3 Big Ideas to amplify student voice in your Library Learning Commons

I recently contributed to a School Library Planner published by DEMCO which highlights a variety of ideas shared by Librarians and Media Specialists across the world. I focused on amplifying student voice in the Library. I decided to focus on 3 big ideas:

1. Include students in decision making and book reviews and purchasing
2. Ensure students see themselves in virtual spaces of the Library Learning Commons
3. Ensure students see themselves in the physical space of the Library Learning Commons

1. Include students in decision making

Create a Student Library Council to help make decisions about book purchases and any other Library decisions. Share a QR code and/or link to a Google form for student book suggestions. At our school, creating a Council is really quite involved, so our Book club acts as our Library council. This means that they regularly help me with book purchasing and ideas for how to get students reading more. They are also invited to contribute Instagram posts or reels or TikTok videos whenever they want to share their love for a book (with my guidance of course). Any major decisions we make in the Library becomes a discussion with this group of passionate and dedicated students. Every year, we recruit students from grade 9 to 12 so there is always a mentorship relationship established as well as a transition plan.

2. Ensure students see themselves in virtual spaces

When students return a book, I have them share a review on a post-it note and the song they feel would best match the book. I then create a TikTok video or Instagram reel using an image of the cover and the song and points students have shared about the book and share on our Library Instagram or TikTok account. Not all students have access to social media, so I also embed posts on our Library website. This has become the easiest way to amplify the voices of our students. Not all of my students want to help create Instagram posts or TikToks, but they are more than happy to share their opinions about books and find sharing a song choice both challenging and rewarding. I am careful to not feature the faces of students; only the book and what they have to say about the book. I always include their first names however. Check out our Library Instagram account for some examples.

3. Ensure students see themselves in the physical space of the Library Learning Commons

I have tried very hard to ensure that students feel like the Library LC is a warm and inviting space. Of course greeting everyone with a smile goes a long way in this regard, but creating a physical space that is student-centered is also a priority for me. The following are a few ideas around this:

I invite students to share their favorite quotations and use these to decorate the Library LC. I use a placeholder in frames that say, your favourite quotation here.
Last year, our Student Council spearheaded a Google Earth project whereby we invited students to share their cultural backgrounds and showcased those countries within Google Earth. I then use this information to make book purchases and displays as well as a Carter Travels newsletter in which I highlight the various countries. We also used this information to create a Welcome wall in the languages of our school community.
An idea which has been extremely successful at my school has been to connect with a construction tech class or Photography, or Art class within your school (or your local high school) to work on murals or other projects to enhance the physical environment. Our students have made a lego table, a giant chess board, a Bookflix display and decorated murals, and taken photos for art on walls. I found those teachers appreciate having an authentic audience and students feel likethey are contributing to an ongoing legacy.
Making any sort of furniture purchase? If possible, have kids test out furniture, and vote on colours or style. This past year, we did an entire Library Renovation and I brought in an Interior Design class to survey students, analyze costs and pitch ideas. I think on a smaller scale, any furniture purchases can also involve student contributions.