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EUROPEAN

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SCHOOL LIBRARIES STIMULATE CURIOSITY, IMAGINATION AND SHARING

THE SCHOOL LIBRARY IS THE MOST FANTASTIC PLACE IN THE WORLD!

SCHOOL LIBRARIES ARE SEEDS OF

EMOTIONS,KNOWLEDGE AND FREEDOM

SCHOOL LIBRARIES: Reading & Literacies

The following school libraries are participating in this Lifelong LearningProgramme study visit :

Escola Básica Frei João

(Elementary school)

Librarian Teacher :

Dores Fernandes

Escola B1 das Caxinas(Primary school)Librarian Teacher : Celeste Pinheiro

Escola Básica Mindelo(Elementary school)LibrarianTeacher : Rosa Guedes

Escola Básica Júlio Saul Dias(Elementary school)Librarian Teacher : Olga Veloso

Escola Secundária Afonso Sanches(Secondary school)Librarian Teacher: Anabela Aguiar

Escola Secundária José Régio(Secondary school)Librarian Teacher: Fernanda Sampaio

Public Library José RégioDirector: Marta Miranda

STUDY VISIT AIMS

• To know the European School Librariesstructures and global operation;

• To share ideas /difficulties/ successfulinitiatives;

• To share practices;

• To promote exchanges between Europeanschool libraries.

COORDINATION OF THE NETWORK OF SCHOOL

LIBRARIES RBE (Rede de Bibliotecas Escolares)

The programme RBE was created in 1996 by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

This programme is coordinated by the GABINETE de BIBLIOTECAS ESCOLARES in Lisbon (School Libraries Office) .

RBE aims to:

o Install and develop school libraries;

o Provide training to school librarian teachers;

o Publish technical documents to support libraries;

o Evaluate school library performances;

o Support the projects developed by school libraries;

o Provide the communication between school libraries, public libraries, universities, training centers and municipalities,…;

o Approve the equipment of school libraries (specific furniture, collection);

o Spread national and international good practices /events of the network RBE;

o Create conditions for the use of ITC in school libraries.

RBE (NETWORK of SCHOOL LIBRARIES )

RBE has developed and installed more than 2500 school libraries in publicschools of all levels of education.Today, more than 1 350 000 students can find in their school libraries a littlebit of everything: recreational or didactic films, music, magazines, books, andinternet service.

SCHOOL LIBRARIES … Offer educational and cultural activities, meetings with writers, illustrators,

scientists, several clubs…; Promote the loan of books; Promote classroom borrowing of several documents (encyclopedias,

dictionaries, films, books, …); Provide study support; Provide access to web 2.0

www.rbe.min-edu.pt

1. STAFF ISSUES

• School libraries are run by librarian teachers who should have furthertraining (many have post-graduation or mastership in information andlibrarianship) .

• There is specific legislation to regulate the process of choosing librarianteachers:

- phase one - the headmaster starts an internal process. Only the teacherswith specific courses and training can apply;

- phase two - if no teacher applies, the headmaster has to declare thevacancy in a national platform and any teacher from any other school,having the specific courses and training can apply;

- phase three - if the vacancy remains, the headmaster can choose,internally, the teacher who is going to run the school library.

1. STAFF ISSUES

• Number of school librarians per school according to the Decree n.º 756/2009, 14 July.

Total number ofstudents

Number of librarianteachers

SINGLE SCHOOLS More than 400 1

CLUSTER OF SCHOOLS 400 or more1050 or more 2100 or more

123

1. STAFF ISSUES (cont.)

• In public elementary and secondary schools, librarian teachers have aclass to whom they teach a subject according to their professional group(History, English, French…)

• Librarian teachers who belong to the 1st cycle or to kindergarten don’thave a class. Instead they have to provide 9 hours of educational supportto the pupils who need it.

A multidisciplinary team formed by 2/4 teachers collaborate in thedynamic of the school library (operation/activities.) The time they muststay in the school library is registered in their professional timetable. Thisteam is a good bridge for the integration of the curriculum subjects.

The coordinator of the school librarians has a seat in the Pedagogical Board.

2. SCHOOL LIBRARY ACTIVITIES

There is a School Library Annual Plan of Activities (APA) approved by the Pedagogical Board, in October.

This APA includes several activities such as:- The International School Libraries Month (ISLM);- The Reading Week (usually in March);- The National Reading Contest (January/May);- Meetings with writers, illustrators, …- Activities in integration with different school subjects;- Celebration of international and world days;- Partnerships with institutions like Public Libraries (exhibitions)

Police (safety on the internet, civil protection), National HealthSystem (food, drugs , sexual education, …), Voluntary Associations,Science Centers, …

- Book fairs, …

SOME TASKS OF LIBRARIAN TEACHERS

LIBRARIAN TEACHERS…

• Receive and deal with different users: pupils, teachers, school workers and

some parents;

• Provide a timetable answering the needs of the users (lunch time and/or

evening opening);

• Draft and design the School Library Regulation and Regiment;

• Discuss the implementation of the activities included in the APA with

other curriculum teachers (timing, goals, materials, target audience, ...);

• Implement the National Reading Plan;

• Promote reading and literacy activities;

• Provide ITC workshops for users;

• Guide the cataloging collection: librarian teacher and/or a school worker

with specific training.

3. BUDGET

Librarian teachers draft and write the “collection development policy”which is approved in the Pedagogical Board . This document - CDP -foresees an amount of money to be spent during the school year;

School libraries also receive an amount of money from the NationalReading Plan (about 1000 euros);

Participation in different national contests (from NRP, editors, etc) alsoprovides prizes in books;

Money from temporary sales in the school library (bookmarks, postcards,…);

A percentage of the income from book fairs, craft fairs…;

The income from used book fairs, …

4. EVALUATION

Librarian teachers are trained to evaluate the performance of their schoollibrary by applying a specific model called MAABE (Modelo de Auto-Avaliaçãodas Bibliotecas Escolares - School libraries Model for Self-Evaluation).

This model, which is supervised by RBE, in Lisbon, is applied online andcomprises four dimensions:

• Management and organization

• Reading and Literacy

• Curriculum development support

• Projects, activities and partnerships

• During the school year, librarian teachers collect evidence, as well as thee-mails of users (teachers, students, parents) who will answer an onlinemodel questionnaire regarding the content of each dimension.

• After this phase, the statistical results of the questionnaires are providedto the librarian teachers by RBE.

• Afterwards librarian teachers write a report on the library performanceand suggest a grade (1-4) which must be approved by the PedagogicalBoard. Besides, this Board must make all the appropriaterecommendations for improving the library performance.

• Bearing in mind the weaknesses and strengths of the school library, a listof improvement actions / a Performance Improvement Plan must beimplemented throughout the following school year.

4. EVALUATION (cont)

Rosa Guedes

Dores Fernandes

Vila do Conde

October 10, 2011

School Libraries: reading & Literacies Study Visit

TEŞEKKÜRLER

ΕΥΧΑΡΙΣΤΙΕΣ TACK

THANKS KIITOS

GRACIAS

MERCI

GRAZIE

BEDANKT DANK

RAIBH MAITH AGAT