Experimenting a Virtual Library X-perience during the Pandemic

The Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) environment developed due to the COVID-19 pandemic has made educators everywhere experiment with a number of tools that they never heard and used till date. The initial hesitance to understand and critically assess the unprecedented situation put many of them in a dilemma, whether to try a particular tool/technology which support online learning or just replicate the chalk and black board delivered via video conferencing. Many of them pulled themselves up by learning and experimenting with new tools. The case was not much different for librarians, especially the school librarians, around the world. But the innate familiarity with many tools, as demanded already by their profession, made them the real winners who faced these challenges with courage and fervour. The School Librarians have improved, tried and tested many tools that have helped them to deliver, engage, connect and share information, resources and services to support learners and teachers very effectively. In India, professional associations like SLA-India conducted weekly/monthly professional development sessions to equip librarians with new tools and skills. We can find a huge number of such examples in school libraries around the globe that once again proved its integral role and importance in teaching and learning, irrespective of the mode and platform. I am sure that the rich experience we gained during these difficult times will definitely be going to help us in the near future when an online/hybrid learning environment becomes normal.

Here are some of the tools/websites used/explored by KV Pattom Library to create a true Virtual Library experience.

Read and Access

1. Library Blog with WordPress (crossed 8 Million Hits)
2. Virtual Library with Wakelet (104 digital collections)
3. Digital Library on Epic4schools platform (2000+ free e-books)
4. Library on smartphone with Linktree (62K views & 70K clicks)
5. Stories & Ebooks on StoryWeaver, Room to Read, ICDL, NDLI, Global Digital Library, Storyline Onlne, etc

Write and Create

1. ReadWorks (Reading comprehension instruction)
2. CommonLit (Reading comprehension & resources)
3. Interactive E-books (Silver Lining) & School E-Magazine with Book Creator App
4. Virtual Book reviews, Notes, discussions with Padlet (What I am reading now?, My Favourite Books, 100 Days of Reading Campaign, etc)
5. E-Magazine with WordPress
6. Posters, Ads, Posts with Canva

Listen & Express

1. Audio Library on SoundCloud (25 sets)
2. KV Pattom Karaoke with Flipgrid (30160 views; 1446.8 hours of engagement)
3. KVPattom Storytellers on SoundCloud

Watch

1. Library on smartphone with Linktree
2. Sunday short films (33 films)

Engage

1. Google Classroom (separete Library Google Classrooms)
2. Quiz Assignments with Quizizz (45 sets, 27800 attempts)
3. Face a Book Challenge Stay@Home summer reading challenge
4. Flipgrid debates (31,079 views, 174 comments, 1505.4 hours of discussion)
5. Read Alouds with Flipgrid
6. Live Quiz on Kahoot!
7. 100 Days of Reading Campaign
8. Goodreads Book Club
9. Online competitions, Events, Campaigns (National Library Week, World Book Day, Reading Month, etc)
10. YouTube Live streaming (School events & webinars)
11. 37 Webinars on various topics (Meet the Author, Career, Mental Health, Cyber Security, etc)
12. Virtual Book Fair with Scholastic Inc.

Connect and Share

1. Facebook Page (2636 Followers)
2. YouTube Channel (3.13 K Subscribers)
3. Twitter (749 Followers)
4. Instagram (50 Followers)
5. WhatsApp Groups

All tools mentioned above are open/free/free educator versions. Thanks to the creators of all these wornderful tools, Apps, websites and platforms.

Learning never stops!

(*all statistics are as on March 5, 2022)