Well another Human Library has come and gone and there are lessons to be learned as always. I read last year's reflection prior to writing this and wonder now if it might have been better to read it afterwards. There were some aspects of the 2017 reflection which I don't know if I learned from. So here goes!
On the whole all went well and both the books and the readers enjoyed themselves and hopefully learned from the experience. Unfortunately, there were some issues with adult readers who didn't really understand their role and after the fact were quite judgemental. I will need to do more work with the teachers on their role in the library if they are to come.
I think that the library day was not as well organised as it might have been due to the fact that the catalogue was not ready till the last minute. When I say last minute, I had been working on it for a number of weeks but it didn't come together till the Friday before the library on the Tuesday. Next year, I need to give much more time for the grade 5 readers to choose their 'books' and for me to sort out any problems. I also need to let the grade 9s know the week before what number they are in the library.
This year as with last, the 'books' only presented once but I wonder if it wouldn't be beneficial if they had the opportunity to present twice. Some were just starting to get into the swing of things when the time was up. There were also a number of disappointed grade 5 students who didn't get the presentation they wanted. If the 'books' were available twice, that would solve those two problems but equally, it would create another. How would we deal with the logistics of all presentations taking place twice. In fact with any more than 25 at a time, we would need to find a much bigger venue.
For a second year, students weren't properly prepared on the day with their visuals printed and ready to go. Several were even late for the start of the session as they were still printing. Unlike last year where a large proportion of the students had artefacts as well as visuals, very few did this year. In the future, I will have to talk specifically about the use of objects to make a presentation more interesting.
Unlike last year, when only two students didn't come and let us know well in advance, we had a number who weren't at school on the day. Unfortunately only 2 let us know and we found ourselves scrambling to rearrange session that very morning. Next year I will ensure that I stress the importance of letting any teacher know when you are not going to be present for a presentation. This all goes back to time management (printing on the day, as well), which is a skill that our students need to work on. (There will be more but that is it for now.)
