5 December 2011

Australian Government response to School Library Inquiry focuses attention on fractured responsibility for school libraries

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The Australian Government response to the School libraries and teacher librarians in 21st century Australia report was tabled in parliament on November 24, 2011.

This represents the culmination of an extensive Inquiry in which the Australian Library Information Association (ALIA) and the Australian School Library Association (ASLA) have worked closely together and played a significant role.

The Government response recognises the important role teacher librarians play in supporting students and teachers, especially as schools integrate digital resources and technology into learning programs. Whilst the response highlights the complexities involved in the multi-tiered Government management of school education in Australia, this should not be allowed to become a barrier to the implementation of the recommendations.

“ALIA is keen to ensure that the recommendations are actively pursued by all governments and will continue to work with the Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) on achieving the recommended outcomes”, said Margaret Allen, the President of ALIA. “ALIA would be extremely concerned if the importance of these recommendations became lost in the complexities of inter governmental responsibilities at the expense of outcomes for our children” Ms Allen stated.

ASLA Executive Officer, Karen Bonanno said, “The association looks forward to the results of the National Teaching Workforce Dataset as the first step to identifying the workforce gap to address the staffing mix necessary to successfully deliver a national curriculum. The national teaching standards confirm the importance of employing fully qualified teacher librarians in schools.”

Ms Bonanno stated, “We are also pleased that the response indicates the Australian Government will seek to raise digital and information literacy, training pathways and the provision of a core set of online database resources for all schools with the relevant national and state education authorities.”

Both ASLA and ALIA are disappointed that the response does not present a future focus that adequately addresses the convergence of information and communications technologies, and library and information science in Australian schools.

ENDS