Benefits to the participants

The opportunity to gain knowledge and to put it to practical use in your school library. This will result in a deeper understanding of the way the library operates and an understanding of how you can develop the library to serve the needs of the school.

Benefits to the school

This course offers practical training, advice and support to your library co-ordinator. The Learning about Libraries course consists of 6 modules - participants choose 4 from the 6 for the basic course but can go on to do the extra 2 for an advanced certificate. Participants undertake a variety of practical tasks and provide evidence of what they have done and the impact it has had on the school. They should complete the course with an enhanced range of skills and strategies for improving the library provision in the school.

Who is eligible to apply?

Anyone who has responsibility for the day to day running of a primary school library. The programme will suit TAs, HTLAs, parent volunteers and teaching staff who want to gain an insight into library processes and promotion.

Costs

Each module has an administration fee of £50 (for SLA members) and £150 (for non members) and the final assessment and certification is £15.

Modules

The Learning about Libraries Programme consists of 6 modules, broken down into a number of Units. Participants need to undertake 4 modules altogether to obtain the final certificate. Module 2 and Module 6 are compulsory. It is recommended that all participants start with Module 2. There is the additional option of undertaking the remaining 2 modules to gain a certificate of advanced practice.

All modules, wherever possible, contain a mixture of online content and reading matter to ensure an interesting and varied delivery. 

The six modules are:

Module 1 – The Physical Library

Unit 1:  Assessing the situation

Unit 2:  Planning projects

Unit 3:  Putting it into practice

Module 2 – Managing The Bookstock (compulsory unit)

Unit 1:  Auditing the bookstock

Unit 2:  Planning and budgeting

Unit 3:  Classifying and cataloguing 

Unit 4:  Issuing and promoting the stock

Module 3 – Information Skills

Unit 1:  Assessing the situation

Unit 2:  Planning and preparation

Unit 3:  Putting it into practice

Module 4 – Reading Promotion

Unit 1:  Assessing the situation

Unit 2:  Planning and preparation

Unit 3:  Putting it into practice

Module 5 – Practical Paperwork

Unit 1:  Writing a policy

Unit 2:  Developing an Action Plan

Unit 3:  Your information skills programme

Module 6 – Evaluation and Action Planning (compulsory unit)

Unit 1: Evaluating the library

Unit 2: A plan for action

For more information have a look at the Online Courses page. 

Schedule

Delegates can spread the training out over a maximum of 2 years if they want to be assessed but are welcome to take longer if they do not require the final certificate. We recommend that each module is undertaken and completed before the next is begun.

Assessment will be by a variety of methods and details are given in the materials for each module. The methods could be:

• Photographs (before and after)
• Witness statements – from headteacher, line manager etc.
• Candidates report