Connecticut Educational Media Association 25 Elmwood Avenue. Trumbull, CT 06611-3594 Phone: 203-372-2260 Fax: 203-570-8017 E-Mail: aweimann@snet.net

To Raise the Ceiling, Raise the Roof!

Everyone is concerned about student achievement, especially parents. Every parent wants the best education possible for his/her child. Did you know that one of the most significant indicators of school success - one often overlooked - is the prominence and quality of a school's library media program and library media specialist! Research has supported this conclusion for many years.

The relationship between higher academic achievement (including higher standardized test scores) and good library media programs is not explained away by such school differences as teacher-pupil ratios, per pupil expenditures, socio-economic differences or racial/ethnic demography. Three recent studies - in Colorado, Alaska, and Pennsylvania - confirm these results yet again.

In light of these studies and the principles found in national library media standards - Information Power - members of the Connecticut Educational Media Association (CEMA) believe:

1. Every child needs and deserves access to a library media center rich in print and non-print resources, including digital resources and the technology to access digital information. Consequently, every district must provide a budget for library media services that allows for the development, maintenance and updating of sufficient and appropriate resources.

   Look at your child's library media center.

   • The state standard for books is a minimum of 25 per student, or 6000 whichever is greater. How many books does your child's library media center have? Are they current or outdated? Do they meet curriculum needs? Do they respond to students' interests and ability levels? Are they attractive enough to stimulate interest, or are they so worn and battered that no student checks them out?
   • Does your child's media center have Internet access? Are there enough computers for large or small group lessons as well as for individual work? Does the media center have online reference materials? Educational CDs? Audio cassettes?
   
   
2. Higher academic achievement correlates positively to students' frequency of access to school library media centers and access and instruction at the point of need.
   • Students should be able to use the library when they need it - as a class and as individuals. That may mean five times a week during a research project, and no time the following week.
   • Example: Elementary students should be taught how to use an index when they need to use an index. In many otherwise progressive elementary schools, student access is still limited to one regularly scheduled, whole class visit to the library per week, in order to give classroom teachers planning time. Under these circumstances, skills taught may or may not occur when students need to use them.
   • CEMA believes that "flexible scheduling" at the elementary level is the best way to integrate information skills with the general curriculum. Does your elementary school have it?
   • Have you asked your principal how often your child is allowed to access materials in the library media center?
   
   
3. All library media centers should be managed by a full-time, certified Library Media Specialist (LMS). In addition to their knowledge and training in organizing and maintaining a functioning library media center, library media specialists are certified teachers who understand curriculum, instruction and learning, and who serve as instructional partners with teachers and administrators.
   
   
   • LMSs teach students important information skills (link to IP/IP2) that will help them in the classroom and throughout life. They also foster a love of and respect for reading as a lifelong pursuit.
   • Is your library media center given the place of importance it deserves, or it is regularly turned into a holiday store or meeting place that prevents children from having access to books? Is it "on the way" to somewhere else, requiring teachers/students/ visitors to walk through library classes during instruction? Are students sent to the library when they misbehave or have nothing to do?
   • Is your library not given the technology students need because the school has a computer lab somewhere else?
   
   
4. LMSs should have sufficient support staff so that he or she is free to perform collaborative teaching and training. There should be at least one full-time aide for every LMS.
   
   
   • Students should always be able to borrow books and get help finding and using resources in the media center. A full-time assistant assures this access and help even when the LMS is teaching students or planning with teachers.
   • Research has proven that students learn information literacy skills best when they are integrated with authentic learning experiences. Library media specialists and teachers need regularly scheduled time to plan and design such activities.

If you want to do something to improve your child's academic achievement and the academic achievement of every other student in your town, ask about your school library media center.

Sources:

The Alaska study:

Lance, Keith Curry, and others. Information Empowered: the School Librarian as an Agent of Academic Achievement in Alaska Schools. Juneau: Alaska State Library, 1999.<http://www.library.state.ak.us/dev/infoemp.html>

The Pennsylvania study:

Lancce, Keith Curry, Marcia J. Rodney and Christine Hamilton-Pennell. Measuring Up to Standards: the Impact of School Libraries & Information Literacy in Pennsylvania Schools. Greensburg, PA : Pennsylvania Citizens for Better Libraries, 2000. <http://www.statelibrary.state.pa.us/libraries/lib/libraries/measuringup.pdf>

The second Colorado study:

Lance, Keith Curry, Marcia J. Rodney and Christine Hamilton-Pennell. How School Librarians Help Kids Achieve Standards. Denver: Library Research Service, 2000. <http://www.lrs.org/documents/lmcstudies/CO/execsumm.pdf>

Information Power:

Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning. Chicago: American Assn. of School Librarians; Washington, DC: Association for Educational Communication and Technology, 1998. <http://www.ala.org/aasl/ip_toc.html>