Page 241 - DLIS001_FOUNDATION_OF_LIBRARY_AND_INFORMATION_SCIENCE

Foundation of Library and Information Science

Notes
development projects for school improvement via school libraries. They wrote a plan for
the project Searching Communicating Learning where “walking/following a path of
learning” was the method. Participants in the project would have one gathering per semester
at the university as well as meetings and net based work with mentors in between the
university gatherings, and they would focus on development work in their own school.
The goals of Searching Communicating Learning were:
1. to strengthen the cooperation between teachers and librarians
2. to increase their competence in the field of information literacy
3. to support the principals in their responsibility for school improvement and role of
the school library in that development.
The project application was grounded in many governmental texts, for example, in the
reports from Room for Language. Two years passed by: a lot of contacts were made, a lot
of networking started, and many persons were engaged in the issue. At the University of
Malmö, more courses in school librarianship were developed. Seminars with three
gatherings of three hours called “School Library” were offered to teacher students and
several offerings from “The Regional Development centre” were developed for school
librarians. Contacts with the Network for School Library Centres were made, and a plan
for the desired project was discussed. Then, suddenly the dreams were fulfilled. The National
Authority for School Improvement gave the responsibility for Searching Communicating
Learning (for senior upper secondary schools) to the University of Malmö, for SMiLE (for
comprehensive schools) to the University of Kristianstad, and later on for Many SMiLE
(for comprehensive schools in multi-cultural communities) to the City of Malmö.
The Municipal Actor
The second actor in Sweden’s school library advocacy was the municipalities, in particular
those in southern Sweden. The 2000 IASL conference, held in Malmö, was a very good
starting point for developing close and intense cooperation for lobbying for school library
development. IASL, IFLA, the Swedish Library Association, Swedish Arts Council, the
Danish School Library Association, Malmö University, Sweden’s School Library Association
South and the local and regional libraries supported the conference, together with the
City of Malmö. The school library was on the agenda! Sweden’s first local School Library
Association South had been founded 1997/98, inspired by connections with international
associations; also the Network for School Library Centers was very active. Initiatives
from these actors and from the National School Library Group led up to submitting a
letter to the minister of education outlining three areas of school library development
that required governmental action:
1. inclusion of the school library in the Education Act
2. governmental support to school librarians
3. a national school library center.

Soon after this letter had been submitted, the writers were invited to an audience with the
minister’s secretary. The minister was hooked! Over the years, there had been many
contacts with representatives for Danish school libraries, both with individuals and with
The Danish School Library Association. The Danes could inspire the Swedes: they had an
Act making school libraries mandatory; they really focused on the pedagogical role of the
school library which they called the learning centre; and they worked intensively with
ICT and production facilities. In 2005 a network called Mind the Gap started with the
support of the National Authority for School Improvement. Mind the Gap included
Contd....

236 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY