Inspiring Curiosity: The Librarian's Guide to Inquiry-Based Learning

by Colette Cassinelli

This practical resource for secondary school librarians offers guidance for collaborating with teachers and students to develop inquiry-based research projects.

With success stories from librarians all over the U.S. illustrating how they’ve guided teachers and students through the research process, this book provides strategies for using memorable events to activate students’ natural curiosity and activities for generating essential questions for exploration.

The book
Written for librarians by a librarian, this book will help librarians collaborate with classroom teachers on inquiry projects and offers new ideas and insights to inspire them in the process.

6-12 school librarians

Genres: Nonfiction

180 pages, Paperback

Published May 9, 2018

Reviews

[Deb Schiano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the passion Colette has for student drive learning. Also, references connecting to others work, whether books or learning experiences; were appropriate, thorough and appreciated. I like that she breaks down Inquiry learning to types according to the amount of teacher scaffolding, although I find it better to share with teachers how each element of the process can be scaffolded, then they can choose where and how much scaffolding to add. I also like the connections to Design thinking, Problem and Project-based thinking etc, and references to each one emphasizing different parts of the process. I would have liked to see a comparison though, something that makes it more concrete for teachers: what the Inquiry process looks like depending on the goal. For example, how can design thinking overlap with the basic Inquiry model, so that teachers and students have something to go by. Loved all the ideas for connecting- increasing curiosity! I would have liked synthesis strategies, since I find this part most difficult for students to accomplish.

[Denese Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a useful book for any secondary librarian looking to partner with classroom teachers to inspire curiosity and deeper learning through inquiry-based projects. This practical book provides a general overview of the inquiry process and ways that the school librarian can work with teachers to help guide inquiry projects in middle/high school. The book begins with general chapters about fostering inquiry and curiosity in the school and continues with chapters related to each step of the inquiry process. The author provides specific lesson ideas for many of the skills needed during inquiry projects (for example: developing deep questions, taking notes, etc). A big strength of this book is all of the resources that the author provides in each chapter to help the librarian and teacher lead their students through strong inquiry projects.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d give this book 3.5 stars. The book had some good ideas but was also repetitive if you‘ve already taught at the high school level before becoming a librarian. I think this book would have been even more useful if it also provided ideas for the elementary level (I used this as part of a librarian certification program and I imagine some of my classmates who work with younger kids might not have found this to be very helpful).

[Mary Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book helped me synthesize my goals for inquiry-based learning. Whether you're new to school libraries or reflecting on your practice, you'll find this book useful! While the specific topic is IBL, this book prompted me to rethink several lessons, library layout, purchasing policies and more. HIghly recommend as a purchase for secondary school libraries.

[Reba · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of practical, helpful information in this book. Chapters were succinct, and the content was delivered in an organized, highly readable way. It's refreshing to read a professional book that has so much relatability.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn't a long book, but it took me several weeks to get through it. Cassinelli shares so many excellent resources that I found myself keeping my computer close by to delve deeper into most topics. This was the perfect book for planning curriculum for a research skills class.

[Mariya Ortiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for secondary school librarians wanting to build a culture of inquiry on their campus. I love all the digital resources Cassinelli shares for various stages in an inquiry process.