Shout about school libraries

Many of you will be familiar with the work of my colleague, Professor Dorothy Williams, who has devoted the last twenty years to research connected with information literacy and with the impact of information on users in various sectors, including school libraries. Many of you will also know that Dorothy has been one of the biggest influences on my professional career and her friendship is one of my most important and most valued.

Those of you who know Dorothy will know that she is passionately interested not just in the way that we deliver library and information services but the value and impact that they have for those who use them. Some years ago this led Dorothy and her two research assistants to examine the Impact of School Library Services on attainment and learning. Two separate reports were issued: one concerned with primary students and the other with secondary students. It is instructive to look briefly at the findings which I summarise below:

■library provision can contribute to academic achievement, particularly in reading literacy

■the contribution to learning is dependent upon quantity and quality of collections and access to further resources and support from outwith the school environment;

■librarians who are qualified, experienced, proactive and confident in managerial, collaborative and instructional aspects enable student learning opportunities;

■enabling resource use at the point of need (flexible scheduling) and integration into the curriculum is an important service for promoting learning, however it is found to require whole school support for effective implementation;

■school library provision is dependent upon clear guidelines and standards, staff development training and support from a regional authority that has links to both library and educational departments;

■the public library and SLS sectors in the UK are beginning to examine the links between student learning and academic achievement in relation to library provision;

There are some very interesting points there, not least that school libraries can contribute to attainment and librarians who are qualified, experienced, proactive and confident in managerial, collaborative and instructional aspects enable student learning opportunities.

So, there is plenty clear empirical evidence about the value and impact of school libraries and librarians and we, of course, can supplement this with lots of evidence from our own personal experiences. Why then do some authorities seem to think that school libraries – which offer such potential for advancement amongst our young people – are a suitable target for budget cuts?

North Lanarkshire Council’s current consultation on cost savings includes the following:

Cessation of Education Resource Centre

This saving will be delivered by the cessation of the education resource Service (ERS). The ERS provides a curricular resource service to all educational establishments. Resources available support all aspects of the curriculum but are of particular value to the primary sector in many aspects of learning topics and programmes. The service also provides supports to primary establishments to develop and maintain library provision in each of the establishments.

Total savings: £368,000

Staff savings: 9FTE

Review of school librarians

This saving will be delivered through a review of school based librarians. The review will focus on the priority for the delivery of school based library services which predominantly focuses on support materials for learning and teaching purposes particularly within the context of the delivery of Curriculum for Excellence.

Total savings: £56,000

Staff savings: 0FTE

This is depressing in the light of what we know about the impact of school libraries. The School Library Association (Scotland) has organised a lobby of the Scottish Parliament to take place on Saturday 27th October, two days before a lobby of the Westminster Parliament by school librarians. As education is a devolved issue it was felt it would be better for Scottish School Librarians to take the case directly to Holyrood. The lobby will take place outside the Scottish Parliament at 11.00 am. A number of authors and MSPs have indicated their support.

The lobby is trying to achieve the following:

We believe that access to quality school library provision, including a specialist school librarian, supports children and young people's learning and achievement across the curriculum. We encourage HM Inspectors to reflect on the impact of the school library during their inspection and encourage the Scottish Parliament and local authorities to recognise the importance of the school library in developing lifelong learning skills in our children and young people. We would therefore ask the members of the Scottish Parliament to oppose cuts to school library services and individual school librarian posts

As a professional community, let us get behind this lobby and give it our support. There is a Facebook page about the lobby and follow the SLA hashtag #shoutabout. Let’s remember what Dorothy's research found: librarians who are qualified, experienced, proactive and confident in managerial, collaborative and instructional aspects enable student learning opportunities.