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November 14, 2007
A school librarian spells it out
from Marcus Viner
Libraries are an indicator of reading standards,and it is the standard of the teaching of English which is the problem. For libraries to thrive there has to be a need for them, a customer base if you will. It is naive and unhelpful to think that providing libraries is a cure to the problem of illiteracy, rather we should think of them as the catalyst which feeds a passion born out of good schooling. As a school librarian / Teaching Assistant of over 6 years I see the problem first hand, and whilst the teaching profession continues to believe that spelling is unimportant, that wordsearches and handouts will inspire kids, that using cut and paste and spellcheck are adequate substitutes for teaching spelling and grammar etc etc then public libraries will continue to disappear.
We can't expect libraries to be full when we aren't teaching our kids to read, any more than you can expect swimming pools to be full when no-one can swim!
from Pete
But school libaries can act as a catalyst for, and an example of, better teaching. With no libraries, where is the counter to the teaching you describe? It is not an better teaching then libraries situation, but a better teaching and libraries. I'd say the issue lies in teacher training, especially when it comes to the use (or not) of libraries in schools. My partner is a school librarian, and I am a former teacher.
Posted by Perkins at November 14, 2007 9:03 AM