JANUARY 2021
International Association of
School Librarianship
CONTENTS
PRESIDENTIAL POINTS
PAGE 2
Christmas Cards - A Celebration
G
oodbye 2020, and
hello 2021 –it’s IASL’s
50th birthday! We will
be celebrating our Golden
Anniversary all year long, even as
we work through the challenges
to our schools and communities
made worse by the pandemic.
Dr. Ross Todd spoke of “the next
normal” at the Region 3 online
town-hall recently, asking that
school librarians and IASL in
particular be at the center of the
information education needed by
our students and families, now and
in the future.
Together, we can build that
repository of best practices and
well-crafted research, becoming
the go-to source for these
information education needs and
much more.
Now is the time to connect
with a Special Interest Group to
brainstorm https://iasl-online.org/
page-1863456, write an article for
the IASL Newsletter to explain
your practice, and share your
social media outreach programs on
the IASL Listserv.
The “For Fifty More” challenge has
been renewed, so your “birthday
gift” contribution to the operating
fund will be matched by an
anonymous donor throughout
2021.
In July, our dedicated Conference
Team will bring us together
online for the 2021 IASL Annual
IASL NEWSLETTER
2022 Conference Bids
PAGE 3
Meet Jennifer Branch-Mueller
PAGE 4
Could Libraries become the School
without the Walls within the Schools
with Walls?
Katy at her son's wedding (2021)
Conference, live from Denton,
Texas, USA! https://iasl2020.unt.
edu/home
Presentation proposals are being
accepted through 15 February
2021 in both the research and
professional categories.
Conference registration is open
now, with very affordable Zonebased rates and a new option for
three or more registrants from
the same institution to receive a
discount.
I look forward to joining y’all
in this golden opportunity to
learn and network with our IASL
colleagues worldwide as we gather
knowledge and spread hope
through 2021 and into “the next
normal.”
Yours in school librarianship,
***Katy Manck
President, IASL
Katy.Manck@gmail.com
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PAGE 5
IASL 2021 Annual Conference Broadcasting Virtually
PAGE 6
Jamaica Library Service Providing
Programmes and Services with
Partners to Bridge the Digital Divide
and Support Quality Education in the
midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic
PAGE 7
35th Annual Conference of the Nigerian
School Library Association and
Celebration of 2020 ISLM
PAGE 8
Curating COVID
PAGE 9
50 More Campaign Continued
IASL Board Nominations 2021
PAGE 10
IASL International Awards: Call for
Applications
Library of Congress Literacy Awards
PAGE 11
Flaws in Pakistani Education System Status of Libraries
PAGE 12
The Nepalese Association of School
Librarians - Activities Report
2020 - 2021
VOLUME 50, ISSUE 1
Flaws in Pakistani Education System- Status of Libraries
BY ABID HUSSAIN, LIBRARY OFFICER, INSTITUTE OF STRATEGIC STUDIES ISLAMABAD
P
akistani schools offer two
kinds of education around the
country, those are Education
for Elite, and Education for the poor
and medium-class (Non-Elite). The
Urdu Medium or Non-Elite education
system are for the poor masses,
Middle and working class. However,
the Elite class enjoy state of the art
educational facilities. Some few
examples are Beacon-house Schools
system, Asas International, City
School, Aitchison College Lahore,
Roots millennium school system
etc. Few other schools for Defence
forces and elite class are those of
cadet colleges, Army Burnhall college,
Bahria Colleges, Fazaia college
system, FG School, and PAF school
system etc. On the other hand, the
Urdu medium (Non-Elite) education
faces numerous challenges. Even such
certificated holders are struggling for
a living and accepted it as poor fate
from one generation to another. These
poor masses can never be accepted as
part of the elite education system and
is creating a panic situation among
poor classes.
and teachers for their educational
activities but, the medium schools in
Pakistan neither have single libraries
nor librarians except few books in the
old shelf. The Urdu medium-class
has plethoras of problems fewer of
them are Non-availability of libraries,
No sufficient budgets, Outdated
syllabus, Low-quality education,
Outdated resources and technology,
Rattalization (Cramming) etc. To
address these issues, the government
of Pakistan should take necessary
action. The incumbent prime minister
Imran Khan during the sit-in at
Islamabad has proclaimed that he
would bring uniform education
system in Pakistan, but, in practical
not has been changed yet. The
education mafias, Elite class and
religious clerics are obstacles for
deployment a uniform syllabus in all
schools of Pakistan.
Pakistan among Developing countries
faces numerous challenges. The
picture in of schools in Pakistan is
grim. ‘There are 1, 63, 000 public
primary schools in Pakistan’
(UNESCO), although the country is
the 2nd largest populace countries
in the Islamic world, the third most
populace in Asian and the fifth largest
populace countries in the world.
Pakistan has not made any tangible
improvement in literacy rate which
increased only 2pc during the last
four years. The current literacy rate is
59.13%, but, the libraries conditions
at school level is in the mourning
condition and mercy of God.
Remember! Poor schools produce
poor minds and getting salvations
from such minds will never let a
nation grow.
All elite education system have
well-versed libraries and up-todate laboratories, nevertheless, the
Non-Elite education systems (Urdu
Medium) do not have the same
facilities and even well-furnished
buildings to educate the children in
the way they ought to be. Though,
several private education offers low
standard education for the middle
class, but they do not compete
with the Elite education system to
offer proper facilities like libraries,
laboratories, playgrounds, medical
facilities etc. Education at private
schools have become Profitable
Business and have no concerned with
children’s futures.
Libraries are sources of transmission
for social norms and beliefs at
school level and is crucial for any
nation in delivering a literacy rate.
Establishment of libraries at school
level has been neglected in developing
countries like Pakistan. Library staff
provides basic services to the students
IASL NEWSLETTER
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VOLUME 50, ISSUE 1