Back to school isn't as scary as it seems! (Academic Librarian)

Member Name: manonfireuk

Product:	Academic Librarian
Date:	17/10/09 (25 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of fun, inspiring working with young people

Disadvantages: Some schools can be porrly funded and have unsupportive teaching staff

I have previously written a review of working as a public librarian (please read that one too if you're interested in how the jobs differ) and now the following review will cover the other aspect of librarian work; working in schools, colleges and universities.

Before you start, this may seem obvious but you really do need to be passionate about books, reading or the subject (if you're in a specialist library in a university), otherwise it comes across to the students. Be passionate and you'll inspire them!

This review will mostly cover the school and college aspect of the job as that is where I am working now. I have worked in 2 very different schools as the school librarian / Learning Resources Manager and they were two very different experiences!

I have stated in my other librarian review how I got my first library job but I'll just mention it again here briefly in case you haven't read the other review. I left university with a degree in archaeology and I found myself in an assistant manager position in a dvd rental store. When I left this job I noticed a school librarian job in the local paper and just thought to myself why not? I had experience of working with customers of various ages and I had been working with a big catalogue of dvds which I thought must be similar to cataloguing books and so I went for it and got the job!

My first library job was actually a bad experience and looking back on it I maybe should have researched the school a little more before diving in head first. The school I was in was a mixed school in a deprived area with little funding and in my opinion, poor teaching staff. To be a successful librarian in a school you really need the support of teaching staff for both behaviour issues and to make the library a success. The first school I found myself in did not have an effective support network in place. I was left to deal with large groups of students behaving badly by myself, there was little money to buy new and exciting books and no support should you have ideas to inspire the students! Most days my job involved crowd control and I was very restricted in what I could do.

However, not all schools are like this. I left the school mentioned above after only working there for 8 months, I spent a few years working in public libraries before an opportunity came up to manage a library in a school and 6th form college. I was a little wary about accepting the position after my previous experience but I am very happy that I took a chance. This time I looked into the school's record, had a tour, met some of the teachers and students and this convinced me it might be worth giving this place a chance.

The school in which I find myself now is an all girls school with a mixed 6th form college. I think this helps with behaviour issues, there doesn't seem to be such a big mix of hormones flying around in a single sex school! The teaching staff are also very supportive, especially the head and this as stated earlier is of vital importance should you want to create the perfect library in an educational environment.

My job includes ordering new stock, creating displays, issuing books to the students, running book clubs in the school and organising an author week where we have up to 7 authors visiting the school for talks. The school I am working for now is very well funded which also helps! When I first joined I asked the head teacher for money for the library's budget and got it increased 3-fold! Now if you find yourself in a poorly funded library make sure you make your case to the head, do your research, how much funding is recommended by CILIP (a national accredited library association), how much are other schools getting and what do you plan on doing with the extra funds and how will this have a positive effect on the students?!

Since increasing the funding I've replaced all of the old, outdated stock and created new and attention grabbing displays of interest books which in turn has an effect on loans which you can show to the head to prove your ideas are working! It's also a good idea to consult with students, many senior leadership teams within schools are all for this. If the students want magazines in the library then get magazines, they might not be reading Chaucer but it's better them reading something than nothing at all!

Not all schools will have the money to book authors in for the day (which can cost anything from £200 - £500) but even if you can't have a big event just a one off can inspire the students and get them taking books out. Sometimes it is worth contacting new authors who have just released their first book, they maybe cheaper as it is free publicity for them when they have a captive audience in the school. You could also contact local schools or maybe a book shop and do a joint event so you can share the cost.

It is also a good idea to make strong links with the various departments around the school, when you've got the support of the teaching staff behind you, you can achieve almost anything. Linking the library with the English Department is an obvious choice, ask them to host some lessons in the library, run an induction course for the new year 7 students, showing them how to use the library etc. Don't just stick to english though, buy in some historical novels and link it to what they're doing in history lessons. There are plenty of novels set during WWII and the Tudor times that are aimed at teenagers. Another idea might be to buy some books in that have been turned into movies and hook up with the media or drama department.
Finally, try and link up with the school's library service, they can offer you support such as training days, author visits and most importantly more books for your library which you as a school can have on loan for several months which helps if the funding is not there from your school!

Working with children and young people can be a lot of fun. It's not all about shushing the noisy ones, it's about inspiring them to read, grabbing their interest and having fun

Summary: Research the school before you go for it!