Libraries Week 2022 (part 2)

Our second post during Libraries Week comes from Campbell College and showcases the amazing work carried out by school libraries and librarians.

Pupils in the Library, Campbell College

With a role that includes working with every pupil in their school, school libraries and librarians in Northern Ireland are ideally placed to help support and develop the life-long learning skills of our young people, and we do so in many ways.

Firstly, for many pupils a conversation with their school librarian can be the start of a lifelong journey of reading for pleasure and discovering knowledge. Reading, and reading well, is a skill for life – according to a 2011 OECD report, ‘daily reading for pleasure is associated with better performance in school and with adult reading proficiency’.[1] Reading for pleasure perhaps has a most notable improvement on vocabulary, but it also been linked to progress in maths,[2] as well as to better job prospects.[3] Reading fiction has been suggested to improve emotional intelligence,[4] and providing access to a range of diverse stories that allow pupils to see themselves, as well as explore the lives and situations of characters who are very different to them, contributes to building empathy and an understanding of the world in our pupils. School librarians work hard to promote reading for pleasure through author visits, activities, competitions, book talks and booklists, and to ensure that the shelves contain a wide range of reading materials that appeal to pupils despite real budgetary constraints. Our shelves not only contain great fiction and books to support the curriculum, but a host of other materials too, allowing our pupils to widen their knowledge for university applications or to discover and develop a new hobby. Pupil suggestions for stock purchases can also be used as a life-skills teaching opportunity. My own library at Campbell College, in collaboration with the literacy department, gives a group of reluctant readers a brief and a budget to spend in Waterstones. Pupils not only enjoy the opportunity to freely choose, engage with and purchase books, but they also learn to apply financial skills in a real-life setting.

The Northern Ireland Curriculum emphasises the importance of thinking skills and media awareness for post-primary pupils to help them enjoy success in all aspects of their life.[5] School libraries and librarians are well suited to support this aim, through the teaching of information literacy skills such as resource evaluation and referencing. At Campbell College, the library has created a programme of classes for sixth formers, in conjunction with the careers department. These classes, taught by the librarian, provide pupils with an understanding of the skills they need to successfully transition to the next step of their education and focus on areas such as the steps needed to begin a research project, note-taking techniques, paraphrasing, referencing, and plagiarism avoidance. These sessions have also looked at how to evaluate both print and online sources for credibility and usefulness, which in the era of widespread mis- and disinformation is a more useful broad skill for life, better enabling them to make informed decisions and choices in life.

Open at break times, lunch times and after school, the library is an inclusive, welcoming place of sanctuary for all pupils during and after the school day, and at these times, in addition to assisting with book recommendations and helping with basic IT enquiries, school librarians run book groups, host chess and board game clubs, or arrange craft activities. In addition, many school librarians recruit pupil library assistants, helping them gain vital leadership and teamwork skills useful for later life. The pastoral activities that take place within school libraries are often overlooked but have never been more relevant or important in the aftermath of two years of periods of isolation and disrupted learning, as these extra-curricular experiences all help to develop important social and communication skills in pupils and support their mental health and wellbeing while doing so.[6]

Pupils playing Chess in the Library, Campbell College

In a world that’s always changing, the role of school librarians and libraries must not be overlooked if we are to help our pupils gain the skills they need to ensure that they never stop learning.

Cath Skipper, Librarian, Campbell College

[1] OECD, "Do Students Today Read for Pleasure?", PISA in Focus, No. 8, (September 2011), https://doi.org/10.1787/5k9h362lhw32-en. [2] Alice Sullivan and Matt Brown, “Reading for Pleasure and Progress in Vocabulary and Mathematics.” British Educational Research Journal, 41, no. 6 (December 2015): 971-991, https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3180 [3] University of Oxford, "Reading at 16 Linked to Better Job Prospects." ScienceDaily, May 9 2011. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110504150539.htm [4] Claudia Hammond, “Does Reading Fiction Make Us Better People?” BBC, June 3 2019, https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190523-does-reading-fiction-make-us-better-people [5] CCEA, The Statutory Curriculum at Key Stage 3: Rationale and Detail. (Belfast: CCEA, 2007) https://ccea.org.uk/learning-resources/statutory-curriculum-key-stage-3 [6] Alison Tarrant and Caroline Roche, “The School Library: A Powerful Weapon in the Battle for Wellbeing.” Headteacher Update, February 23, 2022, https://www.headteacher-update.com/best-practice-article/the-school-library-a-powerful-weapon-in-the-battle-for-wellbeing-literacy-mental-health-pastoral-support-primary-great-school-libraries/244572/