School libraries are everywhere. You can find them in countries all around the world, in different languages and cultures, education styles, varying political climates and moral compasses, and in different socioeconomic environments… The list goes on. So, where do we stand against our international counterparts when it comes to the school library community?

 

It seems like the general consensus around the world is that the school library acts as a safe-haven for social outliers and student’s overall well-being and mental health can be positively affected by access to it (Joing, 2023; Knapp, 2022; Merga, 2021). Many school libraries around the world have to fight for funding and librarian staffing—this seems to be a common core problem for all (for example you see this in United States, Ireland, and Germany) (Casey, 2023; Lieberman, 2023; Seefeldt & Syré, 2017).

 

In the article entitled, “The Role of African School Libraries in Supporting Quality Education” by Rachel Duncan and Caroline Kayoro, the authors talk about how, with a program called Inspiring Readers (created by Book Aid International), supplies and school librarian training were brought into African primary schools to help create school libraries. Some of their findings were, by bringing in easy reader and other books in English into the schools, students were able to learn English. This gave them more confidence from the fact of being able to communicate with others around the world using this new skill (2022).

 

Book Aid International, is an organization that gives support to libraries around the world that do not have the ability and funds to bring in new books, as well as builds libraries and creates portable libraries. 

“We support libraries across the globe – providing everything from high quality children’s books to the latest medical and legal texts, always guided by what our partners tell us will make the biggest difference… We work in prison libraries…and in refugee camps… and we have a special focus on supporting libraries where book collections have been lost to disaster or conflict” (Book Aid International, 2023).

 

As in Africa, there are many developing countries (South Africa, Ghana, Malawi, Botswana, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Vietnam, and Bangladesh) that struggle to have school libraries or if they do have them they struggle to get funding, supplies, staffing and training for them, and there is generally a lack of understanding on the importance of school libraries (Rahme et al., 2020).

 

On the other side of the spectrum, there are school libraries worldwide that strive to create new and creative environments for their school libraries. They want to make their spaces welcoming and fun to the students who visit. From a red double decker bus converted to a school library in the United Kingdom to swing chairs in a school in Singapore to a school library in Hong Kong that offers places to climb and nooks to hide out in—these examples show the wide variety of spaces popping up worldwide (Allan, 2022)!

 

Note. #TheCoopWay Please help us raise money for our #bookandcookproject Double Decker library bus and cooking room [Photograph], by @fomgjs, 2019, April 27, X. (https://x.com/fomgjs/status/1122161897447600128?s=20)

 

Note. Cool School Libraries from Around the World – GIIS SMART Campus, Singapore [Photograph], by Carli Allan, 2022, August 10, Which School Advisor. (https://whichschooladvisor.com/uae/guides/cool-school-libraries-from-around-the-world)

 

Note. Cool School Libraries from Around the World – The Harbour School (Grove campus), Hong Kong [Photograph], by Carli Allan, 2022, August 10, Which School Advisor. (https://whichschooladvisor.com/uae/guides/cool-school-libraries-from-around-the-world)

It doesn’t matter where you are in the world, the school library, at core, is the same for the students who visit them and the librarians who run them—a place to learn, grow, meet others, and expand horizons! The school library community is a place outside the norm for individuals to come and find themselves.

 

 

References

Allan, C. (2022, August 9). Cool School Libraries from Around the World. Retrieved November 13, 2023, from https://whichschooladvisor.com/uae/guides/cool-school-libraries-from-around-the-world

Book Aid International. (2023, November 9). Book Aid International | Sharing the power of books. https://bookaid.org/

Casey, J. (2023, May 10). School libraries falling short of international standards. Irish Examiner. Retrieved November 13, 2023, from https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41135908.html

Duncan, R. F., & Kayoro, C. (2022). The role of African school libraries in supporting quality education. Publishing Research Quarterly, 38(1), 71–80. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-022-09866-5

Joing, I. (2023). The school library: An important place for adolescents’ well-being. Journal of Library Administration, 63(6), 777–796. https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2023.2240192

Knapp, C. (2022). Creating safe and inclusive spacing for LGBT2Q+ youth in public and school libraries. Journal of Library Administration, 62(6), 847–855. https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2022.2102385

Lieberman, M. (2023, March 29). How school libraries buy books, struggle for funds, and confront book bans: an explainer. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/how-school-libraries-buy-books-struggle-for-funds-and-confront-book-bans-an-explainer/2023/02

Merga, M. K. (2021). Libraries as Wellbeing Supportive Spaces in Contemporary Schools. Journal of Library Administration, 61(6), 659-675.  https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2021.1947056

Rahme, P., Saade, G., & Khayrallah, N. (2020). Role of Lebanese public school libraries in the changing information environment. IFLA Journal, 47(2), 223–235. https://doi.org/10.1177/0340035220944943

Seefeldt, J., & Syré, L. (2017). German school libraries – requirement and reality. School Libraries Worldwide, 46–51. https://doi.org/10.29173/slw6932

#TheCoopWay Please help us raise money for our #bookandcookproject Double Decker library bus and cooking room. (2019, April 27). @fomgjs on X. Retrieved November 13, 2023, from https://x.com/fomgjs/status/1122161897447600128?s=20