This was not my planned topic of my first blog for
2024. I was talking to friends about New Year Resolutions and book reading
targets so was going to write up a few tips about how you can achieve this. But
you’ll have to wait for that because my social media has been full of talk
about libraries.
First we had twelve Children’s Laurates teaming up with
BookTrust to launch their “Reading
Together, Changing Children’s Lives” campaign that aims to support families
in the early stages of a children’s reading journey. This was followed by
Philip Pullman, with the support of Michael Morpurgo and Julia Donaldson,
calling on the government to legislate to “ensure
all schools in Britain have libraries” and then there’s been Baroness
Sanderson’s Review
of Public Libraries. I guess I should also mention that the Ipsos
Veracity Index has put the category of librarians back on the list,
resulting in the profession being the third most trusted in Britain.
I love it when the media talk about libraries because
it’s an opportunity for advocacy and there are always people who are astounded to discover that school libraries
are not statutory. But all this has a slightly déjà vu feeling about it.
Over a decade ago, I organised a Mass Lobby in support of School Libraries; I learnt a lot about “green carding” MPs during this process! We had placards and T shirts, and marched from Victoria Embankment Gardens to Westminster. Leaflets had been printed explaining why school libraries were important and given out to passers-by, most of whom seemed quite amused by this large and loud group of librarians, although I should add that we weren’t all librarians – we had support from parents, students, authors and illustrators.
The result of this lobby was an APPG
Libraries report “The Beating Heart of the School”, published in 2014 with
four recommendations:
·
The Department for Education starts
collecting figures about the number of schools that have a library and
librarian
·
The Minister for Schools examines the full
contribution that school libraries make to children's education and development
·
Ofsted includes libraries in their inspections
·
The Department for Education has a lead
staff-member for school libraries
If these look familiar it’s probably because very
similar recommendations have been made by both Michael Morpurgo and the
Sanderson review. Time will tell if any recent recommendations are followed
through but, suffice to say, that 2014 Report is still gathering
dust somewhere …
What’s interesting is that in all of this talk about
libraries, librarians are rarely mentioned. Now, it may be that the assumption
is they are automatically included when libraries are discussed but those of us who work in the school sector
know this often isn’t the case and a look at the statistics around school
libraries confirms this; the 2023 Great School Libraries (GSL) Campaign report
shows that 58% of schools (both primary and secondary) don’t have designated
library staff.
This doesn’t give the whole picture though because
“designated library staff” could simply mean somebody assigned for a few hours
a week.
I could regal you with horror stories about libraries
I’ve visited that are run by volunteers or staff whose main role in the school
is not being the librarian so this doesn’t get priority and they often “lose”
this time to other tasks. The result is frequently libraries where
inappropriate books have been put on the shelves (this regularly happens when a
popular children’s author writes a YA or adult book and the person choosing the
stock has limited book knowledge); where the majority of the fiction has been
written by dead white men; libraries full of books that haven’t been labelled
in any way so that picture books are mixed up with chapter books and
information books; and libraries where the only supplier used was an Usborne
rep so that’s all you’ve got on the shelves (I should say here that I love
Usborne books but a library should have a range of publishers amongst their
resources).
All this happens because the person responsible for the library does not have the relevant skills or experience, ie: they are not a librarian. You need a librarian to turn a room of books into a library, the same way you need an instructor to turn a room full of bikes into a spin class. You don’t have to take my word for this. There is a growing body of international research-based evidence that shows the impact of having a school librarian - some examples include:
·
A Pennsylvania study
showed that schools that had a full-time
librarian, reading scores were consistently better for all students
·
An Australian report
found that having a qualified librarian improved student literacy outcomes with
up to two month’s learning gain
·
An HMI Ofsted report
found that “well-trained specialist librarians had a positive effect on
teaching and learning”
·
Research
from New Zealand shows evidence that school libraries and library staff have a
positive impact on student achievement
· Scottish Book Trust research indicates that school libraries and librarians have value beyond academic achievement
Experienced and trained librarians bring so much more
to a school library and its community. They are not simply curators of books or
supervisors of the space; they manage a range of resources (hard copy and
online) to meet curriculum and teaching needs of students and staff; they
support learning to read, reading improvement, reading for information and
reading for pleasure; they help students find relevant resources for
educational and personal needs; they deliver information and digital literacy
skills teaching; they promote the library resources and services throughout the
school community; they engender a range of inclusive activities and events; and
they provide a safe and welcoming space.
As I said in a guest blog for BookTrust last year, you can create a wonderful library space full of books but it needs a librarian – to plan and implement strategies and actions that link to school community needs – otherwise it is likely to become a rather tired-looking and muddled room. I know school budgets are at breaking point but you will not get the full package, the full benefits or full value-for-money from your library without a librarian.
