David Porritt
The Principal of Budapest British International School, David Porritt, in conversation with ITM Editor Andy Homden, reflects on what libraries – and books – mean to him.
Library memories
“My earliest memories of being in a library go back to when he was at primary school – and they are not quite what you might expect.
“I remember going to the school library to watch the 1977 Wimbledon Ladies’ singles final in the Queen’s Silver Jubilee year when Virginia Wade won the title. The library was where the school TV was kept and that’s where we went to watch – the whole school!
“I suppose this was a reflection of the fact that even back then, the library was becoming a bit of a hub for something more than books. Later, however, when I went to secondary school, I can’t say that I was the kind of kid that loved the school library. I wasn’t very bookish, and the library was where you had to be quiet . . . and where you went for detention!
“It wasn’t really until much later that libraries became the important part of my life that they are now. Music was my all-consuming passion as an undergraduate and young teacher – not books! I dreamed of being in a band. Of course the school library was important during my first headships in the UK, but I suppose I had not really seen how central a library could be to school life.
“That came when I went to Singapore, and took up my first international headship at Tanglin Trust School under Ron Stones as Head of School and Marilyn Cole as Director of Studies. This was a formative experience. It was Marilyn and her team who showed me exactly what a library could become at a school. It was a time of development and growth, and for Marilyn the Library was at the centre of the plan. This had a real impact on me and was nothing short of inspirational. The library became the heart and soul of the whole school – the centre for the development of a child’s imagination and creativity.
“What I hadn’t realised was that my library journey was only just beginning. My next appointment to the British School of the Netherlands as founding Headteacher of the Junior School at Leidschenveen was so exciting as I became involved with every aspect of school design. As you would expect, having learned from Ron and Marilyn at Tanglin, the library was to be developed as a true hub of school life. This has been important to me ever since.
“And it was in Amsterdam that I found what remains my favourite library of all time – the KB National Library of the Netherlands. It’s now a modern building, but with a great history, founded in 1798 to house the collection of Stadtholder William V. The KB stands for Konigklijke (Royal) Bibliotheek. Somehow it just provides the perfect environment for thinking, studying and writing. It has a minimalist architectural style – you are not surrounded by books, but you can get quick and easy access to virtually any book ever published right there in the library. It was a haven. Somehow the chairs were just the right height for the desks – they were in the perfect ratio and as you entered the library foyer and passed over your bag, coat and telephone and were handed a basket for your notepad and laptop it was like a ceremony that admitted you into a secret world in which you can lose yourself and relax into your work. It is the most perfect and comfortable learning space – and there was always space and always somewhere to sit and work. All this was mine for the princely sum of €15 per year. I think I probably wrote about 30 – 40,000 words in that space.”
Our school library
David is the Head Teacher at the Budapest British International School. It’s a gem of a place set in the leafy suburbs in the hills on the Buda side of town, overlooking the Danube. There’s not much room – but every square centimetre is used beautifully and it has not one, but two libraries. With their first IBDP cohort having just graduated – very successfully – David has just appointed a second librarian to the school. He readily admits that in this small, growing school, the library hasn’t always had an easy time.
“Every year, as the school grew, our primary library has had to change location – but this year, for the first time it has been able to stay in one place and that has meant that the library team have been able to plan their library lessons and time properly – their year is up and running! The students are loving it and systems are being established. Reading and literacy is just becoming part of their lives.
“It’s more difficult to engage secondary students – but the other day some students came to me and said all they really wanted was somewhere quiet to work! And we have been very fortunate this year to have been able to recruit a specialist senior school librarian. He’s a PhD and already complementing our existing librarian, who is now focusing mainly on primary. As a result, our ability to support research, inquiry and the extended essay has already developed and is about to take off”
And the future?
“One thing I will mention was a project I worked on, again in Amsterdam, was to help set up the Amity International School. This was to be housed in a heritage building, the fabric of which you just could not touch. Here we set up the library so that the entrance foyer and the whole of the first floor was a library space. The library desk was right next to the reception desk. You engaged with the library as soon as you came into the school. I am not sure how it worked in practice – but what a statement it made about libraries and what they could be. To get to any classroom – you had to walk through a library space.
“I wouldn’t say I am a traditionalist and I love accessing books and ideas online. I have a Kindle. But I love the physicality of books – to own them, mark them, scribble on and annotate them. There is something about the physical nature of a book that is somehow . . . better. And when I think about what I have written, and I can see the actual books on my shelves that I have read and referenced in my work, and can go and open the pages marked by the sticky notes – somehow that’s important.”
“Looking to the future, and as the world progresses, I hope it will have more libraries and more spaces where people can just go, and sit and talk.
“They will be more like a comfortable, modern book shop, where you can also get a good cup of coffee.”
David Porritt is the Principal of the Budapest British International School.
FEATURE IMAGE: by Ivan Cheremisin on Unsplash
Support Images : with kind permission from the Budapest British International School