My Summary of an Article for Study Skills

This is a task which I found particularly enjoyable.  After time spent in the college library listening to the librarian voice his opinions about libraries in colleges and schools, I stumbled across an article on the TES (Times Educational Supplement) web site regarding schools and libraries, it was published on 17 September 2010.  The article was factual and very interesting so I decided that I would summarise and blog it.  My skim reading, note taking and research skills were particularly useful during this task.  

Could this be the end of School Libraries?

All schools have been responsible for their own libraries since 2000 after the government decided to pass the funding directly to schools instead of the local authorities being responsible, giving schools the choice not to buy library services and use funding elsewhere within the school.  Many schools however, do prefer to use the local School Library Service (SLS) rather than attempt to keep their own library. 

The SLS is run by local authorities and currently provides books, artefacts and other resources to 70% of primary schools in the UK.   As a whole they currently have available 12.5 million items made accessible to 3.4 million pupils covering 106 authorities.  At an annual cost of two to three thousand pounds per annum they are able to loan a full up to date library and loan a wide range of artefacts, this avoids redundant material lingering on shelves.

However, with schools now having to evaluate their budgets, the library is one area where cuts are being made. The decline began in 2000 when schools became accountable for their own library service.  There is great apprehension about the future of the school library and the future of the SLS, especially within the current climate, three services have closed so far this year and with funding possibly being reduced further this may cause many more authorities to close their services.  A few SLS’s are requesting that the government provide the library funding directly to the SLS instead of schools to ensure the survival of the school library and not let them just slip away.

Michael Morpurgo, children's author and patron of the School Library Association believes that “Libraries are the heart and soul of any school.  They are browsing places, finding places and dreaming places, so much education takes place when children make choices of their own”.

“It's a shame on our country, the country of Shakespeare and Dickens, that we are denying those children their heritage”