"But we don't want it to end!" Say school librarians in Poland
The conference "In the school library beats the heart of the school" was held by Wikimedia Polska on May 12, 2023 at the KEN Regional Pedagogical Library in Lublin, Poland.
The conference began with a welcome and introduction of guests by Wioleta Matusiak. Then the coordinator of the Wikiteka project (part of the nationwide Wikiszkoła program) presented the goals of the Nationwide Program for the Development of Key Competencies of Library Teachers "Wikiteka".
The next on the agenda was the presentation by Klara Sielicka-Baryłka on the report on the study of the situation of school libraries (see "Undercut Wings..." in Polish, English summary soon!) and the work on the recommendations of experts. After that, teacher librarians from different regions of Poland shared their case studies of their activities with Wikipedia among young students. The final highlight was a presentation on the next edition of the "Wikiteka" program and what lies ahead.
An important part of the Wikiteka exit agenda was a study visit on May 13 to the school library called "Wings Rental" in the small Pliszczyn village. The meeting included a conversation with Iwona Pietrzak-Plachta, creator of this unique library and winner of the "Teacher of the Year 2022" title, learning about her library and the premises on which it was founded. Finally, we held a creative-evaluation workshop with the participation of Wioletta Matusiak. During the workshop we heard from school librarians that they do not want to end their acquaintance with the Wikipedia community and its projects: they want to participate in live and online events, they want to conduct further activities with young people, they want to dive into the Wikipedia world even more!