School Libraries and their influence on students

Upon completing my two work placements at school libraries, I realised how important a library is in a school setting, no matter the age of the students. In a way, the library was the centre of the school, a meeting point, and most certainly a place that held all important equipment, information and materials necessary for everyday life at school. 

My observations were:

When I first walked into the library at my second placement I was amazed by how modern it seemed. They had a circulation desk, separate reference desk where a teacher librarian was always present, separate fiction and non-fiction areas, a lounge area for students at lunch time where they could look at magazines, ‘quick reads’ on display, new books on display, three separate computer pods and a ‘news’ area where up to date newspapers were provided. As I spent more time in the library, I was amazed at how much there was on offer for students, and how the library staff were trying to bring the library into the technological age. Each different work space had a specific name with the letter ‘i’ in front of it, to give the place a more modern feel, for example, above the nonfiction section there were the words ‘iDiscover’ and above the fiction section ‘iRead’ and ‘iCreate’. I found this particularly impressive, as they were really trying to encourage the students with very simple techniques.

The library staff really made use of the materials they were given, as when new books came in, they had an entire shelf dedicated to new books which I noticed the students seemed to look at the most. I also thought that offering a reserves service was effective, as students felt independent coming to the library to pick up their books, and it seemed to further encourage students to read and seek out books. Also, the library regularly invites guest speakers such as authors to come and talk to students which the librarians said was always a success.

 The librarians were constantly interacting with the students. I noticed that if a student seemed lost looking at books, then a librarian would assist them immediately and in an extremely positive way. I really felt like this was a brilliant environment that encouraged reading fiction and nonfiction, embracing new books, and keeping up to date with the news and new technologies.

I think that this library is incredibly well equipped and has the right attitude to survive the changing world of libraries, and is already making adjustments. The librarians told me that they recently had a refurbishment, which indicated to me that they cared about the presentation of the environment and saw how it affected the students. The teacher librarian told me that she constantly attends meeting and talks about how libraries are changing as she is aware that the jobs of librarians are changing, which I think is important to stay in touch with what is happening, and I was very impressed to see these librarians doing so.

After reflecting upon these observations, it was clear that libraries definitely have a place in today's world, and especially in a school environment. This being said, there is also a responsibility of the librarian staff to see that the library functions as well as it could, which was the case of my second work experience.