Digital Literacy Starts in the School Library

Guest blog: Elizabeth Hutchinson is a Chartered librarian and Fellow of CILIP. With nearly 20 years of experience in school libraries she is now a trainer and adviser and an advocate for FOSIL- Inquiry based Learning. She was awarded the BEM for services to libraries in 2020, is an international speaker, podcaster, blogger and author of a number of published articles.

I don’t know about you, but the increasing conversations around AI literacy are starting to get on my nerves. There seems to be a lack of understanding that simply adding another word to "literacy"—whether it's media, information, digital, or AI—makes little difference unless we actually do something about it.

These discussions emphasise the skills students need to navigate the latest technology, but we seem to be missing the blindingly obvious: children’s journey toward AI literacy starts with learning how to use the school library. From encouraging them to read to guiding their first steps into the digital world via the school library management system, it all begins here.

Some time ago, I had a conversation with Barney Jenkins from Softlink. He asked me if I knew why more schools don’t use their library management systems to introduce students to digital literacy. I had to admit that it's probably because most teachers aren’t aware that these systems have this potential. However, it got me thinking about how school librarians could leverage the systems they know so well to support digital literacy—and now, AI literacy, or whatever the next "literacy" may be.

Schools often talk about the cost of library management systems, viewing them as tools solely for issuing and returning books. I agree that many systems are just used for this, usually because the school librarian acquired them as essential tools for keeping the library running smoothly. As a result, many SLTs (Senior Leadership Teams) may not fully understand the system's capabilities. However, in a time of budget cuts, shouldn’t we ensure that resources already paid for are being used to their full potential? Schools need to realise they already have a valuable tool to help students start their journey into digital and AI literacy: the school library catalogue.

As an SLS (Schools' Library Service) librarian, I was often asked to assist with online research. My first question was always whether they wanted to start with the school library catalogue. Many were surprised that they could access the library catalogue from their classrooms; some wanted more than just books, while others didn’t want to limit students to one resource.

This conversation often led to discussing the importance of students finding quality resources on their own. Beginning with a simple keyword search in the library catalogue provides a list of books and websites/online resources. Students then have to decide which ones to explore, providing an excellent opportunity to discuss how to explore the internet safely by starting with the school library catalogue.

But what about the new world of AI? Have students’ skills requirements changed? Don’t they still need to:

• Read well
• Find and use quality information
• Understand how algorithms work and how they can be manipulated
• Recognise misinformation and disinformation
• Identify bias and fairness
• Consider ethics and sources of information

AI is here to stay, but the skills students need are still, in many ways, the same.

The first step to digital/AI literacy is finding and using reliable information to answer questions. If we allow our children to go straight to the internet to use AI, we know they’ll find something quickly—but can they read and understand it? How often do we see students create beautiful posters by cutting and pasting information, using words we know they don’t understand? Where is the learning in that? Even very young children can be taught to cut and paste.

If students are familiar with the library catalogue and choose to check it for information first, this marks the beginning of independent learning. This simple, closed, safe environment is one of the best tools for starting the journey into digital/AI literacy in any school.

Learn more: My next training session is on the 25th November, 9.30am or 7pm GMT called AI Literacy for School Librarians Pt 1 (This is a session on its own… pt 2 will be an extension early next year)

Read more from Elizabeth

• Individual membership to Engaging and Empowering School Libraries is available at a discount for Softlink customers until the end of November. Use code Softlink24 
• Elizabeth Hutchinson Shares: Continuing Professional Development for School Librarians
• Elizabeth Hutchinson: 5 Time Management Tips for Librarians
  The Future of Learning: How school libraries are leading the Way