Secondary school librarians as heads of department in UK schools

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the attitudes of UK head teachers and of librarians to the view that secondary school librarians should have the status of a head of department (HOD).

Design/methodology/approach

Questionnaires sent to 77 secondary schools in Cheshire, UK had response rates of 58 per cent from the librarians and of 49 per cent from the head teachers, with follow‐up interviews being conducted with 15 of the librarians.

Findings

Most librarians were employed as support staff, although many of them were doing a HOD's job; even when a librarian had this title, they did not often receive the recognition appropriate to such a role. Librarians were more likely to have HOD status in the independent schools sector than in the state‐maintained sector, and there was some evidence that head teachers and librarians have different views as to what a librarian's responsibilities should be.

Originality/value

There has been no previous study of this topic in the UK.

Citation

Brackenbury, H.L. and Willett, P. (2011), "Secondary school librarians as heads of department in UK schools", Library Management, Vol. 32 No. 4/5, pp. 237-250. https://doi.org/10.1108/01435121111132257