Welcome to the 2026 school year and fresh content from Teacher. As is tradition, we’re kicking off our 2026 content with an article to help you with your lesson planning. Read more to get across key events for the year to inspire some of your curriculum planning. 

Crayola is celebrating the fifth anniversary of Crayola Creativity Week – a global celebration that invites millions of children to explore how creativity fuels learning. Teachers can sign up for free access to a dedicated Teacher Guide, daily educational activity videos, downloadable Thinking Sheets and creative challenges.

Teacher editor Jo Earp sits down with Mali Jorm, Madison Dearnaley and Tracy Kelly to talk about managing school library and reading spaces, including building a student-driven collection, creating fresh and welcoming spaces, and strategies to encourage reading for pleasure. They also share their personal and student book recommendations. 

The Australian Council for Educational Research’s (ACER’s) Pru Mitchell was named winner of the inaugural Victorian Library and Information Award (VLIA). Teacher editor Jo Earp sat down with her to talk about teaching and teacher librarianship, sharing knowledge and expertise, and the role of AI, technology and digital literacy in the classroom.

In today’s rapidly evolving educational landscape, the role of the teacher librarian has never been more important. Charles Sturt University’s Master of Education (Teacher Librarianship) course is tailored for qualified teachers who wish to specialise in this critical field, offering flexible online delivery designed to fit into your busy schedule. 

Schools across Australia are marking Children’s Book Week this week, and library spaces are at the heart of the celebrations. They’re a hub of expertise throughout the year, supporting teaching and learning. In this article, we share new research findings about their evolving role.

In the first edition of Researching education: 5 further readings for 2025, we share 5 further readings that focus on post-pandemic learning – including a report on the impact of small-group tutoring, a case study into migrant parents’ experiences during emergency home-schooling, and more.

The world’s largest study on shared book reading has highlighted the importance of having books in the home. The Australian research found bringing books into the home has a significant impact on a child’s positive shared book reading habits, emerging language and literacy skills, as well as family engagement.

Teacher librarians and school libraries play important roles in developing student reading habits, information literacy capabilities, and promoting cross-curriculum learning. In this edition of Researching education: 5 further readings, we are looking at the topic of school libraries

For students who may not have access to appropriate books at home, libraries can play a key role in providing this access. New analysis of Australian data from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) sheds light on year 4 students’ access to school libraries, revealing 7% attend schools where they’re not allowed to borrow books to take home.