The Together for Learning vision document from the Ontario School Library Association (2010) outlines the transition of school libraries to learning commons.
Learning Commons are intended to provide the space, resources, and teacher librarian support for learners to develop multiple literacies: traditional literacy, information literacy, media, visual, cultural, digital, and critical literacy.
The document in written with Ontario's inquiry model in mind, so that the iterative experiences of exploring, investigating, processing, and creating are recognized as learning strategies that require explicit support in schools.
Read this document to discover how Ontario's inquiry model is supported by teacher librarians collaborating with teachers in our schools.
Ontario School Library Association
Canadian standards for physical and virtual learning commons.
Foundations for School Library Learning Commons in Canada: A Framework for Success (2022)
From Canadian School Libraries
"Guided Inquiry is a way of thinking, learning, and teaching that changes the culture of the school into a collaborative inquiry community" (Kuhlthau, Maniotes, & Caspari, 2012, p. xiii).
Kuhlthau, C. C., Maniotes, L. K., & Caspari, A. K. (2012). Guided inquiry design: A framework for inquiry in your school. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.
Inquiry "requires more of [students] than simply answering questions or getting a right answer. It espouses investigation, exploration, search, quest, research, pursuit, and study. Inquiry does not stand alone; it engages, interests, and challenges students to connect their world with the curriculum" (Kuhlthau, Maniotes, & Caspari 2007, p. 2)
Kuhlthau, C. C., Maniotes, L. K., & Caspari, A. K. (2007). Guided inquiry: Learning in the 21st century. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
People for Education Report, 2019
Of special note: The Evolving Role of School Libraries