The Primary English Encyclopedia: The Heart of the Curriculum, Third Edition
Libraries in primary schools
See also reading corner/areas, Books for Keeps, Dewey system, displays, library skills, writing area/corners
Most primary schools have both a central stock of books and resources and some classroom collections. Resources in the central stock are catalogued by title, author and subject in a card index system or, increasingly in computer form. School libraries mostly use the Dewey system of classification or a simplified form of it. The School Library Association has produced a package which includes a Subject Index and a simple database on a CD-ROM, together with a Practical Guide and a poster with classification numbers (SLA, 2004). Quite often each class has a designated weekly slot in the library to carry out research for a lesson or to be taught library skills.
It is important that children also have more informal library use. So a good system ensures that the central library is accessible, open as often as possible to the children and that it creates an interesting reading environment with displays and areas where children can sit to take notes, browse and reflect.
Of course human resources are important and often it is the English/Literacy Co-ordinator who orders books and resources, after consultation with other teachers, parents and most importantly the children. The skilled Co-ordinator involves all the teachers in deciding how the library should develop. He or she can set up a staff room collection of journals which offer insightful reviews of books and resources, for example Books for Keeps, The School Librarian and English 4–11. It is also helpful to send round new acquisitions with some comments about the merits of the book and how it might be used. If there is a lively dialogue about books and resources and teachers are prepared to browse in local book shops, this is much better than just ordering books from catalogues. Nothing beats the hands on approach!
There are also good strategies for involving children in caring for the library. In quite a number of schools I visit, older primary children enjoy undertaking some light duties – replacing returned books to the shelves and helping younger children find their way round the library. Involvement in looking after their library is likely to encourage children to give reading priority in their lives. Primary schools can draw on the expertise of the school library services when creating a balanced collection of fiction, information books, audio-visual materials, CD-ROMs and software. The librarians will also usually visit to give talks to particular classes and groups of children about authors and illustrators and what the public lending library can offer them.
The books and resources in the classroom collections are usually centrally catalogued. English/Literacy Co-ordinators usually consult with other teachers to agree a coherent approach to taking books into the classroom from the central library for special purposes. But each classroom in each year group needs a core of carefully chosen classroom books and resources, for example picture books, stories and poetry particularly appealing to the age range and appropriate reference books – dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauruses and atlases and other books which children and teachers need constantly to refer to. In the United Kingdom the 1998 Literacy strategy and the renewed Strategy, 2006, have increased the need for a diverse array of classroom resources including letters, articles, charts, posters as well as books and multimedia resources. Guidance in the Primary Framework for literacy and mathematics (2006) on integrating ICT technology and resources across the curriculum means that, more than ever, school libraries should be well funded and resourced. Please turn to ‘reading corners’ and ‘writing corners’ for suggestions about making the literacy area in the classroom inviting.
Chambers, Aidan (1991) The Reading Environment: How adults help children enjoy books Stroud: The Thimble Press.
Graham, Judith and Kelly, Alison (2007, third edition) Reading Under Control: Teaching Reading in the Primary School London: David Fulton.
Books for Keeps/School Bookshop Association (Tel: 020 852 4953).
School Library Association produces a helpful journal The School Librarian which includes reviews of all kinds of books and resources, articles on all aspects of setting up and developing a school library and a useful briefing section with news of recent development. Site address: www. sla.org.uk (visited 5 May 2007).
The Primary School Classification Scheme (2004). CD-ROM. The School Librarian Association.
Young Book Trust provide information about library resources (www.booktrust.org.uk).
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