Based on a series of focus groups involving
88 young people, which involved speaking directly to young
people about their understanding of, and attitudes towards,
censorship to find out how they felt it affected them, this
research suggested the following:
-
To help both teenagers and their parents,
books for teenagers should include guidance on the cover
about the incidence of sex, violence, drugs, swearing
etc
-
Teenagers themselves should be involved
in reviewing books and offering guidance on their suitability.
-
Librarians and booksellers should ensure
they offer teenagers guidance, not unexplained restrictions.
-
Libraries for teenagers need to ensure
that their stock contains a range of titles suitable
for various combinations of emotional maturity and reading
age.
-
More opportunities to read books dealing
with controversial issues within the curriculum should
be explored.
-
Efforts need to be made to involve
parents in their teenager's reading, making them more
aware of the content of books and better able to offer
informed advice to their child.
-
Internet filtering in schools needs
to be re-examined. It is currently extremely unhelpful
and unsophisticated.
-
Rather than focusing on restricting
access, it is imperative that teenagers are taught how
to make informed choices about the information they
gather from the Internetand the books they chose to
read.
McNichol, S. (2006). Teenagers, reading and
censorship: Teenagers' views on censorship in libraries.
Birmingham: UCE.
Download the full report from: www.ebase.uce.ac.uk/docs/censorship-teenage-focus-groups-report.pdf
This study aims to enable the library sector
to demonstrate its impact on areas covered by the shared
priorities of central and local government. Seven library
authorities contributed to the 2004 Libraries Impact Project,
with the aim of establishing methodologies that can be taken
up nationwide. The policy areas considered by the study
are children, education (including adult education), health
and older people. The methodologies are linked to wider
frameworks such as Inspiring Learning for All and the five
key outcomes of Every Child Matters.
The study found evidence of a clear and measurable
contribution made by libraries to policy priorities at local
and national level. The authors argue that this evidence
forms part of the case for the continued involvement of
libraries in these policy areas.
The report contains examples of surveys that
can be undertaken with library users and ways that the data
can be used to deliver more effective services, and makes
a number of recommendations. These include:
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (2005). Laser Foundation:
Libraries Impact Project. London: PricewaterhouseCoopers
LLP.
Download the full report (pdf) from www.bl.uk/about/cooperation/pdf/laserfinal6.pdf
This report summarises the results of The
Reading Agency's part of the Developing Reading Communities
programme, which ran in 2002-2003. This was part of a bigger
programme funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and run in
partnership with ContinYou. The Reading Agency's strand
of the work was called Building to Last and explored the
potential of closer partnerships between schools and public
libraries to encourage children to read for pleasure, and
more widely. It consisted of a mapping exercise, a literature
search and case studies in three areas of the country: Solihull,
North Yorkshire and Slough. The main aim of the case study
projects was to increase children's motivation and opportunity
to read by building in the support and involvement of public
libraries to work being done in school, especially through
reading clubs. Building to last involved reading clubs in
two schools run in partnership with the local public library
(Solihull), a summer reading club for children (North Yorkshire)
and a series of activities for young people around graphic
novels (Slough). The projects were evaluated through surveys,
questionnaires, observation, interviews and the collection
of a variety of anecdotal evidence.
Mapping showed a rapid increase in the number
of reading clubs in secondary schools in the past two years.
The majority were run in the school library resource centre,
usually by the LRC manager, often in conjunction with the
English Department, and were targeted at Y7 students. Evidence
showed these groups were having a positive impact on student's
attitudes to reading and on attainment within school. There
was also evidence of a developing range of public library
service reader development work for children and young people.
This work too was a having valuable effect, providing community
support for children's reading, enabling access to a vast
store of books at times when schools are closed, and stimulating
children to read outside the confines of the school curriculum.
The surveys confirmed that Schools Library Services (SLS)
provide an extensive and effective network of support for
work with readers in schools, although due to variations
in different areas, this support is not available to all
schools. Some barriers to joint working were identified,
including funding restrictions, the short term nature of
project funding, and the perceived restrictions of the secondary
curriculum. A sound policy rationale emerged for improving
links between libraries and schools, with an opportunity
for everyone involved (including schools, public libraries,
schools library services, and LEA advisory staff) to work
more closely together to support children's reading within
their communities.
Some of the main findings of this research
are:
-
Partnerships between schools, public
libraries and SLSs are valuable in supporting reader
development work with young people.
-
The case studies also showed that reader
development work is more likely to be successful where
young people are involved in the planning of the activities
and selection of stock.
-
The main threats and barriers to reader
development partnership projects are: lack of understanding
of the common ground between the partners, time and
resources, competition with other activities, the challenge
of complex and large partnerships, the danger of associating
reading with school work, the challenge schools' complex
catchment areas.
-
The case studies showed that School
Library Services were key partners and facilitators,
and were especially useful for ensuring effective communications
with schools, providing advice and support for schools,
-
providing services for schools, including
lending or selling books.
-
However, the effectiveness of SLSs is
constrained by lack of core funding, lack of innovation
funding to experiment with new services and variable
provision nationally.
ContinYou (2004). Developing reading communities:
Linking secondary school reading clubs with public libraries
through effective partnerships. London: ContinYou.
Download the full report (pdf) from: www.continyou.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_97.pdf
Interest in reading declines beyond Key Stage
2. This means that there are clearly difficulties for both
public and school librarians who wish to promote reading
amongst eleven to sixteen year olds. Public and school libraries
each have their own strengths. For example, public libraries
are able to offer a wider variety of resources and a broader
range of experiences, while an advantage of school libraries
is that they are able to work with the same group of children
and build on previous work.
Although finding time to work together can
be a problem, it is likely that if they are able to work
collaboratively, both school and public librarians will
save time and effort in the long term. In addition to making
the best use of expertise and staff, joint activities allow
libraries to share costs and material resources, for example
by making use of local or national publicity and promotional
materials or joint funding of an author visit.
At present, much depends on the enthusiasm
of individuals. While work on a local scale is clearly important,
there is also value in more formal, organised approaches.
There is likely to be a role for SLSs in co-ordinating local
activity and for national bodies such as the CILIP and the
Reading Agency in national initiatives. The most important
issue, however, is the need for school and public librarians
to develop a greater understanding of each other's roles
and strengths. Activities such as joint training and meeting
may go some way towards achieving this. Through working
together, public and school librarians will be able to draw
on expertise and resources and promote reading in a way
which engages greater numbers of 11 to 16 year olds.
McNichol, S. & Buckingham, R. (2003).
Reader development and reading promotion in school libraries
and public libraries. Birmingham: UCE.
Download the full report from: www.ebase.uce.ac.uk/docs/Reader_development_report.doc
This literature review examines research that
links educational attainment and school library use at the
primary level and complements a review that examines the
links between educational achievement and school library
provision at the secondary level (which was completed at
the end of 2001). The aim of this review was to examine
the evidence from research conducted in the UK and abroad
linking learning in its widest sense, encompassing processes
and attitudes, with library provision, including the type
of resources, nature of access and staffing. The evidence
was then analysed in relations to: its applicability to
primary school libraries and Schools Library Services in
England; methodologies that could be used to assess the
impact of library provision on learning; and any gaps in
the research.
A body of research was identified that supported
the view that primary school libraries can have a positive
impact on academic achievement particularly when accompanied
by appropriate action to ensure the service delivery is
efficient and effective. However, much of this evidence
was from countries where school librarians have a teaching
qualification and more research is needed to determine the
extent to which the evidence is transferable to England.
There is limited research demonstrating the view that school
libraries have the potential to impact on the broader aspects
of learning, including vulnerable or special needs students.
Where there is evidence of impact on learning,
there are associated key factors of collection levels, library
staffing levels and collaboration between the librarian
and teacher. Training of teachers and librarians is demonstrated
to raise mutual understanding of each other's contribution
and roles within the school library setting. Training should
include information skills development, collection mapping,
planning and evaluation.
There is no clear evidence to indicate the
contribution made to learning by the various models of school
library provision, although flexible scheduling appears
to be an important factor in encouraging student use and
to be effective this requires a full-time qualified librarian
managing the resources. The presence of a librarian and
the quality and frequency of their instructional input has
an impact on learning but the relationship between this
and qualifications and personal attributes and experience
is less clear. School librarians who take a professional
and proactive approach to their role within the school can
cite evidence of their impact on teaching and learning;
and are more able to reflect, self-evaluate and develop
the service further.
Finally, this review makes several recommendations,
including:
- Research should be conducted to establish the extent
of the existence of different models of library provision
in primary schools
- Research should be conducted into the impact of the
different models of library provision on student learning
- Research related to the National Literacy Strategy
should be reviewed in relation to the use and management
of library collections, selection of resources by teachers,
and how such issues impact on learning
- Consideration needs to be given to ensure pre-service
training and professional development training of both
teachers and librarians addresses the need for greater
understanding of their professional contributions to
learning in school libraries
- Consideration should be given to identifying and piloting
processes and outcome standards appropriate for use
in primary school library provision.
Williams, D., Coles, L. & Wavell, C. (2002).
Impact of school library services on achievement and learning
in primary schools. London: Resource: The Council for Museums,
Archives & Libraries.
This critical literature review examines research
linking educational attainment and school library use at
secondary level. The study was funded by Resource: The Council
for Museums, Archives and Libraries to inform the work of
the DfES Task Group set up to implement actions contained
in the Government's response to "Empowering the Learning
Community". The work was conducted during the last three
months of 2001.
The aims of the literature review were to
examine evidence from research conducted in the UK and abroad
linking learning, in its widest sense encompassing processes
and attitudes, and library provision, including the type
of resources, nature of access and staffing of provision.
The evidence was then analysed in relation to its applicability
to school libraries and Schools Library Services in England;
methodologies that could be used to assess impact of library
provision on learning; and any gaps in the research.
There was a body of research supporting the
view that school libraries can have a positive impact on
academic achievement, particularly at the primary and early
secondary level and with appropriate action to ensure the
service delivery is efficient and effective. However, much
of this evidence was from countries where school librarians
also have teaching training and more research would be needed
to determine the extent to which the evidence is transferable.
There is limited but significant research demonstrating
the view that school libraries have the potential to impact
on the broader aspects of learning, including vulnerable
or special needs students. Where there is evidence of impact
on learning, there are associated key factors of collection
levels, library staffing levels and collaboration between
the librarian and teacher. Training of teachers and librarians
is demonstrated to raise mutual understanding of each other's
contribution and roles within the school library setting
and training should include information skills development,
collection mapping, planning and evaluation. There is no
clear evidence to indicate the contribution made to learning
by the various models of school library provision, although
flexible scheduling appears to be an important factor in
encouraging student use. The presence of a librarian and
the quality and frequency of their instructional input has
an impact on learning but the relationship between this
and qualifications and personal attributes and experience
is less clear. However, school librarians who take a professional
and proactive approach to their role within the school can
cite evidence of their impact on teaching and learning;
and are more able to reflect, self-evaluate and develop
further.
The report recommends that:
-
Consideration is given to the pre-service
and professional development training of both teachers
and librarians in order to develop greater understanding
of the respective professional contributions to learning
in school libraries and to encourage reflection and
increase the ability to provide evidence.
-
Funds are made available to sustain
the quality of collections.
-
Consideration should be give to whether
the emphasis in developing the links between the school
library and learning are more appropriately begun with
the primary sector.
-
A longitudinal approach, in association
with appropriate interventions, is taken to examine
the impact of school libraries on learning.
Williams, D., Wavell, C. & Coles, L. (2001).
Impact of school library services on achievement and learning.
London: MLA
Download this report from: www.mla.gov.uk
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