Three outstanding school librarians are in the running for the 2015 School Librarian of the Year title.
The trio – from a Dublin secondary school, a Quaker independent school, and a junior high school in the wilds of the Shetlands – have all been honoured for their commitment to creating book-loving schools and inspiring children to read.
Annie Brady runs the library at St Paul’s Secondary School in Dublin. She started working there in 2008, when she was given the task of developing a new library from scratch.
The school has 250 boys on its roll and as well as encouraging every pupil to carry a book in their bag to read if they have a spare minute during the day, she supports teachers with lesson planning, helps students to practise their mental arithmetic and vocabulary, and surveys staff and students at the start of every academic year to make sure the library has books to suit everyone’s tastes.
A pupil at the school told the judging panel for the award: “The library is the epicentre of the school and Annie is like a friend.”
School principal Patrick McCormack is full of praise for the contribution Ms Brady makes to the school.
“Annie has ensured that the library lies at the heart of our school life, playing a key role in planning and implementing our library and numeracy strategies,” he said.
“She works tirelessly to ensure that our students see reading as not just a school-based activity but as something really enjoyable that can enrich their lives beyond the classroom walls.”
Chris Routh has been the librarian at Leighton Park School, a Quaker independent school in Reading, for more than 10 years. She teaches the 440 11 to 18-year-old pupils information and study skills, supports teachers in delivering lessons and finding resources and runs a host of projects to promote reading, including four book clubs and an annual book festival.
She is full of ideas about how to inspire students with a love of reading. She has launched an annual writing for teenagers conference, devised a whole-school project on the Quakers during the First World War, and has an ambition to create a pop-up library in the school grounds.
Thanks to her, acclaimed children’s author Gillian Cross is now the school’s patron of reading.
“Chris facilitates life-long learning, ensuring the students have the tools they need to empower them,” said Karen Gracie-Langrick, the school’s deputy head (academic studies) and IB co-ordinator.
“Her impact is felt everywhere within the school.”
The third librarian to be honoured is Jane Spall, library assistant at Aith Junior High School in the Shetland Isles. The school has 182 students, from nursery age to 16.
Paying tribute to Ms Spall’s work, library executive manager Karen Fraser said: “We have an integrated school and public library service in Shetland and our rural school libraries effectively function as the public library for young people, as well as meeting all the school needs.
“Jane has succeeded in keeping her library right at the heart of the school and the community through her sheer enthusiasm for the job.”
A pupil at the school said that “no-one here thinks reading is uncool” – testimony to the contribution Ms Spall makes to teaching and learning.
The library was originally a gym and is divided into different areas for different age groups.
All classes have timetabled time in the library and as well as suggesting websites and resources to students and staff, Ms Spall teaches information literacy skills, makes sure all the children are independent learners by the end of primary school, runs book fairs, and organises author events.
Her most memorable moment at Aith came last term when headteacher Michael Spence announced that she had been shortlisted for the award at the school’s celebration of success assembly.
“He called me an unsung teaching hero and I confess to feeling a little emotional,” said Ms Spall. “Seeing and helping the pupils is so rewarding.”
Ginette Doyle, chair of the selection panel and a past chair of the School Library Association, paid tribute to the three “remarkable” librarians on the 2015 shortlist.
“All of them demonstrate best practice in their different ways,” she said. “With so many school librarians under threat, it is good to see that in some areas their value is appreciated.”
The winner of the School Librarian of the Year overall award, which is run by the School Library Association, will be revealed by award-winning children’s writer Kevin Brooks at a ceremony at the Royal Society for Arts in London on October 5.
The celebration will also include the announcement of the winner of the Inspiration Award, made annually to the school library judged to show inspiration, innovation, creativity and resourcefulness in its design.
For further details, visit www.sla.org.uk/slya.php