Make school libraries compulsory

If I ruled the world...

Ofsted’s latest offering, Moving English Forward, calls for all schools to develop policies to encourage reading for pleasure. But how? For children’s author Michaela Morgan, it begins with making school libraries compulsory, and effective…

Have you got a school library? Is it a dazzling, imaginative space, well stocked and creating a book buzz? Or is it dingy dump, under- used and serving as a storage area for stray chairs and sick children? Not so much a library as a huge waste of an opportunity.

Do you have a school librarian? These are a rare species, growing rarer every day, and yet a plethora of research and reports show that good school libraries with trained staff make a real difference. The School Library Commission Report (2010); Removing Barriers to Literacy (Ofsted 2011); and APPAG for Education Report (July 2011) all strongly support the relationship between frequent library usage and increasing levels of reading attainment – and enjoyment.

A librarian is expensive but there are other options. Maybe each county without an SLS needs a small team of dedicated primary librarians to train and support a library assistant in every primary school? Maybe school library services should be statutory again?

Trained library staff are essential because few teachers have time to keep up with the latest developments in children’s literature. Few have time to follow book competitions, read reviews and order new titles to captivate reluctant readers. In many primary schools, literacy co- ordinators have library responsibility foisted upon them as part of their remit. Some do a great job, but a dedicated librarian can focus on giving a library life and purpose.

Books are vital – yes, even for information in an internet age. On the internet there is no way to quite literally “choose a book by its cover” and see if it’s interesting. Somemetimes you don’t know what you like until you see it.

A library is the place to go window shopping across a thousand different subjects in a few minutes, browse and maybe pick up a lifetime interest by sheer chance. A Reception class boy, encouraged by his school to go into the library and take home any book he wanted, chose something completely ‘unsuitable’ for his age. Twenty years later that boy is still fascinated by The Bayeux Tapestry, a subject that his class teaching may never have touched on.

Connecting a child with a real book is central to a full education. Catching any spark of interest and stoking the fires, the librarian ensures the library is used effectively. By keeping abreast of new books as well as knowing the classics, the librarian can suggest just the right title and also know when to step back and foster the habits of browsing and choosing.

Separate from the normal classroom, the library provides a nook for children to be read to, surrounded by books unconnected to tests, targets and tick boxes. Librarians can build a book buzz – organising author visits, displays, competitions, discussions, book groups.

Some schools no longer have a library. It takes is a committed head or teacher to step in. One deputy head has restarted a library in his school by using an underused cloakroom and an old art cupboard. “Hooks into books!” he says. His school has now developed a positive reading culture that will pay dividends for years to come.

Nick Gibb, the Minister for Schools, says he “passionately believes that every school should have a school library”. Ofsted calls for every school to develop policies for reading for pleasure. But we need more than statements and suggestions. We need funding, training and acknowledgement. Provision of school libraries should be included in Ofsted inspections and success in developing a culture of reading rewarded in Ofsted reports.

All children should have equal and fair access to the inspiration, pleasure and imagination provided by books, but until libraries are statutory and training to use them is provided, their existence and support will depend on the attitudes of one particular school or one particular head.

Public library services are being cut. One in three homes in the UK contain no books. More than ever, we need libraries in schools. For years I worked in prisons – where library provision and a trained librarian are compulsory, seen as essential. I am astonished to find that schools do not routinely provide at least as much to the children they are educating.