Best Practice

What does an effective school library (and librarian) look like?

An effective school library and librarian are crucial in supporting weaker readers, boosting reading for pleasure, and improving student outcomes. Debbie Tremble considers what this looks like in the secondary school
Image: Adobe Stock

Former headteacher and renowned education speaker and author, Richard Gerver, is clear: “Libraries and skilled librarians must be a non-negotiable – they are the catalysts for so much of what really matters in education.” (CILIP, 2022)

There is currently no statutory requirement for schools to have a library and there is limited national data on the prevalence of libraries in schools.

From my own experience, I have visited and worked in secondary schools where there is either no library, or where it has in some form or another become decommissioned into a classroom or other space. However, “with public libraries closing at a worrying rate school libraries are becoming even more important” (Teravainen & Clark, 2017).

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