Introduction

The fundamental role of the school library and librarian is to support the mission and aims of the school, to support teaching and learning, and to provide for the needs of the school community. Some schools see the library's role as mainly supporting reading and, if this is the case, it is often under the remit of the English department and the librarian may have little contact with other departments. Other schools will view the library as a more academic space to be used for learning and quiet study, particularly by older students, and the librarian may find themselves in a more supervisory role.

Libraries operate within an environment that is constantly changing. Each year, a new cohort of students with varying needs arrives and older students leave; the curriculum changes, sometimes through legal requirements, at other times by staff choosing a different topic to study; there are educational initiatives announced by the government that require schools to change their priorities; and senior management set new targets and objectives for the school. In order to remain relevant, libraries must respond to all these changes.

The resources and services offered by the library can vary from school to school and will be impacted by how the school views its role. These may include:

• ■ supporting learning to read, particularly in primary schools

• ■ supporting initiatives to improve literacy levels

• ■ promoting and supporting reading for pleasure

• ■ providing a study space for students

• ■ supporting teaching and learning in all curriculum areas  

• ■ delivering an information literacy programme

• ■ providing a space that feeds into the wellbeing and mental health of students

• ■ providing a range of extracurricular activities.

In an ideal world, every school library would be able to provide all these services. The reality is that many school librarians are solo workers with an endless to-do list, many only work term-time or part-time hours, and the management and administration of the library and its collection takes up a lot of time, making it difficult to consider a more strategic and long-term overview.

This chapter considers how the role of the library can support the school via its School Development Plan (SDP) and how this feeds into the Library Development Plan (LDP).