Sally Perry.
Of the many roles performed by the children’s or school librarian perhaps the most mystical is that of matchmaker: matching books with readers. Joy Court*, reviews editor of The School Librarian, describes the specialist children’s librarian mantra as ‘The right book for the right child at the right time in order to achieve the aim of every child reading for pleasure’. In the US this process even has its own name – readers’ advisory – and has traditionally been taught in library schools.
And why is this pairing so important? Because the right book might be the one where you stop thinking about the process of reading or the number of pages you have to get through and read for the story, read for pleasure. It might be your ‘turning point’ book, (more…)

Sally Perry.
Question: What do you have in school that can:
                                    Improve literacy
                                    Foster reading for pleasure
                                    Raise academic achievement
                                    Develop positive attitudes towards learning
                                    Deliver information literacy skills
                                    Create a community
                                    And more…
Answer: A School Library
National Libraries Day will be celebrated on Saturday (6 February) and it seems fitting that here at the UCL Institute of Education Library we use the occasion to consider the role of the School Library.
So what can school libraries do? (more…)