BEYOND BOOKS:
Building Your School's Literacy Ecosystem
Amplify the impact of your reading initiatives and cultivate a dynamic, whole-school literacy ecosystem. I partner with schools to transform libraries into vibrant hubs of literacy, engagement, and community, creating gateways back into reading at every opportunity.
Ignite a Whole-School Culture of Reading and Inquiry
For too long, reading has been seen as a quiet, solitary activity, a place for silent reading and little more. But what if literacy could be the beating heart of your school? A place where curiosity is sparked, where learning is immersive, and where every student finds their place.
I'm Gabrielle Mace, and I help schools make that vision a reality. I focus on amplifying the impact of reading programmes by building a thriving literacy ecosystem that creates lasting change.
This is not a generic programme; it is a bespoke approach, tailored to your school's unique culture, students, and community. Together, we connect reading to every aspect of school life, creating a culture of reading that is dynamic, engaging, and sustainable. We achieve this transformation by examining your school's literacy culture through four critical lenses.
"Like a thriving tree, a literacy ecosystem needs deep roots in strategy to support a strong trunk of curation, reaching out through branches of innovation to grow a flourishing canopy of student engagement."
The Four Lenses of a Thriving Literacy Ecosystem
We don't just fix problems; we change perspectives. Our holistic approach views school literacy through four distinct lenses.
Strategic Leadership & Curation
From Gatekeeper to Game-Changer
A thriving literacy ecosystem begins with strategic leadership that sees beyond book budgets and borrowing statistics. True literacy leadership means empowering your library team to move from gatekeepers of resources to game-changers in student learning. This requires a clear vision that aligns literacy goals with your school's unique culture, values, and student population. Strategic curation goes deeper than simply ordering popular titles – it's about building a collection that reflects your students' identities, challenges their thinking, and opens windows to worlds they've never imagined. When literacy leaders have the autonomy to curate with purpose, they create collections that don't just sit on shelves – they spark conversations, fuel investigations, and become essential tools for learning across every subject. This lens asks: Does your literacy team have the strategic clarity and authority to lead transformational change?
Literacy That Feels Like Investigation
Where Every Mystery is Grounded in Inquiry, Skill-Building, and Engagement
Inquiry-based literacy environments hold immense power to engage students. Designed with a deep understanding of inquiry-based pedagogy, this approach honours the core principles that underpin all reputable inquiry frameworks. Whether your school uses Barbara Stripling's Model of Inquiry, Guided Inquiry Design (Kuhlthau/Maniotes), the 5E Model, Project Based Learning or another approach, inquiry-based literacy integrates seamlessly – you don't need to pivot into something new. Students step into immersive scenarios as investigators, analysing evidence, questioning sources, and constructing meaning. Through the inquiry cycle – wondering, investigating, constructing, and expressing – students build critical thinking and information literacy skills while developing a reading identity rooted in curiosity. This immersive approach makes learning feel purposeful, exciting, and impossible to resist.
Parent & Community Involvement
Extending the Ecosystem Beyond the Gates
A literacy ecosystem that thrives only within school walls is inherently limited. True transformation happens when reading becomes visible, valued, and celebrated in students' homes and wider communities. This means moving beyond the annual Book Week parade to building authentic, sustained bridges between school literacy and family life. When parents see themselves as partners in their children's reading journey – not just homework supervisors–they become powerful advocates for literacy. Community leaders, local authors, and even students' own family members can become reading ambassadors, bringing diverse voices and stories into your school's literacy culture. From parent-student book clubs that spark dinner table conversations to community reading challenges that unite neighbourhoods, this lens recognises that literacy is not a school subject – it's a community value. The question becomes: How far beyond your school gates does your literacy ecosystem reach?
Student Voice & Agency
Honouring the Reader in Every Student
Reading is fundamentally a personal transaction between a reader and a text. Every student brings their own experiences, questions, and interpretations to what they read, and a thriving literacy ecosystem honours this individuality rather than standardising it. Based on Reader Response Theory, this lens recognises that meaning is not simply extracted from a text – it's co-created by the reader. When students have genuine agency over their reading choices, when their interpretations are valued in classroom discussions, and when they see themselves as active participants in creating meaning rather than passive recipients of information, something powerful shifts. They move from compliance ("I have to read this") to ownership ("I choose to read because I'm curious"). This lens asks schools to create structures that amplify student voice: book recommendation systems designed by students, reading spaces that reflect student preferences, and assessment practices that honour diverse interpretations. The goal is not just to build readers, but to build lifelong thinkers who see reading as a tool for understanding themselves and their world.
What Educators Are Saying
"It confirmed my belief in the power of independent reading, reading culture, and student voice to build literacy. You put into words all the things I believe and have been working towards."
Jessica Langbein
Highlight: The ideas for implementation including the murder mystery.
"I am so inspired to make change at my school. It reinforced my beliefs about the value of reading for students."
Kate Justelius-Wright
Highlight: Honestly, all of it – especially the reasons for implementing a whole-school reading programme and how to achieve it.