Abstract
Within the context of 21st century learning and teaching, libraries have been obliged to reassess their resource base and augment their professional support services. The previously established power of the library as a space that guides and develops student knowledge is being challenged and some library professionals feel they may be entering into a �professional competition� with ICTs, online research modules, e-texts and the like. Library staff who believe they have little to offer the 21st century learning context are beginning to feel powerless and inadequate. This presentation will raise three critical questions connected with the power of libraries and the context within which they currently exist. Firstly, with so much information available freely online is the intellectual power and credibility that librarians have enjoyed for generations being diluted? Secondly, does the plethora of technology available in the wider community affect the ability of librarians to build and sustain the traditional academic space typically associated with their domain? Finally, is the library space still a powerhouse for knowledge or is it in need of reinventing its identity to become a powerhouse for collaborative and community learning? Using the School Library as its predominant focus, this presentation will consider how the role and responsibility of the library can be �reinvented� to ensure its power within the scholastic educational landscape is reaffirmed and how it can endorse its reputation as an educationally and socially progressive powerhouse for the individual, immediate community and broader national and international community.
Author Information
Andrew Stark, The Southport School, Australia
Paper Information
Conference: LibrAsia2015
Stream: Librarianship - Management
This paper is part of the LibrAsia2015 Conference Proceedings (View)
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