New technology is making it much easier for students and teachers to use their school libraries, says Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Doug Currie.
“Our new library system allows all students, teachers and parents to search their school library resources online from any computer at home or at school,” said Minister Currie.
The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development has invested $1.2 million into this capital project over the past three years.
“This new user-friendly and efficient web based system will help students improve literacy skills. They can use it to access more digital resources such as online encyclopedias, data bases and electronic texts. It will help Island students enhance 21st century literacy skills and become more engaged in learning,” said the minister.
The new Koha open source integrated library system enables teacher-librarians to search other school library holdings to assist with the selection, evaluation, and ordering of resources. Links have also been provided on school websites to allow everyone to search their school library from home.
“Under the old system, processing and managing the inventory of materials was very time consuming,” said Liz Pendergast, teacher-librarian at Prince Street School. “Now, staff can view all school library holdings on a user-friendly centralized database. With less required managerial time, teacher-librarians have more freedom to interact with students.”
This project resulted in a significant investment in technology for schools across Prince Edward Island. A total of 690 workstations, 59 laptops, 69 scanners and 63 network printers were installed in school libraries. Two dedicated centralized servers were also installed and wiring upgrades were carried out at 28 schools to accommodate the new Koha system.
“Technology is becoming more and more important for students of all ages,” said Minister Currie. “The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development is pleased to make this strategic investment in technology for learning.”
For more information on the new Koha integrated library system, contact a school librarian or visit your school’s website.