Using the School Library Association Book Award by Helen Cleaves
Helen Cleaves is on this year’s Information Book Award judging panel. She is Librarian at Ibstock Place School, an independent co-educational day school for pupils aged 4 -18 located in Roehampton, south-west London.
The Information Book Awards – a secondary school librarian’s view
How did you get involved in the IBA?
I spotted on the SLA (School Library Association) news page that members could apply for tickets to attend the IBA awards ceremony. At the time I knew little about the awards but the opportunity of an evening out in London was not one to be missed. We weren’t quite sure what to expect but the Assistant Librarian and I were not disappointed. Not only did I have the opportunity to ‘fangirl’ Juno Dawson (her book on mental health, ‘Mind Your Head’, won the Teen category) and enjoy celebrating the wonderful books, but the venue, Hachette’s Head Office, with its spectacular views from the roof garden overlooking the Thames of the City at night was absolutely stunning. My introduction to the IBA could not have been better!
Fast forward three years and I saw that the SLA was recruiting new judges. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to improve my understanding of what was available beyond The Guinness Book of Records and curriculum-related non-fiction. What an understatement. When I applied to join the judging panel I had no idea just how transformative the experience would prove to be. I also rather underestimated the volume of submissions for the award.
Once the one-in-one-out book policy had been re-negotiated at home for the duration of the judging process I enjoyed immersing myself fully in the process. Opening up each of the seven large boxes filled with brand new non-fiction books was better than Christmas! It was fascinating to see the range of design styles and approaches to presenting information, the multitude of titles on the same few topics and the outliers – the unique books that were boldly going where no or few books had gone before. Some were captivating works of art, others tackling challenging topics that desperately needed representation on school library bookshelves. What a privilege!
How have you run the IBA in your school?
We’ve experimented with multiple approaches to enable as many pupils as possible to get involved and engage with the books. As a secondary school we have focused on the ‘Teen’ category.
In our first IBA year, during Covid restrictions, we introduced the three shortlisted books via pre-recorded assemblies to all Year 7 – 10 pupils. Sixth Form volunteers provided an overview and shared their favourite pages from each title. We ran these during a home-grown ‘Empathy Week’ that incorporated Empathy Lab’s national Empathy Day. Each class then voted for their favourite title. The overall winner was put forward as our school’s nomination for the Children’s Choice award.
In Year 8 library lessons, which were taught in half class groups, pupils had the opportunity to ‘play judge’ and, armed with the essential equipment – nothing says ‘judge’ like a clipboard – carefully evaluate each of the shortlisted titles. Pupils were provided with a framework – judging sheet – and criteria to help guide them through the process and ensure a consistent approach. Anyone who has run a similar exercise will know how much pupils enjoy the opportunity to express their opinion and flex their critical muscle. They took their role seriously and many were at pains to be thorough. As well as developing their critical skills and ability to write persuasively, the exercise also increased their awareness of the ‘nuts and bolts’ of non-fiction publishing and accordingly enhanced their understanding of what ‘quality’ looks like regarding information books.
We also incorporated the longlisted titles into our non-fiction sampling sessions during Non-Fiction November with our Year 7 pupils. Again, pupils were given a framework for assessing each title, but in less detail than as outlined above. The aim of this exercise was for every pupil to find at least one non-fiction book in the library they wanted to read. I had not anticipated quite how successful this exercise would prove to be.
Despite the fact that there was a permanent display of new non-fiction books, it was as if these books had only just arrived. Many of the pupils who had previously struggled in library lessons where the focus had been on fiction, were engaged, animated even. It was fantastic to see such pupils sharing favourite sections with their friends and clamouring to get a particular book that had caught everyone’s eye.
I had not anticipated the magic of such pupils discovering something in the library that they felt was for them. The library was suddenly relevant, filled with unexpected potential. This exercise opened up conversations and enabled me to get to know pupils who had been tricky to engage previously. I learned about their interests and their passions, they forgot that they didn’t like library lessons. Needless to say, I was keen to capitalise on this pivotal moment, and these insights were invaluable for providing more successful fiction recommendations later.
Such a simple exercise, with such a significant impact. Arguably these were my favourite library lessons of the school year.
What advice or tips would you give to other schools looking to implement the IBA?
If you’re running hands-on ‘sampling’ style sessions think carefully about how you will handle the books that are in high demand. I had decided to keep all the books as ‘Reference Only’ until every class had completed the sampling session. This meant pupils had to wait and inevitably some of that precious initial enthusiasm had waned by the time they received the book. If I were to do this again I would try to better anticipate which books would be popular and consider having duplicates in order to avoid delays in getting the books into the pupils’ hands.
Having a permanent IBA display proved a great promotional tool as it started conversations and was a visual reminder of the range of books in the library. Pupils wanted to know more about what it was not least because, unlike fiction book awards, they were not familiar with the IBA. I also highlighted links on the display between the books and school-wide initiatives e.g. Black History Month and Pride to increase their appeal and relevance.
At the risk of stating the obvious it’s really important that you know these books well. As with all book awards, age appropriateness is not straightforward and you don’t want any awkward surprises when using the books with pupils. Consider carefully which year groups you will use which books with and whether you may need to age restrict any.
Why would you recommend IBA to other schools?
By celebrating the best information books for children the IBA is a brilliant way to get the inside track on what non-fiction you might like to buy for your library. With the best tools to hand you are maximising your chances of success for reigniting reluctant readers’ relationship with your library and, by extension, reading. Transformative and some!
This year’s IBA awards ceremony is taking place in London on Tuesday 22nd November and will be reported on in a blog by Alison Tarrant (CEO, School Library Association) on Thursday 24th November.
