Library Support Work

We are available to work in your library to deliver a variety of services including weeding, auditing and refurbishment work. We work in schools in Warwickshire and in surrounding counties, including Birmingham, Sutton Coldfield, Solihull etc.

For schools in Warwickshire, our daily costs are found below:

Please note that if your school is based outside of Warwickshire then we charge a small, additional fee to cover mileage costs.

For any further information, please contact us at: schoolslibraryservice@warwickshire.gov.uk

Encouraging Lifelong Readers and Learners

Library Management Systems - We can help!

At WSLS, we have a range of experience in using different systems and can provide you with help and support. We recommend a computerised library management system (LMS).

Benefits include:

• Improves the effectiveness of your library: helps pupils and staff find books more easily and simplifies recording of loans
• Saves you time as it can help with cataloguing books by downloading book information from a central system
• Enables you to locate and track your stock more easily and minimise the loss of books
• Provides you with useful information about library use and book issuing data
• Helps develop pupils' independent library skills and greater ownership of their library

WSLS can help provide you with information about the different options available and what might best suit the needs of your school and your budget. For more information about different computerised systems please open the following link.

SLS-UK School Library Award

We are delighted to offer schools in Warwickshire the opportunity to accredit their library service via our national award scheme.

The SLS School Library Award was initiated by Warwickshire Schools Library Service in 2012. It is now available nationally, via the Association of Senior Education and Children’s Librarians (ASCEL), administered locally by individual SLSs.  We are delighted that the School Library Association (SLA) the School Library Group (SLG) and the Society of Chief Librarians (SCL) have endorsed the new Award.

 Any primary or secondary school may apply to work towards achieving the main award or the Gold version for high-achieving services.

The award is a self-assessment process conducted by the designated member of staff in charge of the library and endorsed by the Head teacher. It is an audit of 20 key activities with supporting documentation where necessary. Schools note across three levels (developing, establishing and enhancing) how their library service is operating across a range of activities and services.

An award is given to a school where the library is achieving 10 or more separate activities or services in the ‘establishing’ and/or ‘enhancing’ category. A Gold award is given for 15 or more services in the ‘enhancing’ category.

The awards are a brilliant opportunity for library staff to obtain a certificate that acknowledges the fantastic work that they do each day in the school library.

How do I apply?
There is a very small administrative cost for participation. If you would like to know more, please contact us: schoolslibraryservice@warwickshire.gov.uk

Schools achieving SLS-UK School Library Award and former Warwickshire SLS School Library Award:
Abbotts Farm Junior                                     Adderley Primary (Birmingham)
Alcester Academy (revalidated)                   Alcester Grammar School
Alsager School (Cheshire)                           Aylesford
Bilton                                                            Bilton Junior
Bridgetown Primary                                     Campion
Cheney Primary (Oxon)                               Haselor Primary
Internat School Aberdeen                            James Young High (West Lothian)
Kineton                                                         King Edward VI Stratford
King’s Heath Boys (Birmingham)                 Kings High
Kings Norton Girls School (Birmingham)     Kingsley
Lillington Primary                                         Marlborough Junior (Birmingham)
Myton (revalidated)                                      Orchard Academy (Milton Keynes )
Polesworth                                                   Princethorpe College
Rugby High                                                  Stockingford Primary
Stratford upon Avon                                     Stratford Girls Grammar
Stratford Primary                                          Walsall Academy
Warwick School                                            Wyndcliffe Primary (Birmingham)

Your SLS Fiction loan

During the summer term we'll be busy putting together fiction loans for our subscribing schools. As part of the subscription package, schools receive a loan of fiction books to use in the school library for reading for pleasure. Every year we swap half of this loan, sending out new titles to refresh your school library. It is a really great and easy way to get new books into the school library. The loans vary depending on the size of the school and range from 250 books to 800 books.

Did you know that if you have a fiction loan from us you can tailor it to your needs? We hand pick every loan and send out a request form in advance of your loan been selected and delivered.  This means that if you have a specific requirement within your school, you can specify that you require books to help you with this.

We have a great range of stock here at SLS, from old favourites to the latest bestsellers, and what is great about our loans is that you will receive a wide and varied selection of books. We also provide recreational non-fiction titles for those pupils who enjoy facts and hobbies. We have a selection of dual language titles and also a selection of books for reluctant readers so do make sure you let us know if you would like any of these. You are also welcome to visit us here at SLS and pick your own loan!

If you would like to know more and make sure you are making the most of your fiction loan please do get in touch, we are happy to help!

schoolslibraryservice@warwickshire.gov.uk

The Journey of a Project Box

Over the autumn the team at Warwickshire Schools Library Service were busy hand selecting resources for the green project collections for delivery at the start of term. We send out around 700 boxes a term to both primary and secondary schools.

That is as high as Mount Etna if we stacked them back to back!

A huge amount of resources to support reading and learning and we think that they have a great impact on pupils, inspiring a love of reading, learning and a very hands on approach to topic work. The following film shows you the journey of a project box and will give you a really lovely idea as to what a project collection could look like, how we put it together and the impact it can have on the classroom. 

Warwickshire Schools Library Service: Great School Libraries Project

Schools in Nuneaton and Bedworth borough to receive dedicated reading support thanks to new ‘Great School Libraries’ project.

A new project will see Warwickshire Schools Library Service (SLS) supporting a number of schools in the Nuneaton and Bedworth area to help their pupils improve their reading and learning. Called ‘Warwickshire Great School Libraries’, and complementing Warwickshire County Council’s Nuneaton Education Strategy, the three-year project will benefit pupils at Nathaniel Newton Infant School in Hartshill, Middlemarch Junior School in Nuneaton and Keresley Newland Primary Academy.

Each school will receive bulk book collection loans and equipment from the Schools Library Service and digital support and visits from a library specialist, who will work in their school libraries on a regular basis in the coming months as this becomes possible. Michael Drayton Junior School in Hartshill will also work with the project, providing a mentoring role and staff to assist the other schools involved.

The ‘Warwickshire Great School Libraries’ project, which will run for three academic years from September 2020 to July 2023, has been funded by a grant of £77,050 from Warwickshire County Council’s Early intervention, Prevention and Community Capacity Fund. By providing staff support to run their school libraries, increasing opportunities for pupils to read for pleasure and more widely, and establishing of a culture of reading in the schools, the aim is to raise reading and learning attainment levels, particularly among those pupils that are not achieving the required levels at Key Stages 1 and 2.

The project will also provide opportunities for pupils to improve their reading fluency and comprehension skills, with access to promotional activities run by the Schools Library Service as well as other national reading promotions. It is hoped that, by the end of the project, the schools will feel equipped and confident enough to continue the work in the future, and there will be a full evaluation of the success of the project at the end of the three years.

Stella Thebridge, School Library Service Manager and Project Manager said: 

“This is a wonderful opportunity for the SLS to make a real difference in these schools and hopefully to enable them and others further down the line to reap the benefits of support for reading initiatives and the regular influx of high quality and engaging reading material going into primary schools.”

Councillor Kam Kaur, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Customer and Transformation, said: 

“Warwickshire County Council is pleased to support these schools to become self-supporting in their reading work with their pupils, and we hope this contributes to the aims and outcomes of the Nuneaton Education Strategy over the longer term.”

Please do get in touch with us if you would like more information about this or any of the other services that we can offer: schoolslibraryservice@warwickshire.gov.uk