October is International School Library Month

October is International School Library Month (ISLM) celebrated across the world to celebrate the significance of the school library and school librarians in the learning environment.

The theme for this year is School libraries: a key to the past, present and future which reveal a very strong connection between the school library and the cultural, social and educational environments of society.

The school libraries are instrumental in fostering intellectual growth amongst the students and further prepare the students to be independent researchers through imparting information literacy skills to allow students to study and seek information effectively in the information age. Thus the benefit to the students is competences to utilise information effectively and be able to participant in the education system as an informed student.

The Zimbabwe Library Association (ZimLA) branches in Manicaland, Mashonaland, Matebeleland, Midlands and Masvingo are to commemorate the month in different activities that honour the school librarians for their resilience in working towards achieving the Unesco/IFLA School library Manifesto that states that, “The School library is essential to every long-term strategy for literacy, education, information provision and economic, social and cultural development.”

It is envisioned that training activities are to be part of the events to equip the school librarians with skills that make them relevant in the environment were electronic gadgets are becoming popular with students. Further activities may include a School Library Open Day to create awareness about the school library and its purpose in the learning environment to parents and the community in general.

The functions of the School Library as expressed by the International Association of School Librarianship (IASL) are as follows:-

Informational - to provide for reliable information, rapid access, retrieval and transfer of information; the school library should be part of regional and national information networks.

Educational - to provide continuous lifelong education through provision of the facilities and atmosphere for learning: guidance in location, selection and use of material and training in information skills, through integration with classroom teaching; promotion of intellectual freedom.

Cultural - to improve the quality of life through the presentation and support of the aesthetic experience, guidance in appreciation of arts, encouragement of creativity, and development of positive human relations.

Recreational - to support and enhance a balanced and enriched life and encourage meaningful use of leisure time through provision of recreational information, materials and programs of recreational value, and guidance in the use of leisure time.

The role of the school library is to “facilitate the planning and implementation of learning programmes that will equip students with the skills necessary to succeed in a constantly changing social and economic environment.” Through resource-based programs, students acquire skills to collect, critically analyse and organise information, problem-solve and communicate their understandings reported IASL.

The school library system in Zimbabwe is facing a myriad of challenges from lack of funding to lack of space. Above that school libraries do not seem to be a top priority for the Ministry of Education and School Administrators despite the advantages and the instrumental role of the school libraries in the learning environment. A general assessment of the situation shows that a school library may be a classroom block with boxes and is always closed and if opened it is under stocked. Further assessment reveal that the position of a school librarian in Zimbabwe is not supported by the Public Service Commission (PSC) and Salary Services Bureau (SSB), human resource department of the government. This leaves the position of librarian being sponsored by the School Development Association offering poor remuneration and working conditions that give the position a bad image.

At the 46^th ZimLA Conference in Kadoma in June librarians moved a motion to the Ministry representative that the position of the school librarian should be absorbed in to the PSC and SSB structures. It is the hope of ZimLA that a positive resolution would materialise from the Ministry.

As the School library month progress in the month of October let’s see the events that promote the school library as an engagement place that help to define the students in the quest of information and impart information literacy skills essential for independent learning.