Status of secondary school libraries and librarians in Bangladesh

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the current environment of secondary school libraries and librarians in Bangladesh. To achieve this objective, an exploratory mixed method study was conducted to ensure the best possible outcomes. In the qualitative phase, besides literature review, five school librarians were interviewed. Based on the output in the qualitative phase, a questionnaire was designed for quantitative phase and collected 87 responses using an online survey. In general, it is found that the development of libraries and creating qualified school library professionals have been slow due to a lack of governmental and non-governmental initiatives. School libraries, where they exist, offer minimal services and facilities; school librarians are not integrated with the teaching and learning process. Finally, the school library is identified as being of lesser significance to other priorities in the country’s education system and annual budget, and the resulting issues and challenges are, therefore, an important topic and issue of significance.

Keywords

Bangladesh school librarian school library secondary school libraries teacher-librarian

Introduction

Secondary education in Bangladesh

The Government of Bangladesh (GOB) places great importance on education. Education for All (EFA) is the constitutional responsibility of the Government and the constitution affirms equal rights in education for all. In Bangladesh, secondary education is managed and administered by the Ministry of Education (MoE). The system is divided into two significant sub-levels: secondary education (grades 6 to 10) and higher secondary education (grades 11 to 12). The secondary education bodies oversee some 20,000 secondary schools that serve nearly 10.5 million students (Bangladesh Education Statistics (BES), 2017). However, Rahman (2017) stated that most (over 95%) of the secondary schools are privately managed and the Government provides subsidies to those non-government secondary schools (NGSS) under the MPO (Monthly Pay Order) project.

Bangladesh Education Statistics 2015 (adapted from Rahman, 2017) presented some quality indicators on the state of secondary education. It was stated that the teacher-student ratio stands at 1:41; the size of the average classroom is 60; 67.88% of teachers in schools are trained; 82.21% of schools have computer facilities; 72.98% of schools have an Internet connection, and 71.9% of schools have multimedia facilities. According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (n.d.) Bangladesh Country Report, adult (aged 15 years and older) and young adult (aged 15–24) literacy rates reached 72.89% and 92.95% in 2017. Furthermore, the World Bank (2016) reported that Bangladesh achieved gender parity in access, in addition to dramatic decreases in disparities between the highest and lowest consumption quintiles at both the primary and secondary levels.

Despite impressive achievements in enrolment and literacy, secondary education in Bangladesh fails to equip students with the knowledge and skills for keeping up with the needs of the economy (World Bank, 2016). According to Rahman (2017) and UNESCO (2012), the linkages between the curriculum and the needs of the economy are disparate. Outdated teaching methods and examinations that test rote memory do not equip students with the analytical skills or creative thinking the country so direly requires. The quality and relevance of secondary education are low. There is a gap between the education provided in cities and the education provided in rural areas, and the gap appears to be still widening.

Secondary school libraries and librarians in Bangladesh

Since its independence in 1971, Bangladesh has established some diverse libraries. However, the overall attainment of 21st-century goals for a well-functioning library and information system is not encouraging (Rahman, 2016). A British Council report (2015) claimed that almost everyone who goes to the library thinks that libraries are highly valuable for society, about 63% of users perceive Bangladeshi libraries as not being technologically modern, and library services are not creative enough. Nonetheless, most of the users expressed the opinion that librarians have the skills to meet their needs.

Access to resources is a significant challenge in Bangladesh particularly in K-12 with no formal library system in schools and citizens have mixed perceptions regarding the role of libraries (British Council Report, 2015). Katz (2016) noted that most children in Bangladesh only have access to textbooks at school; additional materials like storybooks and educational games are rare and 40% of children do not have books other than religious texts at home. Similarly, Tasneem (2017) reported that 40% of librarians in Bangladesh mention the lack of availability and variety of books as one of the critical problems they face in their daily responsibilities at work which adversely affect school libraries in attempting to achieve their educational potential (Rahman, 2016) and, in turn, for librarians to deliver better services. In many schools, where there are libraries, services are not robust and a lack of updated resources is a common challenge.

A study by Shuva and Akter (2011: 69) claims, “ICT status in school and college libraries in Bangladesh is very much disappointing”. Imon’s (2017) study further pointed out that in secondary schools in Bangladesh students have almost no access to digital libraries. Although the GOB stated their motive in the “Library: aims and objective” chapter of national education policy 2010 (cited in Alam, 2012) that students would get available access to global knowledge through the classroom and school library with the existing ICT facilities, according to Imon (2017), it is still not happening in schools in Bangladesh. The World Bank (2013) further reported that many underprivileged schools do not have the capacity to invest in libraries and laboratories or these facilities risk being underutilized.

For NGSS to receive MPO recognition they need to fulfill specific requirements and having a library is one of them. However, for the some 20,000 NGSS in Bangladesh, there are only 12,198 school librarians (BANBEIS Database, 2017b) and approximately 9000 schools have dedicated libraries or reading rooms (SLP3–see Methodology section). Abbas (2018) reported that various MPO-listed non-government secondary educational institutions across the country do not have proper libraries despite the availability of librarians. Rahman’s (2007) research recounted that during government inspection, many non-government schools borrow books from bookstores, personal libraries or nearby educational institutions to satisfy the library service prerequisite for MPO recognition.

In Bangladesh, the official title for the NGSS librarian post is Assistant Librarian and it is a block post. School librarians are recruited by the specific school governing body under the guidance of the District/Sub-District Education Office. Because school librarians are not recruited by the Non-government Teachers’ Registration and Certification Authority (NTRCA), having similar or superior qualifications as subject or specialist teachers, they do not have the opportunity to be promoted to headmaster or principal. (NTRCA is responsible for recruiting teachers for non-government schools, colleges, madrasas, technical and vocational institutions in Bangladesh).

Moreover, according to a 2016 Ordinance directed by the Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (SHSEB) Dhaka (part of Bangladesh Gadget-Additional issue 2017), non-governmental school and college librarians or assistant librarians are included as non-teaching and not academic staff which is contrary to the prior ordinances and amendments (SLP1 and Islam, 2018 Facebook group post (President of Library Association of Bangladesh). Under the said Ordinance, NGSS librarians are also ineligible to vote or to be members of the school or staff committee and this constrains their status in the workplace and any room for their recognition in the broader society. Library professionals and associations in Bangladesh (LAB, BALID and SLABD) have since advocated against the SHSEB Ordinance, but there was no visible initiative taken by the Government or related department to address this issue.

In Bangladesh, only a few scholars have conducted research in relation to school libraries and school librarians based on secondary literature. Those studies identified that the importance of developing school libraries and creating qualified school library professionals for the longest time, has been overlooked by policymakers in Bangladesh (Dhaka Tribune, 2018a; Islam and Chowdhury, 2006; Rahman, 2017). The school library is considered the last item on the school priority list and there is no regular subvention for libraries in the country’s annual budget (Islam and Chowdhury, 2006; Rahman, 2017). Rahman (2016) noted that school libraries are not embedded in the teaching and learning system, but where they exist, they are usually used as spaces to hold students during free periods. Hossain (2018) further goes on to point out that although school librarians have a similar or higher educational qualification and teach in the classroom, they are not invited to library-based co-teaching or contribute to the collaborative lesson planning. To create qualified school library professionals, so far in Bangladesh, there are no courses or programs at the university level that focus on school librarianship.

Overall, school libraries and librarians in Bangladesh are facing significant challenges, mainly due to lack of continuous professional development opportunities, will and awareness, the nonexistence of national policy on the school library system and of course the apathetic attitude of the authorities (Hossain, 2018; Rahman, 2016). Against this background, it appears that understanding the current situation of secondary school libraries and librarians (SSLs) of Bangladesh straight from the school library practitioners is critical. Besides, in view of the lack of literature on school libraries in Bangladesh, it is also equally important to picture the solid context, challenges and focus points for improvement for an array of stakeholders, including school librarians, researchers, educators and policymakers.

The objective of the study

The primary objective of this study is to explore the status of SSLs in Bangladesh from the school library professional themselves with particular emphasis on NGSS. The study also aims to explore the workplace challenges of NGSS libraries and librarians and the initiatives the Government of Bangladesh has taken so far to address the challenges.

Literature review

The role of libraries, in their many forms, around the globe, share a common purpose: to enhance learning and promote a literate society. According to the IFLA/UNESCO School Library Manifesto (IFLA, 1999), “The school library equips students with life-long learning skills and develops the imagination, enabling them to live as responsible citizens.” Research also claims that access to reading materials is a critical factor in developing enthusiastic and skilled readers and there is a direct link between reading levels and learning results (Krashen, 2004).

The richness and quality of a school library program primarily depend upon the workforce available within and beyond the school library (IFLA SLG, 2015). There is a significant correlation between well-resourced school libraries staffed with professional school librarians and students’ academic success (Gretes, 2013; Scholastic, 2016). More than 50 years of international research on school librarianship collectively (see, for example, Haycock, 1992, in LRS (2015) School Libraries Impact Studies (www.lrs.org/datatools/school-libraries/impact-studies) directs that the position of school librarian necessitates formal education in school librarianship and teaching in the classroom setting.

According to the 2015 IFLA SLG, “because the role of school libraries is to facilitate teaching and learning, the services and activities of school libraries need to be under the direction of professional staff with the same level of education and preparation as classroom teachers.” Therefore, universities in many developed countries such as the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa offer school librarianship specialized courses and programs to create a solid school library workforce. Similarly, developing countries such as Sri Lanka and China have similar courses and programs (Ranaweera, 2018; Zhang, 2018) with the primary objective of providing education to those who want to work in school libraries and training to the school library professionals.

Staffing structures for school libraries also change subject to the local context, which is influenced by legislation, economic development, and educational infrastructure. The credentials of school librarians vary across the continents and may include librarians with or without teacher training and librarians with training in other library domains (IFLA SLG, 2015). Hossain (2017) reported that the commonly used term of school librarian also goes by other nomenclatures: school librarian, library media specialist, teacher librarian, library teacher, and professeurs documentalistes (in France).

The status (e.g. academic/non-academic) of school librarians varies from country to country too. From the literature review (IFLA SLG, 2015 and IASL (International Association of School Librarianship), 2016), in many developing countries, qualified school librarians are considered teaching staff and enjoy equal benefits such as salary, professional development and annual pay increases. For example, in France, Portugal, Australia, Canada, and the USA the school librarian (professeur documentaliste and professor bibliotecário) who specializes in librarianship is considered as teaching staff and trained at the same education level and status as the teaching staff. In developing countries such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, China and Malaysia school librarians are an academic member of the school but mostly considered as non-teaching staff. Nonetheless, in Myanmar, Nepal and Cambodia school librarian status is non-teaching and non-academic staff (IASL WOW, 2016). Hossain (2018) pointed out that in Bangladesh since 2017, school librarians are not considered as teaching or academic members of the school staff council.

Methodology

An exploratory mixed method approach was conducted in this study. Initially, in the qualitative phase, five members of the School Library Association of Bangladesh (SLABD) including the President and Secretary General were interviewed online (via voice and text messaging) on Facebook Messenger and IMO (a calling app) to explore the NGSS librarians’ current roles and perceptions of their profession, the nature of their work and the impact of different governmental/ministerial decisions on their profession. The data gathered from this phase was collected on an MS Excel spreadsheet under five broad categories: professional status, challenges, library collection and services, ICT facilities and usage, professional development opportunities. The interviewees in the qualitative phase are labeled SLP1, SLP2, SLP3, SLP4 and SLP5.

In the quantitative phase of the study, a questionnaire was developed based on the outcomes of the literature review and interviews in the qualitative phase, which are professional status, library facilities and services, workplace challenges, and opportunities for professional development with a few demographic questions. The questionnaire was then translated into Bengali by a professional translator and pilot tested with three SLABD members and two other academic librarians working at university libraries in Bangladesh and Australia. After the necessary update, the questionnaire was shared with the target population, school librarians, on the SLABD Facebook group.

The total membership of the SLABD Facebook group members was 1281 (March, 2018), but many of them are inactive. In addition, approximately 30% to 35% of SLABD Facebook group members are working in libraries in other institutions such as university and college libraries. To acquire clear viewpoints, a few check-in questions were also posted on the SLABD Facebook group. The actual questionnaire link was posted on the SLABD Facebook group in January 2018 and several follow-up posts were made until the end of April 2018 to receive more responses. The responses were automatically recorded and tabulated on Google Forms and analyzed using SPSS (version 25) and MS Office suit. Some respondents omitted to answer all of the questions, and the missing responses are reflected in the varying sample size (n) values.

Besides the survey method, in-depth desk research has been conducted on Google and Google Scholar using English and Bengali keywords. Some of these keywords were combined by Boolean operator ‘AND’ for retrieving related information.

Diverse project reports from the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), International Association of School Librarianship (IASL), Ministry of Education Bangladesh, World Bank and UNESCO Bangladesh, Room to Read Bangladesh, British Council Bangladesh, Beyond Access Bangladesh, Bangladesh Association of Librarians, Information Scientists and Documentalists (BALID), Library Association of Bangladesh (LAB), Local Bengali and English newspapers, and SLABD Facebook group posts were consulted. Overall, there was no identifiable primary literature related to the school library and librarians of Bangladesh and a few references in the literature marginally cover the situation of SSLs in Bangladesh. The author attempted to reference original sources to substantiate secondary data utilized.

Findings and discussion

The demographic profile of the respondents

From the online survey 87 (n = 87) responses were collected which represented 34 out of 64 districts (provinces) in Bangladesh. Most of the survey participants were male (see Table 1) and working in NGSS libraries.

Table 1.

Frequency distribution by gender (n = 80).

Gender	No.	%
Male	77	88.5
Female	10	11.5
Total (n)	87	100

Regarding educational qualifications, more than half of the respondents have a Master’s degree in various disciplines. On the subject of professional qualification, (e.g. Library and Information Science – LIS) most of the school librarians have an LIS Diploma.

From Table 2, it is noted that most of the NGSS librarians are well qualified. Besides library management and related tasks, a vast majority (89.7%) of them teach various subjects such as Bengali, English and the wider disciplines of the Sciences and Social Sciences in the classroom setting. Although school librarians have a similar or higher qualification, 71.3% of the respondent school librarians indicated that they were not recognized at the rank of teaching or academic staff in their workplaces (see Figure 1).

Table 2.

Frequency distribution by highest education VS highest LIS qualifications (n = 87).

Qualifications	Master’s or equiv.	Bachelor’s or equiv.	Diploma	Certificate	Total
General (n = 87)	58.6% (51)	38% (33)	3.4% (3)	---	100% (87)
Professional-LIS (n = 87)	19.5% (17)	5.7% (5)	73.7% (64)	1.1% (1)	100% (87)

Figure 1.

Teaching responsibility VS recognition as teacher (n = 87).

Besides professional recognition and status challenges, secondary school librarians in Bangladesh experience other difficulties (see Figure 2) such as lack of professional development, ICT facilities, library budget, and permanent library premises. Budget and professional development (PD) opportunities for Bangladeshi school libraries and librarians leave much to be desired. When asked the question: “In the past two years, have you undertaken any professional development training (n = 85)?” about 70% of respondents indicated that they did not receive any PD in the last two years.

Figure 2.

Workplace challenges of Bangladeshi secondary school librarians (n = 85)

However, to be up to date professionally, respondents specified that they follow different Facebook groups and other forms of online platforms. A majority of them (86.2%, n = 87) admitted that they are members of local, regional and international LIS professional groups on Facebook. Remarkably, a vast majority (90.8%) of Bangladeshi NGSS librarians consider Facebook group as a micro-learning PD platform and they are comfortable using it as a professional learning tool. Nonetheless, 52.9% (n = 87) survey participants inferred that they are not aware of free online learning resources that can be used for professional learning.

Despite the challenges listed in Figure 2, this study reveals that 56.3% (n = 87) participant librarians feel comfortable working as secondary school librarians, 34.5% are not satisfied and 9.2% indicated that they are not sure about the comfortability of their jobs.

The online survey also revealed that only a few NGSS libraries have ICT (computer and Internet) facilities (15.1%, n = 86). As a result secondary school libraries are yet to computerize and only provide traditional services such as in-house reading and lending (books and newspapers). When school librarians were asked the question: “What would help you to carry out your work more effectively?”, they pointed out, among other things, cooperation and support from school Principal/Headmaster/other teachers; training on library management systems; ICT, and pedagogical skills that they want to improve (see Table 3).

Table 3.

Support and skills desired by the school librarians (n = 84).

Desired support and skills	Frequency	%
Better salary	3	3.6
Higher Education	4	4.8
I’m not sure	1	1.2
ICT Training	24	28.6
Library Management Training	43	51.1
Principal/Headmaster/Teachers support	3	3.6
Teaching skills development	6	7.1
Total	84	100.0

Other findings related to the status of school library

78.3% (n = 87) respondents indicated that their schools have permanent room for the library and 96.3% (n = 82) said they have a reading room in their school libraries.

32.5% (n = 83) NGSS libraries have more than 2000 books and 16.9% have fewer than 500 books. Besides books, 43.4% (n = 83) of libraries have newspapers and magazines (mostly complimentary issues). However, none of the participants’ school libraries have digital resource (ebook) facilities.

38.6% (n = 83) school librarian specified that number using their libraries exceeds more than 100 per day and 18.1% indicated that they receive fewer than 20 users per day.

44.6% (n = 83) respondents said that teachers frequently use the library and about 30% implied that they occasionally see the teachers are using the school library. However, many teachers are reluctant to cooperate and collaborate with the school librarians (SLP5).

70.7% (n = 82) NGSS libraries do not have any cooperation with the local public or Non-Government Organizations libraries.

Most (83.3%, n = 78) of the NGSS libraries in Bangladesh have a sole librarian and libraries are overwhelmingly dominated by male library professionals (88.8%).

In schools where there are libraries, there is no selection policy and no one is responsible for selecting or suggesting books for the library except the headmaster or headmistress and there is no community involvement with the library or for book selection (SLP1). However, data from this survey indicates that 36.6% (n = 82) of school libraries have an active library committee and 7.9% have a committee but not an active one.

Generally, school libraries are considered as the last item on the school priority list and there is no regular provision for libraries in the annual budget (SLP4). Results from this survey shows that 70.4% (n = 81) of libraries do not have any budget and about 30% have a budget starting from 5000 BDT to 50,000 BTD ($65 to $650).

Government initiatives for secondary school libraries and librarians in Bangladesh

Decisions and efforts have been taken at the government level based on various reports and research (Rahman, 2016). Since 2010, the GOB has taken the initiative of reorganizing the system of education to meet the challenges of the 21st century, and as part of the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2010. According to the NEP 2010, the broader strategic aim of the library program will be “to enrich the library collection with adequate books and journals at all levels and bring libraries under digital systems gradually” (cited in Alam, 2012: 58). Librarians have been mentioned (in NEP 2012) as the center of learning in the educational institute and librarians and assistant librarians of schools and colleges have been told to determine their proper status. To implement the education policy at the secondary education level, the MoE Bangladesh included Assistant Librarian posts for NGSS in its 2010 Manpower Structure.

Based on the suggestions from the NEP 2010, the number of secondary school librarians in Bangladesh is moving towards a period of rapid growth. During 2011 EY to 2016 EY, about 10,560 Assistant Librarians (MPO) were recruited (see Figure 3) and more than 20,000 Assistant Librarians cum Catalogers will be recruited gradually in NGSS, secondary schools and college, and madrasas (MoE website and SLP1). See Figure 3.

Figure 3.

Recruitment of NGSS librarians (Assistant Librarian) from 2010–2016.

To emphasize the importance of books, reading, libraries, and librarians as part of life, the GOB declared 5 February as National Library Day and from 2018 compulsory library lessons were included in secondary schools (Abbas, 2018; SEQAEP, 2016 and SLP3). In support of the Government’s Digital Bangladesh agenda and to ensure access to resources besides text books, as well as to promote reading, secondary schools and madrasas (religious school or college for the study of the Islamic religion, though this may not be the only subject studied) must be equipped with libraries and librarians (Dhaka Tribune, 2018b).

To develop an ICT skilled workforce, during 2009–2018, the GOB established 640 ICT learning centers in secondary schools (MoE, 2018). The Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (BANBEIS) and Upazila ICT Training and Resource Centre for Education (UITRCE) organized and conducted “Basic ICT Training” for teachers and librarians (BANBEIS, 2017a). By the end of 2018, about 1500 school librarians had attended the training (SLP3) and subsequently facilitated in-house ICT training (librarian lead) for their colleagues such as secondary school Assistant Teachers.

To inculcate reading at all levels and to develop secondary students’ reading habits and stimulate school libraries, the GOB started a nation-wide project: Developing Reading Habit (DRH). The DRH project is known as one of the successful reading and library promotion projects in the history of the country and was carried out from July 2008 to December 2017 in 250 Upazilas (sub-district) covering 12,117 secondary schools (http://drh-seqaep.org/). The overall objectives of this program according to World Bank (2018) were to set-up a reading program at the school level for grades 6 to 10 students to improve the quality of education in secondary level educational institutions by developing reading habits and skills in students through providing: (a) access to a range of selected Bangla and English books in the school library and (b) incentives to enhance use of library services and practice more reading.

According to the DRH project website (http://drh-seqaep.org/) and DSHE 2015 report, there were more than eight million students involved in the project, 6669 librarians were trained and more than 6.5 million fiction and non-fiction books were distributed to students through participating schools and libraries. Under the same project, the World Bank (2018) reported that a total of 4,156 institutions allocated new rooms for the DRH library; 12,117 teachers received librarianship training (for schools where there are no librarians) and many schools purchased additional books and collected library furniture.

Propositions for functioning school libraries and librarians in Bangladesh

Formulate a national plan for school library development

This study and previous studies (Hossain, 2018; Islam and Chowdhury, 2006; Rahman, 2017; Shuvo and Akter, 2011) suggested that a comprehensive national plan for school library development in Bangladesh is critical. It is understood that for a developing country like Bangladesh, it is not possible to establish libraries; recruit qualified school librarians, and ensure ICT facilities for some 20,000 secondary schools overnight. However, it is possible to create a “master plan” that will pave the way for school libraries towards sustainable development. The plan should ensure effective school library programs nationwide and be capable of increasing students’ achievement across the country in order to make good contributions to the Digital Bangladesh plan and other national economic and educational development.

The initial plan may start with the formulation of a national school library policy that ensures the role and responsibilities of school libraries and librarians. Brazil and Vietnam, for example, formulated such a law in 2010 and 2017 respectively. The School Libraries Law in Brazil states that educational institutions at all levels/grades of education and in all educational systems must have a school library (Paiva and Sirihal, 2017). In China, the State Educational Commission has also set up a National School Library Working Committee to implement unified leadership across the country (Xiaobin et al., 1996).

Reconsider school librarian roles and recognition

Bangladesh has to ensure qualified school librarians are equal to other specialized teachers and they should be treated as teaching or at the very least as academic staff. There should be a national authority to recruit school librarians in Bangladesh and the author proposed the NTRCA. It is strongly proposed that the position title for school librarians should be Library Teacher, similar to other specialists such as Physical Education Teacher and Religion Teacher.

An ordinance that requires further revision

The 2017 Ordinance from the past Chairman of the Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (SHSEB), Dhaka is contradictory to previous ordinances and amendments and requires further consideration. For example, Assistant Librarians’ (School) initial pay scale is grade 10, and many of them have been upgraded to grade 9 (SLP2 and Islam, 2018). Demonstrators, Physical Education and Assistant Teachers have the same pay scale (grade 9, initially in grade 10) and they are ranked as teaching staff in NGSS (SLP1; Islam, 2018 and Kashem, 2018 Facebook group update).

Regarding festivities, non-teaching staff receive 50% and teaching staff 25%. NGSS librarians have always received a 25% festival allowance as teaching staff (Pervin, 2012). Therefore, economically it is accepted that school librarians are teaching or at very least academic staff. Since there is no other post except teaching and non-teaching at the MPO Education Institute in Bangladesh, and salary allowances, festival allowances, and retirement allowances also come in the name of teaching and non-teaching staff and as per the revised notification dated 5 May 2013 (Islam, 2018), the NGSS Assistant Librarians are teaching/academic staff (SLP5).

Professional development for school librarians

In Bangladesh, the concerned authority should organize regular professional and pedagogical training for school library professional. Zhang (2018) stated that the education of school librarians relies mainly on continuing professional learning because of the lack of specific programs to prepare professional school librarians. It is essential to streamline the existing ICT training project for secondary school librarians across the country (Hossain, 2018). Moreover, the attitude and skill of the library professional can be developed positively by conducting seminars and conference on school librarianship at national, regional, and district levels. School librarians themselves need to be proactive, be a self-directed and hands-on explorer of technology which can be an effective method of professional development.

Budget allocation for school libraries

Funding is crucial to the development of libraries and their services; it is the sine qua non of performance improvement too. This study found that the majority (69.2%) of school libraries in Bangladesh do not have any budget. Therefore, the GOB needs to allocate financial support for the development of the school library sector. Combined efforts are encouraged to be made by the appropriate supervisory bodies to monitor the effective utilization of funds allocated to school libraries.

Form a digital school library network and promote e-book reading

Finding from this study confirms that lack of reading resources is a significant challenge in school libraries in Bangladesh. With the country moving towards a digital future, it is essential that school libraries in Bangladesh also evolve with time. To attract young readers, librarians need up-to-date collections in both print and digital formats, which is also encouraged in the National Education Policy 2010. Since most of the secondary schools have a good ICT infrastructure (BES, 2015 cited in Rahman, 2017), Bangladesh has generous opportunities to develop digital school libraries (Nasiruddin, 2017) and promote e-book and e-reading (electronic reading) nationwide.

School librarians can act as pioneers of a “digital school library network and e-book reading initiative” as they are ICT trained and familiar with online sources and services. The initial project can be developing a school library website using free website builders such as Google site, Wordpress.com, Wix.com or Weebly.com.; and then link free e-book portals (such as Storyline Online (www.storylineonline.net), Epic (www.getepic.com), Starfall (www.starfall.com), Book Adventure (www.bookadventure.com), ICDL (http://en.childrenslibrary.org) and Khan Academy (www.khanacademy.org) on the library website which enable library user to access reading resources 24/7. The author has composed a comprehensive list of free e-book sites that can be found at https://goo.gl/u6oRFV.

Commence a school librarianship specialized program in Bangladesh

From the literature review, it is learned that both teaching and librarianship require knowledge relating to the discipline and a set of skills. Therefore, there is a need to teach those related skills including information and digital literacies to LIS students planning to work in school libraries (Udina, 2013). Local universities should be encouraged to gradually implement school librarianship specialization in their Bachelor’s and Master’s programs or at the very least offer certificate or diploma courses in school librarianship that focus on library management and pedagogic skills.

Conclusion

The importance of school libraries and librarians is not overstated as cruxes of knowledge to the young minds. They are, in fact, an almost necessary and complementary element to any robust education system, and it is good that this fact is finally being acknowledged in Bangladesh. Recruitment of secondary school assistant librarians and a National Library Day are the first steps of progression. The next step is to secure 21st-century library facilities and qualified school librarians that work in harmony with the education system.

This study explored the general environment of secondary school libraries and found that they are not on par with providing necessary services required of the NEP 2010 for 21st-century learners. School librarians are facing considerable challenges in their workplaces. The GOB and the relevant authorities need to consider the dignity and social status of LIS professionals by formulating appropriate and equitable policies for all school professionals. The GOB should ensure each school has a library and librarian, budget allocation for school libraries, ICT facilities, development projects of various kinds, attention at governmental levels and in the media, and, most importantly, a national school library policy that supports the new role for school libraries and librarians. Recommendations emerging from the study may also be used to help resolve issues that may adversely impact school library development in Bangladesh. If the concerned stakeholders can gradually implement the propositions, they will usher in a new era of secondary school library development in Bangladesh.

While no definitive conclusions can be drawn from the study due to its exploratory nature and the small sample size, it nevertheless provides foundations for the development of school libraries, school librarians, their management and challenges in Bangladesh. Besides, it is the first study that has collected data from the school library professionals of Bangladesh. Therefore, because of the lack of literature on school libraries in Bangladesh, the findings of this study have original value, particularly in understanding the context of NGSS libraries and librarians. The author believes that there is a strong need to undertake more a robust investigation such as the British Council’s (2015) Library Landscape Assessment of Bangladesh to probe for to the slow growth in school librarianship in Bangladesh. More and more research, discussion and strategies need to be adopted for building a functioning school library system in Bangladesh. The possibilities are endless, but the risks are too high to disregard.

Supplemental material

Supplemental Material, IFL842317_Supp_mat - Status of secondary school libraries and librarians in Bangladesh

Supplemental Material, IFL842317_Supp_mat for Status of secondary school libraries and librarians in Bangladesh by Zakir Hossain in IFLA Journal

Footnotes

Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to Bebe Chang of Nova Southeastern University, Professor Dr Diljit Singh and Dr Shyh-Mee Tan of IASL, Abid Hasan and Kamrul Hasan of SLABD, and Tawhid Sarat of CIRC for their extraordinary support in carrying out this study from literature to translation to data collection.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Zakir Hossain

Supplemental material

Supplemental material for this article is available online.

References

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