The Research: Sources of Information: Libecourse

In 2006, a landmark study, School Librar-

ies and Student Achievement in Ontario, Canadian Coalition for School Libraries cla.ca Elementary School
was released. Colorado State Library www.cde.state.co.us/

Your School
index_library.htm
The study was led by Queen’s University
educational researcher, Dr. Donald Klinger Tucson Unified K-12 Teacher Librarian Cadre
and was based on Ontario data: Grade 3 and

Library
Surrey School District 36 Job Description Hand-
6 EQAO data and People for Education Track-
ing Reports for the same schools. book www.sd36.bc.ca

Ontario School Library Association

The study demonstrates similar results to
numerous international studies which show
the positive relationship between profession-
www.accessola.com/osla/bins/
content_page.asp?cid=630-639-923
Media
Centre
ally staffed school libraries and student BC Coalition for School Libraries www.bccsl.ca/
achievement. does_n.htm

WHAT THEY FOUND:

s k:
 The presence of a teacher-librarian was the s May A profes-
single strongest predictor of reading enjoy- Parent s t a ff ed by a
l libra r y ate
e schoo h adequ
ment for both Grade 3 and 6 students. 1. Is th ra rian wit
ache r- lib st ents
ud
 Schools with teacher-librarians could be sional te e t o w ork with
expected to have reading enjoyment scores ible tim
and flex
that were 8 percentile points higher than chers? s
and tea student
average.
lib r a ry open to c h ool?
l after s
 Reading enjoyment is strongly and posi- e schoo ch and
2. Is th a t lu n
tively linked to student achievement. chool, ning
before s for lear
 Schools with professionally-trained school nn u a l budget
is the a
library staff could be expected to have 3. What
reading achievement scores that were ap- materia
ls? school
a te r ia ls in the
proximately 5.5 percentile points higher ning m atch for
he lear good m
than average in Grade 6 EQAO results. 4. Are t t a n d a
urren
 Schools without trained library staff tend to library c nments
?
h ild ’s assig
have lower achievement on Grade 3 and 6 you r c ork with
EQAO reading tests, both in terms of aver- h e r- li b rarian w
the teac learn?
age achievement and attaining Level 3 or 5. Does
classes
to assis
t s t ud ents to
student
’s re-
K EY to ment,
Your
higher.
ieve
o f t he
et part elp
t Ach
 Eastern and Northern regions of the prov- e intern rarian h
6. Is th acher-lib
ince are particularly disadvantaged due to
? Does
th e te
t use of
t he
d e n
lower staffing levels. sources
m a ke the bes Stu , acy,
student
s to
in g te r
web? Read tio nal Li
ma
Infor c ess!
By Eugene Yue S u c
and
 Some facts you
should know:
Studies have shown that schools with well-stocked
libraries, managed by qualified teacher-librarians
working with teaching staff, achieve standardized
test scores that tend to be 15-20% higher than in
schools without a library and library teaching pro-
gramme.
Your teacher-librarian manages the school library,
but she also works closely with classroom teachers,
selecting learning materials for the school, as well
as providing instruction on research skills, note-
taking, organizing data, footnotes/endnotes, etc.
Your teacher-librarian is trained as a teachers, as
well as in library organization, and in curriculum
coordination with teaching staff to ensure that the
research portions of all learning units are well
planned and properly taught.
In relation to public libraries, your school library is
more accessible, more frequently visited by your
students, and has a better collection specifically
tailored to the curriculum needs of your students.
Even though students are familiar with surfing the
internet on their own, your school library program
provides them with guidance on how to use online
resources effectively and critically, and in combina-
tion with other sources of information such as ency-
clopaedias, periodicals, subscription databases, etc
What you can do
as the Principal:
Get to know the resources and layout of the school
library.
Encourage collaboration between classroom teach-
ers and the school librarian through scheduling.
Include your teacher librarian in professional de-
velopment incentives.
Support your teacher-librarian in providing an open
and accessible library for staff and students.
Include information and details about the school
library media centre program in the school news-
letter.
Utilize your teacher-librarian’s expertise in devel-
oping or maintaining your school-wide literacy pro-
gram.
From the HANDBOOK—
Job Description of your
school’s teacher-
librarian:
A Teacher-Librarian collaborates with all school staff
and:
a) promotes the role of the Teacher-Librarian and
the School Library Resource Centre Program as
integral components in the development of life-
long learners.
b) promotes the School Library as the literacy cen-
tre of the school.
c) promotes the role of the School Library program
in improving the student learning.
d) uses the Co-operative Planning and Teaching
Model to develop, implement and evaluate re-
source-based units.
e) assists students and staff with the development
of skills needed to enable the learner to locate,
analyze, evaluate and apply information from a
variety of media.
f) develops and implements strategies which pro-
mote literature appreciation
g) develops and implements routines and proce-
dures which ensure the effective operation of the
School Library and the effective use of library
resources and services.
h) provides recommendations to the school princi-
pal regarding development and maintenance of
the library collection and library budget.
i) plans and administers School Library budgets.
j) develops and monitors the library collection by
setting priorities and establishing procedures for
the evaluation and selection of library resources.
k) plans for the effective use of School Library cleri-
cal and technical staff.