Library News 27 Nov
School Library Association Conference:
The School Library Association of the Republic of Ireland (SLARI) held its November conference in Tallaght library. The conference’s theme was “Every child matters: inclusion in the school library”, and dealt with three areas: interculturalism, learning difficulties, and gifted students. Mary Ryan, co-ordinator of the Language Centre in Castleknock Community College, talked about CCC’s experience, from the welcome packs they prepare for new students from other cultures (personalised mini-notepads, school map, area map, important contact numbers, mini-dictionary) to the coping strategies new pupils use, to the important role school libraries play in encouraging inclusion. These include celebrating national days, running culture weeks, highlighting national literatures, posting notices in different languages, word games and crossword clubs and playing music in the library(!). This librarian liked the idea of an international cookbook, produced by pupils from their own culinary traditions, and home published by the library. There are 35 languages spoken in CCC, 33 if you exclude English and Irish. Sally MacIntosh, from Heanor Gate Science College in Derbyshire spoke about learning difficulties, including dyslexia, Aspergers, narcolepsy, ADHD and global learning difficulties. 22% of her school population suffer from some form of learning difficulty. She was entirely positive and pragmatic, saying that people learn differently, and that best practice seeks ways to allow that learning to occur. Achievement, quite rightly, is measured by individual progress and not against a universal standard. A school library should examine physical access to its resources, stock appropriate resources, be aware of the difficulties each particular student might have, be aware of disability legislation, and expect good behaviour. She distributed an invaluable set of notes on each form of learning difficulty, complete with websites, but made the point that we should not be overly influenced by labels. Ms McEneaney joined the conference for this and the subsequent talk, by Leslie Graves, on gifted students. Ireland defines gifted students as ‘exceptionally able’. Legislatively they are grouped with those with learning difficulties, as both are seen as ‘persons learning differently’. Giftedness can come in many forms, sometimes being specific to a particular field (music, art, sport, mathematics etc.) or ranging across a wide spectrum. It can bring its own problems too, in terms of frustration with the pace of ‘normal’ learning as well as pupils being ‘out of sync’ with their peers, which can lead to social difficulties. A school library becomes a haven as well as an intellectual playground for the gifted, as its resources are non-age determined. The librarian too has a part to play as a facilitator and catalyst. All in all it was a most enlightening conference, with many talking points. Tallaght library, by the way, of which we got a quick tour, is a wonderful facility. A visit is highly recommended.
More from the Junior Non-Fiction section:
Another benefit of the new shelving in the Junior Reading Room is that the extra space at the top of the shelves is being used to display ceramics and other pieces of artwork produced by Columbans over the years. Mr Watts has selected various pieces to display—to give them a second viewing so to speak. They are ingenious, diverse, humorous and creative, and the Library is very pleased to have them.
New Books:
Bernard Cornwell’s new book Azincourt is receiving some attention. Azincourt is the French spelling of ‘Agincourt’, as Mr Canning explained to this hitherto dubious librarian. The famous battle took place in 1415, when Henry V and 6000 English soldiers defeated a force of 25,000 Frenchmen, the flower of French nobility, for the loss of only 500 men. English archers are credited with a major part in the victory, commemorated by Shakespeare in Henry V: “And gentlemen in England now abed/Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,/And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks/That fought with us upon St Crispin’s day.” The battle was truly appalling, with many of the French knights drowning in the mud or suffocating in their armour, while the wounded or incapacitated were finished off by the archers with poleaxes, mallets and daggers. The richer were spared for ransoming, though Henry, fearing an attack on his baggage train, ordered a massacre of prisoners. Cornwell, author of the popular Sharpe series about the Napoleonic wars, does not glamorise these horrors, but tells it like it is through the eyes of an English archer Nicholas Hook. The librarian also recommends as a companion piece Juliet Barker’s fascinating factual account of the battle, on which Cornwell has drawn heavily, Agincourt: the King, the Campaign, the Battle. The lives and lifestyle of a group of rugby players from a famous (though fictional) rugby-playing southside Dublin school are examined in Kevin Power’s book, Bad Day in Blackrock. They set upon and kill one of their number during a row outside a night club in a scenario similar to the tragic real-life case of a couple of years ago, though Power says his is a creative work and not an attempt to explain the events of that night. Perhaps what is most unsettling is the portrayal of the mindsets of his protagonists, both male and female—their nihilism, arrogance, aggression, promiscuity and tendency to self-harm. It is, though, a serious, unsensational and well-written book. Power is not a rugby player, and did not go to a rugby-playing school. This is his first book.
Library Tip:
The Suggestions Book in the Library is an important part of our communication with pupils and staff, and we’re very pleased to get book recommendations and requests through it. We can’t guarantee to get everything asked for—some books are out of print, or don’t exist, or are too expensive, or are inappropriate, or we already have—but it is an essential conduit. At the moment we are able to fulfil about 90% of requests and welcome all suggestions.
