Workshop Discussion
Moderator
It is very important for us to get your feedback as we spend our time sitting in an office in London. I also used to be a teacher. You can say whatever you like as names will not be attributed. It is important that you are able to tell us the truth.
As Jonathan said, we will work through three main areas. The first one is about school ideas and the question is in terms of which ones they link with most strongly. They will do something for all of them, but we need to choose the two strongest links.
Let us have an open chat about this. We could take each one in turn, unless anyone has a clear feeling about which might be the top two.
[General agreement with ‘enjoy’, ‘achieve economic wellbeing’ and ‘make a positive contribution.’]
Participant 1
They all feed into each other. They are all interlinked.
Participant 2
I would say that ‘enjoy’ feeds into ‘achieve economic wellbeing.’ ‘Enjoy’ and ‘achieve’ are perhaps the key words with ‘reading for pleasure.’ I am not a librarian; I am an English teacher. I spend my life tearing pieces of text apart and torturing pupils. They can then go to the library to ‘read for pleasure.’
Moderator
We are predicting that that will come up high. It is the place in the school where there does not necessarily have to be a strict objective. When you go into that space, you can set your own objectives. Obviously there are structured activities at the school library, but it is still free. We will put that as our main one then: enjoy and achieve.
What about the rest? School libraries do contribute to all of them.
Participant 3
Mental health is very important.
Participant 2
I think they all come under the umbrella of ‘enjoy economic wellbeing.’ If you have economic wellbeing then you are mentally healthy, you make a positive contribution to society, and you can stay safe, enable your children to be safe, and so on. They all feed into it. These two are the most important.
Moderator
In terms of the role of the school library as a unit of the school, which of these does that best deliver?
Participant 1
The library itself will make a positive contribution towards the enjoyment and achievement, leading to hopefully them achieving economic wellbeing, and being healthy.
Participant 3
The interaction and relationship with a librarian who is not a teacher is very important. Children come through the doors of a school library with different expectations. They know that most school librarians do not have a picture of that child in their minds, as far as their academic achievement.
Moderator
So if a child has a reputation…
Participant 3
The reputation is left outside the door of the library.
Participant 4
At our school, many of our less‑confident children go to the library as a place of refuge. From that grows the enjoyment. This feeds into doing the homework and research.
Participant 3
The ‘stay safe’ aspect of libraries is not only akin to school libraries. I think anyone who is a librarian who worked outside of the school will agree that all public libraries have always been a place of refuge for people who feel somewhat adrift from society. I think they all feed in.
Participant 5
All of those things to me say ‘information, advice and guidance.’ It is about being informed, advised and guided about what is on the shelves. This feeds into everything. How the books are arranged is separate. In my Library Resource Centre (LRC), I am trying to create a separate space for information, advice and guidance. There is the duplication of some things. For example, if children are being bullied, there is a whole section on bullying. Likewise, there is a whole section on housing because we have a sixth form. We have a section on health. One of my targets this year has been to build this information, advice and guidance section.
Moderator
This is slightly different to what we were talking about at the beginning, as far as the ‘enjoy and achieve,’ and the ‘reading for pleasure.’ This is a different element, which is more supportive and practical.
Participant 5
It includes outside activities though, in terms of enjoying and achieving things in life. If you have information about what is going on in your community, about bus services, and so on, this enables enjoying and achieving in the wider world.
Participant 1
There is also the question about whether the library is making a positive contribution towards enabling.
Moderator
It seems we are saying that ‘achieve economic wellbeing’ is the strongest one because it hits on so many things. It delivers the biggest outcomes. I will take the others away for now. Focusing on those two, what does the school library need? We have talked about libraries having many different resources, but what does a school library, an LRC, actually need to do those two things? Can we summarise these needs?
Participant 1
It needs a librarian.
Participant 3
It needs the right librarian, not just a librarian. An enthusiastic librarian.
Participant 2
A librarian is not seen as an active person.
Participant 6
I think you have to create fiction, great storytelling, great stories, and you have to have the ability to engage children with the books.
Participant 2
It needs a physical space that is fit for purpose.
Participant 3
You can have all of those things, but a school library has to be recognised in the school. Where I come from, one of the librarians is not allowed in the staff room. She is not recognised as a member of staff. The school has to be behind the library and the librarians. You can have the most fantastic library and librarians, but it is important you have the support of the school. It seems obvious, but it is not the case in many schools.
Participant 4
That is an interesting point. In the new academies, often the library is in the heart of the building. It is the hub where everything comes together. Without a library and without reading resources, children cannot learn. It is also giving children the resources to enable themselves to learn. It is about the enjoyment of fiction and storytelling. It is about a librarian being involved in the student voice. Often librarians forget this part. The children are the ones who know what they want to read amongst their age group. Having student librarians is very helpful.
Participant 6
I think librarians need to be quite pushy. I know that they are not traditionally expected to be pushy, but the librarians need to take on some responsibility to reach students. I understand that this is difficult when the support is not there from senior management. You have to push and promote your own services, and show the school what is available.
Participant 2
You have just used a keyword. I am an Assistant Principal. I champion the LRC and I line manage it. I helped to build the library. Librarians need to have a champion on the senior management team so that they do not feel they have to work in isolation. They must feel that they have the support there.
Participant 6
It can be quite isolating. The point was raised about librarians not going into the staffroom. I do not often go into the staffroom because it is during the breaks – when the staffroom is in use – that the library is busy. It is when the teachers are on their breaks, but it is when we are busy. I have tried to make sure that I am seen around school. I have had to take this upon myself though. You cannot hide away.
Participant 3
This goes back to the point of having student librarians. This gives them skills that are relevant to the outside world. You can delegate them tasks and have time to go to the staffroom. This can work in a positive way.
Participant 5
How can we achieve a change in negative attitudes from management towards librarians and libraries?
Participant 2
We started from the bottom with no skills at all. I was brought on to take charge of literacy. It is about raising the stakes. Without a library, the school does not go anywhere. It feeds into every single area.
Participant 1
This goes back to the point that it should be absolutely statutory. It is seen as an add‑on.
Moderator
It seems that there needs to be a change in perception from two angles. It is the change in perception of the school, the governors, and so on. That has to change in terms of how they are looking at the library as part of their school community. There is also work to be done on the other side with the school librarians. You are saying they need to be pushier.
Participant 3
It is also about accountability. All senior managers are accountable in terms of their leadership agenda. They are accountable for the progress of the students. Without the library, we do not have progress.
Participant 4
Our school was under ‘special measures’ until 2008. Ofsted have visited many times. They never entered the library once. There are 100 teachers in our new school. The library is at the other end of the building, close to where the children are not allowed to go. The children are not allowed in the library during breaks and dinnertime. They have to say ‘I have homework to do’ in order to be allowed entry. They are not allowed into the library unless they are dressed correctly. You are not allowed to eat or drink, and so on. It is not a good place to be.
Participant 3
‘Extended schools’ and accountability are important parts of the Government’s agenda. You are part of the extended schools’ provision. If the school is not providing access for children to be able to do homework, preparation and research, the school is not meeting the accountability in terms of extended schools.
Moderator
It is about educating the schools then.
Participant 4
I am doing what I am told to do by up above. I want to do ‘enjoy’ because then you will get an outcome. They are lovely children. You do not need to tell them what to do.
Moderator
They are not the ones that need it.
Participant 4
It is important that they have somewhere they can go to be safe, but it is also important for the other reason. Ofsted came in a fortnight ago. We have ‘Where’s Wally?’ books, ‘Guinness Book of Records’ and all the social books where children can sit and chat in groups. I was on my own one dinnertime. The noise levels were slightly high, but the children were reading the books. I was told to throw the children out of the library because they were making too much noise and because Ofsted were visiting.
Participant 3
Ofsted just visited our LRC. I was on a course in Manchester and I was called back. It was a two‑day visit by Ofsted. They looked at the data from the library. They will return in August.
[Cross talk]
Participant 7
I am an English teacher. The head of the school was showing the Ofsted inspector around the school. I was teaching a lesson in the library. They did come in and have a look for 10 minutes. They assessed it as an English lesson. They asked me about my objectives.
Participant 6
As far as I understand from the report, there is one sentence to say that the school has a library. That probably comes down to the fact that it is not compulsory. Ofsted therefore do not need to measure the school libraries.
Moderator
This goes back to what we need to achieve those things. It is not only about the status of the school library within the school. We are talking about governmental changes as well.
Participant 3
The link between ‘enjoy’ and the ‘economic wellbeing and social mobility’ needs to be hammered home. If people think that libraries are there for children to enjoy reading, it is almost like an extra. If we say that ‘enjoying reading’ is the single biggest determinant in achieving economic wellbeing and moving socially from deprivation, then suddenly it is not about enjoying a book at lunchtime; it is about changing lives.
Participant 1
As soon as Ofsted start looking at libraries, that is when senior management will take notice.
Participant 3
On the surface, our senior managers are supportive, but our library is the size of a shoebox while our gym is the size of an aircraft hangar. The office of the Director of Sports is larger than the library. At the same time, the senior team reassure us that they are very supportive.
Participant 4
I think that the housekeeping side of the LRC is very important. My school serves three very poor council estates. Some of the children live in very deprived homes and very uncomfortable homes. I make sure that my LRC is very comfortable. It is very bright, clean, welcoming and comfortable. I think that is partly why it has been a success. It is a very comfortable place to be in. It is cosy. I go to a lot of trouble to clean the place. It is a nice place to be. Some of the children cannot be comfortable in their own homes. The LRC is a home for them.
Participant 1
That has reminded me of something that Simon did in our library. It was a read-a-thon where members of staff read for 15 minutes to the Year Seven students. We were sat on rocking chairs, reading Roald Dahl for the whole day, from nine o’clock until four o’clock. The school is in an area of deprivation as well. We thought the children would be restless. They sat there open‑mouthed and thoroughly enjoyed being read to. It was in a comfortable area of the library. People were coming over to see what was going on.
This is a positive thing to do. Librarians need to do projects and have special occasions that children are invited to. It is then a treat for children to join in, rather than it being the case that the teacher has some marking to do so lets the children look at books. It needs to be very focused.
Participant 3
We have ‘enrichment class’ as well, which is run by the librarian. This is focused on the enjoyment of reading.
Participant 8
Embracing multi‑modal technology is also helpful for libraries. With my library system, I market books and have reviews of the books on the system. The interactivity of students being able to look on maps to find books, and to watch interviews of authors talking about the books, and to be able to do interactive quizzes, is well‑received by the students.
Moderator
That matches their lives away from school. It is what they are doing at home. If you want them to engage with the library, for many it needs to be interactive.
Participant 9
Our library is the size of a gymnasium. It is included in the timetable for three‑quarters of the week for the Accelerated Reader. It is used as a teaching unit. It is seen as an integral part of the reading programme that we run. There is a lot that we still need to do with it, but it is very active. There is always something new going on.
Moderator
We only have a few minutes left, so I will move to the last area of discussion. Jonathan touched on these points. We have chosen four quality developments that the Trust is focused on:
- Facing the cuts.
- The importance of transition.
- Project‑based learning.
- The end of the strategy.
Thinking about those four things – and what we have just talked about in terms of what libraries need – can we distil the discussion into perhaps four main things? What would be your wish‑list for the libraries?
Participant 1
‘A return to project‑based learning’ needs a requirement of stock over and above what we already hold at the moment. This has an implication as far as funding. I would say ‘stock’ and ‘funding.’
Participant 3
It is called ‘transition‑based learning.’ I work closely with feeder primary schools in the area. We need to stop thinking in isolation. We need to think in terms of sharing with primary schools. Stock should be seen as a movable feast almost. Children are also a movable feast. You might specialise in one type of stock and another primary school might specialise in a different type of stock. The children should be encouraged to move between.
Moderator
There should be more of a cluster approach.
Participant 3
Yes. We are in a huge area of economic deprivation in Hackney. That is why we consider ourselves a very important part of the cluster in the primary schools. We have eight major schools that feed into our school. I represent them in terms of the primary school clusters and the heads. This is interesting because if you are inventive there are ways to cover the area of funding. That is not to say that we should not ask for funding from the local authority. They need to buy into this kind of change as well. We need to think about the protocols and policies that we should take to the local authorities in order to show them how we want to approach things.
Moderator
In terms of stock, it is not simply ‘more stock,’ but we should look at it more innovatively, such as with a cluster approach, sharing resources, and s on. It is more creative than simply ‘give us more.’
Participant 3
Jonathan talked earlier about multi‑modal technology and how children are immersed in this technology whereas adults are continually trying to catch up. The e-books can contain an enormous amount of information. We should think inventively in terms of the e-books.
Moderator
This is about changing the type of stuff in the library to match what is going on outside of it.
Participant 6
With the non‑fiction stock, it is great to have book stock, but students now want to find their information on the internet. This is another role that the librarian now has to take on in schools: teaching children how to access web‑based information.
Participant 7
A library catalogue can help to do that. With Year Seven students, we are studying scientists. They did use the books, but they also used the internet to link to the catalogue.
Participant 6
We are linked through websites as well. It is about teaching them how to use them to look for information.
Participant 1
You have made an important point there about the accessing of information. It is not purely about the accessing of information though. We talk to universities. Any child can access information. It is about taking that information and being able to footnote it with bibliographies correctly. It is also about plagiarism. This is why there will no longer be coursework; it will be done under timed assignments. It is therefore also about those skills. That will become a function of the librarian: to teach them, empower them and enable them to have those skills before they go to university.
Participant 6
It slips through in schools. Some subject teachers do, but some do not.
Moderator
In terms of what we need, is this about having a clearer role for the library?
Participant 6
Possibly. As it is not compulsory, they might not have a specified role. In some schools, they simply want someone to stand there to stamp books. In other schools, they will support the librarian who will also do teaching.
Participant 3
Going back to status, there is a qualification that librarians can do. The problem is in funding, finance, and how much schools are willing to pay librarians, based on their function. That is really important.
Participant 6
I have a Masters in Information Studies. This is a librarian qualification. I could get paid a lot more money in a university library than in a school library, but I chose to be in a school library. It is possible that schools will lose out on the best people.
Participant 3
Yes. Who will then have the skills to empower the children for their economic wellbeing?
Moderator
This goes back to the idea of a change in perception, in terms of what we need at the top level.
Participant 9
Only one member, out of a group of eight English teachers, uses the library. The rest of the teachers visit the library to use the communal photocopier. If you told them that you could get a qualification to be a librarian, they would not care. The whole perception is that it does not matter if you are qualified or not. You have to make them realise how useful the library can be.
Participant 1
It is about putting the library at the heart of everything, and making people understand.
Participant 3
They have sent you here though.
Participant 9
I went ‘cap in hand’ and begged to be able to go. It was the cluster that sent me and not the school. The school have still not sent me the form giving me permission, so I might not have a job to go back to! I am not qualified. I am a qualified photographer. I only help out in the library three hours per week, but I feel very passionate about it. Most of the teachers do not have a clue who I am. They do not care. As a parent and as a friend of the school, I run the Accelerated Reader. If they cannot read, they cannot do art exams, for example. It is about the perception of how useful this can be. Surely anyone who is in school to help teachers should be valued.
Moderator
Our top thing that is needed is therefore the change in perception of what the school library is there for. It is not just a nice thing.
Participant 1
It is the biggest thing that is going to change the lives of pupils who need their lives changing.
Moderator
We do not call our librarian a librarian. It is a Learning Resource Centre Manager. This gives it more gravitas.
Participant 7
We keep thinking about changing our names, but after 25 years, I am not sure what I would call myself.
Participant 3
I always remember when I was not working and was at home looking after the children. When asked what I did, I would not say ‘mother’ because eyes would roll. I used to say I was in Household Management. It is about how you change the perception.
Moderator
It helps with the perception issue as well, especially if there is a negative perception.
Participant 2
It is also important in terms of how the children see the librarian. They sometimes ask if I needed to go to university to be a teacher. They do not even realise that professional status. They then see someone working in the library and consider them as ‘support staff.’ The respect they have for that place needs attention as well. It is not only how the staff see the librarian, but how the children see the librarian as well.
Moderator
That is driven by the school. If they are placing the library more centrally, the children will see that as having importance.
Participant 10
At the moment we are seen as glorified dinner ladies.
Participant 1
I wonder if we should promote the wearing of contact lenses as a change of image!
Moderator
Free contact lenses for librarians!
Participant 4
That is actually quite a good point. When the man from the Literacy Trust was talking about this, I felt quite guilty. Every day I wear a uniform: a black suit and a purple shirt. Our school colours are purple. I ought to wear brighter clothes.
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