School Library Association
Encyclopedia
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
which promotes libraries
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
and literacy
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
in schools. The SLA was founded in 1937 and is based at Wanborough, Wiltshire
Wanborough, Wiltshire
Wanborough is a village and civil parish in the borough of Swindon, Wiltshire. The village is about southeast of Swindon town centre. The parish includes the hamlet of Foxhill, southeast of the village.-History:...
, near Swindon
Swindon
Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...
. It is a charity registered in England & Wales and Scotland.
It provides training and information to teachers and librarian
Librarian
A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
s, promotes the role of librarians in schools and publishes a range of titles including a quarterly journal, The School Librarian.
Regional branches operate in many areas of the UK and there is a national branch, SLARI, in the Republic of Ireland.
The Association's President for 2009–2012 is Miranda McKearney, Director of The Reading Agency. Past Presidents include authors Gervase Phinn
Gervase Phinn
Gervase Phinn is an English author and educator. After a career as a teacher he became a schools inspector and, latterly, Visiting Professor of Education at the University of Teesside....
(2006–2009) and Aidan Chambers
Aidan Chambers
Aidan Chambers is an award-winning British writer of novels for children and young adults.- Life and work :Born near Chester-le-Street, County Durham in 1934, Chambers was an only child, and a poor scholar; considered "slow" by his teachers, he did not learn to read fluently until the age of nine...
(2003–2006).
Two chief executives of the association were honoured for their services to education: Valerie Ann Fea (MBE) in the New Year Honours 1997
New Year Honours 1997
The New Year Honours 1997 for the United Kingdom and Hong Kong were announced on 31 December 1996, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1997....
and Kathleen Amy Lemaire (OBE) in the New Year Honours 2008
New Year Honours 2008
The New Year Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth Realms were announced on 29 December 2007, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2008....
.
Projects
In May 2007 the SLA launched a project in which it acted as facilitator for a Department for Children, Schools and FamiliesDepartment for Children, Schools and Families
The Department for Children, Schools and Families was a department of the UK government, between 2007 and 2010, responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including child protection and education...
(DCSF) initiative called Boys into Books 11–14, delivering 20 free books to all qualifying state schools in England with an accompanying reading guide. Boys into Books 5–11, a follow up project funded by the DCSF, ran in 2008, also with a published reading guide.
A further DCSF-funded project in 2008, Book Ahead 0–7, was aimed at children in Early Years settings to promote enjoyment in reading at an early stage, with a reading guide written by Julia Eccleshare.
In 2010 the SLA ran the Everyone's Reading campaign in association with the DCSF, described by Children's Laureate
Children's Laureate
Children's Laureate is a position awarded in the UK once every two years to a distinguished writer or illustrator of children's books. A biannual bursary of £10,000 is offered...
Anthony Browne
Anthony Browne (author)
Anthony Edward Tudor Browne is a British author and illustrator of children's books, with nearly forty titles to his name. He was the previous Children's Laureate.-Life and work:...
as "... a brilliant project encouraging the enjoyment of reading, a reading culture and a pleasure that will last throughout reader's lives."
School Librarian of the Year Award
The SLA founded the School Librarian of the Year Award in 2004 to highlight best practice and innovation in school librarianship.Winners
- 2005 — Anne Robinson (Nicholas Chamberlaine Technology CollegeNicholas Chamberlaine Technology CollegeNicholas Chamberlaine Technology College is a state secondary school with technology college status in the town of Bedworth, Warwickshire, England...
) - 2006 — Anne-Marie Tarter (Ripon Grammar SchoolRipon Grammar SchoolRipon Grammar School is a co-educational, selective, state secondary grammar school and specialist engineering college located in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England...
) - 2007 — Ingrid Hopson (George Abbot SchoolGeorge Abbot SchoolGeorge Abbot School is a large state secondary school with Arts College status in Burpham, north-east of the town of Guildford. The school is named after the 17th-century Archbishop of Canterbury George Abbot. Surrey County Cricket Club's Cricket Academy is located in the grounds of the school.The...
) - 2008 — Nikki Heath (Werneth SchoolWerneth SchoolWerneth College of Performing & Visual Arts is a coeducational secondary school and college in Bredbury near Stockport, Greater Manchester. The school received very good reports in Spring 2007 from Ofsted. It has recently attained Specialist School status. The original school buildings came into...
) - 2009 — Lucy Bakewell (Hill West Primary School, Sutton Coldfield)
- 2010 — Kevin Sheehan (Offerton SchoolOfferton SchoolOfferton School is a state comprehensive secondary school in Offerton, a suburb of Stockport, Greater Manchester.-Admissions:The school caters for pupis aged 11 to 16 and is maintained by the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport....
) and Duncan Wright (Stewart's Melville CollegeStewart's Melville CollegeStewart's Melville College is an all boys boarding and day private school situated in the heart of Edinburgh, Scotland...
) - 2011 — Carol Webb (Forest Hill SchoolForest Hill SchoolForest Hill School is a comprehensive boys school located on Dacres Road, Forest Hill in the London Borough of Lewisham. It opened in 1956. The school has very close ties with the girls' secondary, Sydenham School, which is located close by...
)