From Shakespeare to AI

Deborah Brown
Manager, Library and Information Science,
Monte Sant’ Angelo Mercy College, North Sydney
August, 2026

Monte Sant' Angelo Mercy College is a Years 7-12 independent Catholic girls' school in Sydney.

I arrive at work on a chilly morning to open the library at 7.30am. One of our Year 7 library regulars has been waiting outside the door since 7.10am. While I do the morning opening routines (preparing Year 11 study group rolls and replying to emails asking for book loan extensions) she comments on our new Romeo & Juliet display to support Year 9 English (“It’s a love story, baby just say ‘Yes’”). She is thrilled to see the sign-up sheet for our upcoming Bookweek Manga workshop with Dr. Queenie Chan, and puts her name on the list.

Our library technician arrives at 8am and I hand the reigns of the loans desk over to her.

As International Baccalaureate secondary school one of my roles is coordinator of the IB Diploma extended essay – a 4000 word research essay that every Year 12 IB student must complete. I spend part of the day writing the script for a screencast that I will send to senior teachers outlining recent changes to the criteria and structure of the extended essay. I’ll record a presentation on these changes with a voiceover to inform them about the new requirements so that they can answer students’ questions about this task. There’s time for a quick coffee before a visit in period two from the college’s Chief Operating Officer. He’s with two architects who are touring the campus as background for their work with an international school. It gives me a chance to talk about the three pillars of our school library, and how these relate to our space: the academic role, the mission to foster a love of reading and the pastoral and wellbeing role we have to create a safe, welcoming space for our students.

Recess and lunch are filled with chattering students socialising, reading, playing board games and meeting with teachers. I spend some time with some Year 7s doing a jigsaw, meet with a Year 10 student to see the book about dog training that she has created for her IB Personal Project, troubleshoot some printing issues and unpack a delivery of new books that our technician will catalogue. After another coffee from our school canteen I spend 45 minutes researching ideas for a new Greek mythology club we are considering, drawing on the perennial popularity of Percy Jackson. In Period 5 I take a Year 7 library class, discussing the data inputs and outputs of generative AI. I’m impressed when a student asks ‘if AI is sometimes wrong, and the school uses AI to detect inappropriate AI use in assignments, doesn’t that mean it might sometimes make a mistake?’ That shows some deep thinking. I link the use of the technology for school assessments to our ‘other’ AI – academic integrity.

Heading towards bell time I finish editing my extended essay screencast, uploading it to Clickview and emailing the link to senior teachers. The final task of the day is to email faculty heads to remind them of the looming deadline for Year 12 textbook lists. The day ends at 4pm for me, but our library will remain open till 6pm.

A day in the life of my school library appears both as a regular column in ACCESS journal, and on the ASLA website. ASLA welcomes 500 word submissions by school library staff, describing a day in the life of their school libraries. Submissions should include the writer's name, job title, school and state, with a brief description of the school sector (e.g., primary; secondary etc.). Submissions may be edited for length and clarity. Writers will be contacted before publication. Please send your submissions to deborah.brown@asla.org.au