Karen Pentland
41 Mirreen Avenue, Davistown,NSW
Summary
I hold dual qualifications in Education and Library Science enabling me to be eligible for membership of ALIA, SLANSW and ASLA and was continually employed as a Teacher Librarian for over twenty two years in the Sydney Archdiocese before moving to the Central Coast. I have taught in primary and secondary single sex and coeducational school establishments. During this time I participated in the teaching of information literacy in the context of the total curriculum, critical literacy, digital literacy and ICLT. This has allowed me to lead the integration of technology into the utilisation of the library as a learning centre that engages a wide range of students. I also possess the ability to integrate ICT and Web technology into the teaching and learning of the school in which I am working.
Overview
20
20
years of professional experience
Work History
School Librarian 0.8 FTE
Nextsense Schools
10.2021 - Current
- Provided library services for students and teachers of the Spoken Language, Blind and Deafblind, and Sign Bilingual programs.
- Designed many vibrant and engaging displays connected to the curriculum, featured books and interactive games.
- Created and implemented engaging and educational programs for all age groups.
- Amalgamated and culled resources from the existing school libraries to create a current and vibrant collection for the new school.
- Weekly library visits for students, as well as the three pre- schools, led to a massive increase in borrowing by both teachers and students during this period.
- Purchased all new library resources and catalogued all new resources including graphic novels, established Large Print, Braille and tactile collections.
- In 2022 we celebrated a very successful Book Week program over five days, with activities, readings, Auslan story telling, dress ups and book character parade linked to the theme. Another great Book Week is planned for this year.
- Coordinated the initial successful Premier’s Reading Challenge, based on student loans and library visits, with all students receiving participation certificates in 2022. This is on target to occur again this school year.
- Finally, I have been actively involved with all shareholders to help create the new School Library at the soon to be completed Macquarie site.
Teacher Librarian 1.0 FTE
Knox Grammar School
03.2020 - 04.2021
- I was on site for one week in the McKenzie Library before we entered lockdown during COVID-19 with a switch to online learning. This initiated a rapid response to how services, resources and programs were delivered to meet the needs of students, staff and the school community at a critical time.
- I helped develop online teaching resources made available through the Library portal as well as offering remote access to new online readings, e-books, databases, videos and documentaries linked to the curriculum for both staff and students.
- The professional development on critical thinking, action research and online learning undertaken during this period led to working with the team for the establishment of a trial of micro-credentials in a school library setting with the development of information and digital literacy skills to improve student outcomes.
- Once back onsite I led Wide Reading lessons, research lessons and ran the Library Committee once a week.
- In charge of the Clickview Online service, boosting the collection and greatly increasing both staff and student use of the resources. I also promoted resources with digital signage, ongoing displays and pop-up libraries.
- Worked cooperatively with other teachers, administrators, and parents to help students reach learning objectives.
- Kept students on-task with proactive behavior modification and positive reinforcement strategies.
- Supported student physical, mental, and social development using classroom games and activities.
- Incorporated multiple types of teaching strategies into classroom.
Secondary School Inquiry Learning Leader 0.6 FTE
Pymble Ladies' College
08.2019 - 12.2019
- Facilitated virtual, in-person and blended learning sessions.
- Provided reader’s advisory and reference services for Years 7 to 12 students numbering over 3,000 and a staff of over 300 as part of the Conde Library team.
- Taught information skills based upon the K-12 Co-teaching Cycle to a variety of research classes as well as running wide reading classes.
- Taught the use of on-line databases, Click-view Online, Ebsco ebooks and Proquest ebooks.
- Created regular displays to promote literacy and reading for the student population and helped create Libguides for a variety of subjects taught at the school.
Service Delivery Librarian, 21 Hours Per Week
Willoughby City Council
01.2019 - 08.2019
- Provided high quality, contemporary library services to meet the informational, recreational and cultural needs of the community.
- In my supervisory role I coordinated a small team and was Branch Supervisor whilst on night shifts each week. In this position I was expected to help the Knowledge & Learning team plan and implement strategic goals as well as to actively liaise and foster relationships with relevant stakeholders.
- Initiated various author talks, Winter Movie mornings, and set up the Possum Poo Workshop, the Rogue Ginger workshop, NAIDOC Week celebrations, various STEM events and helped establish the ArtSci Art Prize working with the Northern Sydney Science Hub and partner libraries.
- Maintained up-to-date knowledge of products and services offered to customers.
- Facilitated regular team meetings to discuss challenges, successes and strategies.
Teacher Librarian, 0.6 FTE
St Paul’s Primary School
01.2018 - 12.2018
- Worked cooperatively with other teachers, administrators, and parents to help students reach learning objectives.
- Kept students on-task with proactive behaviour modification and positive reinforcement strategies.
- Supported student physical, mental, and social development using classroom games and activities.
- Incorporated multiple types of teaching strategies into classroom.
- Provided RFF support to eleven classes over a three day period each week.
- Provided displays and promotion of literacy on an ongoing basis, as well as successfully promoting Book Week 2018.
- Provided the ongoing management and circulation of the Library resources to both students and staff.
- Coordinator for the promotion of the Premier’s Reading Challenge for 2018.
- Completed a library cull of aged and damaged materials and finished a complete end of year stock take of the collection for the auditors.
- Promoted the Library services via fortnightly newsletters and the annual year book. This was deemed successful by the tripled increase of loans by both students and staff compared to the previous three years.
Library Manager, Broken Bay Institute
The Australian Institute Of Theological Education
12.2016 - 01.2018
- Organized library catalog, supplies, equipment and records and managed the acquisition, cataloguing and circulation of BBI’s collection.
- A major responsibility was to work with lecturers to ensure that readings were available for students on the online Learning Management System (LMS).
- As BBI is an approved Higher Education Provider (HEP), I managed BBI’s subscriptions to electronic data bases,
- Supported lecturers to identify materials for inclusion in the LMS, and ensured that BBI was compliant with copyright legislation in the use of those materials
- Greeted patrons warmly and offered to assist with issues or needs.
- Kept up-to-date records of materials, maintained inventory and corrected cataloging errors.
- Responded to numerous reference calls daily, helping patrons with specific information needs.
- As Library Manager, I also assisted students accessing materials and provided a reference service for staff and students.
Teacher Librarian
Bethany College
01.2004 - 12.2016
- As Teacher Librarian in a 900+ students and 80+ staff school I ran all aspects of the school library for staff and students, as well as supervising senior student study classes.
- Worked cooperatively with other teachers, administrators, and parents to help students reach learning objectives.
- Kept students on-task with proactive behavior modification and positive reinforcement strategies.
- Incorporated multiple types of teaching strategies into classroom.
- The varied aspects of the role included: Curriculum Team Member, Clickview Site Coordinator, Premiers Reading Challenge Coordinator, Schoology Library Web Page Coordinator, STEAM education, E-Learning Team, National Year of Reading Coordinator, Read and Write Gold Team, Human Resources Committee, ICT Committee, New Library Committee, Religious Pastoral Year Team Member Years 7-9, Religious Education Department Team teaching Year 8, 9 and 10, English Department Team teaching Years 7-11, Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 Year Teams, Debating Coach.
Education
Master of Science - MA App.Sci. (Teacher Librarianship)
Charles Sturt University
Wagga Wagga, NSW04.2003
Graduate Diploma - Education (Secondary)
Charles Sturt University
Bathurst, NSW04.1998
Graduate Certificate - Religious Education
Catholic Dioceses Of New South Wales
02.1998
Bachelor of Arts - Librarianship
Riverina Murray Institute of Higher Education
Wagga Wagga, NSW03.1989
Skills
Children’s Book Week: More Than Costumes, Story Box Library (2023)
Book Week Webinar, SLANSW (2023)
The School Library's Role in Including Indigenous Australian Voice in the English Curriculum K-10, SLANSW (2023)
Resourcing the Curriculum - Selecting First Nations Resources, SLANSW (2023)
SLANSW Celebrates National Science Week, SLANSW (2022)
CBCA Book Week Preparation, SLANSW (2022)
Building Resilience, Autism Spectrum Australia (2022)
CBCA Book Week 2022 Professional Learning Program, ZART (2022)
Library Partnerships: How Do You Connect With Other Libraries, SLANSW (2022)
Sharing First Nations’ Stories Confidently in the Classroom, Storybox Library (2022)
Reading for Wellbeing, SLANSW (2022)
PBS: Supporting Autistic People Using Positive Behaviour Support, Autism Spectrum Australia (2022)
Disability Awareness Training, Nextsense (2022)
Safeguarding Children, Nextsense (2022)
Power of Poetry with Libby Hathorn, ASLANSW (2022)
Escape Rooms and Library Events, SLANSW (2022)
Reading Promotion in School Libraries, SLANSW (2022)
Diabetes in Schools Online Training, Nextsense (2022)
Emotional Regulation, Autism Spectrum Australia (2021)
Early Signs of Autism, Autism Spectrum Australia (2021)
Teaching Civic Online Reasoning: Empowering Students to Sort Fact From Fiction Online, SLANSW (2021)
Mythbusting Screen Time for Kids: Using Digital Stories to Enrich Play and Learning in Early Education, Storybox Library (2021)
Our Journey of Sound, Nextsense (2021)
International School Library Day: Growing Global Citizens, ALIA (2021)
Creating a Diverse Library, Storybox Library (2021)
Bibliotherapy, SLANSW (2021)
How to Lead From the Library: Building Your Leadership Skills, Eduwebinar (2021)
SLANSW Celebrates Science Week, SLANSW (2021)
Which World is Yours? Navigating the CBCA 2021 Shortlist, Eduwebinar (2021)
Brilliant Book Week Ideas, SLANSW (2021)
The Digital Ecology of Teen Reading: How YA Influencers use Insta, Youtube, Snapchat, TikTok, Wattpad and Minecraft to Talk Books SLANSW (2021)
Inquiry Based Teaching and Learning: A Re-Imagination Journey, SLANSW (2021)
Inquiry Learning and the Teacher Librarian: The Ideal and the Reality, SLANSW (2021)
A Journey to Information Fluency with June Wall, Eduwebinar (2021)
Future Skills, Future Schools, Future Libraries, Eduwebinar (2021)
Three Secrets of Flipped Learning, Don Berg (2021)
Developing and Implementing a K-12 Sustained Silent Reading Program, SLANSW (2021)
ALIA LARK - Information for Learning: Library Applied Research Kollektive Symposium, ALIA (2021)
Citemaker Professional Inservice, Citemaker (2021)
The Laureate and the Literacy Leader: Professional Learning Summit, SLANSW (2021)
The Best of Both Worlds: Teacher Librarians in Australia, ALIA (2021)
Trialling Micro-credentials in a School Library Setting, SLANSW (2021)
Action Research and Goal Setting, Knox Grammar School (2021)
Working for a New Normal, SLANSW (2020)
The Post-Pandemic School Library Learning Commons: Assessing Innovation and Moving Forward, SLANSW (2020)
Information Literacy in Reading Fiction, SLANSW (2020)
The Inclusion of Australian Multicultural Young Adult Fiction in Secondary School Library Collections, SLANSW (2020)
Young People Living Safe Lives in Online Environments: Convergence, Challenges and Chances for Teacher Librarians, SLANSW (2020)
Critical Thinking, Knox Grammar School (2020)
SLANSW Open Online Forum: Lessons From the Library: Pitfalls and Possibilities, SLANSW (2020)
2020: The Next Chapter: The Future of Libraries Online Conference, AISNSW (2020)
School Libraries During and Post COVID-19, Eduwebinar (2020)
Child Protection Course – Secondary School Teachers, Bravehearts (2020)
Introduction to Autism Spectrum Disorder and Whole School Support, AISNSW (2020)
Obligations in Identifying and Responding to Children and Young People at Risk, AISNSW (2019)
NSW Reportable Conduct and Allegations against Employees, AISNSW (2019)
Proficient Teacher Accreditation, NESA (2018)
Naplan Narrative Writing, BOSTES (2018)
Naplan Persuasive Writing, BOSTES (2018)
Skill Snack – Collaboration, Catholic Schools Office, Maitland-Newcastle (2018)
Introduction to OneNote, Catholic Schools Office, Maitland-Newcastle (2018)
MindMatters, Department of Health, Australia (2016)
Children’s Book Week 2016 Australia: Story Country, Eduwebinar, Queensland (2016)
Assessment and Explicit Instruction 4 Steps to Success, Eduwebinar, Queensland (2016)
5 Simple Steps to Prepare an Advocacy Brief, Eduwebinar, Queensland (2016)
Turnitin - Technology to Improve Student Writing, California (2016)
Goal Setting and Assessment Learning Bethany College, Hurstville (2016)
Visible Learning Foundation Day, Bethany College, Hurstville (2015)
Assessment: Setting Learning Intentions and Success Criteria Workshops; Bethany College, Hurstville (2015)
Kagan Collaborative Learning Seminar, Bethany College, Hurstville (2015)
Disability Standards for Education (Educational Leaders), University of Canberra (2015)
Additional Information
Member of The St. George Historical Society (2015-2023)
Registered transcriber for the State Library of New South Wales (2023)
Writing workshop as guest published writer with Gifted and Talented Year 5 and 6’s from feeder schools (2015-2016).
Finalist in the Ron Rathbone History Prize (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017), winner in 2014.
Contributing author for the Online Dictionary of Sydney (2014)
I am an avid reader with a love for all types of literature and have a love for historical research. I enjoy writing poetry and am currently working on the draft of an Australian historical novel for young adults and have had articles published in the John Nichols Society First Fleet Newsletter, the Dictionary of Sydney Online and The Jane Austen Society of Australia Newsletter. I have a strong social media profile with Facebook @ Karen Frances and I also blog and review @ http://karenpentlandlibrarian.blogspot.com.au ,Tweet @ https://twitter.com/karenfrances Pinterest @ https://www.pinterest.com/karenpentland/ and Linkedin @https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-f-50189784/
Timeline
School Librarian 0.8 FTE
Nextsense Schools
10.2021 - Current
Teacher Librarian 1.0 FTE
Knox Grammar School
03.2020 - 04.2021
Secondary School Inquiry Learning Leader 0.6 FTE
Pymble Ladies' College
08.2019 - 12.2019
Service Delivery Librarian, 21 Hours Per Week
Willoughby City Council
01.2019 - 08.2019
Teacher Librarian, 0.6 FTE
St Paul’s Primary School
01.2018 - 12.2018
Library Manager, Broken Bay Institute
The Australian Institute Of Theological Education
12.2016 - 01.2018
Teacher Librarian
Bethany College
01.2004 - 12.2016
Master of Science - MA App.Sci. (Teacher Librarianship)
Charles Sturt University
Graduate Diploma - Education (Secondary)
Charles Sturt University
Graduate Certificate - Religious Education
Catholic Dioceses Of New South Wales
Bachelor of Arts - Librarianship
Riverina Murray Institute of Higher Education
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