Report: Average NY School Library Book is More Than Two Decades Old

By SLJ Staff -- School Library Journal, 3/10/2008 4:00:00 AM

The average book in New York public school libraries is between 21 to 25 years old, and current state aid isn’t keeping up with the cost of books, leading to the unacceptable aging of collections, says a new report by the New York Library Association (NYLA).

At the same time, the average price of an elementary and secondary school book is $20.82 and $23.38, respectively, while state aid per pupil is only $6.25—just 27 percent to 30 percent the average cost of a single new book per student.

“The average age of our public school library books is astonishing and unacceptable,” says Michael J. Borges, NYLA’s executive director. “The problem is state aid has not kept up with the growing costs of school books, which undermines the learning potential of our children.”

The report also found that the average publication date of public school library books in three areas of the state is 1987, when Ronald Reagan was President. And in the Hudson Valley region, the average book dates back to 1985, the year Mikhail Gorbachev became president of the Soviet Union.

Borges also points to several outdated books recently pulled off the shelves of some public school libraries, including The First Book of Science Experiments, published in 1952, and Soviet Society Today, released in 1989.

“We must quickly replace these books on science, history, computer science, and other subjects with books that accurately reflect the world today’s children are growing up in, not the one their parents or grandparents grew up in,” says Borges. “The sad fact is that if we wait any longer, we will miss this generation of kids altogether.”

A preliminary study by Syracuse University shows that students who have school libraries staffed by certified librarians and are stocked with up to date reading materials scored 10 points higher on their statewide fourth grade reading exam than those without a strong school library program.

Senator Hugh T. Farley, Chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Libraries says “Having books on the shelf that can misinform, mislead or cause our children to miss out on current technology and recent history is simply unacceptable.”

Farley is proposing that a portion of the $1.4 billion increase in school aid proposed by Governor Eliot Spitzer should be directed to school libraries.

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