Description: This article tells about modern innovations implemented in school libraries of the future to make them worthwhile for students.
What innovations help to improve our school libraries
Years ago, school libraries looked like huge warehouses with tons of different books. But later our life was improved with modern technologies, such as computers and Internet connection, so modern schools don’t need all those old libraries anymore. With Internet connection, any student has got almost unlimited possibilities in studying, from various writing services to help me with admission essay, to distance learning from home. In this article, we will review which innovations have already changed the libraries, and how they can be improved in the future.
- Modern libraries don’t have those piles of books they had before, but they have many computers. Any student can use the library to find some information in the Internet, read electronic book, or type the essay on the computer. We believe that future libraries will include a great range of resources, from electronic books to various databases that will give students a chance to develop their skills, learn new things, and apply their knowledge in innovative ways.
- Of course, printed books are still important, but more and more students use e-books, laptops, tablets, and other devices to read books online. That’s why instead of being a warehouse of printed books, the library turns into a space for studying, where students can gather and discuss some future project, such as presentation, writing the lab report, or preparing for tests. The library of the future will be not just as a source of books for students, but a workplace for students to develop their skills and make creative projects together.
- All libraries will be cooperating with other school libraries to share resources and have free access to digital information. Such system is already implemented in New York, it is called My Library NYC, and it includes three public library systems to provide both teachers and students with access to various information as well as get a chance to special privilege resources of the entire system. In other words, old libraries won’t disappear; they would improve, change, and develop in a huge network of school libraries to give their users great possibilities.
- We were talking about changing libraries, but let’s think what will happen with librarians. Earlier such workers were sitting in libraries, watching students to be quiet, giving them books at their requests, and keeping those piles of books in order. You may think if the library will change so much with new technologies, then librarians are not needed, but it’s not true. Even if students will be able to find all the needed information by themselves, they will definitely have questions. Librarians will help students in various situations; they will be instructors to help students find something, or connect to other libraries via Skype, select resources from various places, and arrange online sessions with experts or authors for students, when needed. Their work will be more important, and more interesting even, because this job would be very different from the traditional duties of librarian we used to.
- Librarians won’t work anymore with those old card catalogs because thanks to the newest software, all libraries will be equipped with computer terminals. The library will be a media center, and the librarian’s duties will change a lot. School librarians of future will be responsible to provide students with home access to the library network, index web sites, add web links to book records, and a lot of other features. The profession of the librarian wasn’t so popular lately, but in the future a lot of even young people will be interested to work in this field.
- Libraries will become more “friendly” for students. If earlier, in past times, they could come there and sit quiet with a pile of books without much talking to their friends because the old librarian could ask them to leave the room is they are too noisy. Libraries of future will be much more flexible to give students a lot of possibilities to do various things. All seating and tables will be movable to get more space and turn the usual library in a room for exhibitions, presentations, and even concerts. Libraries will be connected not only to books, but to all information and acts linked to the learning process. Students will have their cozy place to study, communicate with friends, discuss ideas. They will be able to come to the library, sit with an e-book and read “Romeo and Juliet”, and then rearrange the space into the theater and make a short play by this book for other students to watch. Or, they can watch some exciting movie on the big screen in the library, and then sit and write their own movie review.
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As we can see, modern technologies give school libraries great possibilities for improving and changing. In the future, libraries will be turned into media centers for studying and entertainment. Students will be more involved in learning because their motivation will be increased. They will find out it’s much more interesting and exciting to make their project as a theater play instead of sitting in the classroom and answering teacher’s questions about the book they read. Students don’t like to do something boring, but if to replace that boring thing with something interesting, they will get a great motivation to fulfill the assignment.
The main goal of future libraries is to give students a possibility to discover things without making the process boring. That’s why in the future libraries will be equipped with project screens, 3D glasses, various digital devices such as printers, cameras, e-books, etc., and even planetariums to help students discover this world. Libraries won’t be working with only books, but they will be turned into huge media centers connected to each other to share source, experience, and new ideas to improve the education.