More Love; Less Money

Despite growing recognition that school libraries help boost student achievement, media centers and the librarians who staff them still don’t receive sufficient funding, says a new study by the American Library Association (ALA).

In fact, money for school libraries has decreased dramatically over the last 10 years, according to the 2008 “State of America’s Libraries” report. Nationally, library expenditures per pupil decreased to $13.67 in 2003–04 from $19.14 in 1999–2000—a drop of almost 30 percent. Since then, there’s been a precipitous decline to $11.24 in 2007, according to the survey.

The good news is that Americans now acknowledge that media centers help provide the kind of education that’s essential to success in a global society. Studies in 19 states show that strong school library media programs help students learn more and score higher on standardized tests than those in schools without such programs. And kids are certainly drawn to all that their libraries have to offer—they make 1.5 billion visits to the school library each year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

At the same time, almost all of the nation’s public libraries now offer programs tailored to the needs and interests of young adults, and more than half employ at least one full-time staff equivalent in this area, a sharp increase in the past decade.

Computer and online games are also integral to public libraries, and some use gaming to attract new patrons. “Libraries’ response to gaming is just another indication that the profession is alert to the needs and desires of its patrons and is aware of the ways in which this interest interconnects with more traditional services, now and in the future,” says ALA President Loriene Roy. For a copy of the full report, visit www.ala.org/2008state.