Library 2.0-Adventure #15

Do you remember when you started Kindergarten? You may have only known some of your colors or some of your numbers, but it was okay. Kindergarten was a learning year. Now, however, kindergarten is the new 1st grade. Students are required, in kindergarten, to perform on their first day.

What does this have to do with Library 2.0? Let's first look at 21st century learning. 21st century skills are being introduced at an early age. Students are being asked to work in groups to solve problems, while building on each other's thinking; they are being asked to use critical thinking skills to share their work in a variety of ways, usually involving technology. 21st century learning is necessary in order to compete in an ever evolving technological society. It is also necessary, in my opinion, to start the 21st century learning process in elementary school.

Library 2.0, which is based on Web 2.0 tools, incorporates 21st century learning. Therefore, Library 2.0 tools need to be in place in order to facilitate the learning process. Can public school libraries provide a complete Library 2.0 setting? No. School libraries, with their money woes, lack the necessary funding and must use free technology. In addition, a school librarian's time is limited, especially when the librarian is on a fixed schedule and only has a maximum of 15 minutes of instruction time.

So, public libraries are jumping on the Library 2.0 bandwagon, with good reason. Public libraries are providing what school libraries can't: one-button commands, easy to use programs and services that require little or no training and available personnel that can work on a one-to-one basis if necessary. Does that mean that school libraries are off the hook? No. We are still responsible for 21st century learning, and once again, 21st century learning requries a 2.0 Library.

That is where Web 2.0 tools play in, for there are many free tools that school libraries can use to help students begin their 21st century journey. Wikis, blogs, glogs and other collaboration tools are readily available to school librarians if they are willing to invest a little time into learning what is actually out there.

Michael Stephens in his article "Into a New World of Librarianship" published in the OCLC newsletter summed up Library 2.0 nicely when he said that libraries must meet the needs of its patrons by allowing "users access wherever they are." How can students be expected to develop 21st century skills if they don't have access to the necessary tools?

So, a 2.0 library is what we all should be striving for; otherwise, our students will always be one step behind.