School Library Association

Our Vision

Low Carbon stories and photography

UK Energy Research Centre are asking young people from around the UK to explore what low carbon living could actually mean, and to reproduce these ideas through photographs and short stories. They will select the best contributions for an exhibition aimed at building awareness of how energy functions in our daily lives, and what a low carbon future might look like.  Prizes will be awarded according to the best pictures in each of the following age groups:  10-12 years, 13-15 years and 16 -18 years

The best contributions will be selected the for an exhibit aimed at building awareness about how energy helps us every day, and what a low carbon future might look like.  Full details are available from the website. Entries and short stories or descriptions of why the photo reflects Low Carbon Living should be submitted by email to: meeting.place@ukerc.ac.uk by 20th February 2010

Hotbook – what is it?

The Great Wipe hath irrayzed much of world culcha, butta few bits of licheracha haveth bn found - pleez help mi choose most bestest 2 exxibit - the curator of a history of the book 2/2/3010

This message will be beamed from the future to secondary students in the UK via the HOTBOOK, a ground breaking and free digital resource created by if:book, the think and do tank.  This was launched yesterday at the Free Word Centre, Farringdon Road, London, with the aim to ignite a passion for literature (past, present and future) by introducing and exploring fragments of great works and presenting them in a way that will excite an audience that is more at ease with an electronic game or gadget than a book and with people who spend time social networking rather than reading.  
 
In the HOTBOOK poems and extracts from plays, novels, non-fiction texts and broadcasts are presented as short films, Flash animations, podcasts and HTML web pages. They include Macbeth's "Tomorrow and tomorrow" speech as stop frame animation, Christina Rossetti's poem "Spring" performed by cartoon rabbits, a rap version of Chaucer's Prologue, an animated version of Benjamin Zephaniah's "Talking Turkeys" and a story of computer gamers by cult sci-fi author Cory Doctorow.
 
The HOTBOOK includes rebooted classics and new commissions from award-winning contemporary writers such as Daljit Nagra, Kate Pullinger and Naomi Alderman, who were asked to write examples of the literature of the future.
 
Funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, The HOTBOOK is aimed at year eight and nine students, and was conceived as a way to help less confident readers stay interested in literature at an age when many young people start to switch off from books.

The HOTBOOK has been piloted in four schools and evaluated by the Research Team at Booktrust.  A teachers' guide and classroom activities for each of the 40 digital texts have been co-written by a team of secondary English teachers led by Daljit Nagra.

This looked like a really enjoyable and successful project, which had certainly engaged the pupils at the launch event.  It was great to hear that the use of Frankenstein as one of the texts had sent the pupils to the library demanding copies of the book to read in full.  For a taster of the HotBook and to sign up for further information follow the links. Photos and information about the launch can also be found at http://www.bookfutures.com/

Plagiarism – new guides available

Guides for students, parents and teachers on avoiding the pitfalls of plagiarism have been produced by Ofqual (Office of the qualifications and examinations regulator) in association with PlagiarismAdvice.org who have produced a series of guides to help students, parents and teachers to avoid falling foul of plagiarism within coursework and controlled assessments. Anne-Marie Tarter, SLA Board Member, has been involved in the production of these guides.

Hard copies of the plagiarism guides will be available to order through the Ofqual publications page by the end of January; meanwhile, all three guides can be downloaded from the Ofqual site.

Estelle Morris to chair commission on school libraries

The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) and the National Literacy Trust are launching a commission to examine the future of school library provision in England. The joint initiative will assess the role of the school library in the 21^st century school.

The commission will focus on the definition and role of a modern school library; the characteristics of effective school library provision; the agencies and partnerships which can best provide and support this model; and the articulation of a national improvement agenda.  The final report will provide an informed and proactive vision for the future of school libraries and their role in supporting learning outcomes.

The commission will be chaired by Baroness Estelle Morris, who began her career as a teacher and has held a number of positions in government including Secretary of State for Education & Skills (2001-02). Baroness Morris will be joined by commissioners including Peter Wanless, Chief Executive of the National Lottery Fund; Jean Gross, Director of Every Child a Reader partnership; and Catherine Blanshard, Chief Officer of Libraries, Arts and Heritage for Leeds City Council.

The commission will ask schools, local authorities, education professionals and any organisation or individual who is interested in the future of school libraries to submit their views and ideas. Throughout the commission there will be ongoing dialogue with national and local government and other policy makers with an interest in the development of school libraries as well as commercial service providers. These bodies will be updated and briefed ahead of the commission's final findings in June 2010. 

Between 1997 and 2007 pupils supported by schools library service provision dropped from 82% to 66%. An evidence based examination of the role of the school library in the new education landscape is urgently required as is a fresh and imaginative approach to redefining the role of the school library.

Baroness Estelle Morris said, "Libraries provide children with fantastic educational and social opportunities and the central aim of the commission to look at ways to furnish school libraries with the very best support and advice."

Museums, Libraries and Archives Chief Executive, Roy Clare, said, "The Museums, Libraries and Archives and National Literacy Trust partnership will support the vital role that the library service plays in children's access to reading and learning.   We are committed to helping libraries deliver the best possible service to help children achieve their potential. We launched this commission to answer current inconsistencies in the school library services and to offer effective examples and support for school libraries in the future."

Director of the National Literacy Trust, Jonathan Douglas, said, "School libraries are a vital resource in supporting literacy standards. They are powerhouses of reading where children and young people discover their identities as readers and develop appetites for literacy which will equip them to be lifelong learners. As such, school libraries are crucial in enabling students to fulfill their potential. A resource as important as this needs to be rediscovered in the context of a changing educational landscape."

The SLA is pleased to have been asked to support this new commission.

Write Away Conference 2010

This year's Write Away Conference is READ, PLAY, THINK, CREATE: generating delight in learning.  Save over £30 on the Earlybird booking before 28 February 2010.  More details are available on the Write Away website.

Literacy Forum @ the Education Show

The Education Show has teamed up with the National Literacy Association to bring you The Literacy Forum, to be held on Friday 5 March 2010, NEC Birmingham.

This one day conference has been developed to get into the heart of reading, its challenges in schools today and asking the difficult question... What is the future of reading?

Attend the conference and be part of the development of a manifesto/ set of guidelines that target objectives to develop the pursuit of reading in our future learners.

To book simply register to attend the Education Show (for free) then follow the steps to book onto the Literacy conference. Places are charged at £150 + VAT per person.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Michael Rosen, Author and former Children's Laureate - 'Reading real books'.
• Aidan Chambers, School Library Association - 'The political landscape for reading'
• Chris Mead, Institute for the Future of the Book - 'Is there a future of reading?'
• Sally McKeown, Consultant, Educational Technology and Special Needs - 'Reading for pleasure: Technology and the future of literacy'

The full conference programme, with full details can be found on the website.

The SLA will be exhibiting at the Education Show and attending the conference too!

National surveys of Primary and of Secondary/Middle/Special/ Independent School Libraries

Please help us to build up a full UK picture of school libraries by completing a questionnaire. This work was instigated by the School Libraries Group (SLG) of CILIP (the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) and supported by the School Library Association and CILIP Scotland, with funds provided by the Wendy Drewett Bequest. The survey is being managed by Information Management Associates.

If you have any questions about this survey please contact David Streatfield at streatfield@blueyonder.co.uk

The surveys can be found at:
Primary
http://www.informat.org/slp/primary/index2.html

Secondary, Special, Middle, Independent
http://www.informat.org/slpsurvey/