In these times school libraries cannot afford to be digitally disengaged therefore when I took over at my new School Library I started looking seriously at online engagement and resources.
Part of the solution was to investigate how to expand the Library’s online presence. After looking at several options we decided to go with the Reading Cloud partly because it directly links in with the Library catalogue and makes it available online but mostly because it promises a safe social network built around books and reading that is very attractive.
Especially since recent research has found that students enjoy reading and read more when they communicate with each other about their reading likes and dislikes.
I’m also looking forward to the functions that allow students to write and post on their own blogs and reviews which we are hoping will directly tie in with our reading and whole school reward system as well as encouraging writing as well as reading. I was worried about the safety aspect of the social network aspect but there is also a lot of latitude to turn aspects of the service off if they don’t work in our school which is reassuring.