Libraries Boost Student Learning

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Debra Lau Whelan -- School Library Journal, 07/01/2003

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Researcher Keith Lance is out to prove his point once again: library media centers improve student learning. Often cited for his two Colorado studies, Lance's latest focus is on New Mexico, where he and fellow researchers Marcia Rodney and Christine Hamilton-Pennell found that no matter how poor a school library program, "incremental improvements in staffing, collections, and funding will yield incremental increases in reading scores," says Lance.

"How School Libraries Improve Outcomes for Children," a report of Lance's latest findings, shows that the test scores of students in New Mexico tend to rise if there's an increase in the work hours of school librarians and library staff, in addition to sufficient periodicals, videos, and software. Other key factors include adequate school library expenditures and print volumes per student.

"The message is exactly the same," says David Loertscher, a professor of library and information science at San Jose State University, who recently published the study through his company, Hi Willow Research and Publishing. "If you were preparing breakfast for children, the school library would be the milk on the cereal or the butter on the bread. They're an integral part of education."

The study examined fourth, eighth, and tenth graders in about half of the 759 public K–12 schools in New Mexico and follows similar research conducted by Lance in Alaska, Iowa, Massachusetts, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Texas (see "Dick and Jane Go to the Head of the Class," April 2000, pp. 44–47).

"The [New Mexico] results are reassuring, but leadership and collaboration by school librarians are equally important," stresses Lance. "School librarians are supposed to take some responsibility if teachers and the principal don't support them. It's their job to make that change."

A similar study for Michigan is expected this fall, and Lance is formalizing plans for another in Illinois. To order a copy of the New Mexico study, visit www.lmcsource.com.