Challenges in the provision of school library services in Katlehong secondary schools, Gauteng

Province

Lindiwe Shandu, Janneke Mostert and Neil Evans

Outline

• Introduction

• Literature review

• Contextual setting

• Aim and Research questions

• Methodology

• Results

• Recommendations

Literature review

• UNESCO Library Manifesto 2006 • Role of school libraries in development of learner

and teacher support • OBE, Curriculum 2005 and CAPS systems

necessitate the availability of information resources

• Role of NPDoE – Provision of library facilities and information

resources, space for library, library staff and books – Funding by way of LTSM

• Lack of school library policies

Contextual setting

• Katlehong – East Rand, EMM, Germiston

– 407 294 total population

– 14 Secondary schools

– Library facilities available in all schools

Map of Katlehong

Aim and Research questions

• To establish the issues and challenges in the provision of school library services in Katlehong, Gauteng Province

• What services and resources are currently

provided in secondary school libraries in Katlehong?

• What challenges /issues do the stakeholders face in providing school library services?

• What solutions can be offered to improve school library services in Katlehong?

Methodology

• Qualitative method • Population: all 14 schools, all teacher-librarians & school principals

teachers and a Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) Official. – Teacher-Librarians targeted to provide details on funding, facilities and

challenges experienced. – Principals targeted as overseers of provision of library services in their

schools. – Teachers to provide input on how service provided impact on them. – GDE Official to explain role of DoE in the provision of library services.

• Data collection: interviews and Focus Group Discussion – took two months.

• Data analysed qualitatively – recorded data grouped in themes and reported by way of narratives.

Results

Services/resources offered by Katlehong school libraries – Lending, reference, user guidance, photocopy and

Gauteng Online services.

– Mainly books, some audio-visual materials and charts

– DVDs, CDs and cassettes – not purchased by school libraries – supplied by Education Department – according to teachers its mostly inappropriate for teaching purposes

– newspaper and magazines available but not funded through school library budget.

• Teachers confirmed restrictions in terms of library hours

Results

• Books

Schools Non-fiction Fiction Total stock

A 2668 100 2768

B 2035 100 2135

C 2310 112 2422

D 1779 100 1879

E 2771 105 2876

F 3108 104 3212

G 2915 105 3020

H 2470 90 2560

I 1633 95 1728

J 2323 109 2432

K 3457 133 3590

L 3122 128 3250

M 2997 105 3102

N 1879 97 1976

TOTAL 35467 1483 36950

Results

• Reference resources

Encyclopedia Dictionaries Biographies Maps &

Atlases

Directories Yearbooks Gazettes

A 0

B 0 0 0 0

C 0 0

D 0 0

E 0 0 0

F 0 0

G 0 0

H 0 0 0

I 0 0

J 0 0 0 0

K 0 0 0

L 0

M 0 0 0

N 0 0 0

Results

• Audio-visual resources

Schools Audio cassette Video cassette CDs DVDs Overhead projector

A 0 0

B 0 0 0

C 0 0

D 0 0

E 0 0

F 0 0

G 0 0

H 0 0

I 0

J 0

K 0 0

L 0 0

M 0

N 0 0

Schools Space size

A Very small - only half of the class can fit in

B Size of a classroom

C Can be used by 2 classes at a time

D Only one class can use it at a time

E Small - accommodate one class at a time

F Very small

G Very small

H Small - can only be used by half of the class at a time

I Size of two class rooms

J Big enough - three classes can fit in

K Very small

L Very small

M Very small

N Very small

Results • Physical facilities

Results

• Lack of reading rooms/facilities

• No furniture – desks used – one school have sufficient furniture but space problematic

• According to GDE official- responsibility of school to provide furniture

Results

• Information collection and its organisation – Information resources out-dated and irrelevant. – Disorganised due to:

• Lack of shelving • Materials not catalogued or classified.

– Current magazines, journals, and newspapers not available due to lack of funding

– Principals blame no-fee paying system and low LTSM – Buy only most essential materials or rely on donations – some

involve School governing body in fundraising for books – GDE Official: Katlehong secondary school libraries not up to the

standard required by the DoE from school libraries – blame unqualified teacher librarians and not enough time spent in library

Results

• Staffing issues

Schools Qualification No. of library staff Years of experience

A B Paed 1 21

B BA & Higher Education Diploma 1 3

C Degree & Dipl. in Librarianship 1 7

D Secondary Teachers Diploma (STD) 1 19

E STD 1 16

F B.Bibl 1 4

G STD 1 11

H STD & Dipl. in Librarianship 1 16

I B.Paed 1 10

J B Paed 1 13

K B Paed 1 12

L STD & Dipl. in Librarianship 1 6

M STD 1 11

N STD 1 14

Results

• Staffing issues – Most teacher librarians (71%) have no formal library

qualification/few skills. – According to GDE Official: no policy guiding teacher-librarian

appointments. – According to the principals no additional funds made available

to employ teacher-librarians. – Use of unqualified teacher-librarians results in poor

management of the libraries. – Teacher-librarians unskilled to teach information literacy &

computer skills for information retrieval. – Lack of dedicated teacher-librarians result in teachers also have

to teach in their spare time without any assistance in the library

Conclusions

• Schools lack necessary facilities and resources to provide information services to users – user information exploration and independent searching severely hampered

• Lack of funds and facilities hamper the provision of innovative services.

• Collection in poor condition and irrelevant. • Unqualified teacher-librarians hampers access to organised

library resources . • Challenges such as restricted hours, insufficient library

materials, insufficient government commitment have impact on the effective provision and utilisation of school library services by teachers and learners.

Proposed recommendations

Allocation of library period.

Allocation of sufficient funds.

Employment of qualified tls.

Regulated opening hours.

Provision of networked computers.

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