Every time I add something to my blog, I resolve to
write more often. Not that I don’t write, you understand … but it’s not always
here. I spend most of my spare time responding to comments on Facebook,
tweeting reports, lists of books and other literacy-related items, not to
mention actively participating on the School Librarian Network (SLN) (and if
you’re a school librarian and haven’t discovered this yet then I would 100%
recommend it as a superb resource, just google it and you’ll find it!). Then
there’s my CILIP Update column, various other professional posts, adding
replies to letters and other blogs (especially if they are “stating” untruths
about libraries). In fact, there are so many “writings” about books, reading,
libraries, etc. that I’m amazed that we still need to tell people about what we
do, and what the benefits of reading and libraries are.
So … a New Year’s Resolution, made early, is to blog
more frequently.
However, one problem is that this blog is entitled “Library
Stuff” and yet, so often, I find that I want to write about the state of our
society; about the behaviour of people who are in a responsible position, who
are meant to have our interests at the heart of what they do and yet so blatantly
don’t; about the wonders of being a grandparent (even of only 17 days); about
the despair I feel of a country that thinks it is ok to give people bonuses of
thousands of pounds whilst others are queuing at food banks; and mixed in with
all this is the incomprehension I have of how “they” ignore the research that
shows the benefits of libraries and reading, and are happy to let individual
schools decide on library provision! Not to mention how Ofsted can award a
school an outstanding grade (with current criteria of inspecting Reading for Pleasure
and Reading across the Curriculum) without going anywhere near the library,
assuming the school has one.
Logically, the obvious thing would be to have an
alternative blog entitled “Other Stuff” … but that’s going to have to be for
another time and space … maybe when I retire J
So … what’s been happening with “Library Stuff”
recently? Lots! And it seems as though every time I read something that results
in all sorts of responses in my head, before I have a chance to get those down
on paper, something else appears! But the one thing has stuck is the recent
success in Scotland of School Library Services. The Edinburgh city council were
originally planning to reduce the number of school librarian posts by 12, over
half of the 23 currently working in schools, saving a grand total of £400,000!
This resulted in an outcry from various sectors including authors and CILIP
Scotland, and the council have now reconsidered their decision. Great news!
I can’t help wondering, though, why is the situation regarding
school librarians in Scotland so different from that in England? Why do those
in authority in Scotland, who have the power to make these decisions, listen to
the arguments, read the research and act accordingly? They have publically
stated that the decision to retain school librarians was based on consultation
findings (the same findings that we have in England) whereas we get the same
response time after time … that it’s up to individual schools to determine how
to spend their budgets.
As a result of this, school librarians have been called
“superheroes” and Ali Bowden, Director of Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust
has said: “You can have books in libraries but you’re not going to get kids
reading if you don’t have someone who’s passionate and who can convey that
passion.” This is true but what is worrying is the response from author, Linda
Strachan, who has written a wonderful blog post about school librarians but seems
to think that the axe is only just falling on them:
Whereas, as so many of us know, this is not the case.
Time after time, school libraries are reduced to IT rooms or are taken over as
meeting or intervention spaces with the consequence being that the librarian
post is no longer needed, at least not in a professional capacity. At the same
time as this success was being reported, I also heard of a school librarian who
had given in her notice as she had been so undermined at her school, with her
professional role being eroded so much, that she felt she had no alternative
but to look for work elsewhere.
It’s a pity that so many people make the assumption
that schools have libraries and librarians. Or that success in one part of the
UK will result in success in the rest of it. This is why we need to keep
telling people about why schools need libraries and about the benefits of them having
a professional librarian. A good way of doing this is to promote the SLG
publication about school libraries:
… pass this around your friends and family, and make sure they ask these
questions of their children’s schools. If Heads become aware that parents are
asking about library provision, they may actually think twice before getting rid
of it!
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