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ON THE SHELF
School libraries denied guaranteed funding as NZ’s literacy levels plummet By Claire Wright
In an effort to keep school libraries out from under the axe, the School Library Association New Zealand Aotearoa (SLANZA), lobbied the government late last year to guarantee funding for school libraries and statutory protections for school librarians. This came to a head due to a survey conducted by National Library in conjunction with SLANZA where it found one in five schools cut funding for their library in 2019 – this effect has only been exacerbated by Covid.
Because school libraries are funded through the operations grant, they’re often slashed for other expenses schools have.
speaking countries to 32nd out of 50 countries. New Zealand was also found to have the lowest reading scores among eight OECD nations surveyed.
“Each school gets a certain amount of money and then they determine how that money is going to be spent. We are not funded directly from the government.
A silver lining came from SLANZA’s talks with the Ministry of Education, though – the ministry is properly researching the transformative power of school libraries in New Zealand. Most of the current data around school libraries and student success comes from the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
“We’re not ring fenced; we’re completely at the mercy of a board or a principal of how much they’re going to fund or not fund their library, so we’re working with the ministry [to fix the problem].”
Unfortunately, the effort fell on deaf ears, with the Ministry of Education denying the association’s request for ring-fenced funding.
The denial of statutory protections and funding for school libraries flew right in the face of New Zealand’s disappointing child literacy rates. In late November 2020, two Ministry of Education reports based on international research shows lower than average literacy levels in New Zealand students.
“Definitely libraries are being taken away from schools, and that’s because of the funding model and ever-increasing school rolls,” SLANZA president, Glenys Bichan says.
The reports address the outcomes of The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), which found the reading levels of New Zealand’s Year 5 students dropped below all other English-
“For the first time ever, we’ve been able to work with the ministry to talk about school libraries. Research is under way to gather good data about our school libraries and for the first time they are hearing our story directly from us, which is great as it’s never happened before,” Glenys says.
SLANZA states the three main concerns from its members are: • Staff cuts for school libraries • Budget cuts for purchasing books • Classroom relocations into the school library space.
All three of these concerns stem from the fact that boards are in charge of their own funds – if a principal doesn’t believe in school libraries, the school library itself is at risk of being shuttered. “How can there be vibrant libraries where students want to come to if we don’t have the resources to support it?” Glenys asks. “Some people say, why don’t you use the public library? The scenario we use is like a public swimming pool. This is so dependent on the availability of the caregiver to ensure a child gets to access those places, and we know that many children’s access to a library is only at their school as caregivers simply do not have the time, interest or belief in ensuring their children read for pleasure or learning and access those resources from a public library. “One thing we’re really big on is equitable access – every student in New Zealand should be able to access their school library.” To support SLANZA’s School Libraries Transform campaign, check out: www.schoollibrariestransform.org.nz.
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