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Press release: Headteachers with vision bring about most significant improvements in libraries

Report confirms that effective school libraries can have a positive impact on pupils’ learning

Today, the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) publishes Good school libraries: making a difference to learning. The small scale survey sought to evaluate the key factors that lead to improvements in libraries and to highlight existing good practice.

Inspectors identified that the most significant element in bringing about improvements in school libraries was the commitment and support of effective headteachers. The most effective headteachers had a vision for the library’s key role in raising standards of literacy and making a difference to learning.

In the most effective schools, libraries and well trained specialist librarians had a positive impact on teaching and learning. Good librarians interrogated data to identify patterns of use and took account of a range of additional evidence to demonstrate their library’s effectiveness. In effective schools, librarians were regarded as key middle managers and encouraged to work closely with other members of staff. Pupil librarians were also seen as an essential part of the best library teams. Good practice was also observed in schools where librarians used a wide range of effective strategies to promote reading, planned lessons alongside subject teachers and used different ways to evaluate the impact of the library on pupils’ learning.

However, inspectors found that some weaknesses identified in the annual report for 2004 still remain, even in schools where practice was judged to be good. Although the report found that there was a direct link between well funded libraries and effectiveness, funding for libraries varied significantly. In many primary schools libraries were often closed to pupils for long periods during the day which reduced the possibility for voluntary reading by pupils. Although libraries in secondary schools were open for longer hours, the use by pupils once they entered key stage 4 declined, despite the increased importance placed on independent learning and extended reading.

Lessons in library skills were often unsatisfactory and there were too few opportunities for pupils to carry out research or work independently to prepare them for further study or the workplace. The quality of pupils’ information literacy skills was sometimes poor and many pupils struggled to locate and make use of information.

Miriam Rosen, Director of Education, said:

"School libraries are an important resource in schools and should be used effectively. Many schools are doing a good job and pupils are benefiting from it; other schools can learn from this good practice. But in those schools where weaknesses remain it’s very important that schools make the necessary improvements. It’s important for headteachers, senior managers and librarians to work together to develop library provision that benefits the whole school and its pupils."

In order to bring about improvements inspectors recommended that schools:

• improve evaluation of their library, taking account of the full range of evidence to assess its impact on pupils’ learning and requiring librarians to report formally

• develop the quality and coherence of programmes for teaching information literacy to provide better continuity, challenge and progression in pupils’ learning

• extend use of the library by teachers and pupils throughout the day, but especially by primary pupils at lunch time

• improve use of the library by Key Stage 4 pupils

• consider ways to promote pupils’ independent study by more effective use of the library.

Those responsible for advising and supporting schools in developing their libraries need to:

• work with headteachers and senior managers, as well as librarians, in order to develop provision and integrate developments with other whole-school priorities.

Notes For Editors

1. The report Good school libraries: making a difference to learning is available on the website.

2. The term information literacy is generally defined as the ability to access, evaluate, organise and use information from a variety of sources. For example, pupils might be asked to research a topic for homework using information from books and the internet. They would need to locate relevant information and select what is most important for their task. They would make notes and identify key ideas. They might then need to organise what they have learnt in the form of a piece of writing or a talk to the rest of the class.

3. Ofsted is a non-ministerial government department established under the Education (Schools) Act 1992 to take responsibility for the inspection of all schools in England. Its role also includes the inspection of further education, local authority children’s services, teacher training institutions and some independent schools. During 2001, Ofsted became responsible for inspecting all 16-19 education and for the regulation of early years childcare, including childminders.

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