the enthusiasm my students showed towards the project. Little did I know, a Little
Library is difficult to start up
I spoke to my principal about the idea and started to get more teachers interested in the
idea as well. The idea grew and has the potential to be more than just a Little Library. We have
now talked about the idea of a 3 part structure - a Little Library for books, a Little Pantry for
food, and a board game section for families to rent a board game for the evening.

One of the teachers jumped onboard with my idea immediately and offered to donate
supplies and help build the structure. After a few drafts of the structure, I have finally created one
that we were all satisfied with. As well, the art teacher within the school has agreed to help me
decorate the structure with the students in her classes.
I have also spoken to several community members about the project. I spoke to a woman
with the seniors centre in Lundbreck about getting the word out about the Little Library and
asking the community for donations. As well, I have reached out to a parent that is a carpenter
about help for building the structure.
Next came mapping out where to put the structure. After much discussion, we decided
that a free standing structure in front of the school would be the best option. However, that meant
drilling a hole for a post which needed clearance from our school districts maintenance, the M.D
of Pincher Creek, and our services within the school (covered by an Alberta One-Call). After
several weeks, we were finally cleared from all parties to place the structure in the desired spot.
However, a nasty cold spell has frozen the ground and will delay the project for a little while.
The Little Library is currently in the early stages of being built and is not quite done.
However, I plan on coming back to help finish the structure and get the project up and running,
even if that is after my practicum is done.

Summary
After 4 months, I do feel as though I have helped my students gain access to more books
through library cards, book talks, and special cases, and the Little Library. While I wish I could
have finished the Little Library before I go, it is a project that will be left in good hands and I
will do my best to help out with it as well. I hope my students continue to use their library cards
and speak about their favourite books with their friends. A love of literacy is something we need
to strive to encourage in our students as teachers and I believe that I have done my job in
Livingstone School.