Saga of school libraries close to a denouement

After six years of lobbying, education secretary agrees to lend a hand and pen a national strategy
14th July 2017, 12:00am
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Saga of school libraries close to a denouement

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archived/saga-school-libraries-close-denouement

Hopes are high that school libraries will receive a long-awaited funding boost, as it emerged that Scotland will become the first part of the UK to establish minimum national standards. But local authorities have warned that without any extra cash, plans for a national school libraries strategy would leave them with less money for other priorities, such as helping pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Education secretary John Swinney last week gave the go-ahead for the strategy to be drawn up after the summer break, following a long-running battle to protect school libraries (see box, right).

Scottish Library and Information Council (Slic) chief executive Pamela Tulloch told Tes Scotland that while discussions were at an early stage, the decision was already a significant development, especially as no other part of the UK has a school libraries strategy.

The standard of school library services varies dramatically across Scotland and some parts of the country have suffered from heavy cuts in recent years.

The move follows the publication of a national strategy for Scotland’s 500-plus public libraries in 2015. Ms Tulloch said this had led to free wifi in every public library and the availability of 3D printers in all 32 councils’ library services.

In addition, 150 library staff had been trained to run coding clubs and the use of online services, such as downloadable ebooks and magazines, had undergone a “huge increase”.

Annual library visits, meanwhile, had risen from 39 million to 42 million, which Ms Tulloch said was more than the amount of people in Scotland who went to the cinema or Scottish Premiership football matches in a year.

Libraries ‘needed more than ever’

Libraries were needed “more than ever” in times of austerity and amid the proliferation of “fake news” online, she added.

Sean McNamara, policy and digital officer for the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland (Cilips), welcomed the commitment. Mr McNamara said that, in a meeting with Mr Swinney, Cilips had called for mandatory standards set by the Scottish government and for libraries to be included in school inspection reports. But it was “far too early” to say for sure whether this would form part of the strategy or how many jobs it would save, he added.

A government spokeswoman said: “School library provision varies across the country. A national strategy will help to provide a clear plan of action and build on the positive impact school libraries make in many schools. Work on the development of the new school libraries strategy will commence in the autumn and will be led by Slic, involving all key stakeholders.”

However, local authorities body Cosla argued in a January submission to the Scottish Parliament’s Education and Skills Committee that a national school libraries strategy would put other services “under even greater pressure” and cause “further erosion of local democracy”.

Every school, “in an ideal world”, would have a library, but current financial realities are forcing councils to weigh up libraries against other education provision that could raise attainment, Cosla wrote, such as early intervention, sport, instrumental music, and teaching Gaelic and foreign languages.

Cosla also said that the increasing use of technology, such as Kindle e-readers, meant that some people “don’t need to physically visit a library”; it further cited cases in which public and school libraries had merged.

The body suggested that school librarian jobs had been cut as a result of the government’s policy to protect teaching posts, forcing councils to find cuts elsewhere.

The Scottish government and Slic will draw up detailed plans over the summer. An announcement is due in the autumn and the finalised strategy is expected to be ready in time for the 2018-19 school year.

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