17 November 2010

A meeting of minds: library professionals identify future directions

[ pdf 60KB ]

The House of Representatives Inquiry into School Libraries came to an untimely halt with the calling of the Federal election last July but library associations and tertiary institutions providing training for teacher librarians don’t plan to let it end there.

Representatives from school library associations from every state and territory, teacher librarian training programs, the Australian School Library Association (ASLA) and the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) met in Brisbane earlier this month to discuss next steps.

"This was an historic gathering of all the associations that are the stewards of the future of professional standards and service delivery in our school libraries, ALIA Executive Director, Sue Hutley, said.

"We are united in our ambition to get the Inquiry re-started," Ms Hutley said.

ASLA President, Darlene Hill, said the Inquiry, despite being on hold, had already clearly highlighted the value of trained teacher librarians in schools.

"What we need now is a referral from the Minister to continue the Inquiry to its conclusion and gain real results that will benefit Australia’s school children across the nation," Mrs Hill said.

Facilitated with funding support from library software supplier Softlink, the meeting focused on identifying four top priorities from the seven recommendations submitted by ALIA and ASLA in their submissions to the House of Representatives Inquiry.

ASLA and ALIA have made contact with incoming Members of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education and Employment to minimise the loss of momentum caused by the election hiatus.

Softlink has undertaken a study of NAPLAN results and school library resourcing for their submission into the Inquiry, with significant findings for the education community.

"Softlink compared school budgets with their NAPLAN Reading Literacy scores, and found a significant positive correlation between the number of school librarians employed in the school and its literacy scores," said Nathan Godfrey, Chief Operating Officer of Softlink.

"It is for this reason that Softlink will continue to offer its strongest practical support to school libraries in Australia."

ASLA and ALIA both believe it is vital for groups representing school libraries across Australia to be ready for the Inquiry to resume, with specific strategies to tackle the challenges of an environment in which school libraries are currently struggling for funds and trained staff.

The priorities agreed at the meeting were:

1. Establish a unit within the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations which would be responsible for implementing the outcomes of the inquiry, for developing a 21st century skills policy that supports the new national curriculum, and for supporting information and digital literacies and school libraries.
2. Develop a new funding model in collaboration with the Ministers of Education and other state-based jurisdictions to address the formulae for staffing and funding for resources for school libraries.
3. Lead a process of coordination amongst state education departments in order to address the shortage of teacher librarians by supporting re-training through a scholarship and sponsorship program that will lead to full national qualifications for teacher librarians.
4. Recognise that the Building the Education Revolution means a long-term and ongoing commitment to staffing and resourcing for the most effective return on investment from the capital funding.

ENDS