Sydney Morning Herald - School Libraries and inequality

Illustration by Craig Smith from Black Dog by Christobel Mattingley

"For some students, a school library 

will be their only access to books."

Here is the full headline from the Sydney Morning Herald 6th May 2026:

Young people are being let down by lack of school libraries 

SMH opinion piece by Cathie Warburton Chief executive of ALIA 
(The Australian Library and Information Association)

I worked in NSW Department of Education primary schools in their school libraries from 1985-2017 in various libraries from small rural schools, a larger country town and a huge metropolitan campus. I have visited school libraries in NSW and in Canada and I currently volunteer in two libraries for children. The topic of this piece in the newspaper today is a very important one and a personal one too.

It is very easy to spot a great school library - the ingredients are not mysterious - a current, well-organised and attractively displayed book collection in a warm welcoming space AND a Teacher-Librarian - not just someone with specialised qualifications (I have these) but also a Teacher-Librarian who is passionate about reading and about providing children (and their teachers) with the best books and other resources available.

The barriers are not mysterious either - disinterested or ignorant school executives, limited budgets, inappropriate staffing, inadequate spaces, and of course the saddest situation of all when a school has no library or a library but no appropriate library staff. 

Some points that resonated with me in this article:

• In every State and Territory in Australia there is currently no legal requirement for a school to have a library.

• The NSW Department of Education has a school library policy BUT it is not mandated in law (so) the existence of a school library is largely dependent on the school system followed by the school principal.

[I have worked with every 'type' of Principal from the deeply committed to the apathetic and the openly hostile. At times, my justifying my role and the importance of the school library felt like a daily battle]

• What is a modern school library? It is a physical and digital and wellbeing space with well-resourced collections and qualified staff who work with the school community to enhance all aspects of teaching and learning.

[This was one of the huge joys of my role - finding resources for teachers and encouraging new staff to read books and extend/develop their teaching repertoire]

• (Currently there is no data) on the number of schools with a library and qualified staff ...

• Wealthier independent schools are able to support well-resourced, often multi-campus school libraries and employ teams of qualified staff ...

• The lack of school libraries (in government schools) contributes to a widening gap in academic and wellbeing outcomes (for our students).

• The value of literacy initiatives focusing on reading for pleasure as a key driver of child and adult literacy have also become increasingly known ...

Tonight on the news the reporter named the "best" performing schools in Sydney as measured by a test called NAPLAN - I totally disagree with this testing of very young children BUT I would love to know about the library provisions in each of these 'top' schools - the news item named Beecroft PS; Lindfield East PS; and St Ives North PS among the 'top' three.

Cathie Warburton reinforces this measure when she says "Research by the ACER shows that students in schools with qualified teacher librarians achieve higher NAPLAN literacy outcomes and well-resourced, staff libraries are linked to higher student achievement overall."

If you are reading this AND you are a parent in Australia with a school aged child, make sure you check out the situation in YOUR school. Ask to see the library if you are touring a school, find out the name of the Teacher-Librarian, talk to your child - do they visit the school library every week? what happens when they visit? who works there? are books coming home? If you don't get 'great' answers to these questions ASK why.

I have talked about aspects of this issue previously:

Australian School Library Day

Library Snapshot Day 1st April

The Final Chapter SMH Good Weekend Magazine 

Reading is in the news they say we need a revolution - lets revolt!

"Children are forgetting the joy of reading books"

Libraries, books, time for reading, and more