Rt. Hon. Prime Minister, Mr. Gordon Brown
10 Downing Street,
London,
SW1A 2AA
United Kingdom

REBUTTAL LETTER TO THE UK PM OFFICE RE SCHOOL LIBRARIES

February12, 2010

Dear Prime Minister,

It is with great regret that we have read your response to the online petition to make school libraries statutory. Although we recognize the responsibility of national governments to define policies, budgets and legislation, the arguments mentioned in your response call for a strong answer.

“School libraries boost student achievement”. This is not just a sound bite. There is irrefutable evidence to support it. A 21st century school library is more than just a room with books. A state-of-the-art school library has a function in the school. A function to support, engage and stimulate learning and development in this digital era.

Many studies have been undertaken by various institutions and organisations in all geographic regions of the world. These studies, admittedly with perhaps different words, different points of emphasis, and in somewhat different contexts have all, collectively, underscored the conclusions below:

  • In the 21st century, symbolized by lifelong learning, distance education, the incredible proliferation of digital mobile media, and the challenge of coping with an Internet information tsunami that is gradually, but inexorably, drowning even the best efforts of Google’s search engines, the need for professional libraries and information specialists (librarians) in schools is indisputable.
  • The relationships between information literacy and school libraries are inextricably intertwined and school librarians around the world play a key role enabling the integration of information literacy into the curriculum.
  • The so-called “digital divide,” and “the division of societies into haves and have nots,” both of which are now clichés, are directly linked and rooted in the failure of governments to statutorily prescribe the need for a library in schools.
  • Information itself is becoming the strategic resource of the Information Age, and information resources - - their collection, their organization, their cataloging, their indexing, their dissemination, and most importantly their use - - have long been the domain of librarians, libraries and librarianship. Teachers alone cannot do the job! They must partner with librarians in the context of knowing how to use libraries and information, if countries are to prosper in the Global Information Society.
  • It is not enough to simply allow national and local governments, school principals and school boards to establish school libraries “at their discretion,” in the name of “budgetary flexibility”. That strategy and policy, which arguably may have been effective and appropriate given the political, economic and social circumstances of the 20th century and before, is simply grossly inadequate and in the view of the signatories, is very dangerous for countries to follow.
  • To sum up, the role of a school librarian, operating in a modern multi-media library resource centre, and equipped with the technical skills learned in an accredited librarianship education programme, is absolutely crucial to economic and social progress.

In short, the need for a library, staffed by a full-time professionally trained educational information specialist (librarian), in every primary and secondary school (not just at the university level) is an absolute “must” if countries are to survive and compete successfully in the 21st century, in the context of what many are calling a Global Information Society.

We, the undersigned organizations and individuals therefore urge you to reconsider your response to the petition for statutory school libraries and take the necessary steps to make school libraries and professional staffing a legal requirement in every school in England.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Mark Hepworth, Senior Lecturer, Department of Information Science, Loughborough University

Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), Information Literacy Group

Ms. Lourense H. Das, Coordinator and Chair

European Network for School Libraries and Information Literacy (Stichting ENSIL)

Prof. James Henri, President

International Association of School Librarianship (IASL)

Dr. Luisa Marquardt, Director Europe

International Association of School Librarianship (IASL)

Ms. Randi Lundvall, Chair

International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), School Libraries and Resource Centers Section

Ms. Tricia Adams, Director

School Library Association (SLA)

Ms. Kathy Lemaire OBE, UK

Dr. F. Woody Horton Jr., PhD., Fulbright Senior Specialist program in library and information science

Copy of this letter sent by mail

Sent by Stichting ENSIL, on behalf of all the undersigned

c/o Rijksweg

6095 NC Baexem

Netherlands