Blog entry by Teresa Hudson
Fun-damentals of the School Library: The Power of Play
On Thursday, May 15th, 2025, the LAI SLG Conference and AGM took place in the JCSP Library at Trinity Comprehensive School in Ballymun. The theme of this conference was ‘The Power of Play’ and the event was fun and engaging while providing solid insight into how to broach serious issues through the medium of play. The conference was divided into three main parts which were comprised of a presentation by guest speaker Dr. Joanna Fortune, a workshop entitled ‘Are we on the cusp of a play renaissance in education?’ facilitated by Ronan Healy of How Might We, and a presentation and Q & A by JCSP Librarians Shane Doyle and Neil Kettles on Dungeons & Dragons and Chess respectively. The day also included a short demonstration by Cogs Toys and Games and was followed by the LAI SLG AGM which all members were invited to attend.
Guest Speaker: Dr. Joanna Fortune
An accredited psychotherapist specializing in parent-child relationships, TEDx Talk speaker, Irish Examiner columnist, best-selling author and media personality, Dr. Joanna Fortune delivered an insightful talk on how play can be used in educational settings to help navigate difficult moments, break down barriers, calm a heightened student and encourage positive communication. She provided the group with useful strategies, such as simple games, which can be used to help students feel safe, refocus and encourage dialogue when necessary. She explained how the brain reacts to stress and how it can be stimulated by play. The group was led in a movement game and were given tips and tricks to add to their professional toolkit.
Workshop: Are we on the cusp of a play renaissance in education?
Developed by husband-and-wife team, Dr. Jane Hession and Ronan Healy, who co-founded How Might We and who are hosts of the Seeking Play podcast, this workshop focused on accessing untapped creative potential through LEGO® Serious Play®. This team-building workshop aimed to breakdown the stigma of adult playfulness and explore its value to professional organizations. Using our imaginations, we created our ideal library spaces and schools with LEGO® bricks. In sharing our creations with our groups, we exchanged ideas and potential designs for our school libraries. It was a dynamic workshop which helped stimulate our creative minds and facilitated professional conversation in a fun and playful way.
Librarian Presentations and Group Discussion
Sharing their professional practice of play in the library were Shane Doyle, JCSP Librarian of Mount Seskin CC and Neil Kettles, JCSP Librarian of Beaufort College. Shane gave us the basics of running a Dungeons & Dragons club in a school library as well as information on other, similar role playing games. He directed us to where we could find free resources and what resources he would recommend purchasing for those who were interested in running this type of club in their library. Neil shared tips on how to run a successful chess club, discussed the benefits of playing chess and demonstrated the software he uses to keep records of chess matches in his library. Both presentations were very interesting and provided good food for thought on ways that play can be facilitated by school libraries.
Cogs Toys and Games displayed a wide range of educational games and gave advice and recommendations on suitability.
The day ended with a Q & A and open discussion before LAI SLG Members took part in the AGM. It was a very informative conference that had fun and play naturally incorporated into the day.
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