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Let’s Talk Libraries: Bishop Gilpin C of E Primary School – Sally Le Marquand

Let’s Talk Libraries: Bishop Gilpin C of E Primary School – Sally Le Marquand

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Let’s Talk Libraries: Bishop Gilpin C of E Primary School – Sally Le Marquand

Sally LeMarquand has been the Librarian at Bishop Gilpin C of E Primary School for just under 5 years, overseeing the whole management of the school library and Reading for Pleasure Programme (RfPP). Sally has enjoyed not only the support she receives from the Accessit Library team but also how the integration of digital resources, such as ebooks, allowed students to continue to use the library and its resources throughout the 2020 lockdown.

Type  Primary School
Roll 450
Campus Single campus
Install Cloud Hosted

Keywords:

    • Effective support 
    • Digital resources 
    • Student autonomy 
    • Visual search 
    • Customisable Web App 

Accessit Library has really enabled us to have a central hub for library information and reading for pleasure, which has been crucial when trying to support all our parents and staff. I just need to make sure I let them know about it more often!

Sally Le Marquand

School Librarian, Bishop Gilpin C of E Primary School, UK

After continuous negative experiences with their previous library management system (LMS), Sally and Bishop Gilpin switched to Accessit Library in July of 2020.

Our previous LMS was not interactive enough and just didn’t support what we were doing in school. We also had continuous compatibility problems when our LMS tried to host ebooks. This seemed to go on for ages and just wasn’t sorted out for several weeks, so I couldn’t promote ebooks to our children. I heard about Accessit Library from another librarian who found Accessit Library great at promoting books and reading and compatibility issues didn’t seem to be a problem – so when Covid hit this seemed to a time to switch.  

I was quite apprehensive at first, because my experience with our previous LMS was so bad, but I found the process very straightforward and stress free. When Accessit said they would follow something up, they followed through without me having to chase.  

I have found the support of the Accessit Library team really helpful and as many of the employees have been involved in libraries or have been librarians, they understand what librarians need. Every time I have asked something they have got back to me within 24 hours. I’ve had some really helpful correspondence with a couple of their guys, like Dominic, who has sorted out our remote access, which is brilliant.  

Accessit Library makes my life so much easier and absolutely underpins everything I try to do. I now have a reading on-line presence in place to keep up to date and upload new items and news. And if I have a problem, I have confidence that the problem will be addressed quickly. There is simply no comparison between Accessit Library and our previous LMS. 

Sally and Bishop Gilpin’s decision to switch to Accessit Library was made during the first Covid lockdown in 2020, but before the switch could be completed, the Accessit Library Web App was able to keep things ticking along during this time, allowing Sally to run a book club using e-Books and recommended reads over the summer holidays. This meant that Accessit was fully up and running for when the children returned in September.

Because Accessit Library has an interactive online presence, I was able to constantly update the padlets on it with recommended reads, quizzes, etc., which the children could access from home during the holidays. We would not have been able to do this with our previous LMS. Plus, we could encourage eBooks and audiobooks from our own e-platform and the public library platforms. I could also put on a lot of promotional reads and diverse websites as well. The dashboard enables me to promote reading in a much more cohesive way, and importantly, in a one-hub place.  

Bishop Gilpin Web App

I was worried initially that the interface might be too advanced for a primary school, but that has not been the case. In fact, what I’ve found is that Accessit Library can support the whole school community – particularly parents. The Accessit Web App is a centralized place for everyone: children, parents – everything. It is a still place in a spinning world if you like.  

Before Accessit Library, we had to rely on emailing links to parents and staff which was time consuming, and the word about what’s on offer at the library got lost. Accessit Library has really supported our school by having a main dashboard that has information books relating to curriculum topics, other non-fiction books, and fiction books in the library. The dashboard also supports staff with tabs for teaching resources including PSHE and well-being books. Parents can also find some helpful and informative websites to check out, in a familiar place and therefore they don’t have to keep searching for that email with the link. 

Not only has the Accessit Web App become an important tool for parents and the wider community at Bishop Gilpin, but Sally has noticed a key shift in student engagement too, as they continue to familiarise themselves with the Web App and use it in a way that benefits their library experience.

I think the main change is that children can change books themselves easily and they can use the Accessit Library interface to look at the recommended reads and other high-lighted items. Using technology is what children do, so it’s really powerful for them to visually see it like that.  

The children love looking at the Web App and they love the reserve function and the circulation. I encourage them all to do that because I want them all to learn how to issue and return books, as well as view their account to see what they have on loan. Accessit also allows us to print some useful data reports if required as evidence for library use.  

I train my Year 4 pupil librarians how to use Accessit Library and they all get it. Once they know how to do it properly, they love doing it!

While Accessit Library has become a whole-school resource, Sally and the library itself has also evolved to a stage where Bishop Gilpin now has a complete RfPP available to support all readers and learners at any level.

It’s been an organic journey as this school library has evolved, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it because I feel having a fully functioning library supported by a smart LMS are fundamentally important. Every child deserves to have access to a well-managed school library and a librarian. We now have a clearer idea what kind of readers we want our children to be at the end of year 6 before they embark on their secondary school experience. The RfPP and the children’s interaction with the library is central to enhancing their positive reading identities, enabling them all to see themselves as readers.  

The Reading for Pleasure Programme (RfPP)

Children need a lot of support when choosing books, so that they can build their confidence with book choice over time. The children are supported in the RfPP through their interaction with the library and their teachers. Once they come off the reading scheme mostly at year 3, and they are expected to find books for themselves, children can lose their reading motivation and momentum and fall right back with their reading. When that happens it’s very difficult to get them back up. When the children move up to Key Stage 2, that’s when they really need encouragement and book talk to sustain their reading motivation.  

We need to engage them and understand their reading preferences. So, the teachers in year 3, and with my support, really get to know what each and every single child likes to read. I talk to them and have a constant conversation with them about reading, what they’re reading, and what they like and don’t like.  

The RfPP means that they have reading every single day in the morning without interruption – which is an absolute must. At this time, teachers will have everyone in class, including themselves, reading for pleasure and this is the time for teachers to spot those children that are not engaged and step in. Each class in KS2 also have a library slot where groups of children will come down and change their books, giving priority to those children who are not engaged and need more support.  

Moving forwards

I think we’ve done a lot to change some of the children’s negative attitudes to reading and establish positive reading identities, but before we move forwards, I think it’s good to embed it down. We can then see which bits really need tweaking and what works and what doesn’t. At the moment, I’m just taking stock and trying to measure its impact.  

We are very good at supporting children with their books now, but we are also looking at reading fluency and if children are actually reading with success. There’s more that we can do to make sure they continue their reading journey and not just forget about reading for pleasure once they’ve learned the skill to read. By the end of year 6, we want them to choose to read on their own, having acquired the skills and confidence to do that.  

My job is to get to know every single child, understand what it is that they like to read, and then suggest a book that’s right for them. Then, we need to empower children to do that on their own. My main mission has been to try to change the whole culture of reading at the school, and that takes a long time – but it’s definitely paying dividends now!  

The next phase of engagement using Accessit will to be support children with their research skills by incorporating FOSIL, which is a skills framework that helps children learn by finding out information for themselves. 

Library Space 3

Sally will point her students towards the bookshelves throughout the Reading for Pleasure Programme, and the Accessit Library Web App is another key reference point where children, staff and parents can access an extensive range of books, information and resources.

You need an online interface to refer children and parents to go to. Children know the Accessit Web App dashboard very well and they like to look at the front page of the dashboard. They’ve got quizzes and other useful information on there, which encourages them.  

I steer children towards the Accessit Library Web App so that they can refer to it at home too, and they can point to it with their parents. When parents email me, I can say, “if you look at the library dashboard, maybe this book will be suitable…” Accessit Library has really enabled us to have a central hub for library information and reading for pleasure, which has been crucial when trying to support all our parents and staff. I just need to make sure I let them know about it more often!  

I use and high-light the Visual Search tab on the dashboard to staff so they can see books arranged in curriculum topics. I try to put up news items that reflect days we are organising in school, for example Science week, World Book Day, International Women’s Day, Rainbow Day etc. I’ve tagged all of our stock: non-fiction, fiction, reference, diversity & inclusion, and so on. Every single book has a genre tag, and when you click on a genre tab, all the books under that genre come up beautifully. Both the staff and children can also use the padlets on the Web App dashboard, by uploading their own books and commenting on them, as well as commenting on my suggestions. This was really helpful when trying to galvanize reading for the book club during lock down.  

It is vitally important to have a LMS that supports what you are trying to achieve in terms of reading in the library and the wider school community. I am really pleased that we switched to Accessit. It has not disappointed or let us down and their technical support is very professional and responsive. 

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    Reading culture intro image collage

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    Keywords: 

    • Literacy
    • Reading culture
    • Collection development
    • Reading role models
    • Library management

    Encouraging students to read is easier and more likely to be successful when reading and literacy are firmly embedded into all aspects of school life. The benefits of reading for pleasure are well supported by a large body of research, making a strong reading culture highly desirable.

    Creating, developing, and implementing the appropriate reading behaviour, values, and practices right across the school are all areas in which your library plays a crucial role, and one which Accessit Library can help you to excel at.

     

    The Role of School Leaders

    A well-funded school library is a clear sign that the library and its role in promoting reading and developing literacy is recognised and valued by school leadership. An adequate budget for library resources and having well-maintained facilities are also essential for successfully creating and developing a reading culture within the school community.

    Accessit Library’s extensive reporting options make it easy to show school management how library funding is being allocated and how those resources are engaging students and supporting their learning. Providing this kind of information can be incredibly helpful when requesting future funding for the library, will be appreciated by management, and emphasises the professional standing of the librarian within the school. Principals and school leaders who are well informed are more likely to be actively involved in the library, which in turn shows that they value the library, its activities and programmes, and the importance of reading.

     

    A woman reaching for a book

    Collection Development

    To encourage students and teachers to read, library collections need to reflect the wide and diverse interests of all parts of the school community. To do this successfully, it’s important for librarians to know their borrowers well. Talking to students and staff about books, reading, and their interests is important. If students are buzzing about a new series, movie, or trend, these can be used to guide them into related reading material. It’s also important for librarians to build relationships and firmly establish their role as an important and trusted source of book recommendations.

    Students and teachers can be encouraged to suggest books for purchase, so that as many of these as possible can be added to the library, alongside other new and popular titles for readers to discover. As a librarian, it’s important to follow book review sites, sign up for publishers’ newsletters, take note of award winners, talk to other school librarians, and of course, to read as much as possible.

     

    A librarian with her students

    Purchasing new resources is of course only half of the collection development story. Regularly weeding out the old, out of date, and under-used books is also important to make the library shelves more appealing and easier to browse. Accessit Library’s Frequency and Last Issues report is one of several ways to quickly identify potential candidates for weeding and keep the library shelves fresh and attractive.

     

    Showcasing Books and Reading

    Much has been written about the value of adults as reading role models for children and young people. This should not be the sole province of the librarian – everyone at school can get involved. For many years, some schools have run ‘drop everything and read’ programmes where the whole school reads at the same designated time. This is an excellent way to show the value that is placed on reading within a school.

    Reading role models can also be found outside the school gates. Those in the wider school community are equally important as examples of adults who read, so having their support is beneficial. Some school libraries allow parent borrowing as a way of encouraging reading at home or create an Accessit Library Web App Topic Board specifically for their parents.

    Regular notices and book promotion in school newsletters and social media pages also help to keep the wider community up to date with reading events and activities.

    Readers should also be encouraged to recommend books directly to their peers, for example in conversations, book groups, reviews and library displays to make books and reading visible in all areas of the school.  While it’s important for readers to have an element of choice when reading for pleasure, advice and suggestions are excellent for introducing students to new books, authors, and genres.

    The Accessit Library Web App also makes it easy for library staff to promote books and other new or topical resources, share links to related content such as book or movie trailers and podcasts, and create and share Quick Lists of recommended titles. Having a carousel of books that have recently been reviewed in the Web App by students and staff is a great way for the entire school community to see that the school has a strong reading culture. Links to individual titles, Quick Lists, Web App Topic Boards, and even the entire Web App can be shared in school newsletters, emails, and online learning spaces to involve students, teachers, and families in the school’s reading culture.

    Reading needs to be visible and there are many creative ways to do this. Adding photos and reviews from staff or student leaders to the Accessit Library Web App, making posters to display around the school, using shelf talkers and bookmarks to share short reviews, and creating displays of student and staff recommendations are just a few suggestions.

     

    An Enticing Reading Environment

    Having a welcoming area dedicated to reading is also important, whether it’s in the corner of a busy library, in a classroom, a quiet outdoor space or elsewhere around the school. It should be calm and quiet, as well as having comfortable seating to encourage sitting and reading. Student input on the design and layout ensures the space meets their needs and will be well used. Having lots of good books in and around this area will also entice readers to pick up a book and sit and read for a while. 

     

    A large group of students in a library

    Effective libraries and reading spaces are firmly focused on their readers. Consider how a library might look to new visitors – is it appealing and attractive, drawing them in? Reader-centred libraries utilise a bookshop approach, with small but well stocked displays, front facing covers, and shelving layouts that encourage browsing, all things that can easily be achieved in a school library. 

    As well as making the library itself an appealing physical space, the Accessit Library Web App ensures that there is also an engaging and interactive online presence for the library. With the Web App readers can browse and search the library online to locate titles, share their thoughts on books they’ve read by writing reviews, and explore the extra videos, links, podcasts, interactive games, and websites, regardless of where they are or what kind of device they’re using. Library staff can quickly and easily add content to their Web App Topic Boards to reflect the particular interests and needs of their school’s students, teachers and families, thereby creating a customised interface that is relevant, welcoming and engaging. 

     

    Events and Activities to Promote Books and Reading

    There are numerous book-related events and activities that are fun and can be used to promote books and the importance of reading.

    Here are just a few suggestions:

    • A Library Day or Book Week full of activities
    • Summer reading programmes
    • Dedicated times for reading (e.g. drop everything and read, sustained silent reading)
    • Book displays and bookshop-style book promotion, in both the library and elsewhere around the school
    • Book groups and shared reads
    • Themed displays and activities, such as Blind date a Book for Valentine’s Day, scary stories for Halloween, or book spine poetry for National Poetry Day
    • Student reviews and recommendations
    • Book talks and read-alouds to promote new or interesting books to classes
    • Author visits and online interviews
    • Escape rooms, treasure hunts, reading challenges, quizzes, dress up days and competitions
    Young boy reading in a school library

    Developing a strong reading culture is an ongoing process that involves the whole school community.  The school library is pivotal in this process and the librarian has a key role to play in creating and developing a strong reading culture that will successfully support students to become lifelong readers and learners.

     

    References: 

    Layne, S.L. (2012). Igniting a passion for reading : successful strategies for building lifetime readers. New York: Scholastic Inc. 

    Merga, M.K. and Mason, S. (2019). Building a school reading culture: Teacher librarians’ perceptions of enabling and constraining factors. Australian Journal of Education, 63(2), pp.173–189. doi:10.1177/0004944119844544. 

    Rachel Van Riel, Fowler, O. and Downes, A. (2008). The reader-friendly library service. Newcastle Upon Tyne: Society Of Chief Librarians. 

    Ripp, P. (2018). Passionate readers : the art of reaching and engaging every child. New York: Routledge. 

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      The (Multiple) Books of Christmas

      The (Multiple) Books of Christmas

      What Does Information Literacy Mean?

      What Does Information Literacy Mean?

      Substitution Rules Don’t Have To Be Scary

      Substitution Rules Don’t Have To Be Scary

      Embedding the Library as a Whole School Resource

      Embedding the Library as a Whole School Resource

      Getting Creative With Visual Search

      Getting Creative With Visual Search

      Starting The Year Off Right in Your Library

      Starting The Year Off Right in Your Library

      Case Study – Avondale School, NSW

      Case Study – Avondale School, NSW

      Case Study – Riva Primary, WA

      Case Study – Riva Primary, WA

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      Including Digital Resources in Your Library

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Cheney School – Jill Fenton

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Cheney School – Jill Fenton

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Bishop Gilpin C of E Primary School – Sally Le Marquand

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Bishop Gilpin C of E Primary School – Sally Le Marquand

      Creating a School-wide Reading Culture

      Creating a School-wide Reading Culture

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Thomas Hardye School – Jenny Stevens

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Thomas Hardye School – Jenny Stevens

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Our Lady of Good Help (OLGH) – Sarah Olushonde

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Our Lady of Good Help (OLGH) – Sarah Olushonde

      Let’s Talk Libraries: St Anthony’s High School – Jill Adler

      Let’s Talk Libraries: St Anthony’s High School – Jill Adler

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Somerhill – Susan Smith

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Somerhill – Susan Smith

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Beacon Academy – Natasha Allen

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Beacon Academy – Natasha Allen

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Southland Girls’ High School

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Southland Girls’ High School

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Littlehampton Primary – Barb O’Connor

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Littlehampton Primary – Barb O’Connor

      Let’s Talk Libraries: The Hill School (US) – Nancy Body, Catherine Clowes

      Let’s Talk Libraries: The Hill School (US) – Nancy Body, Catherine Clowes

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Our Lady of Lourdes – Danielle Leathart

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Our Lady of Lourdes – Danielle Leathart

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Richmond & Prahran High School – Karys McEwen

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Richmond & Prahran High School – Karys McEwen

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Croxley Danes School – Victoria Rovira

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Croxley Danes School – Victoria Rovira

      The Lovett School – Storybook Pumpkin Contest

      The Lovett School – Storybook Pumpkin Contest

      Web App of the Week: World Book Day (UK) – Free download

      Web App of the Week: World Book Day (UK) – Free download

      Web App of the Week: Waitangi Day – Free download

      Web App of the Week: Waitangi Day – Free download

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      Supporting Reluctant Readers

      Let’s Talk Libraries: The Lovett School – Robyn Martin

      Let’s Talk Libraries: The Lovett School – Robyn Martin

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Lloyd Street Primary School (VIC)

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Lloyd Street Primary School (VIC)

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Seatoun School – Wendy Bamber

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Seatoun School – Wendy Bamber

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      Axe-cessit Halloween Showcase – Competition Recap

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      Raising the profile of your school library

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      Let’s Talk Libraries: Christian College Geelong (VIC) – Gerradine Barry

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Paula Na Nagara – St Mark’s School 

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Paula Na Nagara – St Mark’s School 

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Diocese of Toowoomba (QLD) – Liz Newman

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Diocese of Toowoomba (QLD) – Liz Newman

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Peace Lutheran College (QLD) – Tanya Mills

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Peace Lutheran College (QLD) – Tanya Mills

      Web App of the Week: Halloween – Free download

      Web App of the Week: Halloween – Free download

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      The Axe-cessit Halloween Showcase – Free resource download

      Accessit Library Talks – Episode 1 – Kevin Arscott of Coleg Gwent

      Accessit Library Talks – Episode 1 – Kevin Arscott of Coleg Gwent

      Web App of the Week: Dixons Cottingley Academy

      Web App of the Week: Dixons Cottingley Academy

      Web App of the Week: Sydenham School

      Web App of the Week: Sydenham School

      Librarians of Accessit – Sarah Pavey

      Librarians of Accessit – Sarah Pavey

      An introduction to using Social Media in your library

      An introduction to using Social Media in your library

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      Web App of the Week: Denefield School

      Getting students involved in your school library

      Getting students involved in your school library

      Web App of the Week: Environment Day & World Oceans Day – Free Download

      Web App of the Week: Environment Day & World Oceans Day – Free Download

      Web App of the Week – Ursuline Academy of Dallas

      Web App of the Week – Ursuline Academy of Dallas

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      Web App of the Week – Woodland Middle School Academy

      Web App of the Week – Anzac Day – Free download

      Web App of the Week – Anzac Day – Free download

      Web App of the Week – Sarah Bonnell School

      Web App of the Week – Sarah Bonnell School

      Librarian Talk – Claire Bavister – Woodland Middle School Academy 

      Librarian Talk – Claire Bavister – Woodland Middle School Academy 

      Librarian Talk – Mary McGavin – Fulham Prep School

      Librarian Talk – Mary McGavin – Fulham Prep School

      Web App of the Week: Happy Holidays – Free download

      Web App of the Week: Happy Holidays – Free download

      Librarian Talk – Poonampal Kaur – Sarah Bonnell School

      Librarian Talk – Poonampal Kaur – Sarah Bonnell School

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      How to promote your school library catalogue

      Librarian Talk – Jason Saikaly – Barker College

      Librarian Talk – Jason Saikaly – Barker College

      How to approach collection development in school libraries

      How to approach collection development in school libraries

      Web App of the Week – Thornbury High School

      Web App of the Week – Thornbury High School

      Lynn Swannell – Mount Eliza Secondary College, Victoria, Australia

      Lynn Swannell – Mount Eliza Secondary College, Victoria, Australia

      Librarian Talk – Wendy Wright – Avonside Girls’ High & Shirley Boys’ High

      Librarian Talk – Wendy Wright – Avonside Girls’ High & Shirley Boys’ High

      15 downloadable resources every school librarian needs

      15 downloadable resources every school librarian needs

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      Web App of the Week – Ashburton College

      Librarian Talk – Leisa Westerhof – Norwood Morialta High School

      Librarian Talk – Leisa Westerhof – Norwood Morialta High School

      Web App of the Week – Barker College

      Web App of the Week – Barker College

      Librarian Talk – Delia Achten – Ashburton College

      Librarian Talk – Delia Achten – Ashburton College

      Librarian Talk – Frances Currie – Prendergast Vale School

      Librarian Talk – Frances Currie – Prendergast Vale School

      Web App of the Week – Durrington High School

      Web App of the Week – Durrington High School

      Web App of the Week – Bishop’s Hatfield Girls’ School

      Web App of the Week – Bishop’s Hatfield Girls’ School

      Librarian Talk – Melissa Ashby – Wanaka Primary School

      Librarian Talk – Melissa Ashby – Wanaka Primary School

      Web App of the Week: Matariki – Free Download

      Web App of the Week: Matariki – Free Download

      Librarian Talk – Sasha Roth – Bishop’s Hatfield Girls’ School

      Librarian Talk – Sasha Roth – Bishop’s Hatfield Girls’ School

      Web App of the Week – Wanaka Primary School

      Web App of the Week – Wanaka Primary School

      Librarian Talk – Jill Marriott – Corinna School

      Librarian Talk – Jill Marriott – Corinna School

      Web App of the Week – Great Baddow High School

      Web App of the Week – Great Baddow High School

      Web App of the Week – Broadland High Ormiston Academy

      Web App of the Week – Broadland High Ormiston Academy

      Librarian Talk – Gemma Sosnowsky – Queen Elizabeth School

      Librarian Talk – Gemma Sosnowsky – Queen Elizabeth School

      Librarian Talk – Donna Harris – Great Baddow High School

      Librarian Talk – Donna Harris – Great Baddow High School

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      Web App of the Week – Abington Friends School

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      Librarian Talk – Kay Morfett – Rolleston School

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      Web App of the Week – Burgundy Farm Country Day School

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      Librarian Talk – Gabrielle Wales – Broadland High Ormiston Academy

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      Web App of the Week – Rolleston School

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      Librarian Talk – Sally Baker – High School Librarian

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      Web App of the Week: Harmony ISD

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      Librarian Talk – Barbara Krainik – Burgundy Farm Country Day School

      Librarian Talk – Jill Adler – St. Anthony’s High School

      Librarian Talk – Jill Adler – St. Anthony’s High School

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      Web App of the Week: The Jedi Academy

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      Web App of the Week: St Anthony’s High School

      Librarian Talk – Lori Davis – District Librarian

      Librarian Talk – Lori Davis – District Librarian

      Librarian Talk — Toni Vahlsing — Abington Friends School 

      Librarian Talk — Toni Vahlsing — Abington Friends School 

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      Diversity and Inclusion – Accessit Book Club

      Supporting mental health in the library: Mallinson Library, Wellington College, Berkshire

      Supporting mental health in the library: Mallinson Library, Wellington College, Berkshire

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      Loving books this Valentine’s Day!

      Information and Digital Literacy – Richer Through Collaboration

      Information and Digital Literacy – Richer Through Collaboration

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      The library – a safe space for everyone

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      On the Road Again – NZ Roadshow 2019

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      Genrefying your library: Unley High School

      Building a Strong Reading Culture: St Rita’s College Library

      Building a Strong Reading Culture: St Rita’s College Library

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      Australia Roadshow 2019 – a great success!

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      Creating an amazing online library presence

      Deepening literacy engagement

      Deepening literacy engagement

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      Tsukuba International School

      Otago Boys’ High School

      Otago Boys’ High School

      Le Régent College

      Le Régent College

      Wesley Intermediate School

      Wesley Intermediate School

      Fuqua School

      Fuqua School

      Kamo High School

      Kamo High School

      Mental Health Foundation of NZ

      Mental Health Foundation of NZ

      Leicestershire County Council

      Leicestershire County Council

      Cambridge High School

      Cambridge High School

      Saint Kentigern College

      Saint Kentigern College

      Culford School

      Culford School

      Greenhithe School

      Greenhithe School

      Reynella East College

      Reynella East College

      Tyndale Christian School

      Tyndale Christian School

      Shepparton High School

      Shepparton High School

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Thomas Hardye School – Jenny Stevens

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Thomas Hardye School – Jenny Stevens

      Thomas Hardye School Intro

      Let’s Talk Libraries: Thomas Hardye School – Jenny Stevens

      Thomas Hardye School has five-year groups consisting of students in Lower School Year’s 9, 10 and 11 and a Sixth Form with Year’s 12 & 13. Jenny, school librarian of 5 years, oversees the Library, including print and eBooks, electronic resources and magazine subscriptions for the school.
      Type  Secondary School
      Roll 2,140
      Campus Single campus
      Install Cloud Hosted
      Keywords:

      • Fully customizable
      • Revolutionary software
      • Straightforward data migration
      • Resource promotion
      Accessit Library is up to date, relevant and actually, is a bit of a revelation. I really like an analogy someone had written, saying, “moving to Accessit Library was like going from a first generation mobile phone to a brand-new iPhone,” because it is like that – you can just do so much.
      Jenny Stevens

      Librarian, The Thomas Hardye School, UK

      After hearing positive experiences with Accessit library from other school librarians, Jenny soon encountered Accessit Library for herself at an Exeter Roadshow in November 2019, where she gravitated towards a number of functions and features that she still enjoys today.

      I loved the idea and use of the front end of Accessit Library and it being fully customizable. especially because the previous system I had was so limited in terms of what I could do with it.

      I was totally sold on the Accessit Library dashboards, as well as the flexibility and being able to promote books and resources.

      Also, there were certain things about the Management App too. For example, I liked the way that it organized the resources into collections. That was a different way of thinking from what I had been used to before.

      I also liked the idea of being able to flash up interests for staff and students. This functionality is instantaneous, much more focused and relevant, rather than just sending a list of all of your new resources.

      The look and feel of Accessit Library is revolutionary.

      Following the Roadshow, Jenny pursued Accessit Library to be Thomas Hardye School’s new Library Management System, comparing it with her existing LMS and one other in a ‘bid’ for Accessit Library within their organisation. The bid was successful, and Thomas Hardye School migrated to Accessit Library in June 2020 – a process managed seamlessly by their IT department and Accessit Library’s Functional Support team.

      We set a date for migration for June 2020. At which point, the school was still closed from lockdowns, but I was still coming into work and was able to liaise between our IT team and Accessit Library’s.

      Once our IT team and Accessit Library’s Functional Support team had communicated, I didn’t really need to do anything for the actual migration process. It was pretty straightforward.

      The feedback from our IT team said that Accessit Library’s Functional Support team are so knowledgeable and were able to communicate and completely sort out any issues, although I don’t think there were many!

      We’ve been up and running for two years now, and I’ve not had any negative feedback from our IT team in the same way as I used to with our previous system.

      A student working at a desk

      Since installation, Jenny credits Accessit Library for making ‘the everyday library jobs much easier to action’, highlighting automated cataloguing, automated overdue letters for students, collection management and easily checking students’ correspondence as some helpful features and functionalities. However, it’s Accessit Library’s multiple dashboard functionality on the Web App that Jenny has impressively capitalised on for Thomas Hardye School’s staff and students, organising resources in a centralised and accessible way for the whole school.

      The Process

      Creating dashboards has been an organic process. Over lockdown, I produced a comprehensive document of sources for online learning and reading across all subject areas which was compiled of free resources (school subscriptions, Dorset Libraries resources and other freely available good quality websites including podcasts and blogs). I have broken these down so that each subject has their own dashboard where all the links are together, carousels of wider reading lists, Twitter accounts, podcasts etc. This has been a cumulative process throughout this academic year and is still ongoing.

      With three-year groups in the lower school (Years 9, 10 and 11), my initial idea was to make a dashboard for the Lower School students and then have a separate dashboard for our 6th form students, because they are more independent in their learning and need to be looking at independent resources and databases.

      But then I realised there was too much data all together in one place, so I broke it down in a way that focuses on A-level subjects. We have a large Sixth Form, with about 700 Sixth Formers, so I will be able to show them this at the beginning of the year and it be completely relevant and timely for them.

      Two students working at a desk

      The Dashboards

      We now have 16 dashboards available, collating subject specific resources for our staff and students. I spent a lot of time over lockdown investigating digital resources which are freely available and have used this core data to produce subject dashboards which are really popular.

      These dashboards include any databases that the school has paid for which focus on particular topics, as well as other quality resources and sources that students and staff can access via Dorset libraries (our local library consortium).

      Signposting something like the Dorset Libraries provision through Accessit Library is great, because we can take advantage of something like The Economist for free (if you have a Library membership) which we otherwise couldn’t afford.

      Over lockdown, we subscribed to a lot more online databases and I needed a way of getting those out there to students and staff. So, via our internal intranet, I made two buttons related to the library. One is a Library button, and the other is a Digital Resources button. The Digital Resources button takes you to a dashboard that collates subscriptions the school has paid for, broken down by subject.

      Student and staff engagement

      Accessit Library has completely revolutionized the way I can promote resources to students and staff.

      The use of the dashboards has allowed me to make provision of resources a one-stop-shop for students. It’s literally a click of a button for a student now to click on dashboards, and then go to the relevant subject. Everything on that dashboard is free and is directing them to good quality resources – they’re not just on Wikipedia! Now, more students are coming to the desk having checked the catalogue and knowing how to check.

      Also, our teachers have been putting together documents and revision sources on the Accessit Library WebApp so our students don’t need to go to different places to find the resources they need for coursework and revision. We’ve also got subject wide reading lists, which have been put together by the heads of each subject, and they can either pick those up via Accessit Library’s quick lists or have them displayed as a carousel on the subject dashboard.

      Throughout the process of creating all 16 dashboards, Jenny has loved how customisable they are and appreciates how Accessit Library has enabled her to create them all completely independently.

      I manage the digital resources across the school in the Library and I want to be able to manage that so that students can see what there is instantaneously. I don’t want to have to do that via somebody else, and Accessit Library has given me the tools to do that.

      Accessit Library Customer Support has also been alongside Jenny whenever she has needed it.

      The Accessit Library Customer Support is amazing.

      With our previous system, you could ring and be on hold for half an hour and get no answer. But whenever I’ve called Accessit, somebody either instantaneously knows the answer, or they say they’ll get back to you – and they always do!

      You know if you ring Accessit Library you’re going to be spoken to by somebody who knows what they’re talking about. Their knowledge is amazing. And if they don’t know something, then they will find out. Which is equally brilliant.

      In addition to praising the Accessit Library Customer Support team, Jenny is also a self-proclaimed ‘big advocate of Accessit Library’, hoping to have all schools within their trust using Accessit Library.

      There are two schools who have just come into our academy trust, and one has already been persuaded to change their existing Library Management System. I’m also hoping to visit one of the other schools in the next couple of months too.

      I think being on the same library management system will be really helpful in terms of consistency between students who come in from feeder schools and are already familiar with how to search the WebApp. The Librarian in one of our feeder schools is also really excited about using the WebApp to promote resources, reading schemes and other literacy based activities.

      Artwork of a tree

      Accessit Library is up to date, relevant and actually, is a bit of a revelation.

      I really like an analogy someone had written, saying, “moving to Accessit Library was like going from a first generation mobile phone to a brand-new iPhone,” because it is like that – you can just do so much.

      It’s a good system. I love it. I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever about changing. Changing our system to Accessit Library is one of the best things I’ve done since I’ve been in this job.

      Ask a question about Accessit Library

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        How International Schools Can Automate Their Library & Free Up Time for What Matters 

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        Picture Books – Top Picks

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        A Learning and Marketing Tool to Increase Student Engagement

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        What Does Information Literacy Mean?

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        Substitution Rules Don’t Have To Be Scary

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        Embedding the Library as a Whole School Resource

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        Starting The Year Off Right in Your Library

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        Case Study – Avondale School, NSW

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        Case Study – Riva Primary, WA

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        Including Digital Resources in Your Library

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        Let’s Talk Libraries: Cheney School – Jill Fenton

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        Let’s Talk Libraries: Bishop Gilpin C of E Primary School – Sally Le Marquand

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        Creating a School-wide Reading Culture

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        Let’s Talk Libraries: Thomas Hardye School – Jenny Stevens

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        Let’s Talk Libraries: Our Lady of Good Help (OLGH) – Sarah Olushonde

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        Let’s Talk Libraries: St Anthony’s High School – Jill Adler

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        Let’s Talk Libraries: Somerhill – Susan Smith

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        Let’s Talk Libraries: Beacon Academy – Natasha Allen

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        Let’s Talk Libraries: Southland Girls’ High School

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        Let’s Talk Libraries: Littlehampton Primary – Barb O’Connor

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        Let’s Talk Libraries: The Hill School (US) – Nancy Body, Catherine Clowes

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        Let’s Talk Libraries: Our Lady of Lourdes – Danielle Leathart

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        Let’s Talk Libraries: Richmond & Prahran High School – Karys McEwen

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        Let’s Talk Libraries: Croxley Danes School – Victoria Rovira

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        The Lovett School – Storybook Pumpkin Contest

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        Web App of the Week: World Book Day (UK) – Free download

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        Web App of the Week: Waitangi Day – Free download

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        Supporting Reluctant Readers

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        Let’s Talk Libraries: The Lovett School – Robyn Martin

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        Let’s Talk Libraries: Lloyd Street Primary School (VIC)

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        Let’s Talk Libraries: Seatoun School – Wendy Bamber

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        Let’s Talk Libraries: Christian College Geelong (VIC) – Gerradine Barry

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        Let’s Talk Libraries: Paula Na Nagara – St Mark’s School 

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        Accessit Library Talks – Episode 1 – Kevin Arscott of Coleg Gwent

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        Web App of the Week: Dixons Cottingley Academy

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        Web App of the Week: Denefield School

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        Web App of the Week – Ursuline Academy of Dallas

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        Web App of the Week – Anzac Day – Free download

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        Web App of the Week – Sarah Bonnell School

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        Librarian Talk – Claire Bavister – Woodland Middle School Academy 

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        Librarian Talk – Mary McGavin – Fulham Prep School

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        Web App of the Week: Happy Holidays – Free download

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        Librarian Talk – Poonampal Kaur – Sarah Bonnell School

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        How to promote your school library catalogue

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        Librarian Talk – Jason Saikaly – Barker College

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        Web App of the Week – Thornbury High School

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        Lynn Swannell – Mount Eliza Secondary College, Victoria, Australia

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        Librarian Talk – Wendy Wright – Avonside Girls’ High & Shirley Boys’ High

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        Web App of the Week – Ashburton College

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        Librarian Talk – Leisa Westerhof – Norwood Morialta High School

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        Web App of the Week – Barker College

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        Librarian Talk – Delia Achten – Ashburton College

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        Librarian Talk – Frances Currie – Prendergast Vale School

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        Web App of the Week – Durrington High School

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        Web App of the Week – Bishop’s Hatfield Girls’ School

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        Librarian Talk – Melissa Ashby – Wanaka Primary School

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        Web App of the Week: Matariki – Free Download

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        Librarian Talk – Sasha Roth – Bishop’s Hatfield Girls’ School

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        Let’s Talk Libraries: Our Lady of Good Help (OLGH) – Sarah Olushonde

        Our Lady of Good Help (OLGH) Intro

        Let’s Talk Libraries: Our Lady of Good Help (OLGH) – Sarah Olushonde

        Appointed as the English Leader at Our Lady of Good Help (OLGH) in September 2021, Sarah Olushonde has become a “proud member of the school’s Senior Leadership Team” and has been responsible for developing the English curriculum, promoting excellent teaching and learning, and looking for ways to keep pupils excited about reading and writing.

        Responsibilities of which, Sarah and her colleagues are clearly managing well, with this discussion highlighting the growing, enthusiastic reading culture that’s on display at OLGH – ‘the small school with a big heart’.

        Type  Primary School
        Roll 139
        Campus Single campus
        Install Cloud Hosted

        Keywords: 

        • Customer Support
        • Automated Overdues
        • Student ownership
        • Reading Ambassadors

        The children have become more familiar with the texts that are on offer, and are now sending me notes with lists of books that they would like us to purchase so that they can further their reading.  This is exactly what we were aiming for – children choosing to read for pleasure.

        Sarah Olushonde

        English Leader, Our Lady of Good Help Primary School, Liverpool, UK

        There was no automated library system at OLGH when Sarah arrived, but after some research she soon initiated the move to Accessit Library, feeling supported along the way.

        I researched the options available and spoke to staff at the Liverpool Learning Partnership. They recommended a number of options, but I found Accessit Library to be the most affordable option for our small school.

        The process was time consuming, every book in our library needed to be catalogued and I had to enrol a volunteer to help me stick all the barcodes in! The staff at Accessit Library were extremely helpful and offered Zoom calls and phone calls to help walk me through the process.

        Duncan (from the Accessit Library Support team) has been incredibly helpful. He is extremely patient and no question is too difficult! He is very efficient and has helped me to feel much more confident about using the system. Whenever I send in an email with a query, he sends back screenshots to guide me through the process of answering my queries.

        Although Sarah still feels relatively new to the system and unfamiliar with all the features Accessit Library has to offer, there are some features which Sarah quickly identified that not only supports her, but her students at OLGH too.

        Instead of chasing children to return books, Accessit Library’s automated system sends reminder letters straight to the parents. This is vital as staff just would not have the time to administer letters themselves. Plus, an official letter is more likely to get a reaction from parents, and the books are more likely to be returned.

        Also, the children have been trained to use the scanner themselves; this means they can independently issue and return books. They love the scanner! They find the beeping noise very satisfying and they also enjoy having the responsibility for issuing and returning books themselves.

        Students scanning book

        The ease with which children can select books and issue them means that some children are reading a book a night! This is what we want: pupils independently choosing a book that they want to read, reading it and enjoying it! It feels so satisfying as we are always trying to encourage our pupils to read and enjoy reading – some of the pupils are so eager to change their book and get new ones.

        It also means that the students have a sense of ownership over the library. They see it as theirs. Plus, the Reading Ambassadors who man the library are role models to other children, encouraging them to read and get engaged with books and comics.

        While the ease of using Accessit Library’s cataloguing functionality has helped to promote student engagement and ownership at OLGH, their Reading Ambassadors and the reading culture at OLGH are down to Sarah, the staff and students themselves.

        Our Reading Ambassadors take on the role of the librarian – they are fantastic!

        They are children who love to read and are often found at break times with their head deep in a book. They are brilliant role models to the other pupils, as they change the library books themselves and chase up children who have not returned their books within the weekly time frame, using the laptop and scanner to input the children’s names to issue and return the books.

        Girl smiling at camera holding a book

        They also promote reading with our younger students, as they take books outside and read to them and with them on the yard, demonstrating that reading can be done anywhere and at any time!

        Also, we run a Reading Club during lunch where our Reading Ambassadors from KS2 take a selection of books from the library and sit with our KS1 pupils out on the yard and read to them. The sight of this makes everyone feel proud!

        With a clear passion for reading at OLGH, Sarah recognises that there has been a dramatic improvement in user engagement since their switch to Accessit Library, with the issuing of books not even being a possibility before.

        It was wonderful to transition to Accessit Library, so that children can have access to high quality texts in the comfort of their own home. It is vital that children see themselves as readers and making the library accessible to them has helped this vision come to fruition.

        Children have a clear sense of ownership – it is their library! They have become more familiar with the texts that are on offer, and are now sending me notes with lists of books that they would like us to purchase so that they can further their reading. This is exactly what we were aiming for – children choosing to read for pleasure.

        Two students holding books

        Accessit Library is an excellent resource, which enables children to become independent investors in the books in their school libraries.

        Ask a question about Accessit Library

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          Let’s Talk Libraries: St Anthony’s High School – Jill Adler

          Let’s Talk Libraries: St Anthony’s High School – Jill Adler

          St Anthonys Intro

          Let’s Talk Libraries: St Anthony’s High School – Jill Adler

          Type  High School
          Roll 2,390
          Campus Single Campus
          Installation Cloud Hosted

          Key Words:  

          • Easy cataloging 
          • Student engagement 
          • Reliable support 
          • Flexible system 

          Having a student be able to write their own reviews, do peer reviews and have put it up for them is amazing. We have our students helping us build our collection – and we just didn’t have that before.

          Jill Adler

          Director of Library Services, St. Anthony's High School, USA

          Jill Adler has been overseeing St Anthony’s High School library and its students for the past 7 years, as Director of Library Services. After encountering Accessit Library at a local SLMA/NYLA Educational Conference, Jill initiated the switch to Accessit Library in 2019, making St. Anthony’s High School the second school in the US at the time to switch to Accessit Library.

          I made the connection right away. I walked past the Accessit Library demo and was so excited about it from the get go.

          We were pretty frustrated with our current system that was really meant for a larger district. It wasn’t set up the way we needed it to be and I was thinking about either dumping all the data and starting from scratch.

          After stopping at Accessit’s exhibit table, I booked an appointment with Bonnie and we just hit it off! It was just perfect timing and the perfect tool for what we needed here at our school.

          Since that Accessit Library demo, Jill, her library team and St Anthony’s High School made the switch to Accessit Library in 2019 and ‘haven’t looked back’ since, with Jill crediting the library management system for helping to make her and her library team’s daily tasks easier.

          There used to be tasks, that would take us forever to do.

          I can distinctly remember doing the training with Accessit Library in the beginning, and two of my other staff members looked at each other like, ‘that’s it?’. It was so simple.

          Things that were taking us multiple steps to do are now easily done within a couple of steps. 

          • Cataloguing used to be a lengthy, multiple step process before. With Accessit Library, you essentially just have to take out a scanning gun, scan the ISBNs, and there you go! You make your list, click Import, and you’re done.  
          • We were also never able to connect certain PDF resources for the kids, and now with Accessit Library we can put them and other resources into our systems. It’s not just a matter of things becoming easier, it’s a matter of actually being able to do it in the first place. 
          • Some of the reporting capabilities are easier for us to figure out when we have duplicate records and just generally messy data. We know the functionality is there to create or fix our data very simply. 
          • Creating our own barcodes became easier and the ease of which we could import and process books is great too. 

          Having switched to Accessit Library in 2019, the Accessit Library Web App was a helpful tool to support staff and students during Covid lockdowns, demonstrating the uses of the library and enabling seamless access to resources and information.

          COVID was interesting. We gained a lot of traction from the library, which was something that would have taken longer to do in school. Being able to support students from home and demonstrating what the library could do for them outside of our school was very helpful.

          Smaller library space

          Since the Accessit Library Web App gives us the ability to manage our own dashboards, we were able to make sure we had information out there for our teachers and students to use very seamlessly. It is customizable, intuitive and easy to use. Tasks that used to take many steps to do are often able to be done in just a few clicks, which helps to keep the information fresh.

          Students can all go to one place. Before, they had to go to different places, but now they can interact with all of our library content through Accessit Library right from one app. It’s very simple to go between one thing to the next to find what they’re looking for. We’re making it relevant and accessible for the students by utilizing the Accessit Library and its dashboards.

          The more we can get them to interact with it, the more fluent they become and can access what we’d like them to access – so they’re finding the materials that we have for them, whether it’s eBooks, audio books, physical books, data resources, announcements and anything else that we make available.

          St Anthonys Web App

          Available Dashboards at St Anthony’s High School

          GO LIVE (Main Landing Page) – This is the general overall website where we house all of our information that the students overall in our school would need. It spring boards to Resources, Community Service, Tutoring, SORA platform, Google Classroom Code information for Library, Twitter, Instagram, HS Comics and a carousel of new books that come in highlighted collection.

          Foreign Language Page The Chairman of Foreign Language wanted to have place for resources for all of her learners, so we made a resource page made for the Foreign Language Department to help support their students learning various languages. We have lower-level games, links etc. so that they can practice in fun ways. 

          Chorus Page – Used for Extra Credit for Chorus to house resources for projects that these students can access easily, Our Chorus director has an extra credit project broken down by grades, and he wanted the students to have access to resources. So, with the same similar concept, we created a news item with a link that went directly to the page for just those students. Like the Foreign Language page being broken down into languages, the Chorus page is broken down by the different levels of the course projects.

          Teacher Resources Page – A page dedicated for teachers to access specific curated content designed with them in mind. Our Teacher Resource page is a landing page with the teachers’ own resources, which only they can log in to with their login. This is another great feature, as we don’t want the students to be able to get into it. This page also links to our,

          Resource box – a resource page that has all of our databases and what students need for their homework and research.

          Jill and her team have created a variety of Accessit Library Web Apps. These platforms engage students and allow them to find accessible resources, helping to improve information literacy overall.

          We didn’t have anything like Accessit Library before. There was nothing for them to interact with and the students were not using the previous LMS system at all. So right off the bat, I can say I’ve had 100% engagement!

          Students have more access than ever before to our resources. The fact that we have information readily available 24/7 in such a user-friendly platform can’t help but have a positive impact on information literacy. We are grateful that the Web App can display information that is important for the students to be able to access.

          Our Accessit Library reports indicate that we are getting views on our Carousels, Fast Find Searches, Visual Searches and Reviews all as the top usage. We still need to educate students to sign in with their own Gmail accounts rather than just browse through as a guest. This will help us with more detail in understanding individual usage. Honestly, though – I really don’t care how they browse, as long as they browse!

          Also, having a student be able to write their own reviews, do peer reviews and have put it up for them is amazing. We have our students helping us build our collection – and we just didn’t have that before.

          Two librarians at desk

          Despite initial concerns about the difference in time zones, Accessit Library was able to support and communicate with Jill no matter the time, with a representative assigned from either side of the world to answer any of her queries.

          From the get go – Their support team has been amazing and helpful! It’s amazing, we can reach out to them with anything and every time they’re so wonderful and welcoming.

          Where we are in New York, we fell between two time zones. So, Accessit put us with a customer service representative from both sides of the world, so we’d basically never be without someone – and that worked out super for us.

          Now, of course, Accessit Library has United States presence, so sometimes we talk internationally and sometimes we talk to the Accessit Library team in the US. I can’t recall a time that we didn’t have almost an immediate reply to something that we’ve sent regardless of when we sent it.

          I think that Accessit Library is very responsive, if a suggestion is made, I feel very confident that you will be heard. That to me, is huge, because that shows that they’re willing to grow with us.

          Early on, I made a lot of suggestions based on what the US schools would probably be looking for, or a functionality that we particularly needed, and every single one of them was either commented on or investigated to see how they could do it.

          They saw the relevance and importance of these ideas to US schools, so they wanted to figure it out.

          Two years on from Jill and St Anthony’s High School’s bold move to become only the second US school using Accessit Library, Jill recognizes that Accessit Library has continued to grow in the United States, identifying features she helped to implement, that other US schools can now benefit from.

          From a customer service perspective, I know Accessit Library’s resources like the portal and ALeC, where I can go to and work through all of the courses. Accessit Library is updating faster than I can learn it. So, in some cases, not all the resources are there – but it’s a great foundation.

          Also, I was one of the very early people to do E-resources (eg. eBooks and audio books) using the Sora platform. We worked really hard with Accessit to get them to understand what it needed to look like from our side, and now our Sora application is integrated in with Accessit Library. We use authentication using the student’s Gmail accounts which is a game changer, because it is so much more efficient than two separate manual sign-ins.

          The ability to integrate Sora was actually perfect timing, because when COVID hit, all the schools started jumping on the bandwagon of using Sora, because you needed to have resources for the kids. So, that’s a huge, huge improvement and I know others will now benefit from that as well.

          Library space

          Having been the second school in the US to switch to Accessit Library, Jill has often advocated for the library management system to other schools reaching out to find out more. When asked what sort of comments she would make, Jill said:

          I definitely think that if you are looking for a flexible system to be able to create your own library space and engage your students timely, then Accessit Library is the perfect thing for you to investigate. The support is there for you. The flexibility and the ability to do what you can dream of is right in front of you with all the tools.

          Accessit already offers what people would need every day for their libraries to function well. It’s just a wonderful system and I’m glad that we were able to partner with them. I am very happy that I made the leap and have not looked back.

          Ask a question about Accessit Library

            How International Schools Can Automate Their Library & Free Up Time for What Matters 

            How International Schools Can Automate Their Library & Free Up Time for What Matters 

            Picture Books – Top Picks

            Picture Books – Top Picks

            A Learning and Marketing Tool to Increase Student Engagement

            A Learning and Marketing Tool to Increase Student Engagement

            Bring on The Comics!

            Bring on The Comics!

            The (Multiple) Books of Christmas

            The (Multiple) Books of Christmas

            What Does Information Literacy Mean?

            What Does Information Literacy Mean?

            Substitution Rules Don’t Have To Be Scary

            Substitution Rules Don’t Have To Be Scary

            Embedding the Library as a Whole School Resource

            Embedding the Library as a Whole School Resource

            Getting Creative With Visual Search

            Getting Creative With Visual Search

            Starting The Year Off Right in Your Library

            Starting The Year Off Right in Your Library

            Case Study – Avondale School, NSW

            Case Study – Avondale School, NSW

            Case Study – Riva Primary, WA

            Case Study – Riva Primary, WA

            Including Digital Resources in Your Library

            Including Digital Resources in Your Library

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Cheney School – Jill Fenton

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Cheney School – Jill Fenton

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Bishop Gilpin C of E Primary School – Sally Le Marquand

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Bishop Gilpin C of E Primary School – Sally Le Marquand

            Creating a School-wide Reading Culture

            Creating a School-wide Reading Culture

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Thomas Hardye School – Jenny Stevens

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Thomas Hardye School – Jenny Stevens

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Our Lady of Good Help (OLGH) – Sarah Olushonde

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Our Lady of Good Help (OLGH) – Sarah Olushonde

            Let’s Talk Libraries: St Anthony’s High School – Jill Adler

            Let’s Talk Libraries: St Anthony’s High School – Jill Adler

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Somerhill – Susan Smith

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Somerhill – Susan Smith

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Beacon Academy – Natasha Allen

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Beacon Academy – Natasha Allen

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Southland Girls’ High School

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Southland Girls’ High School

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Littlehampton Primary – Barb O’Connor

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Littlehampton Primary – Barb O’Connor

            Let’s Talk Libraries: The Hill School (US) – Nancy Body, Catherine Clowes

            Let’s Talk Libraries: The Hill School (US) – Nancy Body, Catherine Clowes

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Our Lady of Lourdes – Danielle Leathart

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Our Lady of Lourdes – Danielle Leathart

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Richmond & Prahran High School – Karys McEwen

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Richmond & Prahran High School – Karys McEwen

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Croxley Danes School – Victoria Rovira

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Croxley Danes School – Victoria Rovira

            The Lovett School – Storybook Pumpkin Contest

            The Lovett School – Storybook Pumpkin Contest

            Web App of the Week: World Book Day (UK) – Free download

            Web App of the Week: World Book Day (UK) – Free download

            Web App of the Week: Waitangi Day – Free download

            Web App of the Week: Waitangi Day – Free download

            Supporting Reluctant Readers

            Supporting Reluctant Readers

            Let’s Talk Libraries: The Lovett School – Robyn Martin

            Let’s Talk Libraries: The Lovett School – Robyn Martin

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Lloyd Street Primary School (VIC)

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Lloyd Street Primary School (VIC)

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Seatoun School – Wendy Bamber

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Seatoun School – Wendy Bamber

            Axe-cessit Halloween Showcase – Competition Recap

            Axe-cessit Halloween Showcase – Competition Recap

            Raising the profile of your school library

            Raising the profile of your school library

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Christian College Geelong (VIC) – Gerradine Barry

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Christian College Geelong (VIC) – Gerradine Barry

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Paula Na Nagara – St Mark’s School 

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Paula Na Nagara – St Mark’s School 

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Diocese of Toowoomba (QLD) – Liz Newman

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Diocese of Toowoomba (QLD) – Liz Newman

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Peace Lutheran College (QLD) – Tanya Mills

            Let’s Talk Libraries: Peace Lutheran College (QLD) – Tanya Mills

            Web App of the Week: Halloween – Free download

            Web App of the Week: Halloween – Free download

            The Axe-cessit Halloween Showcase – Free resource download

            The Axe-cessit Halloween Showcase – Free resource download

            Accessit Library Talks – Episode 1 – Kevin Arscott of Coleg Gwent

            Accessit Library Talks – Episode 1 – Kevin Arscott of Coleg Gwent

            Web App of the Week: Dixons Cottingley Academy

            Web App of the Week: Dixons Cottingley Academy

            Web App of the Week: Sydenham School

            Web App of the Week: Sydenham School

            Librarians of Accessit – Sarah Pavey

            Librarians of Accessit – Sarah Pavey

            An introduction to using Social Media in your library

            An introduction to using Social Media in your library

            Web App of the Week: Denefield School

            Web App of the Week: Denefield School

            Getting students involved in your school library

            Getting students involved in your school library

            Web App of the Week: Environment Day & World Oceans Day – Free Download

            Web App of the Week: Environment Day & World Oceans Day – Free Download

            Web App of the Week – Ursuline Academy of Dallas

            Web App of the Week – Ursuline Academy of Dallas

            Web App of the Week – Woodland Middle School Academy

            Web App of the Week – Woodland Middle School Academy

            Web App of the Week – Anzac Day – Free download

            Web App of the Week – Anzac Day – Free download

            Web App of the Week – Sarah Bonnell School

            Web App of the Week – Sarah Bonnell School

            Librarian Talk – Claire Bavister – Woodland Middle School Academy 

            Librarian Talk – Claire Bavister – Woodland Middle School Academy 

            Librarian Talk – Mary McGavin – Fulham Prep School

            Librarian Talk – Mary McGavin – Fulham Prep School

            Web App of the Week: Happy Holidays – Free download

            Web App of the Week: Happy Holidays – Free download

            Librarian Talk – Poonampal Kaur – Sarah Bonnell School

            Librarian Talk – Poonampal Kaur – Sarah Bonnell School

            How to promote your school library catalogue

            How to promote your school library catalogue

            Librarian Talk – Jason Saikaly – Barker College

            Librarian Talk – Jason Saikaly – Barker College

            How to approach collection development in school libraries

            How to approach collection development in school libraries

            Web App of the Week – Thornbury High School

            Web App of the Week – Thornbury High School

            Lynn Swannell – Mount Eliza Secondary College, Victoria, Australia

            Lynn Swannell – Mount Eliza Secondary College, Victoria, Australia

            Librarian Talk – Wendy Wright – Avonside Girls’ High & Shirley Boys’ High

            Librarian Talk – Wendy Wright – Avonside Girls’ High & Shirley Boys’ High

            15 downloadable resources every school librarian needs

            15 downloadable resources every school librarian needs

            Web App of the Week – Ashburton College

            Web App of the Week – Ashburton College

            Librarian Talk – Leisa Westerhof – Norwood Morialta High School

            Librarian Talk – Leisa Westerhof – Norwood Morialta High School

            Web App of the Week – Barker College

            Web App of the Week – Barker College

            Librarian Talk – Delia Achten – Ashburton College

            Librarian Talk – Delia Achten – Ashburton College

            Librarian Talk – Frances Currie – Prendergast Vale School

            Librarian Talk – Frances Currie – Prendergast Vale School

            Web App of the Week – Durrington High School

            Web App of the Week – Durrington High School

            Web App of the Week – Bishop’s Hatfield Girls’ School

            Web App of the Week – Bishop’s Hatfield Girls’ School

            Librarian Talk – Melissa Ashby – Wanaka Primary School

            Librarian Talk – Melissa Ashby – Wanaka Primary School

            Web App of the Week: Matariki – Free Download

            Web App of the Week: Matariki – Free Download

            Librarian Talk – Sasha Roth – Bishop’s Hatfield Girls’ School

            Librarian Talk – Sasha Roth – Bishop’s Hatfield Girls’ School

            Web App of the Week – Wanaka Primary School

            Web App of the Week – Wanaka Primary School

            Librarian Talk – Jill Marriott – Corinna School

            Librarian Talk – Jill Marriott – Corinna School

            Web App of the Week – Great Baddow High School

            Web App of the Week – Great Baddow High School

            Web App of the Week – Broadland High Ormiston Academy

            Web App of the Week – Broadland High Ormiston Academy

            Librarian Talk – Gemma Sosnowsky – Queen Elizabeth School

            Librarian Talk – Gemma Sosnowsky – Queen Elizabeth School

            Librarian Talk – Donna Harris – Great Baddow High School

            Librarian Talk – Donna Harris – Great Baddow High School

            Web App of the Week – Abington Friends School

            Web App of the Week – Abington Friends School

            Librarian Talk – Kay Morfett – Rolleston School

            Librarian Talk – Kay Morfett – Rolleston School

            Web App of the Week – Burgundy Farm Country Day School

            Web App of the Week – Burgundy Farm Country Day School

            Librarian Talk – Gabrielle Wales – Broadland High Ormiston Academy

            Librarian Talk – Gabrielle Wales – Broadland High Ormiston Academy

            Web App of the Week – Rolleston School

            Web App of the Week – Rolleston School

            Librarian Talk – Sally Baker – High School Librarian

            Librarian Talk – Sally Baker – High School Librarian

            Web App of the Week: Harmony ISD

            Web App of the Week: Harmony ISD

            Librarian Talk – Barbara Krainik – Burgundy Farm Country Day School

            Librarian Talk – Barbara Krainik – Burgundy Farm Country Day School

            Librarian Talk – Jill Adler – St. Anthony’s High School

            Librarian Talk – Jill Adler – St. Anthony’s High School

            Web App of the Week: The Jedi Academy

            Web App of the Week: The Jedi Academy

            Web App of the Week: St Anthony’s High School

            Web App of the Week: St Anthony’s High School

            Librarian Talk – Lori Davis – District Librarian

            Librarian Talk – Lori Davis – District Librarian

            Librarian Talk — Toni Vahlsing — Abington Friends School 

            Librarian Talk — Toni Vahlsing — Abington Friends School 

            Diversity and Inclusion – Accessit Book Club

            Diversity and Inclusion – Accessit Book Club

            Supporting mental health in the library: Mallinson Library, Wellington College, Berkshire

            Supporting mental health in the library: Mallinson Library, Wellington College, Berkshire

            Loving books this Valentine’s Day!

            Loving books this Valentine’s Day!

            Information and Digital Literacy – Richer Through Collaboration

            Information and Digital Literacy – Richer Through Collaboration

            The library – a safe space for everyone

            The library – a safe space for everyone

            On the Road Again – NZ Roadshow 2019

            On the Road Again – NZ Roadshow 2019

            Genrefying your library: Unley High School

            Genrefying your library: Unley High School

            Building a Strong Reading Culture: St Rita’s College Library

            Building a Strong Reading Culture: St Rita’s College Library

            Australia Roadshow 2019 – a great success!

            Australia Roadshow 2019 – a great success!

            Creating an amazing online library presence

            Creating an amazing online library presence

            Deepening literacy engagement

            Deepening literacy engagement

            Tsukuba International School

            Tsukuba International School

            Otago Boys’ High School

            Otago Boys’ High School

            Le Régent College

            Le Régent College

            Wesley Intermediate School

            Wesley Intermediate School

            Fuqua School

            Fuqua School

            Kamo High School

            Kamo High School

            Mental Health Foundation of NZ

            Mental Health Foundation of NZ

            Leicestershire County Council

            Leicestershire County Council

            Cambridge High School

            Cambridge High School

            Saint Kentigern College

            Saint Kentigern College

            Culford School

            Culford School

            Greenhithe School

            Greenhithe School

            Reynella East College

            Reynella East College

            Tyndale Christian School

            Tyndale Christian School

            Shepparton High School

            Shepparton High School