posted by Amanda Waugh, Communications Officer, People
Have your say on Scotland’s school libraries
- Survey responses sought for national school library strategy
- Survey open for final week – submissions close on 31st March
Professionals involved in school libraries across Scotland are being urged to contribute to a survey consultation to help inform the development of a national strategy for school libraries.
The survey has been published by the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC), which is providing support to the advisory group responsible for development of the new strategy.
Questions have been structured around five key areas in line with the curriculum for excellence – digital and information literacy, literacy and reader development, health and wellbeing, digital creativity and curriculum-based learning – and are designed to gather quantitative data to build a comprehensive picture of school library service provision across the country.
The results will inform strategy development and provide a baseline for ongoing work in school libraries, helping to identify challenges, opportunities and successes within school libraries at a national level.
The national school library strategy is being developed to improve the role of school libraries and librarians in literacy skills and educational attainment, and will include national guidance for service provision to deliver consistency across the country.
Martina McChrystal, Director of Library Services at the University of Glasgow and chair of the National School Library Strategy Advisory Group said:
“There is a considerable body of international evidence demonstrating the value of school libraries, but we don’t have a national dataset for Scotland. This survey will help us create a baseline for the impact of school libraries and will provide valuable insight and contribution to content of the national strategy. I am keen that the development of the strategy is a collaborative process, so I would urge school librarians and all those involved in school libraries to have their say in this survey.”
The survey is open to submissions until Saturday 31st March. For more information and to complete the survey please visit https://scottishlibraries.org/advice-guidance/school-library-survey/
