CILIP Update article

*Be warned – this is quite a self-indulgent blog post, sorry folks*

CILIP Update, July 2014

I first joined CILIP as a student while I was doing an MSc in information and library management. I can’t quite remember the exact year I joined, but it must be about 10 years ago.  Since then, the magazine would routinely drop on my doormat and make its way to my reading pile. Some months I’d devour it, some months I’d quickly scan it, other months I’d hardly open it at all. Despite my ever-changing reading habit, I’ve always had the same secret ambition, and this year I achieved it; to have an article published in the CILIP Update magazine.

I’d been leading a project at work which saw us migrate to a new authentication provider for our off-site resources. My line manager asked if I’d consider writing a brief piece for publication in a newsletter, and I did so during my Easter annual leave. By the time I’d finished, the piece contained 2,000 words and was far too long for inclusion in a short newsletter. I was surprised by how much I’d written, but the project couldn’t be outlined in any less. Pondering what to do with it, I sent it to CILIP Update on the off-chance and they replied in the positive!

CPD23 Thing 16

Thing 16: Advocacy
The main reason I enjoyed working in a school library is because I felt a large part of my role was to be a library advocate to teenagers. They are the library users of the future and I really believed I had the chance to impart upon them the value of libraries. I worked hard to make sure the library played an active role in the school and had a high profile amongst staff. I also tried to make sure that library initiatives were in the local press at least once every six months.


Image taken by Blpgirl

 Here in the college library, things are a little different as I am no longer a head of department. We have a marketing group within the library team, which produces posters and newsletters etc, and I am not involved with this (other than contributing pieces to the newsletter).
I don’t think I’ll ever be brave enough to be able to present at a conference, but I have had a few ‘bits & bobs’ published in Cilip’s Update and Gazette magazines. Nothing major, I just reply when they ask for contributions to particular columns. I’ve also had a few letters published too. I like seeing my name in print, and it gave me something to talk about in interviews when I was job hunting after my redundancy earlier this year.

On the whole, library advocacy is a topic I am becoming more enthusiastic about as time goes by. Last week I had an interview to take part in the publicity campaign for the new Library of Birmingham. I was so excited at the chance of being able to stand up publicly and speak out for libraries, but unfortunately I left the interview feeling as though I wasn’t quite what they were looking for. They said it’d be at least 2 weeks before I’d hear anything back, so I’ll keep you posted. On the same day (coincidentally!), I attended my first ever meeting of the local Cilip branch. I was quite nervous, but it was on a small scale and pretty informal. The position of branch Secretary was vacant so I offered my services. Many moons ago I was once Secretary for a history society and enjoyed feeling as though I was doing something valuable with my spare time. I could see the branch was in desperate need of a Secretary and it’s a challenge I’m willing to tackle! At the moment, the Chair is going to gather together the files in order to ‘hand over the secretarial archive’. Exciting!

'My Job' Column

This month, I feature in the ‘My Job’ column in Cilip Update with Gazette magazine. For 300 words I prattle on about the differences between my new job (FE) and my old job (school). If you’re a Cilip member you can view the magazine online with your username and password; however, if you aren’t a member and are curious to read my ramblings, the text is given below. 

(Click on the image and it should open in a larger window, making it easier to read.)

SLS Closures

Just read an article on BBC News entitled 'Authors slam school library cuts'. When I worked in a school library I found the council's School Library Service (SLS) invaluable. When I was made redundant from the school back in April, the future of my local SLS was under discussion (the council building in which it is housed is to be closed and the SLS wasn't aware of this until it was leaked to the local newspaper!) and the neaby Birmingham SLS has been scrapped. The SLS co-ordinates activities, sources funding, provides resources, creates networking opportunities and provides training. Libraries are a vital part of schools and with the way SLS across the country are closing due to funding shortages, school libraries themselves will falter in terms of quality, however proactive a particular librarian happens to be - that it, of course, presuming an individual school employs a librarian in the first place.

Closing SLS is outrageous, and likewise reducing school library provisions is outrageous. There's no two ways about it. Yes, I know there are other priorities, but surely literacy is all-important in schools? I no longer work in a school library, but the situation still makes my blood boil with anger!
  
Rant over. Please take a look at the BBC article. It strongly echoes the excellent work of The Campaign for the Book.

Leaving School

Some of you may already be aware that I have recently been made redundant from the school library. I haven’t blogged about it until now as I wanted to gain distance and perspective first – reading a wholly negative blog post is no fun and benefits nobody. 

I worked at the school for almost 6 years and in September 2010 it merged with a local school to form a ‘new’ dual site school. The original plan was for the school to remain dual site, with some subjects on North Site and others on South Site. However, with the coalition’s controversial removal of the ‘Building Schools for the Future’ (BSF) programme in Summer 2010, the school lost £32million. This was a massive political u-turn and, at grass roots levels, it meant the school could no longer afford to operate two sites. So, ultimately, redundancies were made from both support and teaching staff.

Campaign for the Book

In the current issue of Library and Information Gazette (11 March 2010), the front page story summarises the ongoing battle between school libraries and Downing Street. As I work in a school library this is something I feel very strongly about.

The Campaign for the Book, under the leadership of Alan Gibbons, submitted an e-petition to Downing Street asking for school libraries to be statutory, which was unfortunately rejected. The Government’s reply stated that a school library is a ‘key resource’ and left it for schools themselves to make the decision of whether they have libraries. Talk about sitting on the fence! This, I feel, is hugely hypocritical of the Government. Legally, schools have to provide careers information but do not necessarily have to provide any other sources of information. This makes me wonder, how on earth can a place of learning not possess a library? There is a startling trend which sees schools disbanding libraries because they are costly to source and the emphasis is now placed on Google as an all-knowing research tool. Indeed, in the borough in which I work, this has happened to several schools.

Grrrrr! I feel so passionately about this issue and it makes my blood boil that the Government does not feel it important. School libraries are statutory in Scotland and public libraries are statutory throughout the whole of the UK – how dare Downing Street say that school libraries in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are less important. If I ever bump into Ed Balls or Gordon Brown I’d give them a piece of my mind!

I didn’t want this blog post to become an outlet for my frustration and anger regarding the Government’s narrow vision; I’m really having to curb what I type, otherwise it would be. In fact, I fear it is already too late! I just can’t help myself! My original intention was to simply state how nice it is to see so many different organisations lending their support to the campaign by lobbying the Prime Minister. However, these bodies are mostly institutions that are connected to school libraries, for example the School Library Association. Whilst there are non-school bodies that have verbalised support, for example several authors, it would be nice for support from other sectors to be more forthcoming. I can’t help but wonder, would this campaign have received more support had the government been as flippant towards libraries in other types of educational establishments, such as colleges or universities. A library is just as crucial in compulsory education as it is in further or higher education. School libraries are where the profession grabs library users of the future – that alone should give them importance.

LSA / Teacher / Librarian

At the start of the week, An ICT teacher I work closely with asked if I would do a one-to-one session with a pupil in his class, regarding exam technique. The lad didn’t do anything in a recent exam and it transpired that he didn’t have the knowledge to do the first question; it didn’t occur to him to flick through the paper and choose which questions to tackle first. We booked a time and I didn’t really have much of a plan in my head as of what to do, but we played it by ear. I enjoy the learning support aspects of my role as I find such moments give me a short break from books! I felt it went well (to say I hadn’t put any real thought into it) and the pupil asked for a follow up session. I took that as confirmation that I’d been on the correct path and the pupil had found it useful and (reasonably) enjoyable. Success! At the end of the session, the MFL teacher (camped in the library at the time) told me he’d had half an ear on our session and thought it ‘very informative’. With these compliments flying round, my head was beginning to swell and I’m now toying with the idea holding formal exam technique sessions for pupils.

I’ve held lessons on library inductions for year 7 pupils and referencing skills for pupils of sixth form age, but the concept of exam technique lessons never really occurred to me before. (Which I can’t quite believe considering I am an exam invigilator and often answer questions on what pupils are ‘supposed’ to do in the exams.)

Last year I attended a day’s training on SEAL practice. This covers Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning and the various barriers pupils are faced with. I learnt classroom management techniques for creating an atmosphere conducive to learning in an environment where content has to be differentiated. Library staff are often expected to teach lessons but people forget that we aren’t trained teachers; if any of you ‘out there’ has the opportunity to attend SEAL training, please take it up – I really do recommend it.

Incidentally, I have a college interview later this month for a course in post-16 teaching (PTLLS). All local residents qualify for one free course and this was the one that interested me the most. I’m really looking forward to learning the finer points of lesson planning. I quite fancy trying my hand at FE libraries one day (again), so you never know when such a course may come in handy!

Most Popular Authors

Thought I'd tell you all what our most popular authors were last year.

1. Jacqueline Wilson
2. Darren Shan
3. Stephenie Meyer
4. Roald Dahl
5. Meg Cabot

This is Stephenie Meyer's first appearance in our top five, and it's interesting in the fact that it has pushed JK Rowling out. Is Harry out of vogue? Are vampires the 'in' thing? It would certainly seem so at the moment.

Personally, I am a huge HP fan and late last year I also became a huge Twilight fan. I become so engrossed in both series of books that it's difficult for me to say which I prefered. Having said that though, I do agree with Stephen King when he said he felt Rowling had the edge over Meyer in terms of writing technique.

Good to see Darren Shan in the top five again, despite the recent film release being panned. I enjoy his books and would hate to see him slip down.

HaPpY nEw YeAr!

Can it really be 2010, already?

First day back at work today after two weeks off for Christmas. Spending it tidying up lose ends from last term - finishing off the statistical report and hand-covering the last of our new stock.

Had a meeting with the library helpers at lunchtime. They are to do a wall display focusing on new year's resolutions. Will they finish it in a week? When they all get together they're so loud and full of beans, so the jury's still out on that one. They made a new year promise to me today that they would all concentrate on working well together - maybe keeping promises is their team resolution...

Letting off steam.

My day at work yesterday involved running outside to the playground, at the request of the dinner-lady, to stop two teenage lads from battering the hell out of each other. I pushed myself to the front of the crowd and stood directly inbetween the lads to separate them. I didn’t get hit but punches were thrown around me, as though they were oblivious to the physical barrier I presented. My presence was not enough to prevent the fight from continuing. I was the only member of staff on the scene and eventually, one of the lads ran off.

Immediately after this, another incident occurred with a year 7 boy. He came into the library to escape the teasings of a ‘friend’ and went straight to the back of the portable whiteboard. He sat on the floor facing the wall, refusing to move or talk to anybody. Unable to coax him out, we had to call for assistance from his mentor.

I spent breaktime and lunchtime maintaining a constant surveillance for social networking sites. These sites are banned in school due to cyber-bullying concerns, yet pupils insist on sneaking onto them. Last academic year Bebo was the trend, this year it’s Facebook. If I see Farmville just once more….!

Then, after work, there was a meeting for support staff relating to Single Status. Here, I realised that all sorts of things are going on behind the scenes which employees are not kept informed of, and an incomplete job description was sent for assessment on my behalf. I am likely to be downgraded because of this and will need to go through an appeal procedure if I want to protect my salary.

Yesterday was not a great day at work, to say the least. I seemed unable to do any valuable tasks and spent the day simply reacting to incidences and situations. I know, I know… these things happen when you work with teenagers, but still… on occasions it gets me down. I’m only human. Yesterday, I felt nothing more than a babysitter-come-security guard. There are times I love working in a school, but there’s also the flip side of the coin too. Grrrr!

You must think I’m such a Moaning Minnie, and I guess I am today. Not a very pleasant blog posting to read, sorry about that folks. Moan over.

Published at last!

It seems difficult to believe now, but there was once a time when we as a nation weren’t obsessed with the X-Factor, Jordan verses Peter or (in my case) Strictly Come Dancing. These are the daily topics of conversation between staff and pupils alike, at the school in which I work; yet before our somewhat brief Summer, such chit-chat hadn’t been murmured yet this year. Back in the days when my life was unconsumed by the latest Strictly news, I actually did the occasional spot of work. Hard to believe, I know, but I kid you not.

As proof of my once industrial nature (which I shall return to once my annual Strictly obsession has died down), I offer you the following link *** CLICK HERE *** I entered into correspondence with Debbie Raven of Cilip’s Library and Information Gazette fame, and the result was this rather splendid article (even if I do say so myself!).

I witter on about my experiences of working within a school library, and my musing on the divide between teaching and support staff. I don’t claim to be an all-knowing genius on the subject, but if you’ve got a spare 5 minutes you may enjoy casting your eyes over it. Or maybe not. Either way, all feedback would be gratefully received.

Wordle-Tastic!

Next week is Anti-Bullying Week and I've spent this afternoon putting together a wall display for the library. I do a wall and book display on this subject every year - it is particularly relevant whem you're based in a school environment.

I'm a recent convert to http://www.wordle.net/ (so cool!) and here's my most recent attempt.

October half term

Before I worked in education I used to think school staff didn’t live in the real world; having a week off work every two months meant they were detached from reality. Oh, how different I feel now I’m one of those staff! After four years in a school I have deduced that the real reason behind the frequent holidays is the preservation of staff sanity. Being with teenagers for 37 hours a week can be tiring work – draining, stressful and loud. Every once in a while the equilibrium needs to be re-addressed and the balance re-issued; the slate has to be wiped clean so staff and pupils alike can tackle the days ahead refreshed and with enthusiasm, otherwise nothing of any benefit would ever be achieved.

We are just starting our October half term holiday and I am very glad of it. Last week was one of the more unpleasant weeks in a school with several ‘incidences’ to write up and report, merge squabbles appearing, performance management observations, and not to mention the whole Single Status argument coming to the fore (don’t get me started on that!). Amongst all this, two nice things happened…

The Blog Begins...

Having looked at my pal Rose's wonderful blog about her boat (the Wildrose), I have decided to create a blog of my own. Not really sure what I'm doing yet but hopefully I'll get to grips with it soon.

I graduated from library school in 2007 and now work in a secondary school. Based in one of the most financially deprived (and 'educationally underachieving') boroughs in the country, the school faces many uphill challenges. In September 2010 we are due to merge with another local secondary school. When I first accepted the job I didn't realise how diverse the role would be, and I hope this blog will help people realise how crucial school libraries are - for many reasons.

As Rose said - "forget about behind the bikeshed, behind the bookshelves is far better!"

See you all soon...! Cara x