School Libraries Dynamics

Crossing Borders Inside and Outside the Country

Abstract

How can a school library shorten the distance between institutions, professionals, students and teaching methods? How can a Teacher Librarian and a School Libraries Inter-district Coordinator cooperate to conceptualize new strategies, expand students’ learning experiences and reinforcing their involvement with the school library? How important is it for students to engage in different reading activities with partners from other European countries? How can a “Reading Plus Project” evolve to a “National Merit Idea Project” and to a “Comenius Project”, where the role of the school library as an open door to intercultural competences is emphasized? How can we take advantage of the new technologies to modernize the school library and promote digital literacy? With this paper we aim to give an example of good practices in school libraries in Portugal, hopefully giving inspiration to others to overcome barriers inside and outside their country.