Library+ Digital Magazine 2017 library plus dig mag 17 | Page 6

Promoting British Values
During the last 2 weeks of April 2017, we asked our learners for their opinion on Brexit—What
did they think? Was it a good move for Britain to leave the EU? The activity linked to the British
Value of Democracy.
We displayed basic information on the history of the EU on the poster and a QR code for
learners to scan if they wanted further information. After initially feeling hesitant to give
opinions, it soon became a popular activity especially with ESOL students and sparked debates
between learners.
A total of 87 learners
engaged with the activity with 70% of them
voicing that they thought it was not a good
move to leave the EU, with comments such as
“only time will tell” and “if everyone leaves
the EU it will be very bad for business”.
Library+ ran a mock election for 4 days, 5 th —8 th June 2017,
in line with the general election held on 8 th June 2017.
Information was displayed regarding the 5 political parties
running for Stockport with the key policies and links and QR
codes to the full party manifesto.
We encouraged students to get involved, learn about the
election process and make an informed choice promoting
democracy and British Values. It gave learners an idea of how
to vote in the real election and encouraged younger learners
to register for when they are old enough to vote.
116 votes were cast.
The results were 76.7% Labour, 10.3% Conservative, 5.1% Liberal Democrats, 4.3% UKIP, 3.4%
Green Party.
This was representative of the Stockport Constituency in which Labour won by 63.3%.
Comments from students included “It’s a great idea to give young people an idea of what its
like to vote”