PARIS — There’s still plenty of books to check out at the School Administrative District 17 libraries, but accessing information in today’s digital age opens up a limitless number of resources beyond books for students.

Guiding students through 21st-century information services are the SAD 17 school librarians and their staff — some of whom may still remember hand-signing a book checkout card and having that card date stamped.

Times have changed.

“Almost 100 percent of the time for research, (students) go to the Internet,” high school librarian Jennifer Lance said. She, along with colleagues Pam Mertz at the middle school and elementary school librarian Cindy Petherbridge, recently met with the SAD 17 Board of Directors to talk about how they support research and reading that embraces the new “information age.”

Digital technology, led by the Internet, has changed the way students learn.

“We’ve adapted to the Internet,” Lance said.

Today, the school librarian’s role is still the same. But for today’s students — those born into the Information Age, when digitization of information is the normal — librarians have adapted to help students develop the skills necessary to thrive as independent information users.

Lance said classes sign up for library time and she, along with the classroom teacher, guide students through the vast array of digital research materials ranging from state library’s MARVEL database to local newspapers and much more.

At SAD 17, students can do research anytime or anywhere with their school-issued laptops — something that is vital for Middle School South Campus students who have no library on site.

Last year, Lance said the librarians realized they needed to “fine tune” their interpretation of how the school libraries could continue to play a significant role in educating the students. So they laid out a set of standards that aligns with Common Core and the American Association of School Librarians’ “Standards for the 21st-Century Learner.”

The SAD 17 standards include developing inquiry-based research skills and informational literacy, practicing responsible digital citizenship, using critical thinking skills to evaluate and select resources, developing an appreciation for reading for pleasure and personal growth and synthesizing information to create and express personal learning through a variety of formats.

“It all wraps together the way students are learning now. Instead of ‘I’ll go the library, I’ll check out a book,’ they need to know how to access things online responsibility and cite them responsibility,” Lance said. “Our energies are directed that way.”

It does not mean they have abandoned books.

“Online can be very distracting. You can know a little bit about a lot of things,” Lance said. But, she added, Internet research and reading doesn’t provide the in-depth, concentrated reading that sitting down with a book can provide.

School libraries have changed and how librarians provide services have changed, but Lance said instilling a love of reading remains a key part of the library experience and lifelong learning.

That, she said, will not change.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

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