California Department of Education
Taking Center Stage – Act II

Library media centers

Students in the middle grades must write research papers, which makes access to libraries and computer centers essential. In addition, library media centers provide an inviting environment where students can explore, work on projects, and receive assistance from trained library staff members. School libraries are more important than ever for supporting rigorous, standards-based learning. For example, a study by Keith Lance (1994) found that students whose library media specialists played an instructional role tended to achieve higher average test scores.1

Although the average national ratio of library media teachers to students is 1:870, California ranks 51st in the nation with a ratio of 1:4,541 (2002-03 California Basic Educational Data System [CBEDS] Report and Digest of Education Statistics and Tables and Figures, National Center for Education Statistics, 2002). Statistics about California School Libraries indicate that in the 2003-04 school year, only 20 percent of California schools had a credentialed library media teacher on campus part time or more, and the majority of professional staffing was found at the high school level. A library media teacher has both a California teaching credential and a California library media teacher services credential.

School library funding comes under the umbrella of the School Library and Improvement Block Grant.

In the Spotlight

Gaspar de Portola Middle School, San Diego Unified School District, a 2006 Schools to Watch™-Taking Center Stage Model School
Gaspar de Portola’s library media center is the heart of the campus. Students read on sofas, browse stacks, and type on computers. The center is available to students and their families every weekday, beginning 70 minutes before school until 30 minutes after school.

Rancho Milpitas Middle School, Milpitas Unified School District, a 2005 Schools to Watch™-Taking Center Stage Model School and 2005 California Distinguished School
The school librarian at Rancho Milpitas Middle School works with teachers to develop literature circles online. This project provides students with several choices for book studies and an online chat group (monitored by the teachers) for discussing the book.

 

The Scholastic document School Libraries Work! provides the following data to support the value of libraries:2

  • In a 2002 Florida study, middle schools that provide 60 hours per week or more of staffing for their library programs experienced a 3.3 percent improvement in test scores over those staffed less than 60 hours.
  • Pennsylvania middle schools with the best reading scores spend twice as much on their school libraries as the lowest scoring schools.
  • Higher library staffing levels correlate to higher reading performance for all grade levels, and stronger writing performance at the elementary and middle school levels.
  • Schools with newer collections (recently published books) average almost 13 percent higher eighth-grade writing scores.
  • Students in Alaska's secondary schools with full-time teacher-librarians were almost twice as likely as those without teacher-librarians to score average or above-average on California Achievement Tests (CAT5).
  • The more often students receive library/information literacy instruction from library media specialists, the higher the test scores.

In the Spotlight

Richard Henry Dana Middle School, Wiseburn Elementary School District, a 2006 Schools to Watch™-Taking Center Stage Model School
The library media center is a vibrant learning resource that includes a computer lab. The staff members greet students with a warm welcome as they come to do homework, read, and work on class projects. The AVID class uses the center extensively to teach research and study skills.

 

 

Related Links

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Cross-curricular connections; writing across the curriculum

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Academic enrichment centers

Footnotes
1 Keith C. Lance, “The Impact of School Library Media Centers on Academic Achievement” (Outside Source), School Library Media Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 3 (Spring 1994).
2 School Libraries Work! (PDF; Outside Source) New York: Scholastic Library Services, 2008, 12, 13, 16-17.

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