A Scene from the Unquiet Library

The Unquiet Library (the Creekview High School library in Canton, GA) has stood out to me since I encountered it over a year ago as an excellent example of a school library using web 2.0 tools to both reflect and broadcast the already vibrant learning that appears to be occurring as well as to help further create a culture of vibrant learning. This positive cycle of reporting on and creating a buzz around learning is one of the powerful ways that web 2.0 tools can be leveraged in a school library setting. One of the further benefits of such use is the resultant “branding” of the library that tends to occur; for obvious reasons, if a library is involving students and using the same media tools that students use, then the library will become at least more present if not also more relevant in the lives of those students.

A particularly notable example successful library/student/media interaction can be found in this “Group Reflections on 9th Grade Research: Presearching, Formative Assessment, Research Guides, and More!” post from March 2011. The ten minute long Youtube video features a collection of teachers and students discussing the finer points of their recent foray into online researching, database use, research guides, citations, and more. The content of the conversation is valuable on its own, but this particular video is a nice example of teachers and TLs going beyond content with students and creating a scenario that empowers students simply by the way in which the project occurs.

A number of positive things happen in the scenario presented by this video:

• Teachers, TLs, and students are working together collaboratively toward a common goal
• All parties are engaged in a discussion about the learning process
• All parties appear comfortable with the process and aware of what the learning goals are
• The “stakes are raised” for all parties—but particularly the students—to perform well, as there exists a tangible and immediate audience that will view and critique the video as soon as it is published. This act of immediate publishing and the awareness of a tangible audience tends to increase the sense of importance surrounding the moment, which in turn tends to leader to deeper and fuller levels of understanding.
• Students are receiving excellent, direct feedback on their work.
• Students will likely receive even further feedback on their work and/or their on-air performance in the form of in-person comments from peers or comments on the library’s blog.



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