School Libraries in new schools

[conehead]

It seems that some new Academies are being built without traditional libraries.

 

Much as I love ICT, I do believe there is no substitute for books and other written materials in hard copy.

 

I'm interested in what other Edugeekers think about this trend?

 

Anyway if you feel like I do, there's a petition online.

 

 

Petition to: make school libraries statutory. | Number10.gov.uk

[webman]

Our library disappeared about two years ago, and is now a teaching room. I don't know if this was the main reason though.

 

A lot of books were transferred to the English department where they have a sort of mini-library in the corner of a classroom; but it's not accessible to students in the same way the library used to be.

[john]

I know its a crime, and has been discussed on here before, but I find the Library is a dying thing, its used for its PCs and then thats about it, kids despite being shown and told that Wikipedia is not the answer to all they still go and use it for everything so you cannot win. They don't beleive in books as it takes effort to leave the nice comfy IT room and go walk to the Library to use a book that is dated 1999 (due to large cuts in library budget) so they don't see the point.

[grumpy_git]

Our library was refitted last year; it has a class set of computers, but all the books etc too. Hence, kids are taught how to refer to books alongside bashing something into Google.

 

We have two librarians who oversee bookings etc and ensure that the teachers don't simply use it as another IT room.

 

It's also "open access", kids can go in at break or lunch and work quietly or browse books.

[DrCheese]

Our library is the local village one, so it's not going anywhere soon. That said nowadays people seem to use it as a state subsidised internet cafe rather than a library of books

[Batman]

One day all the systems in the world are going to simultaneously blow up, and nobody will be able to fix them because Google will be offline (!)

[R0M]

I do find that computers are often quicker/easier for technical research, if not always accurate. But what about fiction?! I think it’s especially important in Primary and High Schools and even universities must have some people studying English literature?

[Sirbendy]

We've got a library in our new academy...part IT suite too, but it's no different to the existing one.

 

We're not *quite* BSF though..similar thing, different setup. Library was always in the blueprints.

[dgsmith]

Our library (now LRC) was completely refurbished during last summer, and is full of books and half a class of computers (17).

 

Not only that, but it's been extended so is a very nice working space for a class (or even 2). There is definately a need for libraries (not just for reading books)!

[jcollings]

Our library has ICT and books etc and is far from dying - it is a very lively place with huge amounts going on. We have an brilliantly pro-active manager who does so much stuff it's untrue.

 

I'd be really sad to see libraries go in schools. I think they have an really important role to play in getting kids reading for pleasure as well as academic study.

[K.C.Leblanc]

We turned our library into an ICT suite.

 

But we'd built a new library first. The new library has 8 PCs, it is still predominantly a space for books.

Edited June 29, 2009 by K.C.Leblanc

[stu]

Not so much on the education front but i loved my school library as i keen reader and enjoy fiction books and if i didn't have access to the library at school i doubt i would have developed an interest in it at all. As a child i wasn't considering a book a worth while expense when sweets and games were on offer.

[enjay]

Our Library is heavily used, but not just for the books - it is the only indoors place where students can do book-based work at lunchtime, and is the only place they're allowed after school, it is also used for small study/extraction groups who for whatever reason aren't doing the same as the rest of the class. The PCs are constantly in use, as are the big tables - not sure how often the books get used though; that said, I believe the fiction section is quite popular, and the Primary students have library lessons in which they have to take out fiction books (don't know if this practice extends into the Secondary or not).

 

I wouldn't want to see the library die, although a prune of some of the older/less relevant/not used books to free up space for some more PCs might not hurt.

 

Books do still have their place, and how else are children going to learn to read, but I don't think we should fight too hard against the move to find information online - instead we should educate users about the risks of trusting such data (exactly as History teachers do for validity of sources) and teach them how to search, i.e. selecting a few appropriate keywords not typing whole sentences into the search box, skim-reading the page summaries, looking at the page URL to see if it is a trustworthy source, etc etc.

[Face-Man]

We have a library but no librarian because the school can't afford the "super learning manager" this year so the library is close

[bossman]

It's all down to cost and as LAs have public libraries dotted about the areas it does not seem feesable or cost effective to duplicate.

New schools are taking to developing online libraries with integrated plugins which can read the books to you so aiding speech and language which is very helpful to the SEN team.

I myself love reading books but as actual books take up space and cost lots of money to replacing as they become worn, most schools see it as a way of saving money and easing the burden of having to pay a librarian plus costs of books whereas they can drop this all on the IT team with a virtual library.

The room full of computers can then double up as a teaching room.

Also the students have access to this online library at all times 24/7.

It is not to my liking but that is the way it is going. :)

[Michael]

I wouldn't say libraries are disappearing, but they're certainly evolving. It isn't just books. Look at how the news is evolving and how yesterday newspapers look and how expensive magazines are. I can't remember the last time I bought either of these.

I also believe we're in a world where people want the latest information now and that's something a book, magazine or newspaper will never deliver. I suspect the way news is presented will change, just like Twitter in a way has evolved how news/information is distributed.

 

As for children learning to read, I still think a book is the best method. Those early stages are critical and I suppose it is possible some children may struggle to learn to read learning from a computer. The next 10 years or so will be interesting how the Government propose to tackle this. IT is a great and resourceful tool, but I don't think it's a replacement for the initial learning to read process.

[jamesb]

I wouldn't say libraries are disappearing, but they're certainly evolving. It isn't just books. Look at how the news is evolving and how yesterday newspapers look and how expensive magazines are. I can't remember the last time I bought either of these.

I also believe we're in a world where people want the latest information now and that's something a book, magazine or newspaper will never deliver. I suspect the way news is presented will change, just like Twitter in a way has evolved how news/information is distributed.

 

Oh goodie! I can't wait until all our news is just unsubstantiated rumours desseminated by the new mass media.

 

It'd be nice if we could ensure the information was accurate, there've been far too many hoaxes recently through wikipedia for me to trust anything even remote attributed to it.

 

As for children learning to read, I still think a book is the best method. Those early stages are critical and I suppose it is possible some children may struggle to learn to read learning from a computer. The next 10 years or so will be interesting how the Government propose to tackle this. IT is a great and resourceful tool, but I don't think it's a replacement for the initial learning to read process.

 

Nor the later process. I'm a big fan of technology, mostly, but I still pick a good book over any form of electronic entertainment. In fact my own personal library now contains more physical books than the last school I worked for.

 

It worries me that when people talk about going to a library now, they generally mean going to check wikipedia. Roll on the great system crash.

[Dos_Box]

Its amazing isn't it. Kids (and some teachers) think IT\computers\Internet will replace written text and references, but look around most of our offices and you will see shelves of very, very thick volumes because we need that accurate info to hand. Shame they can't get that message across.

[enjay]

Oh goodie! I can't wait until all our news is just unsubstantiated rumours desseminated by the new mass media.

 

It'd be nice if we could ensure the information was accurate, there've been far too many hoaxes recently through wikipedia for me to trust anything even remote attributed to it.

 

Hold on - just because the information is being received from The Cloud somewhere rather than a printed paper in the shop doesn't mean the information is inaccurate. The content on thetimes.co.uk is still from The Times, and no doubt goes through the same validity checks as anything in their printed media. It is just not true that Internet-based information is unreliable; it CAN be unreliable, but so long as it comes from a reputable source, it is fine.

 

I think that newspapers joining Twitter or similar could be an interesting step forward - headlines get pushed out to The Masses who can click links back to the full stories if they wish, much like BBC's old news ticker if you remember that.

[jamesb]

Don't forget the slim, pocket-sized versions of the larger books as well - for when you just need to quickly check that VBScript keyword and don't feel like spending twenty minutes trawling through google tracking down a useful reference.

 

Books are just plain better.

[Michael]

Oh goodie! I can't wait until all our news is just unsubstantiated rumours desseminated by the new mass media.

 

It'd be nice if we could ensure the information was accurate, there've been far too many hoaxes recently through wikipedia for me to trust anything even remote attributed to it.

 

I agree it is a problem, but I don't believe there's any easy answer for this. Even Google thought the excessive traffic relating to Michael Jackson was an attack on their network. It was only until other news agencies were presenting the breaking news did they realise.

 

The point I'm trying to make, is the likes of Google can't really tell legitimate high traffic from an attack on their network and likewise Twitter is open to users spreading rumours about whatever they choose. I suspect eventually most news agencies will cut a deal with Twitter or probably create a competing service themselves which users then subscribe to. The legitimacy of news or information is extremely important and people will quickly move on otherwise.

 

This is why (at the moment) Twitter in my eyes is still worthless as it needs either a buyer or someone with much better ideas to make it into a profitable business. What Twitter has at the moment is OK; freedom of expression, but then again people can do this on bloggs as it is already.

[HTCIT]

Hello,

 

I believe that "Library's" should exist. This is where the kids can learn in their own way and at their own ability.

[SteveBentley]

I think that newspapers joining Twitter or similar could be an interesting step forward - headlines get pushed out to The Masses who can click links back to the full stories if they wish, much like BBC's old news ticker if you remember that.

 

I'm not sure I'd want to cite newspapers as a reliable source on most things

[HTCIT]

Yeah, at our School we have a couple "Sony E-readers".

[Soulfish]

Interestingly while studying Computer Science at uni we were always taught that the library was one of our core resources for books, technical papers and access to journals. Surprisingly just because we had a subscription to a journal didn't mean we could access it online.

 

In my last year or two, and particularly in my masters year the library was indispensible. If I hadn't been taught how to use a library while at secondary I doubt I would have been able to effectively use the library in later life.

 

I have to say that it's very sad to see some schools axing their libraries in new builds, and I'm very glad that the library here is a core part of the school. It's very integrated into teaching and learning in a variety of subjects and having been refurbished in the last few years is also a great place to be.