9 italia

School Libraries in Italy

Antonia RizziLiceo Statale Giuseppe Novello

Codogno (Lodi) – Italy

Study visit in

Mindelo and Vila do Conde,

Portugal, 10-14 October 2011

Antonia Rizzi, October 2011

I come from…

Italia Lombardia


The School

LICEO STATALE

GIUSEPPE NOVELLO

The school is located in

Codogno, a small town

(15.000 inhabitants) 60 km

south of Milan

3 departments: science,

cassical studies, foreign

languages

650 students aged 14-18

45 teachers

3 laboratories

1 library


Giuseppe Novello: who’s that guy?


School Libraries in

Italy

The School Library

Library Staff

Sfida all’ultimo libro

Teachers and Librarians

BudgetSchools and

Libraries

Activities and

organizationRegional

Office

Improving

reading skills

SBL network


The School Library

Our library is dedicated to Prof. Rosario

Galante, a teacher who died some years

ago and left all his books to the school

library.


The Library Staff

The school librarian is a teacher with a specific training for

the job, because she worked as a documentalist before she

started to teach. Her mandate is renewed every year. She

is a member of the Headteacher staff

The school library is open to the public for 6 hours a week

There are 5 more teachers in the Library commission, so

they work in the library for one hour a week (but they also

have staff meetings)

These teachers do not have specific formation as librarians,

but they learned to use the software and to manage the

library

Library Staff specific tasks

Each member of the staff has a specific task:

1) Coordination of the commission and relationships

with other libraries and institutions

2) Application forms for new students and teachers

3) Books in foreign languages

4) Non-book materials (cds, dvds etc.)

5) Reviews

6) Coordination of students’ voluntary work in the

library


School Library activities

Ordinary activities

Cataloguing (made by SBL specialists)

Improving resources

Opening to the public

Reference services for users

Additional activities an special events

Conferences and special lessons

(made by school teachers or external

experts)

Reading competions

Books presentations

Concerts



School Library activities

and organization

We have an annual plan of activities prepared by

the library coordinator in cooperation with the

library staff. The plan includes: ordinary activities,

library timetable, staff specific tasks, budget,

additional activities, special events

The library has specific rules

Users can join for free

Users are mainly students and teachers


SBL: Sistema bibliotecario

Lodigiano. A network

We are part of a libraries network called SBL, which includes:

49 public libraries

3 school libraries

4 special libraries (a Catholic documentation centre, two

intercultural libraries with books in foreign languages, the library of

the local prison)

Libraries of the network share the catalogue and the resources, use

the same software, exchange materials and documents

http://www.bibliotechelodi.it/

http://www.bibliotechelodi.it/


Improving reading skills

We tried some ways to improve students’ reading skills:

Competitions (reading competitions, tests about novels)

Videos related to books

Relationship between music, art, cinema and books

Involving students in library management

Partecipating in local and national promotion activities (book

festivals, Ottobre piovono libri, culture week)


Reading


“Sfida all’ultimo libro”:

a competition

The competition is organized every year by SBL

Partecipant are classes of high schools Lodi district; last year there were 14 classes involved, this year there will be 16 classes involved

Every year the SBL board choses a list of novels reated to a particular topic: last year it was “travels” (real and metaphorical), this year it will be “love”

Students of each class have to read a novel to be prepared to answer questions during the competition; they also ar requested to present the novel in the way they prefer (using music, pictures, videos ad so on)

It’s an exciting experience even for thse who don’t like reading


AND THE WINNER IS…


4 videos for 4 novels

1. Per sempre giovane (“Forever young”) by Gianni

Biondillo

2. The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I1X4aWXW6Y

1. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD9iQlqzuiE&feat

ure=related

1. 1933 Was a Bad Year by John Fante

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yBz_X8CdDY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I1X4aWXW6Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD9iQlqzuiE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD9iQlqzuiE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yBz_X8CdDY


Schools and Libraries

There is a constant cooperation between public libraries and

schools

Libraries often organize activities for children: lively readings,

«treasure hunts», art performances…

Our students are involved in this kind of activities


Teachers and Librarians

In Italy, school libraries are generally run by teachers who do not

necessarily have specific librarianship competences (but they learn

in the field, anyway…)

There are some school libraries networks. A very important one is

Rete Bibliotecaria Scuole Vicentine, www.rbsvicenza.org )

Schools are free to cooperate and to organize they libraries in the

way they prefer (in general, everything depends on teachers’

goodwill)

Some local authorities organize training courses for teachers to

help them in managing school libraries

http://www.rbsvicenza.org/


Regional School office for

Lombardy

Regional School Office for Lombardy (a branch of Ministry of Education)

offers a support service for school librarians

The office also gathers information about school libraries activities and

good practices

Every year they publish the results of their researches

Every year they give prizes to some school libraries whos activities are

considerated innovative and successful

Our library was awarded with Premio Lettura 2011 because our library

project was considerated one of the best in Lombardy


Library budget

The library budget is annual and it is decided by teachers

responsible for the library and school managers. It must be

approved by the School Council. Last year it was 6.000 €,

covering staff payment, acquisition of resources, software

There is no particular sponsorship, but sometimes the Regional

School Office pay to support special events. In the libraries

network, school libraries have special conditions

To obtain extra- budget we can apply for public and private

sponsoring (very hard to obtain…)

Resources are acquired and eliminated by library staff according

to the annual plan, proposals and requests of library users,

libraries network guidelines

THANK YOU FOR YOUR

ATTENTION!
