UK library associations join forces to make school libraries required by law

In the UK, library associations are joining together for a campaign to make school libraries a statutory requirement and ensure they are inspected by the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted), reports Schools Week.

The three-year campaign will look for evidence on the current state of school libraries, and will ask for ‘ring-fenced budgets for library improvements’. It will be run collectively by Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), the School Library Association (SLA), the Association of School and Education Librarians (ASEL), and the National Literacy Trust (NLT).

Nick Poole, chief executive of CILIP, said every child should have a ‘great library in their school’ that is run by ‘inspiring and professional librarians, and stocked with up-to-date books and resources’.

Poole added: ‘We will campaign for school libraries to be statutory and for Ofsted to inspect them, for government to put school libraries at the heart of their education strategies and for ring-fenced budgets for school library improvement.’

Alison Tarrant, director of the School Library Association, says she hopes that the campaign will lead to support from both the government and Ofsted, as well as ‘a wider acknowledgement of the value of school libraries’.

She added: ‘Just making libraries statutory and inspected by Ofsted isn’t enough unless the funding is there, otherwise we will end up with schools in more deprived areas, which don’t have the money to spend on libraries, getting worse Ofsted grades.’ ‘We want to highlight the importance of having school libraries and create wholesale change so people see what libraries can really offer, and encourage the government to fund them.’

Poole announced the campaign at the CILIP School Libraries Group conference in April. It is expected to launch in June.

Category: Library news International