Below is a list of some current campaigns which may be of interest.
Feedback welcome, including those campaigns about which you feel most strongly (for or against) and details of other campaigns on matters of principal concern to our members.
SoA campaigns
Reading for Pleasure Campaign
Children's Literacy Campaign -- we are campaigning for:
1. Primary and secondary schools to be required by law to have a school library and a trained librarian.
2. Teachers, in all stages of their careers, to be supported through a range of initiatives (detailed in the letter below) to inspire a love of reading for pleasure in their pupils.
3. Schools’ use of author visits and longer residencies to be accredited by Ofsted.
- Read more about the campaign
- Get your MP to sign Early Day Motion 647 to support reading in schools
- Read the open letter to the former Schools Minister, Nick Gibb
PLR Campaign
We have been campaigning against the transfer of the Registrar of Public Lending Right to the British Library as well as for PLR payments on ebooks loans. We also want assurances that PLR will continue to be paid, whoever runs libraries. See the campaign articles below:
To view more articles about PLR and ebook lending, click here.
Other campaigns
Library campaigns
A list of national and regional library campaigns can be found here.
At the end of 2011 the Government published plans for a major reform of copyright. Many of the proposals stem from last year’s Hargreaves Review of Intellectual Property and Growth. However the latest proposals include new measures not covered by the original review which, if enacted, would reduce or possibly even eradicate the remuneration ALCS currently collects from the education sector. Click here for further information
A Bill of Rights for Artists -- a campaign setting out a Bill of Rights for all artists, supported by organisations from around the world. It updates and expands the Bill of Rights campaign initiated in 2008 by the photographer's organisation, Pro-Imaging.org. The campaign promotes the rights of creative people of all disciplines, music, photography, video, film, fine arts, writing, etc. It is independent, and open to all artists' representative associations. Representative associations can undertake all the campaign activities and have access to the campaign website to create and publish content credited to their association. www.artists-bill-of-rights.org
Bacc for the future is a campaign to include creative subjects in the core subjects for Key Stage 3 (currently GCSE level) to be included in the proposed English Baccalaureate (EBacc) which
was introduced by Michael Gove, and is currently at the consultation stage. The EBacc focuses on five subject areas: Maths, English, Sciences, Languages (Ancient and Modern), and Humanities (defined as only History or Geography). It does not include creative subjects. Bacc for the future is campaigning to ensure that the teaching of rigorous creative subjects (and consequently education about intellectual property) through the introduction of a sixth pillar of creative subjects.
The Children's Media Foundation is dedicated to ensuring the UK children have the best possible choice, range and quality of media available to them. It's role is to bring together the children's media industry, the research community, parents and policy makers in a deeper understanding of the issues around children and their media activity. It supports research projects, and media literacy initiatives, runs an All Party Group to inform Parliamentarians about the latest research, and lobbies for greater support for children's media made in the UK.
Coalition of Resistance is a broad united national campaign against cuts and privatisation in our workplaces, community and welfare services, based on general agreement with the Founding Statement issued by Tony Benn in August 2010. Read more...
www.coalitionofresistance.org.uk
Fair Trade For Creators is a campaign that calls for immediate action against coercive contractual practices facing creators in Europe. The campaign supports the complaint brought by the European Composers and Songwriters Alliance (ECSA) on 17 January against a group of European broadcasters and their alleged anti-competitive practices through coercive commissioning and unfair contractual agreements signed under duress. Sign the petition.
Enjoy Reading is a new campaign created by Pearson UK which aims to help children become lifelong readers, encouraging parents to expose them to books and make reading enjoyable.The campaign's website is aimed at parents with tips on getting children reading and offers free ebooks for children to read on-screen. Pearson have also co-founded Booktime with Booktrust, a national free books programme for reception-aged children. See also Read for my School
Make Reasoning Skills Compulsory in Schools Campaign. The 4R's campaign is the brainchild of The Philosophy Shop, a charity who bring philosophy in to schools. The campaign aims to highlight the need for 'Reasoning' to be put on equal footing with 'Reading, Writing and Arithmetic.' The development of critical and creative thinking, of understanding and autonomous thinking are all key components of learning philosophy through The Philosophy Shop's method of doing philosophy with children. www.gopetition.co.uk/petition/37997.html
Save BBC World Drama - an online campaign. www.savethebbcworlddrama.com
Speak to the future - a campaign which is highlighting the importance of languages, language learning and professional language activities for the UK. www.speaktothefuture.org
The Campaign for Real Books was established in November 2010 to preserve and promote paper books and the independent bookshops that sell them. Members have a card they can use to get 10% discount from participating booksellers. Well over 100,000 British jobs depend on paper books and bookshops are the most visible aspect of this industry. Cambo wants to keep all of these jobs alive by making sure that paper books are never seen as second rate to screens. Will you join them? Today it's the libraries, and if we all do nothing, it will be bookshops tomorrow. Together we can make a difference. www.campaignforrealbooks.org
The Library Campaign is an independent national organisation set up in 1984 to support Friends of Library groups and to campaign for improved services in publicly funded libraries. In March 2004 the Library Campaign became a registered charity (no. 1102634). They work with Alan Gibbons' Campaign for the Book.
The National Campaign for the Arts is the UK’s only independent organisation campaigning for all the arts. With a growing, UK-wide membership, the NCA is driven by the needs of the arts sector. They believe that only speaking with a united voice can the arts truly be heard. www.ivaluethearts.org.uk
The Libel Reform Campaign is an Index on Censorship, English PEN and Sense about Science Campaign.To these organisations it has become increasingly clear that English libel law and the use of ‘super-injunctions’ are having a profoundly negative impact on freedom of expression, both in the UK and abroad.
Writers such as Simon Singh, and the respected current affairs programme Newsnight, have found themselves facing defamation suits, whilst human rights campaigners are often forced to edit and retract articles in the face of potential libel action. The campaign's objective is to persuade politicians from all the political parties to commit to reform of our unjust libel laws.www.libelreform.org
Click here to read the latest update on the libel reform situation.
Lost Arts is a project and campaign to catalogue cuts and what they mean for our communities. Tell them how the cuts affect you – where you work or the impact on the libraries, theatres, arts centres and other arts organisations you love – and the protests you are involved in to save them. This information will be built by the campaign into a body of evidence to take to decision-makers when they decide how much arts and culture are worth; local governments as they set their annual budgets and central government when they decide how much investment the arts and culture sector will get from 2015 onwards. Find a map of where cuts are falling at www.lost-arts.org where you can also submit information about cuts affecting you.
The objective of the Just Read Campaign is for every child in the UK to become a reader. This campaign is not about making children functionally literate. It goes beyond that. All the research shows that the child that reads for pleasure is more likely to achieve. Unfortunately, both the government’s own statistics and international research show that reading standards are not improving in the UK and that enjoyment of reading is declining.
The Campaign Against Vetting -- The Manifesto Club is leading the national opposition to UK legislation such as the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act, which makes vetting compulsory for all adults who work or volunteer with kids.
Such rules have no positive benefit, and do nothing to stop those who seek to harm children. Instead, they merely target and turn away decent adults, whose help is essential for children's development and safety. They argue for a commonsense approach to child protection, that recognises the value of informal interaction between the generations.
Visiting Artists and Academics Campaign -- The Home Office introduced new restrictions on international artists and academics visiting the UK for talks, temporary exhibitions, concerts or artists' residencies. Visitors now have to submit to a series of arduous and expensive proceedures to get their visa, and then more bureaucratic controls when they are in the UK.
The Manifesto Club is coordinating a campaign against these regulations, in alliance with artists, musicians, gallery directors, academics and students. www.manifestoclub.com/visitingartists
Voices for the Library is a place for everyone who loves libraries to share their stories and experiences of the value of public libraries.
http://voicesforthelibrary.org.uk/wordpress/
The first World Book Night was held on 5 March 2011 and saw 20,000 people give away 1 million specially printed books - 40,000 copies of 25 brilliant titles. Events were held around the country: from nearly 10,000 people in Trafalgar Square to smaller gatherings in hundreds of libraries, bookshops, arts venues, coffee shops and homes.
World Book Night 2013 will be held on April 23 - the international day for celebrating books. To be part of World Book Night 2013, see: www.worldbooknight.org