Mr Ragunathan, United Arab Emirates School Librarian of the Year 2024, travelled from Dubai to visit the library and learn about the work King’s does around library skills and information literacy. It was fascinating to share practices and learn about each other’s libraries. Mr Ragunathan is a published author and attends many international library events, and this was his first visit to the UK. His library is modern and even has a robot helper to direct pupils to the books they seek. He appreciated the traditional feel of the King’s library and the value placed on supporting intellectual freedom and information literacy through the library’s skills program.

At GEMS Modern Academy, information skills teaching is embedded into separate, cross-curricular projects led by teachers and supported by librarians. This contrasts with King’s library, where pupils are taught information skills by library staff in a mainly discrete manner as a year-long program of study. King’s looks forward to continuing this collaboration and thanks Mr Ragunathan for an inspiring day!