This year’s School Library Association Weekend Course took place on 7th – 8th June 2024 in Sheffield. The theme for this year was Libraries Unleashed: Beyond the Shelves.

Participants can choose from a range of talks by authors, academics and expert practitioners exploring ways to unlock the full potential of school libraries and extend their reach into the wider curriculum.

Sessions for the 2024 programme included:

• Artificial Intelligence and the school library with Dr Andrew Cox, Senior Lecturer, University of Sheffield.
• Promoting STEM through the primary school library
• Beyond the Secret Garden – colonial classics, contemporary children with Darren Chetty, author and Lecturer, UCL.
• Using and understanding graphic novels with Paul Register, founder of the Excelsior Award.
• How to help young people live better online with author Nicola Morgan.
• Out of this World: exploring fantasy worlds with authors Yu Rong, Liz Flanagan, Cathy Fitzgerald and Jenny McLachlan.
• Media and information literacy across the curriculum
• Tween Reading: hear from authors writing for the 8-12 age range.
• The future of school librarianship

Details for the 2025 Weekend Course to be confirmed.

Cost: For 2024, £230/£320 ex VAT for SLA members/ free members for both days. Prices for 2025 to be confirmed.

About the School Library Association:  The School Library Association (SLA) is a not-for-profit organisation that supports schools to develop their school library, establish a reading culture and deliver independent learning skill in order to help all children and young people fulfil their potential.  In addition, the SLA undertakes research into the benefits of school library provision and campaigns for all schools in the UK to have their own (or shared) staffed library.