SOUL Searching

As Shawnigan has made the shift from on-campus classes to online learning through the SOUL program, the School’s Jim & Kathryn Shaw Library has not been left behind.

 

“Libraries are a community gathering point,” explains librarian Rayna Hyde-Lay. “Since we can't now gather as a physical community, we need to maintain a virtual community for those connections between people to remain strong.”

 

Supporting students with their studies, assisting teachers with their resource development, and providing campus families with a sense of continuity and community have been at the heart of Rayna’s virtualization of Shawnigan’s library.

 

In addition to a physical space full of reference books, novels, non-fiction works and magazines, the library already had within its literary and reference repertoire digital resources such as online magazines, databases, e-books, and audiobooks. Shawnigan uses the digital distribution service, OverDrive, which offers users access to ebooks, audiobooks and videos sourced from thousands of public libraries worldwide. Sora is OverDrive’s user-friendly app, designed with student learning in mind, which allows readers to read or listen to e-books and audiobooks on a laptop, phone or tablet.

 

“Having these resources already up and running has made the process of switching to a fully online, globally-accessible library system much easier,” shares Rayna.

 

After double-checking that all the links on ShawNet’s Library Resources page were current and working, Rayna also communicated with the School’s learning partners to confirm that database access would remain available, ensuring access to credible, reliable research resources and reading materials for Shawnigan students during the period of SOUL learning.

 

Rayna then turned her attention to teacher support and connected with department heads to provide links to resource guides that were already available online or that have recently become freely available to educators.

 

“The list is long, so I curate items that I think will be of most use to our teachers,” she says. “I’m currently working on Shawnigan style guides for citations, evaluation of sources for research—which is particularly important for current events—and creating screen casts, and I’m also dropping into Zoom classes as requested to support staff and students navigating our library through the Library Resources page on ShawNet.”

 

Rayna has also set-up protocols for access to the physical library on campus to ensure that it remains a safe place for staff and staff families to access reading materials. Coming to the library is still allowed, but new guidelines are in place to ensure high levels of cleanliness. Library users are encouraged to browse the catalogue online first, and Rayna offers delivery service for those who are unable to visit in-person. Patrons who come to collect books themselves are asked to wash their hands and come in with their wish list, which is quickly selected and checked out on a paper sheet. Books returned are placed on carts in plastic bags, and Rayna sanitizes each book, regardless of cover type, and allows them to sit before returning them to the collection.

 

Rayna has noticed that Shawnigan library users are as prolific as ever, with members of the community accessing digital resources more than ever before and popular books remaining in steady demand.

 

“There’s lots of chatter about Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere, as well as the popular A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles and Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See,” she shares, “We have three copies of that book and they are all currently checked out, though digital copies are available. One of my recent reads was The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson, the tale of Winston Churchill's first year as prime minister during World War II.”

 

Rayna is encouraging anyone who does not already follow the library’s Facebook or Instagram to do so, as both feature book suggestions and resources for students and parents, along with some general good humour. Rayna and the library team can also be reached though email at library@shawnigan.ca.

 

“We are here to support the Shawnigan community as best we can, while remaining virtual,” she says.