Lightning in a Bottle
Too few schools realize that school libraries help kids learn
By Evan St. Lifer -- School Library Journal, 2/1/2004
At the American Library Association midwinter meeting in San Diego last month, Todd wondered aloud how anyone who read the Ohio study—replete with statistical and anecdotal data from more than 13,000 students and nearly 900 faculty members in 39 schools—could fail to be convinced of the school library's seminal role in helping students become better learners. I had to agree. Particularly when nearly two-thirds of the thousands of students who participated in the survey say the school library helps them do their schoolwork better (nearly nine out of 10 of their teachers agree). Or when roughly three-quarters of Ohio students surveyed say the school library helps them "get better grades." Overwhelming numbers of kids also cited the school library for helping make them better writers and problem solvers, more discriminating researchers, and more confident with their schoolwork. (For more on the study, see our cover story, "13,000 Kids Can't Be Wrong ," pp. 46–50).
While the study is a slam-dunk affirmation of the importance of effective school libraries in student learning, what about the schools that don't have a strong school library or those that possess no meaningful instructional component at all? There are countless school districts that wouldn't know an effective school library if one landed on top of them. Why?
Because they've never seen one.
Honest. Students, teachers, and administrators in some districts see the "school library" as nothing more than a room "where the books are," and the part-timer minding them as "the librarian." And they have scant evidence to sway them otherwise. How would students in those schools answer Todd's survey? At best, they see the library as a place to get a book, not an agent to help them hone critical-thinking skills and get better grades, a perception undoubtedly shared by their parents and faculty.
With the help of fellow Rutgers professor Carol Kuhlthau, Todd and the rest of the Ohio research team have pulled off a remarkable feat. They've caught lightning in a bottle by demonstrating how dynamic school libraries—run by proactive teacher librarians—can make a profound difference in how kids learn.
And seemingly on cue, comes word from Fordham University's National Center for Schools and Communities that schools with "fully functioning libraries and modern computers" have better-than-average attendance, according to an Op-Ed piece in the January 20 edition of the New York Times. Fordham's information is based on a study it conducted in 2003, examining New York City's 1,100 public schools. The study also linked better attendance to lower rates of student suspension and crime. Taken together, these two important studies tell us that strong librarians with the right resources not only help make students better academically, but also help them lead better lives.
Thousands of students and educators are being deprived of a dynamic school librarian who is both a skilled instructor and preeminent information expert. We need to show them something they haven't seen before. They need to see, with their own eyes, the evidence—the lightning in the bottle—and its impact on student learning. After all, 13,000 kids can't be wrong.
Evan St. Lifer, Editor, estlifer@reedbusiness.com
