Managing Safe & Inclusive Library Spaces - CILIP Guidelines make sense for school libraries too.

 CILIP recently published “Managing Safe and Inclusive Public Library Services: a practical guide” - aimed primarily at public libraries but with references to good practice for other library services such as schools and prisons, and with key principles based around CILIP’s ethical framework, that could be applied across all library environments. I always like to read these documents with my school librarian hat on to see if they could be useful to the sector.

School and public libraries are very similar – they have a varied collection of resources (both hard copy and digital), offer a range of services aimed at their community’s needs, provide internet access, and run activities and events – but they are also very dissimilar. A school library community has specific demographics that come with specific needs. There is a range of statutory DfE requirements that need to be taken into consideration along with bespoke policies that may be applicable to that particular school. The library space is managed within the school day with booked and ad hoc lessons, and many school librarians are solo workers, undertaking all library tasks usually managed by a team.

It should also be noted that the guidance has been written in the context of the growing suppression of freedom of expression, the increase in online harms and attacks on marginalised communities. Certainly the school library sector is not immune from these so it is important to be prepared for any such incidences and to ensure that the safe and inclusive spaces we provide for all students are not threatened or diminished. As the guidance says “don’t be scared but do be prepared.”

The contents are divided into several sections, some of which are more relevant to school libraries than others, and the document is eminently readable, a nice change from other published official guidelines I’ve read this year! I’ve highlighted the aspects that I think are the most applicable to school libraries but it’s worth reading the whole document if you have time.

·         Freedom of expression for libraries: This section is based on Article 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998 and reinforces CILIP’s ethical and professional commitment within the context of book bans and contested spaces, and the duty of librarians to oppose any form of censorship. The recommendation from CILIP is for librarians to resist the removal of titles, explaining the implications of censorship, and to make CILIP aware of any incidences. This can be hard to do within the framework of a school library. The instinctive reaction of many senior school leaders, when faced with challenges from parents, is to keep the peace and remove the offending item. However, I truly believe this is a slippery slope; once you remove a book merely because somebody has objected to it and not assessed the title against your stock selection policy to determine whether the challenge is valid (or even legal), you have little argument against any other book challenges.

·         Key principles: There are 11 key principles; I’m not going to list them as it’s easy enough to read them fully in the guidance. There’s also a very useful checklist to help library staff consider various issues. All the principles are relevant but some may be of more use to school librarians than others:

- Understanding the law and its limits
Although schools have a range of legal policies and procedures they need to implement, it is important that “access to information, events, activities … should not be prohibited unless it has been prohibited by law.” The reality is that school libraries are “in loco parentis” and need to ensure that their collection and any activities are suitable for the age of the students, which can be difficult when you are working with a range from 11 to 18 years. It can also be hard when parents have different perspectives regarding what they think is suitable for their own children. Nevertheless, we shouldn’t avoid books aimed at older students just because we have younger ones in the school. And we certainly should not let one or two parents determine what is suitable for the whole of the student body to read.

- Reflect on your biases
We are all susceptible to personal biases; I think it’s fair to say that my library collection probably had quite a few books that featured dragons and I had to make a conscious effort to seek out and purchase manga for my students as I’m not a fan myself. So we need to be aware of our own preconceptions and possible prejudices to mitigate their impact. A collection diversity audit can help to overcome this as well as a pro-active approach and training in stock selection, and involve your students in the process to create an inclusive environment.

- Develop appropriate policies
As I’ve mentioned, a school library will be subject to a range of policies that will vary from school to school. The DfE has a list though be aware that these may be different for the devolved nations. Libraries should also have their own policies relating to collection development, weeding, dealing with donations and book challenges, use of the library, IT use, etc. However, it’s my experience that the creation and updating of school library policies receives little attention in most schools. This may be partly because people rarely ask for any library policies. They’re not a statutory requirement and, with most school days filled with a never-ending to-do list and a constant stream of student requests, it’s hard to find the time and motivation to sit down and write them. But they should be the guiding values that underpin your collection and services, ideally linked to the school’s mission, development and relevant policies. And when you receive that book challenge and don’t have a policy to direct the challenger to then it’s almost too late to write it.

- Train your staff
It is important that all library staff are aware of school policies in relation to the library. These tend to be on the website for ease of access so consider adding specific library policies as well. Policies change over time; sign up to the relevant DfE newsletters so you’re not reliant on other staff telling you when they have been amended and ensure you maintain your awareness of any changes in the law that impact on schools. Another important aspect is ensuring staff are aware of library policies, particularly those that deal with book challenges. A parent/carer’s first contact may be with a tutor or member of the SMT rather than the librarian and if they’re not aware of your collection development policy, their first reaction may be to say “they’ll get the librarian to take it off the shelf” – not realising the implications around censorship or the legal requirements of the Equality Act’s protected characteristics. If you have a robust policy in place with clear guidelines and procedures, staff (including the librarian) will have the confidence to deal with any such issues.

- Reflect and learn from experience
As anyone who works in a school will tell you, it is a dynamic environment with constant changes and updates. The library is no exception. This means it is essential that librarians maintain their CPD around the aspects covered in this guidance, and regularly review and adjust any policies.

·         The law and its limits: This section considers intellectual freedom and its limitations in UK law, the Equality Act 2010 and hate speech. These are all relevant to school libraries but it should be noted that public libraries also have byelaws to consider. 

·         Management of stock: The management of library stock is a core function that is on-going and active, changing to reflect the demographics, needs and interests of the school community, and encompassing a range of perspectives and viewpoints. It should be underpinned by a robust collection development policy covering all aspects including selection, weeding, disposal and donations, ensuring the collection is developed according to the policy rather than the personal views or interests of staff, suppliers, parents, etc. However, ultimately, it should be the librarian who makes the final decision as to whether to stock a particular resource; they are the person who knows the existing stock and where there are gaps in the collection, they know the school demographics and students’ interests, they know their readers, and they know the curriculum. Schools need to use their librarian’s experience and knowledge when it comes to collection management.
The section talks about involving others. The majority of school librarians connect with their students to ensure any requests and interests are included in the collection – obviously within reason and assessing for cost effectiveness and suitability. Teacher requests are also taken on board although I find many are unaware of new publications that might be useful within their subject and, in the past, I have ordered requested items only to find, when they arrived, that they were teaching rather than library resources. I soon learnt through this experience!
Promotion is also mentioned and the guidance points out that these activities are to “raise awareness, encourage understanding, improve accessibility and increase library usage” (p29) rather than promoting a particular belief or opinion. I recently saw a post on X (aka Twitter) where a US school librarian said they didn’t put up any Christmas decorations as it wasn’t inclusive. If you follow this thinking through then you also wouldn’t have any displays around Diwali, Hanukkah or the Chinese New Year; surely “inclusiveness” doesn’t mean not celebrating anything but rather including “everyone”? So find out what your school demographics are and make sure you feature displays throughout the year that reflect their festivals and celebrations – this way students will feel welcomed in the library.

·         Public internet access and public spaces: These sections aren’t quite so relevant to school libraries. School internet access will be filtered with many websites blocked (I can remember a student undertaking a project on breast cancer who couldn’t even access the major charities from the library computers) and the school will have its own IT use policy/agreement that all students and parents sign. Likewise, the school library is not a public space; even if the school runs community activities, these are likely to occur outside of school hours when students are not present.

·         Events and activities: Both public and school libraries organise and run a wide range of events and activities. In schools these are often linked to in-house, local or national events and most librarians will have an annual programme designed to entice the school community to engage with the library and to promote sections of the collection. This section (p37 – 45) has a list of possible suggestions that school librarians may find useful, along with some guidance around planning, promoting and evaluating activities and events that could easily be adapted for school library use.

·         Managing challenge: The guidance states that “when considering how best to manage challenges to library services, it is always helpful to work with the governing institution – whether that is a local authority, school board or prison governor (p46).” It really is vital that you have the support of your Headteacher and governing body with regards to your Collection Development policy and procedures for dealing with any challenges. Without this support, you are likely to be one small protesting voice, which could feel rather daunting. If you’re not sure how to approach this, why not write a draft policy and discuss it with your line manager, raising the US book banning situation and the increase of such incidences in the UK. Librarians who have spoken to their Heads about this have reported that the Head had no idea and was shocked, immediately getting involved in creating a procedure for any challenges. If you’re not sure where to start I’ve written a blog about creating a Collection Development Policy.

This is an extremely relevant and beneficial document, and the above is a brief overview. It is unlikely your SMT will read it as they will see it as being aimed at public libraries and thus not relevant to the school library so it may be on you, the school librarian, to extract the pertinent points. At the very least, it will provide you with valuable CPD reading to increase your knowledge around managing a safe and inclusive space – and there’s also lots of links to websites for further investigation.

What is a Collection Development Policy and how do you create one?

I was at a recent CPD event with school librarians and the discussion turned to book banning in US schools. It was interesting how many of them had never heard about this but, I guess, if you don’t spend a lot of time on social media then it’s possible the current situation may not have crossed your radar. However, I was also surprised at the number of librarians who didn’t have a collection development policy. There were lots of reasons given for this: they had never felt they needed one; they used to have one but no one looked at it; nobody had asked for one; and, the most common, they didn’t know how to write one or what to include. Hence this blog …

It is understandable that, if you are never asked about your collection development policy and any mention of “maybe we need a collection development policy” is met with blank looks, you are unlikely to spend time writing one when you have a myriad of to-do things on your list.  But a robust policy will guide the strategic development of the library, providing clear guidelines and criteria for the selection of material as well as allowing you to make informed decisions regarding deselection, funding and purchasing. It will align the library goals with those of the school, ensuring resources are diverse, inclusive and of relevance to the school community, support intellectual freedom, reduce bias and censorship, and give you a clear structure to follow in the case of any challenges to resources, taking into account both legal and ethical respects.

So what do you include in your policy? Some considerations:

A clear and concise mission statement: this should reflect the educational values and objectives of the school, and determine the purpose and goals of the library collection. Such as:

“The mission of the school library is to foster a love of reading, inspire intellectual curiosity and engender students to become critical thinkers and lifelong learners. The library supports the academic, social and emotional growth of all students, providing an inclusive environment that celebrates diversity and respect for different perspectives with material that allows students to explore a wide range of ideas and voices.”

“The mission of the school library is to provide a welcoming and inclusive space where students can explore, discover and learn. It supports the academic and personal growth of all students by providing a wide range of resources, fostering a love of reading and supporting the development of media and information literacy skills.”

The selection criteria for all resources. This should state that the collection will reflect the school curriculum and interests of the students as well as providing resources for recreational and academic reading, wellbeing and social development that are relevant, accurate, up-to-date and current. It should also say that resources will support cultural diversity and a wide range of ideas, opinions and viewpoints.

Incorporating the Equality Act 2010 into your policy ensures it aligns with the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion – be specific and identify the protected characteristics as not everyone may be aware of what they are; the DfE have produced useful information relating to the Equality Act and schools. You can then say that resources will cover and represent all protected characteristics. The Equality Act 2010 states that a school cannot “discriminate in the way it provides pupils access to any benefit, facility or service.” It also cannot employ indirect discrimination, for example, by not having any books with LGTBQ+ characters or that mention LGBTQ+ relationships, as this has the effect of putting people with a protected characteristic at a disadvantage with the school is failing to provide equitable access to information. Nor can one group deny the needs of another.

Librarians use their professional judgement and experience when buying resources, taking into account the needs of the school community to ensure that they have a wide range of material for all ages and abilities.  Maintaining this book knowledge requires continual CPD as well as an awareness of resources that are being promoted on social media amongst teens and young people and what may be deemed controversial but this can change with time. The rewriting of Roald Dahl books is evidence of this; my Year 1 grandson told me that his class reader was Matilda but “the old one not the new one” – I’m not sure if he is even aware that they’ve been rewritten but his teacher obviously felt that she needed to emphasise this in case parents questioned which version was being used.

Format of resources held such as hard copy and ebooks, audio and visual resources. These will vary from school to school.

Access to the collection. This section will detail how students and staff can access library materials and, again, will vary in each school. It will depend on how library resources are categorised within the library and the ages of your students. In some libraries, resources are kept within one large collection allowing students to borrow from anywhere in the library whilst others have books in different sections, such as a sixth form collection, senior fiction, Year 9 and above, etc. and restrict borrowing to those groups, with exceptions being made if the student has parental permission. Some schools operate an opt-out rather than opt-in system for this. In other libraries, stickers are used on books to denote more mature content and the Library Management System (LMS) can be used to restrict access to any resource. Regardless of what system you use there will always be anomalies but you may find it useful to include a statement such as “The library will not knowingly hold resources that are felt to be discriminatory or inappropriate but parents should recognise that material with challenging content or adult themes will not be censored or excluded.”

I used to have a senior fiction collection which contained books for older readers, some of which were published as adult books, for example, Stephen King. However, I had two copies of some books - for example, Lord of the Rings – one in the main collection and one in senior fiction, and I also placed my classics in senior fiction as I felt they put off younger and reluctant readers from browsing the shelves but allowed any students to borrow them.    

School librarian, Carol Webb, has created a book plate that she uses in the front of possible problematic classic texts, for example, The Secret Garden, acknowledging content and providing a range of questions for discussion. This is done with the hope of creating awareness and discourse.

Books have no legal age rating; they are simply published as either children’s or adult books. Some of the former may have recommended ages on them but, unlike videos, these are not legal requirements and there are many adult books that would be perfectly suitable for children assuming they had the reading maturity and stamina to get through them. Additionally, parents and carers need to understand that, in a school where students range from 11 – 18 years and share the same library space, there will be resources aimed at older students that may not be suitable for the younger ones. Assessing each book’s suitability can be difficult involving the reading level of the book, the contents, the themes covered and in how much detail, inferences within the text, as well as taking into account the individual student and their maturity and personal circumstances. Those who are part of any school librarian community will know that there are constant discussions about age appropriateness for various titles and, as it’s not possible to read every single book, we need to rely on the knowledge of other professionals in the field. The placement of a book is also not set in stone and many librarians will move books from one section to another.

Collection maintenance. Any collection needs to be evaluated and weeded regularly to ensure it meets the evolving needs of the school community, which do not remain static, as well as societal and cultural changes regarding language and ideas. Students’ interests change, authors wane in popularity, and every year there are new books published and award winners to be read. Genres also go through phases of popularity as those in school libraries during the Twilight films will attest to. The criteria for purchasing items should be applied when you are weeding your collection; is it relevant, accurate, up-to-date and current?

The procedure and criteria for accepting donations needs to align with that of selecting resources. Most school librarians are happy to accept donations; in fact, with some budgets being almost non-existent many rely on these to increase their stock. However, not all donations are suitable – many is the time I’ve been presented with a large box of books, all published over thirty years ago or they’ve been titles that I know will just sit on the shelves and never borrowed. School libraries have limited shelf space and every book needs to earn its place. It is, therefore, important to state that unsuitable donations will be given to charity or recycled.

The procedure for book challenges should be part of the policy. If a parent/carer is unhappy with a book their child has brought home and they feel it is inappropriate or unsuitable for their child they need to know who to contact and what will be done about their concerns. Communication should be open, with everyone able to express their viewpoints and perspective but, whilst individual values and beliefs should be respected, the library has to provide a diverse range of books and one person should not be able to dictate what other students can or cannot read and you may have to explain the Equality Act to them, referencing the school’s policy on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). There are options: often the assurance that their child will not be able to borrow such books in the future is enough to reassure them but you may want to assess the book to determine whether it should be moved to another, restricted, section of the collection or removed. Whatever decision is made should be based on educational and professional judgements not personal bias and the rationale should be given. This process needs to be fair and consistent – even if your favourite book is challenged!

Things to consider:

·         Ensure you are familiar with the Equality Act and how it relates to resources and services in schools.

·         Ensure you, as the librarian, have responsibility for collection development and management but also consider who makes the final decision in the event of any challenges. Will your professional judgement and experience (and that of other school librarians) be taken into account?

·         Ensure you are familiar with the CILIP, CILIP SLG and SLA joint statement on censorship and intellectual freedom in school libraries. Add it to your library handbook and put a link on your library website. The SLG & SLG are running a series of webinars on censorship in May which will be available to members on their websites; these will provide useful CPD on this area.

·         Think carefully about adding trigger warnings. Some books have these already on the back and they can be added to the LMS as keywords or noted in the front of the book. However, it is likely that you will miss some and so students need to be aware that not all trigger warnings may be covered in every book.

·         Decide what your policy is for students who bring in their own books from home that are not suitable for their age group. This has become more of an issue since the popularity of BookTok and most librarians ask them to bring something else to read.

·         Involve stakeholders in creating your policy. This gives them ownership and the multiple sources of input will likely result in a more balanced document. If you can include a member of your SMT, even better! But don’t worry if you don’t get much interest – don’t let this stop you from writing your policy.

·         If you already have a policy, review it and revise, if necessary, to incorporate commitment to an inclusive collection that underpins the school’s commitment to diverse perspectives and intellectual freedom.

·         Put your collection development policy on the school website. This is where other school policies can be found and, likely, will be the first place parents look when wanting to contact the school about an issue.

Remember, writing a collection development policy should not be a long and complicated process; in fact, it should be clear and concise document. It can (should) be revised and updated so it is better to have something rather than redraft and redraft until you feel you have the perfect policy for publication. If you wait until you think it’s perfect, it will never get done (a bit like this blog – I’m sure there are other things I should and could have mentioned)! It’s also easier to engage people if you have a draft for them to work with.

Finally – I’ve occasionally met the attitude “I don’t want to mention book challenges in case it gives people ideas” – a sort of hide your head in the sand approach. However, recently a school librarian said that they mentioned the US situation to their Head who was appalled and immediately got on board with having a collection development policy; forearmed is better than being unprepared.

 

 

 

WEEDING BOOKS - YES OR NO?

Every so often a discussion about weeding school libraries appears on social media with many respondents giving anecdotes about how they’ve had to “sneak” old books out of the library and dispose of them in the recycle bin at home. And yes, I’ve done this too – numerous times.


I’ve tried to explain to staff why these books weren’t suitable but, for some, the thought of getting rid of a book is almost heresy. And yet school libraries are not archives or depositories, most don’t have huge store rooms in which to keep shelf upon shelf of books. And quantity should not be confused with quality.

At a time when budgets are low or even non-existent (yes, you read that right – some librarians are expected to maintain their usual service, run promotions and activities, encourage and support students reading - all with no money whatsoever) the temptation is to hang onto every book on your shelves regardless of their condition or age. However, weeding is an important aspect of collection management because:

• It will improve the appearance of your library. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve weeded a shelf of old, worn stock only to be asked if I’ve bought new books. People just don’t see the new stuff on the shelves when it’s hidden by the old.
• Getting rid of old stock gives you more space to show off your lovely new and much better books, which usually results in an increase in loans.
•  Most libraries have limited shelf space. Every book should earn its place on the shelf. Thus weeding out those that are no longer borrowed (for many reasons) means you can make the best use of the space available.
•  The curriculum changes. The needs of students and staff change. Thus, if a school library is going to remain relevant, its stock must also adjust to reflect these changes.
• If your shelves are packed full of books that are out-of-date and irrelevant to your students then it will take them twice as long to find anything useful. Weeding saves them time. It also encourages them to browse and they are more likely to find something suitable, engendering repeat visits.
•  A school library collection should contain a diverse and inclusive range of books written by different authors and illustrators, containing a myriad of characters in various situations. Older stock is unlikely to have this representation so it is important to replace it with newer and more diverse books.
•  A school library collection should be dynamic, attractive and useful – and the only way to achieve this is via regular weeding.
  

So … having decided you’re going to weed your collection, how do you do it? A tip – don’t put “weed the collection” on your to-do list, it will never get done because that’s too large a remit. Break it down into sections such as “Fiction books with author’s surnames beginning with A” or “Dewey number 200s”.

• The first place to start is with the condition of the book. Regardless of how important you think it is - sticky, stained, mouldy and smelly books are not nice - get rid of them! Likewise books that have become discoloured or been water-damaged so they’ve gone hard and crinkly. A book in any of these conditions is unappealing and unlikely to be picked up by anyone, even your most avid readers.
  
  If a book is well-used it will become worn and eventually fall apart. You can sometimes do a repair job to gain a few additional loans but eventually there will come a point when you have to admit defeat and let it go. I am still scarred by an Agatha Christie book I borrowed that had the last two pages missing so I never found out “whodunit”.
  
  
• Check how old the book is by looking at the publication date and note if there have been any revisions or new editions. The general rule is that you should not stock books over ten years old (obviously different rules apply for fiction) but there are exceptions - have you seen the images in a computer book published more than ten years ago? And it’s not just images that date; facts change over time. East and West Germany no longer exist. This seems obvious to most of us but if you are 12, 13, 14 years of age then it’s perfectly feasible that, if you read about East and West Germany in a book, you’ll accept this as the truth. After all, we have North and South Korea so why not have other divided countries.
  
  It’s important for school libraries to have accurate and up-to-date books. It’s not our job to check every resource each student uses – we don’t have the time apart from anything else – our job is to teach students how to find (and hopefully evaluate) information. If we have stock that is inaccurate and they use it to do their homework or revise for a test, and get it wrong, who is to blame? I think students can reasonably expect the resources they are offered in school to help with their learning to be relevant and correct.What I would say though is don’t automatically throw everything out because it’s old. Poetry books by dead poets, art books about dead artists are unlikely to change much. However, check them as their presentation and language may be off-putting and unsuitable for your age groups.
  
  And … you need to consider each book’s place within the overall collection. Is it the ONLY book available on that topic and is it used? Many years ago I had a cohort of students who were very enthusiastic model makers and asked me to get some books for them. The only ones I could find were second-hand, online and rather dated. But I bought them and the students loved (and used) them.
  
  
• When was the book last borrowed? This can give an indication of its usefulness although it’s not always an accurate measure for non-fiction as many information books are used just in the library but it’s a good rationale for fiction. If a book hasn’t been borrowed in at least five years then it is unlikely to be in demand in the near future. If your fiction shelves are jam-packed and you need space for new books then consider reducing this time to 3 or 4 years. The other aspect to think about is the cover as this can date a book. Is the cover still appealing for today’s teens and young adults?
  
  Before you undertake this cull you need to be aware of forthcoming books, what’s on award lists, what books are being made into films as well as trends in genres and authors as all these could have an impact on your stock usage. A film-from-a-book is likely to result in the book being borrowed.There will ALWAYS be exceptions; for example, books signed by the author. And personally I find it much harder to weed fiction; especially if it’s a book I’ve read and loved but sometimes you just have to let them go...
  
  
• Another aspect to consider is representation; the depiction of people, races, cultures, religions, etc. Older books sometimes portray unacceptable attitudes and ideas that are better read together, put into context and discussed. This can’t happen with individual borrowing. Do all your fiction books have female characters as sidekicks in supporting roles? Are all the heroes or villains male? Have a look at images in your books - do they always show men and women in traditional roles? I recently removed a weather book from a library that showed jobs and activities affected by the weather – all being done by men – whilst the TV weather forecaster was a smiley woman!

Weeding allows you to assess your collection for accuracy, currency, diversity, relevance and usage, and it should be done on a regular basis. Ideally it should also be linked to a policy giving guidelines on selection criteria.

I hope I’ve given you some ammunition to back up your decisions next time you are challenged on why you are removing books from the shelves. Of course, if you manage to do this you’ll have lots of shelf space to fill with newer titles. How you can do this with a minimal budget will have to wait for another blog. Meanwhile I’ll leave you with the words of the Children’s Laureate, Cressida Cowell:

“We need public and school libraries where the books look modern and exciting and relevant to the children’s lives, like sweets, not brussels sprouts.”