Information Scotland The Journal of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland ISSN 1743-5471 Issue contents | Journal contents | About the online edition of the journal April 2005 Volume 3 (2)

Social inclusion

Success in print

Storylines is an innovative creative writing project in Fife aimed at helping groups of Adult Basic Education students to improve their literacy and ICT skills with the support of library staff, ABE tutors and professional storytellers. It is proving to be highly successful.

The idea for the project emerged from a series of storytelling workshops organised for library staff by Janet McInnes, Fife's temporary Storyteller-in-Residence, which showed how traditional storytelling skills could be used to stimulate the imagination and encourage people to create their own stories.

As library staff felt that this may prove an enjoyable approach for adults who wanted to improve their writing skills, they arranged a meeting with the local ABE Co-ordinator and two professional storytellers based in Fife to explore the idea of a collaborative project based in the library.

A successful joint funding application was then made to Fife's Literacy and Numeracy Plan - part of funding from the Scottish Executive via Community Learning Strategy Partnerships for adult literacy and numeracy - to pilot the project in Dunfermline Carnegie Library and Kirkcaldy.

The role of the professional storytellers is to use traditional storytelling skills and activities to enthuse and inspire the students to produce pieces of creative writing. The ABE tutors and library staff support the students with their basic writing skills and help them to develop new ICT skills to transfer their stories to print using the library's computers.

The library environment provides a relaxed atmosphere for the learners and the publication of their finished work in a glossy, high quality booklet gives them a real sense of pride in their achievement. The project boosts the students' confidence and motivates them to continue improving their writing and ICT skills and encourages them to make independent use of the library.

The pilot projects proved such a great success that a second joint funding application to run Storylines in Lochgelly Library was approved. Seven students took part in this project which was held on Wednesday evenings over eight weeks. The following are some of the comments made about the individual students:

"Initially, Isabel was lacking in confidence. However, since taking part in the project, Isabel has commented that friends and family have noticed a very positive change in her manner. She has become more confident in her own abilities and more comfortable around other people. She is a frequent visitor to the library now."

"Scott became much more communicative over the weeks and mixed well with the rest of the group. He started to use the library facilities at other times during the week and built up a good relationship with the library staff."

"John was keen to join the group to improve his literacy skills. He had always wanted to write poetry. He enjoyed the experience so much that he would now like to try writing a fairy tale."

"Anne had expressed an interest in attending the Storylines group, but was apprehensive about coming out alone in the evenings. However, such was her motivation, that she managed to persuade her 15-year-old son Paul to accompany her to the library each week. Although too young to be technically considered a member of the project, Paul joined in the group and developed a story of his own which has been included in the booklet."

"Lynda had already written several stories on her own, but she was keen to learn more about creative writing. She was a very supportive member of the group. As well as illustrating her own stories, Lynda helped illustrate some of the stories written by other members of the group. She has now enrolled in another Challenge Fund project aimed at improving literacy skills."

"Marina was unable to attend the group every week because of childcare problems. However, with the support of a tutor at the local Opportunities Centre, Marina completed a story for the booklet and has gone on to write another."

At the end of the Lochgelly Library project, a visit to Multiprint was arranged for the group to see their work being printed hot off the press. The newly published booklets were made available for the students to give to family and friends, as well as being put on display in the local library. And, to round things off, the students were invited to attend a Learners' Lunch to celebrate learning achievement in Fife, attended by local councillors and a local celebrity.

All the participants have so far found the project a positive and worthwhile experience. We are working on a third application for a fourth group in the Cowdenbeath area, and possibly a fifth group in East Fife. And the Lochgelly group has been shortlisted for the Scottish Adult Learning Awards to be announced in May.

Information Scotland Vol. 3 (2) April 2005

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