The Malta School Library Association (MSLA), set up in late 1999 to bring together persons involved or interested in school library work, has worked to assist the improvement of school libraries and the professional development of school librarians; and to encourage the setting up and use of national standards.
The association held meetings and ran courses on school libraries and children's literature. It also took note of ongoing local and international projects in the field and disseminated the findings. This was mainly done through its quarterly newsletter which reached its members regularly.
The AGM last year took place on December 12 and was well attended. The newly constituted council for this will be composed of myself as chairman, Marisa Calleja as vice-chairman, Joseph Boffa as secretary, Rosemarie Saliba as treasurer and Alfred Scicluna, Stella Anastasi and Mark J. Zammit as members.
The chairman's report began with a note of thanks to Claudio Laferla, who vacated the post at the beginning of March, for his hard work, and all the members of last year's council for their incessant efforts.
Special thanks went to Marisa Calleja and Joseph Boffa, both from the Schools Library Service (SLS), for their special input to MSLA and for their continuous hard work towards the improvement of school libraries in general.
The speech included details of MSLA enlarged membership and correspondence which was exchanged with the European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations (EBLIDA).
It also outlined the work which the council embarked on, foremost among which was the involvement in the organisation of Library Week, held in April, and the competitions for primary and secondary schools as well as the annual seminar on International School Library Day in October.
The MSLA also presented the School Library and School Librarian of the Year awards. The association congratulates both St Francis of Assisi Boys' Secondary School for winning last year's School Library of the Year award and Mark Zammit, librarian at St Benedict's College, for winning School Librarian of the Year.
It also congratulated the SLS, which is part of the Department of Student Services within the Education Division, for the publication of fifth edition of its manual for school librarians. This manual is definitely a vade mecum for all school librarians. Since it is mainly intended for secondary schools, the association hopes another one for the primary sector will follow in due course.
A highlight for the association has always been the seminar, held in October, in collaboration with the SLS on International School Library Day. This year the seminar, which was held at Robert Samut Hall in Floriana, was very fruitful.
The award-giving ceremony for Best School Library and Librarian by Education Minister Louis Galea, the director-general and the assistant director of education, was followed by a Power Point presentation on the association's aims and improvement of school libraries.
Another speech was delivered by Marthese Paris about "Education for Librarianship".
The seminar ended with a questionnaire and discussion about the evolving role of the librarian and the future of school librarians, which delved into the possibility of having full-time teacher-librarians who would impart information skills to students.
It is intended that the results of this questionnaire and the outcome of the discussion will be used when the MSLA council prepares its policy and discusses the way forward in school library matters with all policy makers.
The council will continue with its endeavours to be a catalyst in school libraries, since it believes that a well organised school library together with the imparting of information skills can really make a difference in the holistic education of students.
The association's e-mail address is maltasla@gmail.com.