Charter Schools Slow to Start Libraries, Hire Librarians

Staff -- School Library Journal, 8/1/1998

Do students in charter schools have the same access to on-site library resources as students in traditional public schools? In many cases they don't, according to a recent SLJ survey. Of the 24 charters surveyed in six states, approximately half -- 11 -- do not have library media centers. The other 13 do, although many would be better classified as reading rooms. A complete report on the survey will appear in SLJ's August issue.

The fact that half of the charters have libraries is encouraging to Jeanne Allen, President of the Center for Education Reform, a privately funded Washington, DC-based advocacy group. Many charters, generally defined as experimental schools that use public funds but are often not bound to district school boards and union contracts, receive only operating expenses from federal, state, and local sources. That means they don't have the capital funds they need to create library facilities, she explained.

Another obstacle to on-site library media centers is the charter community's desire to be innovative, which, in some schools, may mean relying on partnerships with libraries off-site, said Allen.