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Closure of respected Schools Library Service blow to literacy and learning
13 Dec 2011
Hertfordshire Schools Library Service, one of England’s largest and most respected Schools Library Services, is set to close in the New Year. A recent Hertfordshire County Council report recommended the service should close following declining buy-in from schools and uncertainty about the amount of funding the service would receive from central education budgets.
Schools Library Services provide professional support to schools to help manage their libraries. They provide books and resources to support teaching and help encourage reading for pleasure and develop a reading culture in schools.
Annie Mauger, CILIP Chief Executive, responded to the news:
We are very shocked and saddened. This is a bitter blow to the hundreds of schools and thousands of children who benefit from the support of this service. The proposal to closure the service reflects the difficult decisions that both schools and local authorities have to make. The decline in numbers of schools buying into the service because of reductions in funding and the cuts to local authority library budgets means the service cannot subsidise losses. Vital support for literacy and learning will be lost.
The end result of this decision is pupils getting less support in a time where literacy levels and skills for life are more essential than ever. Hertfordshire County Council may feel that they have no choices as this is a traded service, but my concern is that this will create a domino effect across the country.
Jonathan Douglas, Director of the National Literacy Trust added:
Schools Library Services are a vital ingredient in effective school library provision for children across the country. Hertfordshire’s Schools Library Service has an iconic status as a centre of excellence in this field. If a service that is one of the biggest and best in the country is set to close, this threatens every Schools Library Service in the country.
The Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals and the National Literacy Trust ask that government responds to the Estelle Morris Report from the School Library Commission and that an investigation into sustainable models for future provision of Schools Library Services needs should be taken forward.
CILIP believes it is time to Shout About School Libraries and Schools Library Services, before we lose them.
Press contacts:
Mark Taylor
Director of External Relations, CILIP
Tel: 020 7255 0654
Mobile: 07792 635 305
Email: mark.taylor@cilip.org.uk
Jane Woodley
Media and Public Affairs Officer, National Literacy Trust
Tel: 020 7820 6256
Email: jane.woodley@literacytrust.org.uk
Notes to editors:
1. Hertfordshire Schools Library Service (SLS) provides professional support to schools in the county on a traded basis. In 2011/12 approximately two thirds of SLS income will come from direct buy in from schools. The current trend of buy in is declining, resulting in a fall in income and a predicted deficit for 2011/12 of £41,000 (1).
Approximately a third of SLS income comes from the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) centrally retained education budget. Proposed national changes to school funding has led to uncertainty regarding the amount of funding the SLS will receive from central education budgets in the future (2). The preferred option is to delegate as much of possible of the budget that remains with local authorities to schools, and if this option is implemented there will be no prospect of further DSG funding for the SLS after 31 March 2013.
On October 19th 2011 The Schools Forum was asked to consider whether it would increase funding from centrally-retained budgets to keep the SLS going (3). The Forum agreed to fund the service at the existing rate for 2012/13, but cannot provide additional funding to underwrite current or future deficits (4).
On December 7th 2011 a report written by Andrew Bignell, (Head of Libraries, Culture and Learning) and Michele Murphy, (Principal Librarian: Customers & Communities), was discussed at a meeting of the Hertfordshire Local and Libraries Cabinet Panel. The report stated that the combined effect of declining levels of buy-in and the unavailability of additional funds from the DSG would increase the SLS budget deficit further, making the service unviable. It recommended that the SLS should close on 31 March 2012 (5).
2. CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals is the leading professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers. CILIP’s vision is a fair and economically prosperous society underpinned by literacy, access to information and the transfer of knowledge. CILIP is a registered charity, no. 313014. Visit www.cilip.org.uk for more information.
3. The National Literacy Trust is an independent charity that transforms lives through literacy. We believe that society will only be fair when everyone has the literacy skills they need to communicate, to fulfil their potential and to contribute more to society. We campaign to improve public understanding of the vital importance of literacy, as well as delivering projects and working in partnership to reach those most in need of support.
To help us transform lives through literacy, you can make a donation. To find out how visit http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/About/donate.html
National Literacy Trust is a registered charity no. 1116260, and a company limited by guarantee, no. 5836486. Registered in England and Wales. Registered address: 68 South Lambeth Road, London SW8 1RL. Tel: 020 7587 1842.
4. The Estelle Morris report was the final report of the School Library Commission, a joint initiative between the National Literacy Trust and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA). Visit www.literacytrust.org.uk/policy/nlt_policy/school_library_commission for more information.
5. The Association of Senior Children’s and Education Librarians (ASCEL), the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) and the School Library Association (SLA) are campaigning to Shout About School Libraries and Schools Library Services. The campaign aims are:
- To include the provision of secondary school libraries in England in Ofsted inspections
- To expand the coverage of the Schools Library Service providing, as far as possible, availability and access to every school in the UK and so, increasing the number of pupils who will benefit from it
1. Future Funding of the Schools Library Service. Report of the Director of Health and Community Services. Author Michele Murphy (Principal Librarian: Customers & Communities). 19 October 2011
2. Consultation on school funding reform: proposals for a fairer system. Department for Education. July 2011 (consultation closed October 11th)
3. Future Funding of the Schools Library Service. Report of the Director of Health and Community Services. Author Michele Murphy (Principal Librarian: Customers & Communities). 19 October 2011
4. Future of the Schools Library Service. Report of the Director of Health and Community Services. Authors Andrew Bignell, (Head of Libraries, Culture and Learning) and Michele Murphy, (Principal Librarian: Customers & Communities), 7 December 2011
