Article - Exemplary School Libraries

Exemplary School Libraries in Ontario: a study by Queen's University and People for Education. (2009). The Ontario Library Association.

Response to the article:

Exemplary School Libraries by Elizabeth A. Lee and Don A. Klinger, Queen's University. The Teaching Librarian, Volume 17, no. 1. (20 - 22).

The response article to Exemplary School Libraries is based around a key quote from one teacher-librarian who participated in the study: "We are the centre of all action... where teachers and students start their day and travel to the library during the day and end their day." It is important that we strive for the characteristics of an exemplary school library.

The research involved eight elementary schools from three Ontario school boards and include observations of the library program, and interviews with teacher-librarians, teachers, administrators, and volunteers. They also surveyed 350 students from 21 Grade 4, 5, and 6 classrooms in these eight schools (p. 20). Since I work in a secondary school, it would be interesting to see a study involving secondary schools; however, I predict that the results would be similar to the results found in this study.

The key points from the study and the response article are that the teacher-librarian must be welcoming to students, teachers, and the community, and collaborate with teachers in supporting learning. The TL should continually modify the existing context to enhance the role of the library program (p. 20). Another characteristic of an exemplary school program is the teacher-librarian developes a program that maximizes the amount of time devoted to teaching (p. 20). As we can observe, the knowledge and expertise of the TL is key to maximizing the school library program.

The study describes four program levels; however, they were unable to "categorize any programs as a Level 4" (p. 21) because of "intermittant support" (p. 21). A level four program includes systemic administrative support at the school, school board, and provincial levels--both in funding and policy. Funding is a major challenge in providing the standards for exemplary school libraries. Despite lack of funding, these exemplary school libraries were innovative and creative.

There are several ongoing challenges that hinder the process of providing exemplary library programs, such as lack of adequate funding; lack of provincial policy to ensure all schools have fully-functioning libraries; and lack of support or lack of awareness of principals. It is essential that principals regard the teacher-librarian as a key teaching member of their staff, allocate adequate resources, and protect the librarian from excessive preparation time coverage.

The researchers' findings highlight the need for teacher-librarians to be highly adaptable, changing their manner of approach to suit the styles of the teachers with whom they work and their current school context (p. 36). Collaboration is a key component in a highly successful library program.

If each school library were to have a teacher-librarian who taught children and youth the skills necessary to be effective users of information in all its forms, a powerful mechanism would be in place for enabling Canadian children and youth to be literate citizens, lifelong learners, and contributing adults in a learning society (AIL, p. 5). I would add fulltime before the word "teacher-librarian." In addition, I would add that school libraries have a library clerk so that the teacher-librarian can maximize teaching and collaboration time. Too often, we see the library as first on the cutting block when funding gets tight to the detriment of society. Let's strive for exemplary school libraries!