There are fewer school libraries, but only one student group is affected |
There are fewer school libraries, but only one student group is affected
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Do you remember your school library? Maybe you devoured a series introduced to you by the teacher librarian or found just the right books for your project. Perhaps it was a safe place to go at lunchtime, where new interests developed, or a place where you could let your imagination run wild. Hopefully you remember your school library as an important part of your education – a place of learning where curiosity, imagination and the joy of reading for pleasure were all made possible.
Many students today don’t have the opportunity to create such memories because in every state and territory in Australia, there is currently no legal requirement for a school to have a library. This includes infant, primary and secondary schools. It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. Any requirements that do exist are policy-based and not enforceable. For example, the NSW Department of Education has a school library policy, but it is not mandated in law, nor is compliance-tracked or enforced as far as we are aware.
The existence of a school library is largely dependent on the school system (Catholic, independent or government) followed by the school principal who has significant discretion over how the budget........