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"Empowering our Libraries, Empowering our Education System: Using research results to shape policies that optimize the utility of school libraries" ANTONIA ARAHOVA and SARANTOS KAPIDAKIS NATIONAL LIBRARY OF GREECE – IONIO UNIVERSITY Emails: [email protected] – [email protected] 11.. Abstract: Greece is making a great effort to achieve the ongoing improvement of library services. Our paper analyses the current state of affairs regarding school libraries in Greece and, based on this analysis, proposes a model for policy development in this field. We demonstrate evaluation practices, mainly best-practices and “best-vision” strategies, aimed at improvements in the provision of library services – applicable not only in Greece but also in a more generally implemented framework. Practical solutions are provided on how to implement a policy, with particular emphasis on the value of using electronic information resources. Our paper evaluates four years of research that took place in School Libraries in Greece, proposing how appropriate policies can improve school library services, and shows how effective a role technology and the school librarian can play in policy development. 22.. Introduction: The school library is a major educational resource for the teachers and students of the school. It is primarily a learning and information centre which assists in the learning process by providing: 1) services, 2) personnel, 3) materials & equipment, and 4) an information system. The library is an essential resource for the planning and the implementing of the teaching program of the school. It is also a recreational and reference centre for the students and teachers. The school library fulfills these functions by developing policies and services, selecting and acquiring resources, providing physical and intellectual access to appropriate sources of information, providing instructional facilities, and employing trained staff. As the library is an important element in the functioning of the school, any policy needs to be considered in conjunction with other policy statements which relate to the provision of education in the schools of Greece. 33.. The IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto underlines the following: “The school library provides information and ideas that are fundamental to functioning successfully in today's information and knowledge-based society. The school library equips students with life-long learning skills and develops the imagination, enabling them to live as responsible citizens. The school library offers learning services, books and resources that enable all members of the school community to become critical thinkers and effective users of information in all formats and media.” 44.. The Role of School Librarians: School librarians who take a professional and proactive approach to their role within the school can cite evidence of their impact on teaching and learning. They are also more able to reflect, self-evaluate and develop further. The training of teachers and librarians has raised mutual understanding of each other’s contribution and roles within the school library setting. Training should be coordinated, and include ways of developing mutual support.

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55.. The Greek Reality: 5.1 The Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs: It is responsible for the Greek National Library, 45 Public Libraries from all over the country, 32 Academic Libraries of higher education institutions (Universities and Technological Educational Institutions – T.E.I.s), 29 libraries from the Organization for the Establishment of Child and Adolescent Libraries, and all School Libraries. The Greek Interior Ministry provides financial support for 450 Municipal or Community Libraries through local prefectures. 5.2. School Libraries: The first school libraries had been created in Greece at the beginning of the 19th century, soon after the Greek revolution and the establishment of the Greek independent State in modern times. Nowadays there are 499 Greek schools with school libraries. These libraries are organized by the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, and are coordinated by the Directorates of Primary and Secondary Education. School libraries are currently considered to play a significant role in the learning process. Indeed it is anticipated that the plan for establishing 289 new school libraries by 2006, funded by the 3rd Community Support Framework program, will add a new dimension to the development of Greek School Libraries. 5.3. Librarians - Professional Training: In higher education the first Department of Library Sciences was founded in 1977 and now forms an integral part of the T.E.I.s (Technological Educational Institutes). In 1993 the department of Archive and Library Sciences was established at the Ionian University of Greece . 5.4. General Review based on an analysis of Greek School Libraries: The University of Athens had conducted a survey which aimed to provide an up-to-date account and broad overview of national trends in school library spending so that the Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs may compare local data with national norms. Here are some key findings from our survey: There are less than 500 school libraries in Greece but over 16,000 schools. The data was collected from high schools: approximately half of those with libraries (244) covered the first three years of high school, and the remainder (245) the other half, of which 35 were special technical high schools. These libraries work 35 hours per week on average. One library is open for just 3 hours per week while, at the other extreme, the maximum number of opening hours is 62. Most libraries (327) are open 35-39 hours per week, with 103 libraries open for 30-34 hours per week, and only 8 libraries open for more than 40 hours per week. Unless otherwise stated, the figures mentioned below indicate averages among high school libraries in Greece.

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Hours of operation per week 327

350 300 250 200 150

103

100 50

1

3

1-4

5-9

1

2

6

21

4

1

2

1

0 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 60-62

Popular Services: Photo copies; Library Loans; Use of Library Reading Rooms; Questions to the Responsibles of the School Libraries; Online Material Research . InterLibrary Loan: The professors of theoretical subjects, such as literature and the humanities, borrow 121 books per year, their colleagues of physics and mathematics 45 books per year, the pupils of the first class in high school 173 books per year, and those of the final class 89 – a clear decrease among students. Male professors borrow 60 titles per year and their female colleagues 113 titles per year – almost double. Young male pupils borrow 252 titles and the female students 424 – again, almost double. Most of the book loans take place in the autumn, with 82 per school library in October, the same number in November, 69 in February, 63 in March, 58 in January, 57 in April, 49 in September, and the least in summer - 4 in August and 5 in July. The registered users in each library range from 34 to 1920, where 80% of the libraries have between 80 and 400 registered users. The average number of users who are subscribers is 308 per library. The average number of students who visit the school library is 254. In each library there are 25 seats available. The active users of the library services in each library are between 3 and 900, with an average figure of 231. Sixty per cent of the libraries have between 100 and 300 active users. The students that have visited each library (from the beginning of operation of the library up to 2003) are between 12 and 975, with an average figure of 246. All libraries have computers, ranging in number between 1 and 5. The majority are equipped with 3 computers. The computers are available to the users from 0 up to 62 hours per week, with an average of 27 hours per week, according to the following distribution:

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Hours of computer availability per week 1

1-4

10 23 3 28

5-9 10-14 24

148

46

15-19 20-24 25-29

39

30-34 35-39

121

40-44 60-62

Two of the computers of each library have dialup access to the Internet, in most cases using an ISDN line. Each library also has 1 printer, photocopier, television, VCR, and stereo player, while only 20% have a scanner. 252 have access to other libraries’ networks. 91 are part of a framework of cooperation with public institutions such as universities and technological foundations. Each library has 4895 books, 25 encyclopedias, 33 vocabularies, 21 magazines, 56 titles of audiovisual material and 17 titles of educational logistic programs. More than half of the libraries (236/452) report problems with their Internet connection, while 10% of them do not have access to the Internet. 27 libraries have dialup problems, while 76 have regular problems that prevent them from accessing the Internet for extensive intervals. The most common problems are related to viruses (27), email (14) and hardware (13). There are rarer problems such as power failures (2) and lost passwords (2). Most libraries have no funds for upgrading their equipment, after the initial installation, with less than 10% managing to get more funding, mostly from the Ministry of Education. 111 school libraries (23%) have extra economical support: 28 (6%) from the Ministry of Education, 9 from European projects, 8 from the Local Government and 16 from other resources. Summary of the Responsibles in the Greek School Libraries: 2 out of 3 are women (318 women and 164 men). Age: 243 are 40-49 years old and 154 are in the 30-39 age group. The majority have at least 15 years’ work experience. Activities: 367 school libraries (78%) provide seminars contributing decisively to user knowledge of the services available.195 of them provide educational material regarding the function of the library. Users Opinion: 226 libraries (48%) outlined the user level of satisfaction in respect of the services they provide. Most of the users are dissatisfied with the lack, unreliability and/or speed of the restricted access to other online resources, especially in real-time synchronous interactive framework. Many librarians and students consider the information resources to be inadequate and express an urgent need for more. Users prefer more modern means of knowledge feedback such as virtual services and teleconferencing. Heads of School Libraries express the need to be kept informed about the latest developments in librarian studies, virtual referencing, the collaborative systems and the new opportunities that technology creates.

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66.. What are the Government’s Plans for the Future?: The YPEPTH has established a new strategic framework for the school library service that outlines the Government's long-term strategic vision for the role of school libraries. The new strategy will enable libraries to build on existing strengths and ensure they position themselves at the heart of education. School libraries provide a valuable infrastructure, assisting pupils and students with their learning needs and developing their interests. Clarifying key priorities provides a focus for future work on the provision of proper library services among the country’s school libraries, with the ultimate goal of addressing the needs of the educational community in a manner that best suits local circumstances. The Greek Government's drive for better education for our young, and its determination to make lifelong learning a possibility for all our citizens, puts a heavy demand on the libraries in order to become access points to a nation-wide treasure-house of digital content as well as creators of unique digital content themselves. The Special Secretary of Libraries & Archives, with goodwill and determination, is paving the way for cross-domain co-operation in its areas of concern, so the time is ripe for a bold initiative to forge new links between school libraries and the educational sector, school libraries and technology. 77.. The Transition from an ‘Information Society’ to a ‘Knowledgeable Society’: The idea of the learning society was first articulated in the 1920s. The 1972 Faure Report for Unesco, Learning to be, stated that 'Every individual must be in a position to keep learning throughout his or her life. The idea of lifelong education is the key of the learning society'. In Greece demographic changes, developments in information technology and cultural changes make the creation of a powerful learning society an essential requirement in the pursuit of a more socially inclusive society. We should be empowering each individual to make positive interventions in society. We need to focus not in the “Information Society” but in a ‘Knowledgeable Society’ where people and especially pupils 'learn how to learn'. 88.. Our Recommendations: Our team, Prof. Kapidakis, Prof. Gergatsoulis, Prof. Koutsouris and Ms. Antonia Arahova, who are experts in policy matters regarding libraries, offer a number of proposals to the Ministry of National Education, having already established a fruitful cooperation in issues relevant to the appropriate dissemination of digital material to school libraries and the empowerment of their role in the knowledge-gathering process. The Special Secretary of Libraries and Archives, having been informed of the present study, is willing to put into practice a policy which is absolutely in line with the team’s vision, where virtual technology and the idea of ‘school libraries: a vehicle for learning to learn’ is the first priority. One question that was raised focused on how to improve and stimulate co-operation between the education and school library sectors in order to support lifelong learning. On our vision Empowering our Libraries, Empowering our Education System we argued strongly that closer collaboration between libraries and educational institutions would mean greater and more effective support for learners and potential learners throughout the community. Acknowledging the excellent work which the Special Secretary for Libraries and Archives has been doing over the past year, we have arrived at four specific recommendations:

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1. public and educational libraries in communities or defined geographic areas should establish co-operative arrangements to improve services to their users (e.g. mobile libraries that belong to the public libraries); 2. cross-sectoral funding arrangements should be established. Funding for libraries in all sectors should include an element which is measured against progress towards closer cross-sectoral community partnerships; 3. public and educational libraries in any community or region should draw up 'access maps' to enable users and learners to reach resources or assistance in other libraries on a managed basis. Consideration should also be given to making provision of school library and information services a statutory responsibility; and 4. apply a realistic policy statement, one that is adaptable to the Greek reality, which will faithfully respond to the educational and cultural needs of society. 9. Empowering Greek School Libraries means Empowering Greek School Librarians 9.1 - 10 Roles for Empowering School Librarians - Seeing an empowered and empowering school librarian as: 1. A gateway to the future and to the past. Providing Internet access is a necessary function of the school library. This demands from us a sense of obligation to provide this type of service as a major step towards connecting students with the information they seek. 2. A collaborative teacher and learner. A librarian should actively seek out users in a variety of settings to provide instruction and inspiration. It is of utmost importance for Greek libraries to have as a primary goal the empowerment of the school librarian’s role – both as a teacher of students who collaborates with classroom teachers in the design and delivery of instruction, and as a colleague who attends local library staff meetings and national conferences on a regular basis. 3. A knowledge manager/worker. The school librarian's future is in doing what computers cannot do. Computers can collect, identify, and organize information. The librarian should therefore be an information ‘lifeguard’, in order to protect clients from drowning in the information overflow. 4. An organizer of networked resources. Librarians need to take the initiative in creating a better sense of organization and access to what is available on and through the school databases, investigating the feasibility of cataloging and organizing Internet resources. 5. An advocate of information policy development. Librarians need to become involved in policy decisions concerning resources and services in order to ensure users rights of universal access are respected, as well as issues of intellectual property rights, censorship and privacy.

6. A community partner. Libraries need to make themselves felt in the community as a valuable resource and tool for students and the local community.

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7. A "sifter" of information resources. The Internet provides access to excess. Skilled sifters are needed to help students make sense of the searched resources and put them in some preferred order. The future belongs neither to the conduit nor to the content players but to those who control the filtering, searching, and sense-making tools we will be relying on to navigate through the expanses of cyberspace. 8. A collaborator with technology resource providers. Librarians should be involved in the development of the databases and search tools needed for effective exploitation of digital and web technologies. Librarians should become designers, synthesizers, and navigators. 9. A technician. With the increasing use of the Internet, librarians may find it necessary to expand their skills in this area. Librarians will need to provide technical advice on workstation configuration, modem access, networks, etc. 10. An individual information consultant. Librarians will focus more on individual, customized services and controlled access/facilitation by remote users. To empower themselves as professionals, it is necessary for Greek librarians to possess/acquire the following skills: Knowledge Skills

Thinking Skills

•

Have an appropriate level of literacy and numeracy skills

•

Be willing to challenge current knowledge and thinking

•

Be able to identify, access, organize and communicate knowledge in both written and oral English

•

Have conceptual skills

•

Have problem-solving skills

•

Have good listening skills

•

Be creative and imaginative thinkers

•

Have an international awareness

•

Be able to combine theory and practice

•

Have the ability to use appropriate technology to further the above

•

Be able to reflect on and evaluate their own performance

9.2. Policy – Management: The chief administrative officers on The Committee of School Libraries and that of the National Council for Libraries and Archives bear the administrative responsibility, through the active leadership of e-library administration, to supervise library services in support of the ‘Empowering Greek Libraries’ programme. As the principal and direct agent of ‘e-guidance’ implementation, the two government foundations have the obligation to:

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1. assure that the e-services plan meets national and also regional accreditation standards as well as professional association standards and guidelines; 2. provide and elaborate, on an ongoing basis, a suitable interactive ‘interlibrary’ eservices schedule, including instruction and the facilities utilized. The innovative approaches used in the design and evaluation of special procedures or systems that meet these electronic needs in other countries are encouraged; 3. prepare a written profile of the Greek community’s information and skills needs; 4. develop a written statement of immediate and long-range goals and objectives for virtual reference, a statement which addresses the relevant needs and also outlines the methods by which progress and a timetable of results can be determined; 5. promote the incorporation of the mission statement, goals, and objectives of remote services into those of every kind of library and of the originating institution; 6. involve librarian community representatives including administrators, faculty, academics, information scientists, governmental representatives and professionals, in the formation of the objectives and the regular evaluation of their achievement; 7. respect the special characteristics each library and each collection with regard to the development and periodic review of formal, documented, written agreements with them; 8. Assess the written profile of needs as well as the existing library support for distance learning nationwide, its availability, appropriateness and effectiveness - using qualitative, quantitative, and outcome measurement statistics. Examples of these measures include, but are not limited to: 1. using evaluation checklists for librarian instruction to gather feedback from students, other librarians, academic staff and researchers over a period of time; 2. conducting reviews of specific library and information service areas and/or operations which support electronic library services; 3. taking into account e-services in the assessment strategies related to national endorsement; 4. participating together with administrators, library subject specialists, and the teaching faculty, in the curriculum development process and in planning to ensure the appropriateness of library resources and services according to the profile of needs; 5. promoting library support services to the Greek community with a planned marketing strategy, monitoring and assessing both the appropriateness of their use of services and resources and the degree to which needs are being met and skills acquired; 6. maintaining a continual ‘survey dialogue’ with school library users; 7. initiating dialogue aimed at establishing cooperative agreements, possible resource sharing and/or compensation for unaffiliated libraries; 8. developing partnerships with computing services departments such as The Greek National Technical University in order to provide the necessary automation support for the librarian community; 9. practising, applying, and maintaining all the above through the establishment of a virtual environment that will not only facilitate the provision of information but also offer guidance to real knowledge; 10. keeping in mind that the system must also recognise other languages and be helpful in understanding questions posed by those for whom Greek is a foreign language;

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11. • • • • •

organising a schema with the following characteristics: being patron -centred being interactive and dynamic enabling group work on real time problems enabling patrons, particularly students to determine their own learning pathways emphasizing competencies such as information literacy to support lifelong learning.

9.3. Plan for Empowering our Libraries, Empowering our Education System Using research results to shape policies that optimize the utility of school libraries:

♦ ♦

♦ ♦

♦ ♦

♦ ♦

♦ ♦

♦ ♦

♦ ♦

Key Policies and Practices for Adults and Children: to support the cultural, educational and recreational needs of the people of Greece, with special emphasis placed on the basic skills of literacy and numeracy. The management of stock in libraries, ensuring sufficient depth and range, is a fundamental consideration in meeting this aim; to provide public access to the widest possible range of information services which meet the information needs of the community in order to support lifelong learning, combat social exclusion and contribute to the quality of life in the community in all its aspects - whether educational, economic, cultural or recreational - and contribute to an informed democracy. Encouraging Participation in Informal Learning: to establish close links with the Lifelong Learning Service by locating both services in an Education and Lifelong Learning Department; to ensure access to funding from the Learning and Skills Council to support improvements in library access and in the establishment of informal learning opportunities. Development and Monitoring of Reading and Learning Activities: to establish three main areas of activity: Children’s Services, Mainstream Reader Development, and Closer Involvement in Learning Activities. Promote Learning: to ensure the ongoing delivery of learning activities with key partners, including the delivery of a Museum and Library Education system, the Pilot implementation of the ‘Inspiring Learning for All’ methodology, and the dual use of school libraries for young students and for elderly lifelong learners. Promotion of reading opportunities and support of existing groups is a key priority: to facilitate the successful implementation of the People’s Network infrastructure as well as a good and supportive relationship with the Council’s ICT section. Development and Evaluation of Digital Services: to establish a network of local and school community-based libraries; to continue to extend opening hours; to expand the Mobile Library Service to provide better coverage - currently a weekly service - with additional provision in disadvantaged wards; to establish good community links and partnerships fostered by a National School Virtual Reference Desk. Develop School Libraries as a Community resource: to set up a Routes to the Past Neighborhood Learning Program, a Young Roots Cinema Project, and a Young Roots Back Home Project; to develop “out-of-hours” and wider community use of

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school library buildings; to hold surgeries, as well as advice and training sessions with partners. ♦ ♦ Offer Services Accessible to all: to improve the physical environment for children with disabilities; to develop a marketing plan for online services; to encourage ‘the exception of the exception’; to emphasize that all categories, despite nationality and capacities, can be parts of the school library community; to create a Virtual R eading Room as part of the School Virtual Desk with reading lists, online book reviews, and more. ♦ ♦

Our Philosophy: Typically the key ideas of a learning society are that learning is lifelong and that learning must occur in all areas of society enabling everyone to develop through formal and personal learning how they want to, when they want to and where they want to. We believe that a collaborative school library service plays a key role in developing school effectiveness. This will be achieved through support and advice in the development and improvement of school libraries, through the use of learning resources, the development of effective information handling skills, and access to wider reading choices for all pupils. Inside an interactive and cooperative framework the school library can become the first and most important access point to the world of information and personal development. The 'difficult to reach' or even the seemingly ‘impossible to reach’ become ‘easy and fun to reach’, empowering the participant in the learning procedure. The learner, rather than the institutional structure, is placed at the centre of future developments. Many services delivered and maintained along historical patterns will have to change fundamentally if they are to provide for the people which libraries serve. This calls for performance measures to be set for all collaborative strategies.

The ideal may appear difficult but it is not a distant vision. Conclusion: "I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library." Jorge Luis Borges had said. I wish that, in Greece and everywhere in the world, “Paradise for all children would be a kind of school library”. It has been underlined that “libraries are much more than repositories of books and reference material. They are, increasingly, vibrant hubs of community life.” This is our dream which, we hope will become a reality in Greece. We can take further steps in this direction. The adoption of a formal definition of how libraries and librarians support lifelong learning in an interactive way, rather than simply as a resource provider, is not just a theoretical question concerning only the librarian community but is a very serious matter for the empowerment of our national education. The school library is becoming an increasingly essential partner in the local, regional and national library and information network. By sharing facilities and/or resources with another type of library, such as a public library, the unique aims of the school library can be materialized and maintained. References 1. American Association of School Librarians and Association for Educational Communications and Technology. Information Power: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs. AASL, 1988.

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2. Bosmajian, Haig A. Censorship, Libraries and the Law. Neal-Schuman, 1983. 3. Chelton, Mary. Structural and Theoretical Constraints on Reference Service in a High School Library Media Center. Reference & User Services Quarterly, Spring 1999, pp. 275-285 4. Clyde, Laurel A. (1996a), "School libraries: At home on the World Wide Web?", Scan, 15(4): November, pp.23-26. 5.

Forestal, Herbert N. Banned in the U.S.A.: A Reference Guide to Book Censorship in Schools and Public Libraries. Greenwood Press, 1994.

6. Gasaway, Laura N. and Sarah K. Wiant. Libraries and Copyright: A Guide to Copyright Law in the 1990's. Special Libraries Association, 1994. 7. Information Infrastructure Task Force. Intellectual Property and the National Information Infrastructure: the report on the Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights. GPO, 1995. 8. Madison, Wis. Findings from the Evaluation of the National Library Power Program. Executive Summary. DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund and University of Wisconsin at Madison School of Library and Information Studies and School of Education, 1999. 9. National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School Libraries Work Evaluation: Statistics and Results of Evaluation. Athens: 2003. 10. Olson, Renee. "Coming Soon to a School Near You." School Library Journal Online, February 1, 2000. 11. Scholtz, James C. Video Policies and Procedures and Libraries. ABC-CLIO, 1995. 12. Simpson, Carol Mann. Copyright for School Libraries: A Practical Guide. Linworth Publishing, 1994. 13. Streiff, Jane E. The School Librarian's Book of Lists. The Center for Applied Research in Education, 1992. 14. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. International Commission on the Development of Education, Learning to be: the world of education today and tomorrow. Unesco, 1972. Reichman, Henry. Censorship and Selection: Issues and Answers for Schools. ALA/AASL, 1993. 15. Washington Coalition Against Censorship. School Censorship: An Emergency Response Manual. WEA/NEA, 1989. 16. Washington Library Media Association Online. School Library Media Policies. Online. World Wide Web. 15 August 1996. 17. Washington (State). Superintendent of Public Instruction. Common School Manual. Olympia: OSPI, 1996.

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18. Zweizig, Douglas and Dianne McAfee Hopkins. Lessons from Library Power: Enriching Teaching and Learning. Englewood, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, Inc. 1999.