State Library treasures beamed into outback schools

Begun in October 2022, the free virtual classroom experience broadcast from State Library of Queensland white gloves room has so far hosted 180 workshops with over 4500 students from more than 70 Queensland schools.

Students who live too far away to use the library's services in person have been viewing items from the heritage collections using world-class camera technology.

The overhead visualiser can 'see' better than the human eye, which students at Urandangi, near the Queensland-NT border, can vouch for, being able to play with the remote zoom function as one of the first schools involved.

Troy Bullock explained in an SLQ blog that the interactive 50-minute workshops for both primary and secondary students gave teachers the opportunity to book a workshop on a topic their students were studying that term.

"This has proved hugely valuable to students as they come to the workshop with background knowledge on the topic, which helps them engage with the collection items, and they can ask questions and get specific help for their research assessment that term," he said.

"Over its first year, classes ranging from four students all the way up to 150 students have enjoyed Live at the Library workshops on over 60 different topics from the Australian Curriculum and QCAA senior curriculums."

Plenty of testimonies have come in, such as from Runcorn State School teacher Grace Roddy, who said Mr Bullock had thought-provoking questions for her Year One students.

"The students were particularly blown away when he pulled out a book about our school," she said.

"The 'oohs and aahs' from the kids said it all. It was absolutely perfect for our current history unit.

"It was a really fun afternoon and I'm so impressed that this service is provided for free. We have already put it in for our plan next year."

The most popular topic to date has been Collection Curiosities, produced for primary level, attracting 39 workshop bookings.

Another called The Ancient World, a junior secondary level workshop, was booked 13 times.

Over 350 different physical items from the heritage collections - Chinese coins and gold nuggets from the Palmer River goldfield from the late 1800s, or a bronze death cast of Henry Lawson's right hand - have been shared to date.

The workshops were financially supported by Tim and Gina Fairfax through the Queensland Library Foundation, and in 2024 the program will be built on with a suite of on-demand resources that make it easy for students to use the State Library to complete their research assessments.

"We'll also be looking at how we can reach more classrooms by introducing new workshops and resources for English, geography and arts teachers," Mr Bullock said. "And we'll be creating some great new digital resources to help share Queensland stories with teachers and students so they can learn Australian history from a local perspective."

Bookings are now open for the 2024 program.