The cruciality of activating school libraries right now
Last week was one where I spent much time with librarians. First, as the keynote speaker to the 18th National Conference on Library and Information Science organised by the Sri Lanka Library Association held at the Gampaha Public Library and then as a guest of the 34th Anniversary Celebrations of the National Library of Sri Lanka held in its own auditorium at Independence Square. In each of these places, I could hear librarians speak, had a chance to speak to them on a one-to-one basis as well, and this article is written based on that knowledge, though names or positions will not be used here – as the main thrust of this is to focus attention on one glaring problem facing the library system in Sri Lanka at the moment.
Some feel that libraries will be empty buildings sometime in the future, those few who read also having gone onto digital platforms to do so. The value of e-material being made available in libraries is of great value to academic researchers and so on, and perhaps to readers on Kindle when it comes to fiction, but otherwise, the internet seems a place for garnering bits and pieces of information, not serious reading, and especially not a place where children can be attracted towards this activity.
And why are children important in this context? Because research has shown that the easiest and best time to get anyone attracted to reading is at the earliest ages. If we do not provide them a chance to be with books at that age, there is no point in bemoaning the fact that young people and adults do not use libraries any more.
This is where the cruciality of school libraries come in. What better place to show them the wonder and magic of books than the place children gather every morning? For there to be a dynamic school library system, at least two things must happen: the education system per se must see the value of reading; and the libraries should be the most dynamic place in school, staffed by committed, professionally-trained librarians. The first is a problem connected with what we, in Sri Lanka, think education is, and I won’t attempt discussing that here; a whole series of articles would be needed to attend to that. But the second, after talking to many people in the system, I have something to say and draw attention to.
How many school libraries exist in Sri Lanka?
From around 10, 127 government schools only one third – around 3, 500 schools – have a permanent library. Another one third has at least a book cupboard and another 3000 have nothing at all. These tend to be the most remote areas, according to my source, which is a pity, for if any group of people is most in need of a library, it would be them.
This is where the public library system can step in and have their doors open for children to come in. We do have many public libraries dotting the country and them linking hands with schools would solve this problem somewhat. But this would require very good librarians working in both sectors. And it is here that the problem lies.
The non-hiring of professional librarians
In the school system and the public library system, there is a crying need for professional librarians to be hired, for though there are vacancies for this position, recruitment apparently isn’t being done much. What is being filled is what is called a “library attendant” position – a laborer class grade that belongs to the lowest rung of government service. This may make sense if the idea is to fill it with political appointees, but it is a disastrous state of affairs when the library has to be run by untrained staff. And some who come in, despite the position, are very well trained in library science but the lack of promotional opportunities, and moreover, their lack of authority to actually get things done given their official role, makes this a very frustrating and disappointing task. And sometimes, when there is no filled librarian position (these empty positions may even be at a staggering 90%, apparently, in schools), they are entrusted with running full libraries.
This is a strange state of affairs and not always connected with finance, for there apparently is not much difference between what each category can make. And it is a very harmful state of affairs. One couldn’t have planned it better if the idea was to get a whole nation out of the reading habit.
The possibility of “Teacher-librarians”
There are three positions available – at least on paper – for school libraries: teacher-librarian, library teachers, and professional librarians. A teacher-librarian is someone with qualifications in both teaching (any subject) and also librarianship; library teachers are normal teachers appointed as the school librarian by the principal of the school; and the professional librarian is one who is trained exclusively in library science. Teacher-librarians are appointed by the Education Ministry; a library-teacher, which is not really an official cadre but is someone picked with no crit-ria in place at all (as one library official said sarcastically, it seems as if the principal picks his worst enemy to do this – such problems do they seem to have sometimes, in working together); professional librarians are appointed by the Ministry of Public Administration.
The teacher-librarian position once held the brightest hope for the improvement of school libraries in the country. Within a World Bank Project in 1998 under the framework of improving General Education, the concept of the “teacher-librarian” found in countries like Australia, New Zealand, US and UK, came to Sri Lanka, and consultants to train our people in implementing this came from those countries. The Ministry of Education through its Provincial Councils picked 4000 teachers to attend a series of five-day workshops conducted by the National Institute of Library and Information Science (NILIS), University of Colombo, and these were held across the country in 2002-2003 to train teachers for this role. In addition, The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and NILIS jointly organized a five – day international workshop in Colombo in 2004 to promote information literacy for learning in the South and South East Asian Countries, and held Training of Trainees (ToT) workshops throughout the country thereafter.
NILIS was established in 1999, planned as research and higher education institute to offer training in library science. It functions as an institute under the University of Colombo, and is the only institute considered ‘national’ within the university system. If anyone wished to further their education in Teacher and School Librarianship, NILIS was made ready to help, and more than 200 teachers enrolled to follow postgraduate diplomas and other courses on offer there, after their first five-day workshops with NILIS, and classes started in 2003. It was also during this time that the School Library Development Unit was started in the Education Ministry. Things couldn’t have looked more promising.
Till then school and other libraries had professional librarians, the Ministry of Public Administration having, as part of their combined services, a post called ‘government librarian’ which didn’t only deal with schools. The Central Government appointed ‘Government Librarians’ to national schools and the Provincial Councils appointed the Public Librarians, none of which were happening very regularly or in a regulated manner. With teacher-librarians, the pic-ture in schools, at least, was about to change.
The situation at present
But about 25 years after, what is the situation in Sri Lanka now?
Out of the 4000 teacher-librarians trained, only 273 still remain in that position; some have retired, some have moved to becoming full teachers. Almost no recruitment was done after the initial intake. The crucial space in school – in fact, any education institution really – the library, might be made to seem outdated and obsolete. This shouldn’t be the attitude of anyone, but especially not of children. Deep reflection and critical thinking develop through sustained reading, though information gathering could probably be easier done electronically. Libraries remain, for children, vitally important places.
What went wrong after 4000 teacher-librarians were trained at the start of this project?
The problem at present with the “teacher-librarian” position
The main problem is that the postgraduate qualifications offered by NILIS for teacher librarians are not considered for their promotions (or of teachers in charge of libraries) by the Ministry of Education. A cabinet decision was made in August 2009 to add these qualifications to the Teacher’ Service Minute but it has been of no avail – it wasn’t done. Given the fact that there is no promotional path given by these qualifications (only some provinces allowed promo-tions to teacher librarians, some didn’t), teachers do not get attracted to following these courses and becoming trained in the art of librarianship, so crucial to the running of a good library in schools. With time, teacher-librarians started working as teachers; some were told to do the Postgraduate Diploma in Education – which is considered a qualification for promotion. The attempt by NILIS, and others, to make the Education Ministry aware of these prob-lems have apparently not worked.
An attempt was made in 2021 by the Library Unit of the Education Ministry to get a constitution passed make school librarians a professional body, but a question that had been raised there, to prevent this going through, had been “What is the point of passing constitutions for a group if such a body doesn’t exist?” That such a constitution might have helped the existence of such a vital body of people in the future, may not have been thought of then, with the normal shortsightedness connected to politics.
There are other organizations trying to raise their voices in making people aware of what has been going on here, for all librarians in general. The Sri Lanka Library Association, a body recognized by parliament as a professional association since 1974, has recently written letters to all Governors of Provinces, as well as the Minister of Education, to make them aware of the rather desperate situation that exists in the library field at the moment.
Act now
Libraries should be at the heart of education, and this makes professional librarians existing in these places crucial. For adults who can deal with electronic reading, even the securing of relevant databases and being geared towards them happens successfully under trained librarians, and for children, especially, good librarians can make all the difference in whether an adult who loves reading is created or not. Academic research has shown, over and over again, what good reading habits can do to children. If we are to hope for a better Sri Lanka, with better educated – no, even just better – people in the future, this might be a problem worth solving right now.
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