Creating Study Hubs

Passing exams is critical to enabling young people to find jobs and succeed in their future endeavours. Support which helps students to approach their exams with confidence can set them up for success at this important juncture in their lives.

Libraries around the world receive thousands of young people seeking information and a place to revise, but all too often they are forced to operate without the books students need or specialist knowledge of how to support them as they prepare for exams.

How we are helping

We are partnering with libraries to create Study Hubs which are tailored to the needs of students who are revising for their exams. In each library, we will:

• Provide grants for the purchase of locally published curriculum books
• Donate supplementary texts for English, maths, science and other subjects as well as fiction and non-fiction for reading for pleasure, rest and relaxation
• Train librarians in how best to support users who will soon sit exams and equip them with the skills to run exam preparation sessions in local libraries
• Provide study guide materials full of top exam tips
• Support libraries to set up Secondary School Outreach services offering revision materials on loan to secondary schools, or establishing secondary school libraries

Together, these services will create a space in public libraries where students can find the support they need to pass their exams and cement the library’s central role as a centre for learning.

Learning and thriving in Malawi and Zambia

Thanks to funds from players of People’s Postcode Lottery, the Study Hub was run in four Zambian libraries and 12 Zambian schools. The results from the pilot found that a local Study Hub helped pupils approach exams with confidence, enriched local classrooms and changed attitudes toward reading and learning. Read the full evaluation report to find out more

Thanks to funding from Aggreko, we have also opened two Study Hubs in Malawi which focus on providing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) resources for girl’s schools.

The study hubs opened in spring 2018, and so far, 3,300 students have accessed their local STEM Study Hub and teachers have noted a change in the girls’ confidence in STEM subjects:

“Sciences brings out the inner me. Chemistry and biology are my favourites. I come to the library mostly for the science books. They really work with the new curriculum and the information is very clear. I want to be a biomedical engineer or a neurosurgeon.”
– Wakisa Makisulu. 14 year old STEM Study Hub user