School Libraries

CILIPS is the professional body for library and information workers in Scotland and our members work in a variety of sectors including public, school, national, academic and special libraries.

CILIPS recognises that many are facing difficult budget choices as a result of significant financial pressures. However, we maintain that the availability of access to full time professional school librarian expertise contributes to successful delivery of curriculum outcomes, promotion of literacy and reading, and should be retained.

An extensive body of evidence highlights the contribution of school librarians to improved exam scores and achievement, and their role in creating a safe, supportive and inclusive learning environment where all pupils have equitable access to curriculum related learning resources.

School librarians support pupil preparation for the challenges of life in the 21st century in areas such as media, information and digital literacy and the encouragement of reading for pleasure. School librarians are also experts in matters of ethics, and censorship, and with the rise of book banning requests across the world it is vital that school librarians are in place in schools to provide their expertise.

High quality learning opportunities should include access for all school pupils to a trained school librarian who is:

• located within the school and available throughout and beyond the school day;
• managing a safe, secure and supportive environment for formal and informal learning;
• responsible for curating resources to support the curriculum;
• partnering teachers in supporting delivery of the curriculum;
• engaging pupils in information seeking and discussion;
• promoting information literacy across the curriculum; and
• developing critical thinkers, enthusiastic readers and ethical users of information.