School visit

Today I was visiting another shortlisted candidate for the School Librarian of the Year Award. It was in a good independent school and the librarian clearly has a big budget and two library assistants - something that that most school librarians can only dream off - but, again, she clearly made the most of the opportunities she was given. She managed to change the ethos of the library to make it warm and welcoming, increase the diversity of the stock, introduced mindfulness activities and games. This is the Manga shelf. 
One of the main challenges in judging this award is to take into consideration the circumstances in which the librarian is working, and look at the impact they have. Some school libraries operate with hardly any budget, no support, and pupils from families where reading is definitely not a priority - to put it mildly. These librarians often talk about having biscuits or cereal bars handy to feed pupils before school... Different worlds. At the end of the day, it is the impact that matters, whether it is making sure that pupils are able to learn, or are introduced to diversity, empathy and a different way of thinking.