Hi all
It has come to my attention (via an excellent English student who attends a
public school) that internet access is blocked to even A2 users (I think
you call it year 13 - in any case people who are 18 years of age). I asked
the student to look up some Greek mythology pairs on the internet in the
library and she pulled a face saying "oh, one has to book in advance, it's
such a hassle, then it's first come first served and the librarian always
moans when one books or disturbs her". While I accept this from a
comprehensive, I always thought that the situation would be different in an
English public school - for one thing, parents PAY for their kids to have
access to top educational resources, and secondly, I would have thought
that the librarians recruited would be there to spring to their feet and
provide instant internet access to the top school classes when required,
for their resources to be checked "on the fly" as it were - also so sad to
hear (via her reluctance to approach the librarian because "she always
moans") that the image and the lack of service does not change with a
better environment. Why this ? What are parents paying for, if it's not for
top library resources, either online and on the shelf ? Why are students
always left to find alternatives to the library itself, rather than find a
welcoming place where they can go, sit down, look up a few entries and
leave, without really even making contact with the librarian, if they
always feel they are oh so put out for being asked to allow students to
access what is in reality their right (by students who have proven their
academic worth by being in their advanced A level classes ?)
Emilce
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