National Libraries Day 4th Feb 2012

National Libraries Day is devoted to all types of libraries, library users, staff and supporters across the UK. Join in by organising a celebratory event, contributing to our forums, tweeting with the #NLD12 hashtag and visiting your local library on the 4 February or the week leading up to it. More information...
 

New eBook service launched

MLS partners with Global Leader in eBooks

At the opening of the BETT Show 2012 (www.bettshow.com), MLS proudly announces their partnership with OverDrive (www.overdrive.com) the global leader in eBook distribution. MLS, the UK’s leading provider of library management software to education who already support over 14,000 schools with their engaging and innovative software, is leading the way once again with an integrated eBook solution for UK schools and colleges.  Read full press release here.
 

Junior Librarian user wins SLA Library Design Award

Rosendale Primary School's Library Bus is ‘visionary’. Not in the sense of a library in a bus, as that is certainly not unique. But the concept of a school community volunteering together to design and build a new school library in a bus… this is truly visionary.  More...

Come and see us on stand C20 at BETT

This year, as well as the latest versions of our core systems Eclipse.net and Junior Librarian.net, MLS will be showcasing some fantastic new ideas to demonstrate how to use engaging technologies within your school to develop independent motivated readers and learners for life.  These will include:

• Anywhere anytime access to your library with our fantastic new mobile app’s.  Great for encouraging parental engagement with reading in your school.
• Reading Cloud - our fantastic new online reading community designed to engage students, parents and educators in reading for pleasure.
• The latest Silverlight version of management for .net users.  Lots of new features and some significant speed improvements.
• Our new eBook service for schools in partnership with Overdrive.

If you or any colleagues are attending the show then please come along and meet the team on stand C20.  We look forward to seeing you there.

For more information about the show click here.

FREE iMLS App now available in the App Store...

The new iMLS App allows staff, pupils and parents to access the school library from iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

Schools using Junior Librarian.net or Eclipse.net (hosted) can now ensure the library and its resources are accessible anywhere, anytime and available to your whole school community. The app is a fantastic way to encourage parental engagement with reading.

More....

Encouraging reading for pleasure.......

The Government is strongly committed to improving literacy, and knows the importance in this of reading for pleasure. There is good evidence to suggest that young people who read for pleasure daily perform better in reading skills tests than those who never do.

We hope teachers and school librarians will encourage children to enjoy reading, and to read a wide range of good quality literature. This section gives the evidence for why reading for pleasure is so important, and offers some case studies and practical ideas for how to promote reading in your school.

More.......

SLYA 2011 Honour List

The School Library Association has announced the Honour List for the SLA School Librarian of the Year 2011.

This year there are three exceptional school librarians on the Honour List:

Helen Emery, LRC Manager, King Edward VI School, Lichfield, Staffordshire
Wendy Roberts, Senior School Librarian, Ardingly College, West Sussex
Carol Webb, Librarian, Forest Hill School, London.
 

The profiles of the three finalists will be featured over the next three weeks on the SLA blog.

Their work will be celebrated at a ceremony to be held on Monday 3 October 2011 at the Mermaid Conference Centre in London, when the SLA School Librarian of the Year 2011 will be announced.

Read the full press release here.

Fiction 'improves social understanding'

Prof Keith Oatley: "The more fiction you read the better you are...at understanding other people"

BBC Radio 4 - 7th July 2011

Eclipse.net Feature - Ed Exec July 2011

Joining Forces - Corsham School, Wiltshire.

Junior Librarian Feature - Ed Exec June 2011

Playing the System - Cifton Green Primary School, York

Library of the future: Wi-Fi, flat screens, automated book sorting

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/southsouthwest/ct-met-library-of-the-future-0308-20110307,0,5528757.story

MLS announce the winners of their World Book Day Competition

The winners of the World Book Day vouchers are:

Shawley Community Primary School
Surrey

Julian's Primary School
London

Congratulations to the winners who receive a £500 book voucher each. Thank you to all the schools that entered and we hope you enjoyed World Book Day 2011

Removing barriers to literacy

Ofsted have made a really positive mention of school libraries, and the effect they have on literacy, in their latest report entitled: 'Removing barriers to literacy'. This is the extract, from paragraph 100. 'The primary and secondary schools visited emphasised the school library as contributing markedly to improving literacy skills. All the schools visited had well-resourced libraries, often with computerised loan systems and facilities for accessing learning resources on an intranet. Libraries in the secondary schools were often open for much longer than the school day. This enabled students to complete their homework on the school's computers before and after school. The enthusiasm and responsiveness of the librarian generally had a direct impact on the attitudes of the students towards the library and reading.'

Junior Librarian featured on Gareth Malone's Extraordinary School for Boys Episode 2

Choirmaster Gareth Malone teaches in a primary school in Essex for one term. This time he faces a new mission: to get the boys reading. The school uses Junior Librarian to manage its library and the programme shows the boys having fun scanning the books in and out.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00ttsgt/ Gareth_Malones_Extraordinary_School_for_Boys_Episode_2/

Schools libraries are too often a "wasted resource" which should be brought into the mainstream of teaching, says a report.

The School Library Commission Report School Libraries: A Plan for Improvement has been published (15 September 2010). The 26 page report from the National Literacy Trust (NLT) and Museums, Libraries and Archives (MLA) is based on the 90+ submissions of evidence, plus further evidence from various stakeholder groups including pupils, teachers, school librarians, head teachers and local authority staff, as well as an expert round table of organisations including CILIP, ASCEL, UKLA and Booktrust as well as SLA. Standing behind all this is also a huge piece of research based on a survey of 17,000 pupils.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11304759

Download the report

The well thought of 2010 annual teenage reading list is now available from Tower Hamlets SLS.

http://www.hwb.me.uk/sendstudionx/link.php?M=14884&N=79&L=408&F=H

'I really do owe my life to libraries'
Sir Andrew Motion broadcast on Radio 4,
31st August 10

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tj7rg

England's library visitors continue to drop.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11037964

Author urges Gove to save school libraries.

http://www.teachers.tv/news/70181