Dive Brief:

• Two librarians in New Canaan, CT, have identified the library as a key place to achieve personalized learning goals, outlining a range of strategies in a recent webinar hosted by edWeb.net.
• According to eSchool News, librarians can track student data to give educators more information about student needs, field student questions to guide future lessons and organize book displays and other work spaces to capitalize on student interests.
• Libraries can also host makerspaces to inspire student passions, virtual events like book clubs and online tools that give students access to extra help or self-paced study.

Dive Insight:

Many schools and districts have overlooked librarian expertise as they redesign curricula and school spaces to embrace the personalization movement. But librarians often have technical knowledge that can help make ed tech initiatives a success and they certainly have the research backgrounds to further the goals of project-based learning curricula.

Some schools are re-thinking the library entirely, getting rid of norms that say libraries are quiet spaces and urging students to use them for collaboration that can get noisy. It is tempting to think online research and e-books are making libraries obsolete, but students still have a lot they could learn inside their walls.