School Libraries Group Eastern Event - Cambridge

The CILIP SLG regional event took place in December at Cambourne Village College.
Topics discussed included censorship, supporting the curriculum and author visits.

Angela Sparks discussed freedom of access vs. safeguarding - how we as school librarians are gatekeepers of books for young people, and the difficult choices we make when deciding whether to:

• stock a book
• restrict access to a book (with age rating stickers, special collections or via the LMS)
• enable young people to make their own choice of reading material

These dilemmas vary depending on the kind of school, e.g. faith schools and the kind of parents involved with the school.  Some librarians reported letters of complaint from parents who had skim-read books and complained about language or content, but it was pointed out that most complaints come from reading out of context. It was agreed that sexual content and swearing was on the rise in Young Adult fiction, but that children could access this on the Internet or on television easily enough. The difference between film adaptations and the original novels (e.g. Hunger Games and Twilight) - visual content vs. descriptive/imaginative content gave us food for thought. Children are limited by their own imaginations when reading books, and a visual image from a film on the big screen stays in the mind longer than one created by one's own imagination.

Sue Hart presented how she supports EPQ at Kimbolton School, and explained ways in which librarians can get involved, either by supervising candidates, running skills sessions on academic writing, referencing and plagiarism, or by supporting preliminary research. It was a good overview of the qualification, but does involve a lot of work, both by students and staff.

Rosie Pike explained how organising author visits at Bishop's Stortford College became a week-long literary festival. The work involved in organising an event of this scale is a whole school effort, and not for the faint-hearted. However, it is clear that the response from the children makes it all worthwhile and perhaps evening author visits which appeal to both adults and children may help with the costs of these events for school with limited budgets.

After lunch, we indulged our creative sides with Michael Margerison, who described how he teaches different year groups about books, genre and narrative as part of their library lessons. We were all encouraged to write a fantasy adventure story following the conventions. Some took this more seriously than others. Chris, Sara, Concetta, Sue and I came up with the following:

The Voluptuous Witch Nigella was asked by the Wizard Oliver to seek out the Chocolate Fountain of Youth, so she sailed to the Island of Chocotopia in a marshmallow boat. But the Fiery Dragon Delia swooped down and roasted the marshmallow boat, which sank into the sea. Voluptuous Nigella floated to the island on her back, where she discovered the infamous Nut Mountain. Climbing Nut Mountain, Nigella dodged the rain of Ferrero Rocher boulders and giant Chocolate Oranges hurled down upon her by Delia's minion, Ramsey, and was rescued by the Hairy Bikers and their moustaches. All three headed to the Chocolate Fountain of Youth, where Voluptuous Nigella bathed in its cocoa glory.

After the silliness of our stories, Alison Tarrant explained to us how she uses Aurasma, an augmented reality app, to enhance the library experience for pupils. Book covers are linked to reviews of that book; displays are made interactive; explanatory videos (for, e.g. DDC) are accessed from wall signage. Of course, apps rely on a stable internet connection, on devices working effectively, and on some user knowledge. This is an app that may add a little extra fun to the library experience for some youngsters.

And the day ended with some general discussions about current reading, how we would deal with a limited library budget and supporting diversity at school.

A good day, with lots of interesting topics covered, and a good opportunity to meet up with other library professionals in the school sector.