Ensil

Co-operation between school libraries and information centres (SLIC’s) and school librarians and information specialists throughout Europe.

Introduction.

On 27 December 2007, Professor Heinrich August Winkler published an online article (in German) in Die Welt. The title of the article may be translated into English as:

“The Values of Europe are the Values of the West: Why the European Union Urgently Needs to Develop a "We-Feeling"[1].”

In this article, Winkler talks about problems which have arisen during the formation of the European Union.

“Among these problems, and above all is the current lack of a feeling of togetherness in Europe, the lack of a "we-feeling", which is fundamentally necessary for what Winkler calls "Project Europe" to succeed in the long term.”

Winkler and those who have reviewed his article, go on to talk about the emergence of a “sense of community”, collective shared values or shared identity … a sense of community and identity. They state that the “We” feeling would lead to better co-operation between member states and would have positive effects on the daily life of many European people.

The “We” feeling.

Every morning I ride to school on my bicycle. On the way, I pass a small school building which has been converted into a special school for adults – for people who, for various reasons, have come from all parts of the world to live in the Netherlands. If these people want permanent residence in the Netherlands, they are required, by Dutch law, to attend special “integration” courses which will help them to become part of Dutch society. During these courses they also learn to speak the Dutch language. As I bicycle along the road, I usually see a group of these people heading towards the school building. The members of this particular group are all female. They walk towards the school, happily chatting with each other. They wear all different kinds of different clothing and fashions which originated in many divergent ethnic cultures. Many of these woman in the group were, until recently, restricted to the home, for cultural reasons. By insisting that they attend the integration classes, the Dutch law mentioned above has given them a new kind of freedom. It seems to me that they are happy to be out of the house. They now have the opportunity to make friends with other people within the community and are learning how to survive in a new country.

Once a month, an important Dutch evening newspaper, the NRC Handelsblad, publishes a magazine called “M”. The theme of “M” in December 2007 was “Wij : special over het Wij-gevoel”. Translated into English, this means “We : a special edition about the We-feeling”. The magazine places the “We-feeling” into a broad framework and speaks about “the future of We”. There are so many different groups which could refer to themselves as “We” – people who work together, people who have the same hobby, people who play the same sport, a family, people from the same cultural or ethnic group, people with the same profession. The people within these groups feel as though they have something in common.

On page 2 of the December 2007 edition of “M”, there is a wonderful article about a specific group of people (mostly women) who call themselves “We”. In Holland it is essential to be able to ride a bicycle – for transport, for shopping, but also for social reasons. A group of people, mostly women, realised how important it is to be able to bicycle in Holland, so they joined together to form a “We” group. The magazine contains a wonderful picture of 11 people from all kinds of different social and cultural groups who are very happily learning to ride a bicycle. They are doing this together – supporting each other. They have the “We” feeling. The article warmed my heart.

School librarians often feel outnumbered. There is often only one school librarian in a large school community of more than one hundred teachers. School teachers in some countries in Europe also have very strong unions which advocate the opinion of these people. In some countries, the school librarian is a qualified teacher and part of the teaching community. In other countries, this is not the case. Some countries have a strong School Library Association, other do not. The school librarian has a very important job to play in Digital Europe; this person has a pivotal role in the implementation of new forms of learning, interdisciplinary information literacy instruction for pupils, teachers and parent, knowledge management and the correct use of ICT throughout the school. He or she needs the support of colleagues throughout Europe who find themselves in a similar position.

The purpose of this paper is to promote a “We” feeling, so that school librarians, school information specialists, teacher librarians and school documentalists throughout Europe can learn more about each other’s work and hopefully find the support which they need. This co-operation will improve the quality of their work, since they will learn from each other’s successes and failures. It will also enhance the image of school librarianship in Europe. By working together and supporting each other, they can draw the attention of the European Union to the important work which they are doing. “We” are united by our love of and belief in school librarianship.

Research shows that school librarians and information specialists throughout Europe are already actively trying to promote the important work which they are doing. School libraries in some countries are more advanced than others. At this point, I would like to show you some pictures of school libraries and information centres in various countries throughout Europe. Various slides will be shown. As you can see, we have school libraries in primary schools as well as secondary schools. Some schools have advanced facilities (including superior collections and ICT facilities). Other schools have a smaller budget. The school libraries are all different but the school librarians are all working towards similar goals.

This work not only comprises the traditional goals such as literacy, reading improvement, reading pleasure, searching for and finding information for projects and assignments, or the provision of a friendly place within the school where pupils can study under the careful supervision of the school librarian and information specialist. The new goals are also very important. These new goals of the SLIC are made possible thanks to the introduction of ICT into the school and within the school library and information centre. They include the stimulation of new forms of learning which now take place in the school library and information centre (SLIC), such as learning to learn, individual learning, co-operative learning, enquiry learning and E-learning. Perhaps most important of all is the instruction in interdisciplinary information literacy and lifelong learning skills for both teachers, pupils and parents which takes place in the SLIC. Pupils, teachers and parents learn new skills in the SLIC which will help to prepare for them for their roles as citizens in the European society of the 21st century.

This was confirmed by Prof. Luisa Marquardt, Consultant, CASPUR, Progetto MIUR “Biblioteche nelle Scuole”, from Rome, Italy during the IASL Annual Conference which was held in Oslo in 2005. She clearly stated that there was a need of co-operation between school librarians and information specialists at a European level[2]. Professor Marquardt takes this position seriously and is often responsible for the organisation of international school library seminars in Italy, including an international seminar for School Library Day in 2007.

Communication - the importance of language:

Language plays an important role in communication within Europe. The official language of many of the library organisations which are mentioned below is English. School librarians and information specialist from other parts of the world such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA are able to communicate easily in this language. Current research shows, however that things are not so simple in Europe.

It is sometimes even difficult to specifically identify which countries are actually part of Europe, let alone the official or native languages which are spoken in these countries. Some lists of European countries include certain countries which were formerly part of the USSR. Other lists place these countries in Asia. The writer has chosen to use a list of 49 countries (excluding the Vatican). This list includes 27 members of the EU, 3 candidate members and 19 other European countries[3]. In these 49 countries, a total of 35 official and national languages are spoken and used.

These figures would seem to indicate that communication between European school librarians and information specialists may be a problem. The writer has drawn this matter to the attention of other delegates at different international conferences, where the official language is often English. The answer which is often received is: “Oh, but everybody speaks English!”. During interviews which were carried out during this research, school librarians were specifically asked if they were able to read English documents, books, papers and other information about developments in school librarianship. The answer was that many of them were unable to do so. Although they sometimes had a working knowledge of English or German, they were unable to read and understand more complex documents.

Diversity of school systems in Europe.

School systems in Europe differ from one country to the next. They are extremely diverse. Information about school systems of member countries of the EU can be found at Eurydice, the information network on education in Europe[4] .

European conference on school libraries.

In April 2007, the first European conference on school libraries took place in Wels, Upper Austria. The topic of the conference was “School Libraries as Places of Learning: no learning without reading” and was organised by the Library Service for Schools (Bibliotheken-Service für Schulen)[5] .

One hundred and thirty school librarians, information specialists and other educators travelled from 18 different countries in Europe to attend the meeting. While some delegates travelled in reasonable style, others arrived in small cars from all parts of Europe. These cars were packed full with eager school librarians.

These people attended lectures and took part in important discussions during the conference. These discussions were related to the changes which are taking place in the work carried out by school information specialists since the introduction of ICT and new forms of learning into the schools.

Delegates agreed that the school library and information centre has now become an important educational environment within the school, where pupils become involved in new forms of learning, including E-learning and information literacy.

The delegates in Wels discussed the need for new training programmes which would help school information specialists to carry out these new, important tasks.

As one of the delegates pointed out, the official language of the conference was “broken English”, but nevertheless, everybody did their best to communicate with each other and learn from each other. It was a wonderful experience.

Important information about school libraries and organisations which promote school librarianship.

First of all, I would like to summarise some of the work which has been going on for approximately ten years, in order to stimulate the “We” feeling and help the work which is being done by school librarians, school documentalists and school information specialists throughout Europe (and also throughout the whole world). This information has been obtained from various (European) web sites and other sources.

The information which appears below refers not only applicable to public, government funded schools and their libraries, but also to private or international schools.

1. IFLA

Literacy, school libraries and information literacy are increasingly the focus of public attention throughout the world. An important event has been the publication of the following documents by UNESCO and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA):

· The “IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto : The School Library in Teaching and Learning for All” makes the following statement:

“The school library provides information and ideas that are fundamental to functioning successfully in today's information and knowledge-based society. The school library equips students with life-long learning skills and develops the imagination, enabling them to live as responsible citizens”.

The IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto[6] was first published in 1999. It is now available in 24 languages which are spoken in Europe. School librarians from many different countries throughout Europe can read it, become familiar with it, and use its contents to promote their work.

This manifesto defines the mission and goals of the school library or resource centre and the profile of its staff. It emphasises equal opportunities for all learners.

· The IFLA/UNESCO School Library Guidelines[7] were first published in 2002, to help schools and school librarians to implement the principles expressed in the manifesto. These guidelines were produced to inform decision makers at national and local levels around the world, and to give support and guidance to the library community. They have been written to help schools to implement the principles expressed in the Manifesto. The Guidelines help in developing a mission and a policy for the school library. They state which resources and staffing are essential for a well functioning school library.

Since their publication in 2002, the Guidelines have been translated into 12 European languages.

· IFLA has also published the School Library Advocacy kit[8]. This document advocates strong school libraries using the IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto and Guidelines and other resources.

The first step, however, is to make sure that these documents have been accurately translated into the official language of your own country. This task is usually carried out by the National Library Association or the School Library Association. Once this has been done, the translations can be submitted to IFLA. They will then be made available, via internet, to people throughout the world.

Librarians and library associations can use these documents to raise the profile of school libraries and resource centres in their own schools, their own regions and their own countries. School librarians who want to use these documents successfully, will have to develop a strategy that is adapted to the local situation and legislation. There is not one recipe that can be used world-wide. In these documents, the IFLA Section School Libraries and Resource Centres presents useful ideas and relevant resources to develop such a strategy.

IFLA also has a special section for school libraries and resource centres[9]. The section is concerned with improving and developing school libraries all over the world. Adequate staffing by qualified personnel is advocated. The section provides an international forum for exchanging ideas, experiences, research results and advocacy. The vital role of school libraries in an information-oriented society is important in teaching and learning and enabling individuals to live and participate in a democratic world. The goals of the section for school libraries and resource centres are:

· to promote and advocate the role of the school library and resource centre.

· to delineate the role of the school librarian.

· to assist school librarians in their professional development.

· to promote and disseminate research in the field of school librarianship.

The section publishes an interesting on-line newsletter[10]. The editor of the newsletter at the present time is Dr. Lesley Farmer from the California State University Long Beach. I wrote to Dr. Farmer to ask for more information about this magazine. On 22 January 2008 she replied:

Fortunately for many librarians, the newsletter is posted online at http://www.ifla.org/VII/s11/news/school-newsletter45.pdf for anyone to read.

The previous editor was Mr. Niels Damgaard from Norway. In 2006, while he was the editor, the newsletter won an award from IFLA for being the best IFLA newsletter. On 22 January 2008 Mr. Damgaard sent the following information:

It is not possible to run a newsletter with 35 languages – every country could – however – … (by asking the editor/contributors for permission) from the IFLA newsletter to translate (articles) to a local language - and bring out this in their area.

Both Dr. Farmer and Mr. Damgaard have very kindly given me printed copies of recent issues of the newsletter so that you can all see what it looks like, but as Dr. Farmers says, you can read it on-line, or print it off – whichever you prefer.

2. IASL.

In 1971, in Jamaica, the International Association of School Librarianship was formally inaugurated, officers were elected and a constitution was adopted. In July 1972, in London, the first annual conference of the International Association of School Librarianship was held at the Sidney Webb College.

Since 1972, the IASL has held an annual conference in various parts of the world. School librarians have met and discussed many different aspects of school librarianship. Papers have been presented by school librarians and academics from all parts of the world and workshops have been held. These papers, and a lot of other very useful information, are available through the IASL website[11]

The IASL also has a very useful listserv. Via this listserv, you can communicate with school librarians from all over the world. It contains all kinds of useful information. I will mention more about this later, in the paragraph about Web 2.0 - social software.

You may wish to suggest to your National School Library Association or your National Library Association that they become an institutional member of the IASL. Unfortunately, at the present time, their are only a small number of individual European members of the IASL. If you want more information about the IASL and how to become a member, please contact Mrs. Lourense Das, Director Europe, IASL iasl@meles.nl

IASL Advocacy for school librarians.

If there is no National School Library Association in your country, you may wish to visit the section of the IASL web page about Advocacy[12]. .Here you will find an article entitled “Getting Started : Ideas and Procedures for starting a School Library Association or Section”.

School libraries make a difference to student achievement.

A sub-section of the IASL Advocacy kit is a page which contains links to research reports and other documents that show that school libraries make a difference to student achievement and that school libraries have a positive impact on students and on learning. There are documents from a number of countries. There are also links to articles in professional journals and newspapers that are based on these documents. This page is intended to help school librarians to answer the question, "Do school libraries make a difference?"[13] and to give them information which they can present to and discuss with their school leaders and other teachers.

International School Library Day.

Every year, in November, the IASL celebrates International School Library Day. This year, school libraries and other institutions sent information about their School Library Day to the IASL web page11.

There was information from many European schools (primary schools, secondary schools, international schools and other organisations). It was wonderful to see what wonderful work people in Europe are doing to promote school librarianship.

On 23 January 2008 I received the following information from Ms. Karen Bonanno, IASL Executive Secretary:

In regard to ISLD … the committee for this program are looking at moving to an ISL Month and then schools can choose an appropriate day on which to celebrate as there are often holidays, religious celebrations or national days that clash with the fourth Monday in October each year.

3. ENSIL

The introduction of ICT into schools brought about many changes in school librarianship. In August 2000, the 29th Annual IASL Conference and Exhibition was held in Malmö, Sweden. The theme for this conference was Information Literacy - Key to the Future.

A group of European delegates who were present at the meeting discussed the importance of promoting school librarianship and information literacy in Europe. They decided to try to organise a European meeting to discuss these matters.

In March 2003, representatives of associations for teachers and librarians, as well as some ministries of education, from eight European countries, came together at the Amsterdam University (Hogeschool van Amsterdam) in the Netherlands to discuss these issues. The host for the meeting was Mrs. Lourense Das, who was at that time the Policy Officer for the Dutch Association of School Librarians. In the first ENSIL press release she made the following statement:

"It signifies the enormous importance of these issues that so many professional librarians and educators travelled to the Netherlands for this meeting."

At that meeting, delegates from Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Sweden and the United Kingdom set up an informal group, the European Network for School Libraries and Information Literacy (ENSIL).

The following statement was adopted by the delegates who were present at the first ENSIL meeting:

“Amsterdam Statement on School Libraries and Information Literacy
International research shows that the quality of students' learning outcomes is greatly enhanced by effective school libraries.
All learners in each country of Europe are entitled to quality school library/media centres and services.
In order to achieve this, each country in Europe, and the European Union, should adopt and implement the principles of the IFLA / UNESCO School Library Manifesto1.
ENSIL invites other library and educational organisations throughout Europe to join and contribute to further discussion and action.”

Since its inauguration, ENSIL has held various meetings throughout Europe: in Italy, Russia, Portugal and Austria. As of 30 September 2007, ENSIL has 65 members from 19 countries within Europe. ENSIL maintains its own website, which contains all kinds of useful information for school librarians and information specialists who are working in Europe: www.ensil.eu . An ENSIL meeting was recently held in Berlin, Germany during the ECIS Library and Information Services conference (29 February - 2 March 2008.

The official language of ENSIL is English. This problem of language was discussed during an ENSIL meeting which was held in Lisbon in 2006. Mrs Lourense Das, the ENSIL co-ordinator and also the Director Europe for the IASL made the following statement[14]:

“ …I will do my best to work on the development of translations.

In Lisbon, the members of the ENSIL group agreed that:

· all (European) non-English speaking school library associations are invited to develop at least one page in the English language on their web-sites.

· all English-speaking school library associations are invited to develop annotations in at least one other language especially with regard to the resources pages on their web-sites.

· all contributors to the ENSIL blog will be asked to send the information (resources, announcements etc.) in the original language with an annotation in English.

These actions will create a multilingual web-site. We hope this initiative will be adopted for the IASL web-site, as well as a first start to create a multilingual web-site.”

4. Other important organisations and web-sites.

Of course there are many more organisations which provide useful information for school librarians in Europe, such as national school library associations and national library association. There is not time to list them all. However, if you know of other important European and/or international organisation which could provide useful information to school librarians, in English or any other official or national European language, please advise the writer of this paper or mail the information to ENSIL ensil@meles.nl .

The organisations which appear below all have English as (one of) their official languages.

· European Council of International Schools (ECIS).

ECIS is a collaborative network promoting the ideals and best practice of international education[15]. The ECIS has a committee for Library and Information Services. On the web-page for this committee, there is a wonderful list of Resources for Librarians & Information Specialists in International Schools[16]. Library committee web-page[17]:

Also, from 29 February - 2 March 2008 the ECIS Library and Information Services conference was held in Berlin, Germany. The title of the conference was 'Going Places'. The organisers of this conference kindly gave permission for ENSIL members to organise a small part of the programme – a wonderful opportunity for European school librarians from different organisations to meet each other.

· School Library Association, based in the U.K.

The vision of this school library association is as follows:

We believe that every pupil is entitled to effective school library provision. The SLA is committed to supporting everyone involved with school libraries, promoting high quality reading and learning opportunities for all.

A small amount of the information on the SLA web-site[18] is written in different European languages. The web-site is a wonderful source of information and resources for school librarians, in Europe and world-wide.

· American Association of School Librarians.

The web-site of this organisation[19] contains a wealth of information for school librarians (in the English language) not only in the USA but throughout the world. :

More specifically, this site contains excerpts from Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning (1998). / American Library Association and Association for Educational Communications and Technology

- Roles and Responsibilities of the School Library Media Specialist

- Teaching of information literacy skills, etc.

It also contains the new “Standards for the 21st-century learner” (2007). This very important document supports the work of the school library and information specialist.

· Association of International Librarians & Information Specialists:

This is an association of all different kinds of international librarians and information specialists, not just school librarians.

A primary aim of The Association of International Librarians and Information Specialists (AILIS) is to foster better communication and closer co-operation amongst international librarians and information specialists in the Geneva - Lausanne area. … [20]

The web-site contains some useful information for school librarians.

· School-libraries net.

This web page lists web pages created by school librarians throughout the world, at public schools and also at private and international schools. http://www.school-libraries.net

The importance of national library associations and national school library association.

Many national library associations and national school library associations have their own communication tools – a web-site in their own official or national language, brochures etc. In order to promote the “We-feeling”, we can all make sure that the IASL and ENSIL have accurate information about these organisations and web sites. Please send this information to Mrs. Lourense Das iasl@meles.nl or ensil@meles.nl. Mrs. Das is the Director Europe of the IASL and also the co-ordinator of the ENSIL network.

Also, if your association has a brochure promoting the work of school libraries, please contact Mrs. Das with this information. It may be an on-line brochure or a printed version. If it is possible to make an English translation of this brochure, it would be very useful.

I would like to show you a copy of the printed brochure from the LWSVO, the Dutch Association of Secondary School Librarians. I have made an English translation so that you can read the information which it contains. This brochure can be handed out to school principals and to others who are interested in the important work which is being done by school librarians.

All this information and ideas from other associations helps our fellow school librarians in other European countries. It gives them ideas but, not only that, it gives a feeling of support when they realise that other people throughout Europe are working towards the same goals.

Important European school library projects.

Some consistent knowledge and expertise is made available to school librarians and information specialists from wide and long term projects. Some of the projects which are taking part in Europe appear below. There are also other excellent projects which have not been listed. Readers who have more information about European projects, please contact ensil@meles.nl so that “We” can all be aware of the excellent work which is being done. If information about these projects is available in languages other than English, please send it in the national language. “We” want to try to communicate with each other and learn what is going on in other countries within Europe.

The projects which appear below are only a selection, for example:

· the 10 year old Portuguese national project "Rede de bibliotecas escolares" in Portugal;

· The THEKA Project[21].

The Portuguese Theka Project - the Calouste Gulbenkian Project for Teacher Education to Develop School Libraries - is a project based on co-operation between school libraries, public libraries, the Portuguese Library Association (BAD) and the Gulbenkan Foundation. The project has three goals:

- Training teachers to develop schools libraries as resource centres to improve reading, information literacy, pupils success and learning, as well as to provide support for lifelong learning and gateways to knowledge and culture.

- Developing school library projects working closely with pupils, staff, and community, through managing and supporting the school curriculum and extra-curricular activities in order to promote a whole-school ethos.

- Creating and maintaining self-training resources using a wide range of different supports including web pages, database, reference documents, information on research and innovation.

· The Biblioteche nelle Scuole (“Biblioscuole”) Project[22].

This Italian project aims to connect schools and the library world, within a local context, providing innovative services, granting access to information, by the means of co-operation and the services of the Italian National Library Service (SBN. This national pilot project, which is funded and supported by the Ministry of Education, University and Research, Direzione Generale Servizi Informativi (MIUR-DGSI) and Department of Technology and Innovation (DIT), in collaboration with National Centre for the Union Catalogue (ICCU) and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage (MiBAC), was launched in April 2004.

The main aims of the project are: providing a wider access to information; enhancing information literacy, and promoting reading. The overall goal is to contribute to lifelong learning, for a continuous cultural development and the social inclusion.

More information on www.biblioscuole.it.

· A second Italian project, which has to do with the introduction of technology into the schools, was launched in Oct.2004[23]. This project, and a former project - "PSBS" (1999-2001)- both complied with the IFLA-UNESCO School Library Guidelines. They contained information which clearly confirmed the need for the school librarian to be properly and effectively trained, retrained and recognised, so that they could help pupils and teachers to face the changes in schools and society in the 21st century.

· SLAM[24], GrandSLAM[25] and SLAMIT[26].

SLAM was a European Community Socrates funded project, with partner schools in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway and the UK. The GrandSLAM project, a follow-up to the SLAM project, had partner schools from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Spain and the UK. SLAMIT builds on the experience and outcomes of the successful SLAM and GrandSLAM projects and now seeks to disseminate the development of school libraries to become full library and learning resource centres at the heart of the curriculum and the introduction of new enquiry based approaches and learning styles embedded within the curriculum. The SLAMIT project now seeks to extend the work of these two earlier successful projects.

What can “We” do to promote school librarianship in Europe?

As mentioned at the beginning of this paper, The purpose of this paper is to promote a “We” feeling, so that school librarians, school information specialists, teacher librarians and school documentalists throughout Europe will be able to co-operate with each other in a way which will enhance the image of school librarianship in Europe.

· Publications in your own language

Ask your National Library Association of National School Library Association to contact the international organisations mentioned above and explain the language problem to them. Ask for more information to be made available about school librarianship in the official language of your country.

In some countries, the IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto and the IFLA/UNESCO School Library Guidelines have already been translated into the official language. May I suggest that other very important documents which have to do with school library advocacy should also be translated, for example:

- Standards for the 21st-century learner, published by the AASL (American Association of School Libraries)[27]. Of course, you can only do this after you have obtained permission from the AASL.

- Some of the documents listed by the IASL[28]. which answer the question, "Do school libraries make a difference?".

Once more, please note that permission must be obtained before any of these documents are translated. Nevertheless, it is important that people who do not speak English are aware of the contents of these important documents.

There translated documents can then be distributed to school leaders, local and European politicians, so that they can become aware of the important work which school librarians are doing.

· School library law

Some countries in Europe have a school library law. Other presently have a school library Bill which is waiting to be presented to the national parliament.

A school library law is a law which states that every school should have a school library run by a professionally trained school librarians. There are many variations to this law. Some laws state that school libraries should be available in primary schools only. Others state that school libraries should be available for certain classes in secondary schools, for example the upper school only. In other countries, there is a law which states that the school has to provide a library but it only needs to be open for a limited number of hours each week. Other laws to not specifically state that the school library has to be run by a qualified librarian.

There are also European countries which have no school library law at all.

The school library law is often related to financial questions - in some countries, this law is not passed for financial reasons. Some countries in Europe are still spending money on the promotion of adult literacy. There is no money left over for school libraries.

In some countries, school libraries and education fall under the jurisdiction of the provincial government. While one province or state may have excellent school libraries, another may have none at all.

Some individual schools cannot afford to have a school library. It may be left to the principal to decide whether or not the school should have a school library, but in some cases there is just not enough funding to provide this facility.

In countries where there is no school library legislation, the School Library Association or the National Library Association can raise this question with local or European politicians. There is sufficient information for this purpose in the IFLA School Library Advocacy Kit4 or on the IASL Advocacy page to support this cause.

The writer is currently doing limited research into which countries in Europe have a School Library Law and will write a separate paper on this subject.

· Information about the work of School Libraries and Information Centres in European educational databases.

Although there are EU educational databases, they contain very little information about school libraries and their importance in educational achievement in digital Europe.

These databases often contain information about ICT technical facilities within the schools, but there is very little information about how (digital) content is administered and/or used by the pupils. A questionnaire which has been sent out to gather information from schools may have asked a teacher “How often do you use a computer in your lessons”, but important, specific questions such as “How do pupils use ICT to gather information in your lessons”, “How do they do this?” or “Do they receive instruction in information literacy skills” are seldom asked.

Write to your local politicians and ask them to request that this information about school libraries and information centres and the work of school librarians be included, per country. It is becoming clear from the research mentioned above that many European countries have a School Library Law. It therefore only logical that information about this important part of the school should be included in the EU educational databases.

· National survey of school libraries.

Has there been a national survey of school libraries in your country? This is very useful, and can provide important information for school library advocacy and for research about the effectiveness of school libraries in Europe. On-line questionnaires are now a possibility.

· Inaccuracy of some (digital) information about school libraries and school librarians.

Check the data about our profession, contained in databases, registers, guides, web-sites etc. You will find that this information is often inaccurate or has not been kept up to date. If you notice these problems, ask for the information to be rectified.

There are also links to important school library web-sites which do not work. Advise the webmaster of these problems.

Useful tools:

Web 2.0 has provided school librarians with useful tools which make communication easier. Many school library associations have List-Servs of Blogs, in their own national language. School librarians can use this technology to find out what other colleagues are doing and sometimes ask for help or suggestions.

Recent developments:

Very recently, a number of European colleagues have joined forces to make an application to the European Union for a training programme for school librarians and information specialists. Research has shown that, because of the increasing complexity of the use of ICT in schools, and the need for school information specialists, very few countries in Europe are still training an adequate number of school librarians, with a teaching accreditation, who will be able to carry out this work

Research is beginning to show that those countries which have a School Library Law are also still training qualified school librarians and information specialists, with a teaching accreditation.

At the moment, a group of European colleagues are gathering information from potential partners in order to present a proposal for funding from the European Union. This project would attempt to set up a training programme, via E-learning, for school librarians and information specialists throughout Europe, in a number of different European languages. This co-operation should be possible under the terms of the Bologna Agreement.

School information specialists could, through this programme, increase their qualifications to Master’s degree level, with a teaching qualification. The purpose of this programme is to not only increase the skills of the school librarians and information specialists so that they can meet the challenges of the 21st century, but it is also hoped that it will draw attention to the important work which is carried out by these people and raise the status of their work throughout Europe.

Conclusions:

The indications are that school librarians from all over Europe are joining together to help and support each other in their endeavours. They are developing a “We-feeling. It is to be hoped that this paper will give them encouragement and will provide them with important sources of information for this purpose.

Thank you for your kind attention.

Paper presented by Helen Boelens at the Summer school of Croatian school librarians, Opatija, Croatia on 2–5 Arpil 2008.

Notes

[1] WINKLER, Heinrich August (2007). The Values of Europe are the Values of the West: Why the European Union Urgently Needs to Develop a "We-Feeling". Die Welt, 27 December 2007. Online. http://eupundit.blogspot.com/2008/01/europes-shared-values-are-values-of.html Accessed on 19 January 2007.

[2] http://www.iasl-online.org/events/conf/2006/conference2006-tuesday.html Accessed on 24 January 2008.

[3] http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/european_languages.htm . Accessed on 6 september 2007.

[4] http://www.eurydice.org/portal/page/portal/Eurydice Accessed on 24 January 2008.

[5] http://www.buchzeit.at Accessed on 24 January 2008.

[6] http://www.ifla.org/VII/s11/pubs/schoolmanif.htm . Last update: 23 March 2007

[7] http://www.ifla.org/VII/s11/pubs/school-guidelines.htm . Last updated: 21 November 2007

[8] http://www.ifla.org/VII/s11/pubs/s11_AdvocacyKit.html Last update: 28 July 2006

[9] http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla65/papers/037-79e.htm

[10] http://www.ifla.org/VII/s11/news/school-newsletter45.pdf Accessed on 24 January 2008.

[11] www.iasl-online.org. Accessed on 24 January 2008.

[12] http://www.iasl-online.org/advocacy/getting-started.html. Accessed on 24 January 2008.

[13] http://www.iasl-online.org/advocacy/make-a-difference.html. Accessed on 24 January 2008.

1 http://www.ifla.org/VII/s11/pubs/schoolmanif.htm . Last update: 23 March 2007

[14] Statement by Mrs. Lourense Das: http://www.iasl-online.org/events/conf/reports/conference_report2006a.html

[15] http://www.ecis.org/aboutus.asp . Accessed on 22 January 2008.

[16] http://158.64.118.6/wr/user/library/English/Info%20specialists/index.htm Accessed on 22 January 2008

[17] http://www.ecis.org/committees/library.htm Accessed on 22 January 2008.

[18] http://www.sla.org.uk/ Accessed on 22 January 2008

[19] http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslindex.htm Accessed on 22 January 2008.

[20] http://ailis.cern.ch/ Accessed on 22 January 2008.

[21] www.theka.org Accessed on 24 January 2008.

[22] www.biblioscuole.it Accessed on 22 January 2008.

[23] http://www.pubblica.istruzione.it/innovazione/progetti/prot3352.shtml

[24] http://www.karmoyped.no/slam/ Accessed on 22 January 2008

[25] http://www.gslam.net/ Accessed on 22 January 2008

[26] http://www.slamit.org/ Accessed on 22 January 2008

[27] www.ala.org/aasl/standards Accessed on 22 January 2008.

[28] http://www.iasl-online.org/advocacy/make-a-difference.html Accessed on 24 January 2008.

4 http://www.ifla.org/VII/s11/pubs/s11_AdvocacyKit.html Last update: 28 July 2006

Ensil

European Network for School Libraries and Information Literacy

European Associations

International Associations

Research

Resources

World Library and Information Congress: 75th IFLA General Conference and Assembly

Italian school library networks

Here you can find two links to an article of Luisa Marquardt was asked for by the Goethe Institut Italien: the titles of the two versions sound a bit different, but the content is the same and it describes some Italian school library networks.

Neue Konzepte für Schulbibliothekare

Fifth UNESCO TTT Information Literacy Workshop

IASL 2009

Italian LIS students visit the Netherlands

School Libraries Network Program in Portugal

The “We” feeling :

Cross-Border, Cross-Language, Cross-Culture co-operation amongst school librarians in Europe

Formalisation of the Network ENSIL

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