In our primary school (Years 1 – 5), the library acts in very particular ways to support the Units of Inquiry (UOI). The Teacher Librarian meets with teachers in collaborative planning sessions to ensure the UOIs are resourced. Direct links between the classroom teachers and library play a fundamental role in ensuring that teachers are supported and students have the means to explore the various units with academic resources of the highest quality.

In addition to supporting the UOIs, the Teacher Librarian promotes the love of literature and reading. This role is critical to the formation of a productive relationship between students and library, as it is often during this time that students engage in reading for pleasure rather than academic necessity. This position and its subsequent influence also serve to drive diverse development of the book collection and electronic resources.

The role of the library in this facet of the PYP is also to educate students on the conventions and practices of research. The ability to find information, to explore different genres, and to play with games/LEGO/makerspace items is where the library continues to redefine resource usage to underpin the learner profiles. It is through these programmes that the library is integrated into the PYP structure and finds its place both in support of the academic curriculum and in providing a welcoming facility for students to explore their imaginations.

Reading Programmes

The library also assists with the resourcing of guided reading and home reading programmes. This is a very large and tangible part of the service provided in addition to normal library operations, with students being provided reading materials at varying levels throughout the week. Further information on this can be found under the Junior School page.

The MYP builds on the foundations of the UOI, which explores the personal aspects of students through the PYP. The Middle Years Programme begins to lead students beyond the personal to local and international communities and it is the library's role to maintain links to resources of differing levels of complexity.

At Scotch, the MYP runs from Years 6-8 in Middle School. As such, while it is a continuation of the PYP, the fundamental approaches in terms of library support are slightly different.

In the Middle School (Years 6-8), a 1.0FTE Teacher Librarian is allocated to support the integration of library resources directly into curriculum programmes. Like the PYP, the Teacher Librarian meets regularly with the curriculum leaders and teachers to provide support to those classes via research guides and direct instruction. The forms this support takes are detailed below:

Direct Instruction

Students in Years 6-7 have in their timetable a library period directed by the Teacher Librarian and the classroom teacher. Both are present in the library while the lesson is delivered and play co-operative roles in the delivery and support of the lesson content. These lessons are based on the scope and sequence to teach students research techniques while encompassing the general competencies that are a part of the Australian curriculum.

Year 8 students have a dedicated library period with the Teacher Librarian and the library is involved in lessons by accommodating requests for research guides which the teachers deliver inside their normal classroom. It is this defining change that begins preparation for their transition to the Senior School programmes.

Elements critical to the library's support of the MYP are that:

• Students understand the difference in primary and secondary sources.
• Students understand how to evaluate sources of information and ensure that academic sources are used in assessments.
• Students learn how to navigate the various resources provided at Scotch College in the form of books or academic databases.
• Students - by Year 8 - can create a report/essay using correctly formatted APA referencing.

Love of Literature

An important role of the library, in addition to the purely academic, is to ensure that students do not see reading as a chore. As the boys progress in age, their commitment to co-curricular programmes increases and reading time comes under pressure, so library programmes have time built in to ensure they are given both occasion and encouragement to read fiction. This is not a waste of time, since students who are not readers by the end of Year 8 are less likely to read for pleasure until later in life. It is our role as the library to do all we can to ensure that students continue to read on a progressive scale and are given the opportunity to do so.

Teachers are making increasing use of the library by requesting support materials in the form of research guides for students preparing for assignments. As teachers make requests of the library, these research guides are created to help direct students in researching, qualifying, and gathering  content. The Teacher Librarian often works with the classes for the first and last lessons to optimise their use of the research guide's content and to ensure that referencing is completed correctly.

The final two years of students' lives at Scotch are usually divided into two programmes. The following is a breakdown on how the library interacts with each:

The complexity of the Diploma Programme is clearly illustrated by the requests of the teachers and students for resources in the various subject areas. Students studying this pathway request help for very specific and particular contexts, placing significant demands on library resources every year.

Support for the Diploma Programme is co-ordinated between the teachers and the library, purchasing particular resources each year to support the diversity of students' fields of study. Often students will request help directly in the form of proofreading or initial guidance on a particular area of research, but in general, our primary goal is to ensure they know how and where to start their research.

Resourcing for the Diploma is always framed in a global context with primary resources from across the globe acquired to promote the greatest possible depth and breath of study. Specific databases are purchased and journal articles purchased to support students studying this area.

The WACE programme is supported in a similar way to that of the Diploma with students encouraged to access individual help. In addition to this, the library ensures purchased resources are mapped to the syllabus and that databases are regularly reviewed in light of content changes. Research guides are often requested with mapping of resources to the academic databases and proofreading accessible upon request.

For all areas of study it is important to understand that common philosophies and resources are maintained within all libraries:

1. Each library has a mother tongue collection that includes books and texts in languages studied and spoken by our community. These resources are generally available upon request and students understand that many popular fiction titles will have either a Spanish, French or Indonesian version within the libraries.
2. The learner profiles are fundamental to our role and maintaining displays demonstrating how they are applied in everyday situations is a constant role of the library.
3. The library provides guidance with copyright and ensures that academic honesty is maintained—in a supportive rather than punitive sense—by providing information to assist all teachers in the application of guidelines as they teach.

Finally, the library has a range of roles across the sub-schools. Direct integration with subject areas is a must but, because not every programme can be supported all the time, integration is provided on request or when an enhancement can be made with library participation. A clear illustration of this philosophy exists in the subject research guides that have been created as part of the library's service throughout Scotch College.