Make do and mend

Crumbs. Well, I guess this is it then...my first blog entry.

It's been a long time coming and today, following a really interesting meeting with my fellow librarians in Durham schools (LIDS), I decided to take the plunge into the world of blogdom. LIDS' members are a resilient and resourceful bunch, and all different types, shapes and sizes of schools are represented. Some members are lone information professionals whilst others are fortunate to work within a team.

The topic of the meeting was one that I'm sure many librarians (school or otherwise) are grappling with - how do we 'make do and mend' in this time of budget constraints, cuts and, in some cases, disappearances! It became clear from LIDS members' feedback that the keys to succeeding are - communication, collaboration, conviction and conveyance of your worth. Oh and a bit of creativity helps too.

1. Communication - talk to staff and students. Find out what's going on around school, what students/staff want from their library and act on their feedback. You can't run your library effectively without knowing what peoples' priorities are. Go to as many meetings as you can. Spend time in the staff room when you can. Email your line manager or school's senior leadership team and let them know what you are doing/have done. Survey opinions of staff and students regularly and use their feedback to improve what you do.

2. Collaboration - this comes from communication! Once you know what's going on, what people want and when things are happening around school you can get involved! Offer to help out staff out with projects - this could be anything from organising a group of students who use your library to produce resources for an event that's happening  in school, to going to classrooms with a box of useful resources from your library and staying with the class and working with the teacher whilst the students complete the project.

Once you've proved that you're a useful ally and that you can make their lives easier staff will be more willing to support initiatives you plan in your library. Staff will also be more likely to send students your way.

3. Conviction - you have to believe in your library and be prepared to sell its benefits to staff and students. If you don't think you're making a difference then they won't believe it either!

Keep up-to-date with the latest trends, technology and developments in all things library. Where possible, undertake relevant, quality CPD. This will ensure that you can keep up your conviction and be able to 'move with the times'.

4. Conveyance of your worth - or, blow your own trumpet! Link the work you do to the school's development plan and Ofsted priorities. Keep records of everything you do in your library (photos, posters, student/staff feedback etc) and show how this links into the school's priorities. As I said before, keep your line manager and school SLT involved and aware of what you have achieved. Contribute library-specific information to the school newsletter (if your school has one!), create a library blog...

There is loads of evidence linking library usage with student attainment and literacy levels. Check out Ofsted's recent 'Excellence in English' research, in which 12 schools (all of whom achieved outstanding standards in English) all "gave a high profile to reading for pleasure" and includes evidence about the impact of effective school libraries on this achievement.

5. Creativity - we all have to be a little bit creative in order to make resources go that little bit further! If you need additional resources that your library budget just won't cover then ask if there are other 'funding streams'. For example, your school may have an 'extra-curricular activities' budget that you could bid for funds from for after school library activities (even after school reading groups have been known to successfully get funds for books this way). Join forces with your Extended Services/Community liaison team (again, if you have one) to see if there is any grant money you could bid for.

As they say here in the North East - shy bairns get nowt!