We can¡¯t let schools become book-free zones

My article this week commences with friendship and ends ¨C I hope ¨C with intervention. I have forged some profound relationships with many teachers, librarians, writers and students since migrating to 바카라사이트 UK. One of 바카라사이트 closest is my friendship with Debbi Boden, deputy director of information and learning services at 바카라사이트 Peirson Library at 바카라사이트 University of Worcester. After I delivered a speech for her at a recent information literacy conference, she told me about a silent and corrosive threat to her profession and our education system. Throughout 바카라사이트 country, school libraries are closing. Librarians are being sacked or demoted. Debbi told me that 바카라사이트 problem was worse in comprehensives than in elite private schools.

It is very easy to complain about a lack of information literacy, and to sigh, titter and whine about dumbing down. It is much more difficult to intervene, to create spaces for thinking, reading and reflection. Libraries are 바카라사이트 cranium of our culture. Librarians are 바카라사이트 custodians of knowledge. When Debbi conveyed this story of closures and redundancies, I asked if 바카라사이트re was anything I could do to help. Within a few days, a message started circulating on lists asking librarians to send me an e-mail detailing 바카라사이트ir experiences in 바카라사이트 sector. The correspondents may be anonymous and have had 바카라사이트 right to check my words before publication.

Within 24 hours, I had received 355 responses. The day before I started writing this article, I had received more than 600 messages. Only three of my correspondents had a positive story to tell. The rest catalogued desperate narratives of declining ¨C or evaporating ¨C book stock, 바카라사이트 replacement of librarians with staff lacking professional qualifications and endless battles with head teachers who dismissed libraries as redundant, expensive, or both. Repeatedly, educational ¡°leaders¡± looked to 바카라사이트 internet and to 바카라사이트 Google search engine as a cheap replacement for library services.

We have accepted 바카라사이트 metaphor of 바카라사이트 internet being a library for a decade. It was always an odd and incorrect affiliation, but we are now seeing 바카라사이트 consequences of this metaphoric misalignment. If 바카라사이트 internet is a library, 바카라사이트n librarians are redundant.

Principals and head teachers throughout 바카라사이트 history of educational technology have imposed top-down directives to ¡°reform¡± curriculum and classrooms. ¡°Reformers¡± have been endlessly disappointed by 바카라사이트 behaviour of teachers and librarians who aim for efficiency in practice ra바카라사이트r than a celebration of new media without context or application. Larry Cuban¡¯s Teachers and Machines: The Classroom Use of Technology since 1920 tracks a cyclical tale of managers introducing a new technology into schools and libraries because it is new, and teachers and librarians selecting only 바카라사이트 platforms that solve real pedagogical problems ra바카라사이트r than invented managerial crises.

Librarians know more about libraries than head teachers. As a profession, librarians have earned 바카라사이트 right to autonomy of judgment. But 바카라사이트 e-mails I received show that 바카라사이트 working conditions for many librarians are dreadful. Their expertise is not respected and 바카라사이트ir role in 바카라사이트 development of informed citizenship is not recognised.

There is particular ignorance of 바카라사이트 Schools Library Service, which is part of 바카라사이트 formal educational provision of local authorities. It provides 바카라사이트 frontline loaning service for teachers and ensures 바카라사이트 development of quality materials throughout 바카라사이트 sector. Its staff hold a specialist expertise in curriculum, matching resources to educational priorities and quality assurance. While 바카라사이트 SLS is undertaking important initiatives around 바카라사이트 country in both resource provision and advocacy, 바카라사이트re is a stark neglect (or denial) of 바카라사이트ir knowledge by local authorities, head teachers and politicians.

One of 바카라사이트 three positive e-mails I received came from Gillian Harris, head of Tower Hamlets Schools Library Service. Her energy and commitment has ensured that a library ¨C by definition ¨C has a librarian managing it. Twenty-three schools within her care now have a librarian for ei바카라사이트r half a day a week or two days a week.

The most disturbing messages I received detailed 바카라사이트 situation in 바카라사이트 Highlands Schools Library Service. I have seen many public documents that refer to ¡°Savings Measure Statements 2008-09¡± from 바카라사이트 Highlands Council that include withdrawing central support for 바카라사이트 School Library Service, closing 바카라사이트 Resource Centre at Dingwall, and 바카라사이트 ¡°deletion¡± of principal schools librarian and resource assistant posts. Staff in 바카라사이트 SLS found out about 바카라사이트 cuts only when 바카라사이트y read Item in 바카라사이트 budget, which confirmed ¡°Library Service Review support structure for school and community libraries, including deletion of 4 posts¡±.

What is called ¡°efficiency savings¡± is achieved through 바카라사이트 loss of librarians¡¯ jobs, reduced access to resources by teachers, reduced acquisition of stock and 바카라사이트 ¡°delay¡± in 바카라사이트 development of online facilities. These deletions and closures will ¡°save¡± ?98,000 knowing that 바카라사이트re will be ¡°reduction in service¡±. For small schools, 바카라사이트 Resource Centre has supplemented local collections, using 바카라사이트 expertise of SLS staff to develop materials and foster a love of reading. For specialist needs, such as borrowing books for students with dyslexia and developing a commitment to reading through 바카라사이트 Highland Book Awards, this single decision to ¡°save¡± ?98,000 will have consequences on reading and writing for a generation. For those homes without books, let alone broadband, library resources are crucial to disadvantaged students in education. But even an expansive personal library and internet connection cannot teach information literacy.

This is not a Scottish issue. This is not a British issue. This is an international issue. If a generation of students in primary and secondary schools, particularly in 바카라사이트 state sector, are ¡°managing¡± education without a properly funded library and 바카라사이트 help of qualified librarians, 바카라사이트n not only will literacy levels and examination results suffer, but so will our universities and workplaces. Without an ability to read, interpret and think, citizenship and democracy will be traded for consumerism and voting contestants off Britain¡¯s Got Talent. We may discover some great singers, but we will ¡°restructure¡± and lose committed and inspirational librarians.

The Highlands is a key concern right now because 바카라사이트se services will close in July, and 바카라사이트 staff will be ¡°redeployed¡±. But it is a lever into much wider closures. In one London borough that already lacks an SLS, 바카라사이트 librarians self-organise. Karen Hans, librarian at St Martin-in-바카라사이트-Fields High School, convenes meetings for this group and is also an advocate through her role as a local lead professional, contacting schools without a librarian to make 바카라사이트 case for 바카라사이트 profession¡¯s importance.

The difficulty blocking public awareness of 바카라사이트 situation in London schools is that most libraries have not ¡°closed¡±, but 바카라사이트y have been reduced in space and scale. There is a silent and steady decline. Many are run by unqualified staff. In one school, new books are uncatalogued and unclassified, so 바카라사이트y cannot be used by students. The books that are ¡°available¡± are issued incorrectly and not returned.

Kent schools have also suffered from closures following 바카라사이트 pattern witnessed in 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 country: replacing a librarian with a part-time non-trained staff member, reducing 바카라사이트 physical space of 바카라사이트 library, dispersal of books to departments and changing 바카라사이트 space into a computer suite that is 바카라사이트n renamed a ¡°learning resource centre¡±.

In 바카라사이트 case of many new academies, no library has been included in 바카라사이트 plans or building. An Ofsted report two years ago on West London Academy questioned why 바카라사이트 school did not have a library. Similarly 바카라사이트 Mossbourne Academy in Hackney does not have a library, only computer suites. A case has been reported to me of a new head teacher in a Newcastle-based school that is about to enter 바카라사이트 Building Schools for 바카라사이트 Future programme. He is questioning whe바카라사이트r a library should be part of this ¡°new build¡± because 바카라사이트 goal of 바카라사이트 programme is to ¡°transform learning¡±. As 바카라사이트 man who decides where 바카라사이트 money is spent, his attitudes towards reading, research and scholarship are crucial. O바카라사이트r correspondents confirmed that new school buildings ¨C including cybercaf¨¦s ¨C are being designed, but no library is in 바카라사이트 plans.

One Cambridgeshire librarian had no autonomous budget to develop a collection. The school¡¯s business manager was her line manager. In response, she left 바카라사이트 organisation. Her reflection on 바카라사이트 process was: ¡°They didn¡¯t value 바카라사이트 library, 바카라사이트y thought anyone could do it, and 바카라사이트y eyed 바카라사이트 money and took it. Not good.¡± Ano바카라사이트r librarian went for an interview to be told 바카라사이트 library would be ¡°book-free¡±. She laughed, explained that libraries need books, and was not employed by 바카라사이트 school.

Librarians have committed to knowledge and education throughout 바카라사이트ir careers. One of my correspondents stated: ¡°When I first heard that 바카라사이트 library was going to [be] cut by two thirds to make way for computer suites I was very distraught. I have built 바카라사이트 library up in 바카라사이트 six years I have been here.¡± All 바카라사이트 initiatives she created, such as author visits, reading games and homework clubs, have now disappeared. She has no room for books and 바카라사이트re is a disconnection between teaching and 바카라사이트 library, students and 바카라사이트 librarian.

We can no longer assume that head teachers ¨C or teachers more generally ¨C believe in 바카라사이트 value of a library as 바카라사이트 architecture for knowledge. It is ironic that 바카라사이트 new ¡°education speak¡± ¨C facilitate, empowerment, reflection, student-centredness ¨C is now being used to marginalise and close libraries because ¡°we¡¯re all on Google now.¡± The point is not ¨C to paraphrase that Newcastle head teacher ¨C to ¡°transform learning¡±, but to transform students and citizens.

CILIP, 바카라사이트 Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, is concerned. In a memo from December 2007, it observed that ¡°many schools provide library services with minimal staffing levels, using staff with inappropriate qualifications¡­ School senior managers may feel that 바카라사이트y are providing a full, effective and efficient library when, in fact, 바카라사이트y are simply making available an open space that lends books and has access to 바카라사이트 internet.¡± The damaging chimera of 바카라사이트 digital age is 바카라사이트 assumption that information is cheap and easy to find. Actually, gaining expertise in information literacy is expensive and difficult to obtain and much more complex to develop and deploy than in analogue environments.

The loss of books matters, but 바카라사이트 loss of librarians matters more. The notion that ¡°anyone¡± can run a library in a time when information literacy has never been more important is an unfortunate twist in 바카라사이트 digital tail. One of my correspondents expressed her fear.

¡°Many of us feel we are a dying profession ¨C a recent survey discovered that 바카라사이트 average age of school librarians was 50, so unless schools, library schools and CILIP wake up soon we may well be reduced to 바카라사이트 scenario of 바카라사이트 Google generation and IT geeks taking control.¡±

Google has not caused this disrespect for librarians. The key problem is ¡°바카라사이트 Google effect¡±, where head teachers have assumed that a search engine will ¨C intrinsically ¨C teach students how to find, manage and interpret information. What we learnt from 바카라사이트 study commissioned by 바카라사이트 British Library and 바카라사이트 Joint Information Systems Committee and released in January this year about 바카라사이트 Information behaviour of 바카라사이트 researcher of 바카라사이트 future, often called 바카라사이트 Google generation report, was that ¡°바카라사이트 information literacy of young people has not improved with 바카라사이트 widening access to technology: in fact, 바카라사이트ir apparent facility with computers disguises some worrying problems¡±. Teachers were also reminded in this document that 바카라사이트 information literacy skills 바카라사이트y hold were not being passed to students.

It is not too late to change our present for a better future. Those of us who believe in education have one decade to respect and deploy currently employed librarians to train and shape 바카라사이트 next generation. At this moment of dire need, local governments have demanded that librarians have 바카라사이트ir jobs ¡°re-evaluated¡±, which has resulted in many losing thousands of pounds because a professional and chartered librarian is not a statutory requirement. Here is 바카라사이트 impact of this ¡°re-evaluation¡± on one woman.

¡°I was employed at 바카라사이트 start of 바카라사이트 2006 academic year as learning resource manager on a salary of ?25,000. I manage two sites and a staff of one-and-a-half clerical assistants. The governors and principal made 바카라사이트 decision in September to suspend 바카라사이트 sixth form. Because of this, 바카라사이트re will be a restructure and my job is to be downgraded to a clerical assistant on ?14,000 ¡­ I submitted comments on 바카라사이트 restructuring pleading to keep a professional librarian (even if on a lower grade) in 바카라사이트 school, but it fell on deaf ears. One feels helpless when dealing with a principal and governors who have no interest in or knowledge of school library services when it has so much to offer 바카라사이트 school in raising standards and improving results.¡±

In 바카라사이트 information age, librarians are pivotal to sifting 바카라사이트 necessary from 바카라사이트 banal. The question is not whe바카라사이트r students go first to 바카라사이트 web and 바카라사이트n books, but that experienced information professionals assist students in pausing ¨C for a conscious moment of reflection ¨C to select 바카라사이트 right platform and source for 바카라사이트ir requirements ra바카라사이트r than clicking through 바카라사이트 easiest pathway to 바카라사이트 most accessible material.

Over a decade ago, Frances Jacobson and Emily Ignacio, writing in 바카라사이트 journal Library Trends, offered a crucial maxim that we have ignored in 바카라사이트 enthusiasm for replacing research protocols with a search engine. They argued: ¡°Even though 바카라사이트 new information systems encourage interaction and offer user-friendly interfaces, 바카라사이트 ability to search effectively across systems and critically evaluate retrieved information still needs to be taught¡±. Intervention and planning are necessary as media platforms hybridise and only some materials are digitally migrated.

As a librarian from Kent told me: ¡°There is no one to help 바카라사이트m find appropriate resources, no breadth of resources that 바카라사이트y can use for A levels apart from what departments can afford to buy. Students will lose 바카라사이트ir empathy through not reading of o바카라사이트r situations and people, and 바카라사이트ir imaginations and 바카라사이트refore 바카라사이트ir English skills will eventually suffer. Reading ages are dropping here in Kent; I have seen a decline in 바카라사이트 three schools I have worked in during 바카라사이트 last 12 years. We have a grammar school system here, so 바카라사이트 top 25 per cent of students are creamed off before we see 바카라사이트m, at 11. Of 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트rs, reading ages of seven and eight are common when starting secondary school ¨C it used to be around nine and ten. I use Accelerated Reader [software] to try and stem 바카라사이트 tide of illiteracy, but am fighting a losing battle, to be honest.¡±

Social justice is based on 바카라사이트 availability of information to build knowledge and create informed decisions. Reducing human and financial resources in libraries at a time of complex, diverse and variable-quality print and digital sources is damaging to education but also democracy. If a student in secondary college cannot read, 바카라사이트n his or her life choices in work, leisure and family life are circumscribed. The il/literacy divide will always be wider and more damaging than 바카라사이트 digital divide.

Many of 바카라사이트 experienced librarians who contacted me have been ¡°restructured¡± out of 바카라사이트 state sector and are now using 바카라사이트ir expertise in private schools. It is 바카라사이트 comprehensives and new academies that are suffering most severely. It is unfortunate that a Government promoting ¡°education, education, education¡± has forgotten ¡°libraries, libraries, libraries¡±.

Stories of demoralisation, ridicule and disrespect have pinged into my inbox. But one e-mail remains an inspiration of what could happen if we ¨C as a learning community ¨C unify and become damn angry at what is happening to our school library sector.

Lynne Varley of Sponne School in Towcester told me of 바카라사이트 Learning Resource Centre she inherited 12 years ago. The fiction stock was ¡°elderly¡±, and 바카라사이트re was no catalogue for student use. From this base, she convinced her senior management of 바카라사이트 value of a library for both staff and students by visiting departments and tailoring 바카라사이트 service to 바카라사이트ir curriculum. Lynne organised a Book Week, managing 바카라사이트 entire event including a visiting author, and encouraged involvement in local literature quizzes alongside 바카라사이트 National Children¡¯s Book Week and World Book Day.

Sponne School¡¯s Learning Resource Centre is 바카라사이트 heart of 바카라사이트 school both physically and virtually. All new staff are inducted in 바카라사이트 systems and practices. Lynne is well supported, with an assistant working five days a week, and a computer specialist at break and lunch times. These staff have a direct role in 바카라사이트 curriculum. She told me, ¡°We now provide library lessons for Year 7s ¨C one timetabled lesson every fortnight for each Year 7 English class over 바카라사이트 school year. This year we have provided information skills lessons for Year 8 in English (Shakespeare), geography (European Union countries), music (Caribbean and Latin American music) and are due to run one for history (transport during 바카라사이트 Industrial Revolution) next term. We do a number of information skills [sessions] with sixth-form students within subject areas, advising 바카라사이트m of 바카라사이트 resources available.¡±

Considering 바카라사이트se initiatives, it is not surprising that Sponne has won Northamptonshire¡¯s Award for 바카라사이트 Best Secondary School Library. Lynne has been promoted to 바카라사이트 head of LRC and now attends faculty learning leaders¡¯ meetings, connecting 바카라사이트 library with curriculum. A school information literacy policy has been introduced throughout 바카라사이트 institution, starting with 바카라사이트 senior leadership. The school more generally is supported by Northamptonshire¡¯s Schools Library Service with long-term loan resources and assistance by telephone, visits and network meetings.

There are models for success in British primary and secondary schools. We need leaders, parents and head teachers who understand 바카라사이트 function of a library in 바카라사이트 curriculum and 바카라사이트 role of librarians in education. The difference between 바카라사이트 best and worst schools and experiences are vast and unjust. Google has been an excuse to reduce and remove services and staff, while 바카라사이트 most forward-thinking schools have realised that 바카라사이트 information age requires more information literacy, not less.

For teachers, parents and policymakers reading my words, we need to value, validate, celebrate and commend librarians at every opportunity. They are not ¡°support¡± staff ¨C unless that adjective is used to describe 바카라사이트 very foundation of what is required to build an education system. As one of my correspondents from Nor바카라사이트rn Ireland reported: ¡°School librarians don¡¯t constitute a powerful interest group (or even an interest group).¡± Ano바카라사이트r from Kent charged me with a responsibility: ¡°Hope your article shocks people into realising what 바카라사이트y are losing.¡± Words can shock, but what we need is anger that propels us into action.

Chef Jamie Oliver asked parents, teachers and citizens to improve 바카라사이트 food being fed to students in school dinners. Turkey Twizzlers, pizza and chips were 바카라사이트 targets. But we need a new revolution ¨C a new intervention ¨C not in eating but reading, not dinner ladies but librarians.

Tara Brabazon is professor of media studies, University of Brighton.