I. General Information
School Name: Dufferin Learning Centre
School District: SD#68 Nanaimo-Ladysmith
Inquiry Team Members: Laura Jacobs: Laura.Jacobs@sd68.bc.ca, Sara Stone: SStone@sd68.bc.ca, Melody Barta: Melody.Barta@sd68.bc.ca, April Hilland: April.Hilland@sd68.bc.ca, Liz Betteridge: liz.betteridge@sd68.bc.ca, Jessica Dewarle: Jessica.Dewarle@sd68.bc.ca, Stephen Walsh: Stephen.Walsh@sd68.bc.ca, Ashley Roth: Ashley.Roth@sd68.bc.ca, Wendy Robertson: Wendy.Robertson@sd68.bc.ca
Inquiry Team Contact Email: jenn.patternregier@sd68.bc.ca
II. Inquiry Project Information
Type of Inquiry: NOIIE Case Study
Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Primary (K-3), Intermediate (4-7)
Curricular Areas Addressed:
Focus Addressed: Literacy, Self-regulation
In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? We were curious if students felt safe and supported in our school library.
III. Spirals of Inquiry Details
Scanning: We began our inquiry by asking students how they felt in our Library Learning Commons (LLC), using the NOIIE key question: “Can you name two adults in this school who believe you will be a success in life?” Out of 495 students surveyed, 259 students gave the highest score for feeling safe and supported in the library, 52 felt that stories in the library reflected their own lives, and 255 saw characters different from themselves. These responses highlighted both strengths and gaps, especially the low number of students who felt their own stories were represented. This led us to ask: Whose stories are missing, and how can we build a more culturally safe and inclusive library space? We also incorporated the First Peoples Principles of Learning, especially the ideas that learning is holistic, reflexive, and relational, and that learning requires exploration of one’s identity.
Focus: We selected this focus because libraries should be places where all students feel a sense of safety, belonging, and representation. We hoped to create more inclusive library environments by amplifying student voice and increasing the cultural responsiveness of both our collections and spaces. Our ultimate goal was to strengthen students’ sense of identity and safety in the school through their experience in the LLC.
Hunch: Our hunch was that library collections and spaces had not been reviewed consistently through an equity or culturally responsive lens. We suspected that despite our best intentions, students from diverse backgrounds may not be seeing themselves represented in books or may not feel a strong connection to the space. Additionally, we felt that library design and programming might unintentionally be favouring certain learners over others.
New Professional Learning: We explored inclusive library design, culturally responsive pedagogy, and student-led inquiry. Our learning was centered around collaboration:
1. “Meet and Eat” sessions to analyze student data and share practice.
2. Library Walks and Design Labs, rotating meetings across school libraries to see real-time environments.
3. A second Library Bus Tour to visit and learn from strong library spaces across the district.
4. Collaborative design labs, where TLs prototyped changes to their LLCs.
Regular student voice surveys to identify what physical, relational, or resource changes would support belonging.
Taking Action: We co-designed and distributed a student perception survey district-wide to assess feelings of safety, representation, and inclusion.
We revised library collections with a focus on increasing representation—especially texts reflecting diverse cultures, languages, genders, and abilities.
Participating TLs redesigned spaces based on student feedback, including areas for quiet reflection, art displays from diverse cultures, and signage in multiple languages.
We hosted district-wide library visits to see, reflect on, and iterate design practices.
We supported TLs to curate inclusive book sets, including wordless picture books and narrative nonfiction with diverse characters.
Checking: Yes, we began to see meaningful shifts. Survey data showed an increase in the number of students who felt seen and safe in the LLC. While only 52 students initially said they saw their own stories in the library, early indicators from follow-up surveys show that number improving after inclusive curation efforts. TLs reported an increase in student engagement and use of new culturally relevant materials. We are encouraged, but recognize this is ongoing work.
Photo Description: Library Bus Tour
Reflections/Advice: We learned that listening deeply to student voices, especially through structured feedback tools, can lead to real transformation in educational spaces. Representation isn’t just about books, it’s about space, relationships and community. We plan to deepen this work by continuing our design labs, co-developing more student-led library programming, and mentoring new TLs in this inquiry. For others: start small, ask your students, and be ready to be surprised and inspired by what they share.