LAUREEN MYRACLE'S INTERNET GIRLS AND CENSORSHIP: DIGITAL COMMUNICATION AS A CHALLENGE TO IDEOLOGICAL CONTROL THROUGH LANGUAGE AND AS A FIELD FOR FACING GENDER ROLES

Taking L. Myracle’s Internet Girls novel series as a starting point, this article tries to investigate and hopefully unveil the reasons behind the censorship imposed on the series by the “gatekeepers of canonicity and morality.” The article is a literature review and semi-content analysis. After a brief discussion about the term Young Adult literature and the subversion of the argumentut forws pard as a justification of the banning of the books, we examine the relationship between the epistolary novelistic form and the female voice. Finally, we focus on the most distinctive feature of the novels: the exclusive use of online chatting to advance the narrative. The role of digital communication in Y.A. literature and the youth’s idiomatic language on the net are also discussed. Our main argument is that the root causes triggering the adult censors’ distress and challenging their standards are not the controversial sexuality and attitudes of the characters. Rather, it is their language and writing in internet chatting. Digital communication is imbued with webspeak. It becomes a field of intergenerational tension, a vehicle of undermining pedagogical censorship. This type of communication evades the absolute control of some adults not savvy in webspeak. A number of these individuals -possibly a social group that is over-represented in the teaching and school librarian professions- perceive digital communication as a threat to traditional language codes. Their reaction to the Internet Girls concerns not only the content of the books but –first and foremost– the style and the code these books are written. What is more, the girls’ “digital” conversations allow for free self- expression. Prescribed boundaries of politically correct female attitude are transgressed leading to harsher adult public outcry.

FestivIL 2021

A report on the FestivIL Conference 2021 from the perspective of a school librarian.

Distance Education During the Covid-10 Epidemic as a Challenge and Opportunity for the Personal and Professional Development of a School Librarian

Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, all schools had to close their doors last year. Classes moved to a virtual environment, and students and teachers were left without the opportunity to visit school libraries overnight. Therefore, the school library of the Prva gimnazija Maribor has operated smoothly throughout the time of the epidemic and strives to facilitate the work of students, teachers, and other employees as much as possible, continue to promote reading, develop reading and information literacy, and at the same time enrich the educational process. The article presents how we found our way to our readers despite the difficult situation.

What is Important for Survival?: The Analysis of a School Librarians COVID-19 Blog Post Corpus

This paper examines blog posts shared on a popular school librarian association website. Posts were written by school librarians, school library supervisors, book authors, and school library educators in various settings. The website posts were searched using the term COVID-19. The search returned 89 results written between March 2020 and June 2021. The analysis focused on the topics that were mentioned the most, according to the categories associated with the blog posts. A review of how the posts evolved is also presented. Results suggest that the most important topics that the readers of the blog needed to endure the pandemic included student engagement, teaching models, leadership, and advocacy.

Lists of Opportunities: My Experience as a School Librarian During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In this paper I share my experiences, opinions and perspectives of running a school library during the COVID-19 pandemic. I discuss the difficulties and problems I have encountered, but also the opportunities for creativity that have presented themselves. From experiencing government cutbacks to layoffs and school closures, I discuss my feelings and frustrations about COVID-19 and how it prevented me from doing my job. I demonstrate how the pandemic heightened the feeling of isolation and loneliness in a job that can already make one feel disconnected; I highlight the importance and need for human connection. I also examine the new creative opportunities that working during a pandemic has given me, like asynchronous programming, collection development, professional development and a chance to experiment or renovate. This paper is meant to highlight the importance of school libraries and start a discussion of our role before and after the pandemic. Advocacy helps ensure that school libraries remain open. My goal is to give a glimpse of day-to-day library practice in a school library during the pandemic and share ideas and information with the library and information community. My views and opinions are my own, and the context will be different in every school.

Strengthening teacher–librarian partnerships

This article addresses the question: What would it take for collaborative teacher–librarian partnerships to flourish in Aotearoa New Zealand secondary schools? We provide a three-part model that explores how professional expectations and local (school) conditions can influence whether the school librarian is siloed or integrated within a school. Our analysis is based on Patricia Montiel-Overall’s 2005 categorisation of teacher–librarian partnerships. The article concludes by discussing how change can be effected in the role of the library in schools, arguing that school managers and teachers can take steps now to provide the local conditions to enable teacher–librarian partnerships in the interests of student learning.

KEBIJAKAN SELEKSI DALAM MENDUKUNG STANDAR KOLEKSI DI PERPUSTAKAAN SEKOLAH

The school library is a library in a school to support the teaching and learning activities and objectives of the parent school. In terms of the collection, the library has a standard, both from the number of collections as well as the depth of the collection. There needs to be the selection policy as part of a collection development policy so that these standards are fulfilled. This paper uses literature study method. This paper provides guidance to the school librarian about the things that need to be considered in making the selection policy. Selection policy must consider the amount of collection, type of collection, the suitability of the curriculum, language, and so forth.

Our Patch vs. Their Patch: Information Technology and Literacy in Schools

The information technology revolution is affecting schools on a broader basis than just libraries. Teachers, administrators and educational technology specialists are all espousing expanded roles to address the new opportunities with the result that responsibilities are beginning to overlap and roles are becoming blurred. In this paper the importance of defining a specific “patch” for the school librarian is stressed and criteria for the development of the “patch” are suggested.

The School Librarian as Internet Mediator: A Case Study and Evaluation

Case studies can be viewed as either having intrinsic interest or as exploratory studies which can be used by subsequent researchers to inform theory. Case studies are not generalizable to populations, as surveys might be, but are generalizable to theory and may have an impact on the development of theory in areas of research. This particular case study relates to the role of the school librarian as Internet mediator and its findings highlight the value of WWW resources in curricular terms and emphasis the key role taken by the school librarian in identifying and exploiting such resources in co-operation with teachers.