Some may think that a library is simply a place to store, display read and borrow books. But our Elementary School (ES) library, with its three dedicated members of staff, functions as hub of resources and knowledge, as well as an outward facing learning support mechanism.

At the center of the operation lies our ES teacher librarian, Matthew Richmond, who plays an active role both in the library and around the ES. The role of the teacher librarian spans many areas of learning. Within the library, they locate, vet, curate, and share high quality resources, and connect students with books to nurture lifelong readers. They host classes in the library, aid students in book choices, maintain the library collection, seek out online resources, and put on sessions for parents, such as recent Parents in Partnership sessions. Whilst constantly updating and maintaining the book collection, the teacher librarian is also responsible for the maintenance and expansion of the school's online resources and encouraging the use of these resources. This includes facilitating lessons and discussions on digital citizenship and best practices for using online resources.

Outside of the library, Mr. Richmond collaborates closely with ES teachers to support classes and integrate resource and research-related skill-based lessons into the inquiry-based curriculum. A recent Grade 4 class were paid a visit by Mr. Richmond where he delivered a class on research strategies and note-taking skills. Integrated into the class' wider Unit of Inquiry on biomes, Mr. Richmond used related resources on ecosystems to teach and demonstrate to students the efficacy and usefulness of these skills. Through a series of activities, students were challenged to pick out important information using skimming and scanning and highlight and organize their findings for future use. The note-taking skills and research strategies learned are not only useful to students when they are researching their project of inquiry later in the year but develop crucial capabilities which will be needed throughout their learning journeys.

It is safe to say there are not many quiet, boring days spent in a silent library for our ES teacher librarian!