(The refurbished Oadby Library children’s section)
All too often, in the pages of this Blog, I have coruscated a number of councils for their inability to plan a coherent future for their libraries, their failure to consult local people and their quite breathtaking lack of understanding of the sector. It is therefore a pleasure to report one of the many lovely experiences I have had on my travels. Yesterday, Friday 21st March, I was at Oadby library in Leicestershire, leading an event for school students sponsored by the MLA. The MLA’s Roy Clare attended.
First, the library. It is a refurbished furniture store. Well, you wouldn’t know it. It is light and airy. The book stock and ICT are well signposted with an attractive, clearly-labelled information system. While I was there it was buzzing with activity. There were elderly ladies with their shopping, reading at tables. There were young mums browsing the picture books with their children. There were middle aged men studying and busy office workers dropping in to choose their weekend reading. It was, quite simply, alive and much of the branch’s success is down to the welcoming, knowledgeable staff who paid tribute to elected members who were being very supportive.
The purpose of the day was to demonstrate how an interventionist approach could help to develop libraries’ links with local schools. There were three elements:
*enthuse the young learners with a lively author talk
*get them writing fast-paced, exciting fiction
*run a training session at the end of the day for teachers and library staff
A class of Year 4 and 5 children from Langmoor Primary school attended the morning session. They asked lots of questions and crowded around the computer screens to write stories about…a haunted computer. The class teacher noted that the boys in particular were writing with a renewed fluency and enthusiasm.
Year 7 and 8 children from Manor High School attended the afternoon session. Their writing task was a haunted house story. They too were very bright and any advice I had to impart was given with a very light touch.
All the children were very enthusiastic and half of them bought copies of my books provided by the local independent bookshop across the road. This was another bonus for me. All too often independent bookshops are going under because of high rental costs and competition from the big chains and supermarkets.
At the training session I tried to pull together the various strands which had made the day a success:
*It was a team effort. The MLA and Leicestershire libraries provided planning and an excellent venue and staff. The schools were clear about what they wanted from the day and the children had been introduced to my work.
*An author was working in the library, raising the profile of reading for pleasure.
*The event was not merely an entertainment. There was a clear link to the educational remit of libraries.
*Children were able to purchase books and borrow them. One boy who couldn’t get a copy of Scared to Death because it had been sold out said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll borrow it the next time I come into the library.’
*The session for staff set out a vision for the integration of educational and library services, arguing for coordination between public libraries, School Library Services, school libraries and teachers.
As I said summarising the event at the staff training session: “The recession and the squeeze on public spending pose major problems. If anything good can be said to come from such a dire situation it is this: a crisis makes you focus on the big questions. How do we preserve a robust library service? How can we develop a coherent and coordinated reading strategy for the future? To paraphrase Bill Shankly: some people say reading and education are a matter of life and death. Colleagues, they are far more important than that.”
(A DVD of the day is being produced- details later).
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