1. School Libraries in Italy
Antonia Rizzi
Liceo Statale Giuseppe Novello
Codogno (Lodi) – Italy
Study visit in
Mindelo and Vila do Conde,
Portugal, 10-14 October 2011
3. The School
LICEO STATALE The school is located in
GIUSEPPE NOVELLO 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
Antonia Rizzi, October 2011
5. SBL network
Library
The School Staff
Library Sfida
all’ultimo
libro
School
Activities and
organization Libraries in Regional
Office
Italy
Improving
reading skills
Schools and Budget
Libraries
Teachers and
Librarians
Antonia Rizzi, October 2011
6. 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.
Antonia Rizzi, October 2011
7. 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
Antonia Rizzi, October 2011
8. 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
Antonia Rizzi, October 2011
9. School Library activities
Ordinary activities Additional activities an special events
Cataloguing (made by SBL specialists) Conferences and special lessons
Improving resources (made by school teachers or external
Opening to the public experts)
Reference services for users Reading competions
Books presentations
Concerts
Antonia Rizzi, October 2011
10. 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
Antonia Rizzi, October 2011
11. 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/
Antonia Rizzi, October 2011
12. 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)
Antonia Rizzi, October 2011
14. “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
Antonia Rizzi, October 2011
16. 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
Antonia Rizzi, October 2011
17. 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
Antonia Rizzi, October 2011
18. 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
Antonia Rizzi, October 2011
19. 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
Antonia Rizzi, October 2011
20. 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
Antonia Rizzi, October 2011
21. THANK YOU FOR YOUR
ATTENTION!
Antonia Rizzi, October 2011
