Library/Media Specialists and Libraries Make a Difference!

  •  
      
    To learn more about how Library Media Specialists & School Library Media Centers make a difference and why they are vital to quality education, please see these resources:
      
      
    R.J. Todd and Carol Gordon. “School Libraries: Now More Than Ever.” 2008.
    “A team of researchers from the Center for International Scholarship in School Libraries (CISSL) at Rutgers University studied the place of school libraries in the New Jersey educational program. Lead researcher, Dr. Ross Todd, reported ‘the findings show that New Jersey school libraries and school librarians contribute in rich and diverse ways to the intellectual life of a school, and to the development of students who can function in a complex and increasingly digital information environment.’”
     
    Click here for a Fact Sheet: 
     
    PDF NJASL 2012 Overview

     
    Or here for the complete study:
     "School Libraries, Now More Than Ever"
     
     
       
    Scholastic Research Foundation Paper. “School Libraries Work!” 2008.
    In addition to studies that prove student achievement is better with a certified SLMS on staff, the paper offers that: The role of the library media specialist is diverse. He or she is at once a teacher, an instructional partner, an information specialist, and a program administrator. Library media specialists play an essential role in the learning community by ensuring that students and staff are efficient and effective users of ideas and information. They collaborate with teachers, administrators, and others to prepare students for future successes.
     
      
    PDF "School Libraries Work"
     
     
     
      
    Debra E. Kachel and Keith Curry Lance. “Librarian Required.” School Library Journal. March 7, 2013.
    A study from Education Law Center and Pennsylvania School Library Association joined together to commission a study on the effect of full-time certified library staff on student test scores. Their results showed that students achieve better, regardless of other circumstances, when they have access to an appropriately staffed school library.  
      
    Article - "Librarian Required"

     

    Brad Meltzer. The Unsung Heroes of Our Schools. April 10, 2012.
    “When I see what is happening to school library budgets today, I am horrified to think that we live in a country where school librarians - with the power to inspire, as my former teacher inspired me - are considered expendable just for the sake of saving a few bucks.
    Let's not sacrifice our future. As policymakers and school administrators struggle with tough decisions, we as a nation must voice our support and advocate for funding, so that all children have access to 21st century school library programs.”
      

      

    Neil Gaiman. Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming. Oct. 15, 2013.
    The author of Coraline and The Graveyard Girl defends the numerous qualities of libraries: “We have an obligation to support libraries. To use libraries, to encourage others to use libraries, to protest the closure of libraries. If you do not value libraries then you do not value information or culture or wisdom. You are silencing the voices of the past and you are damaging the future.”

       

    School Libraries: Welcome to the 21st Century Classroom. Sponsored by the New Jersey Association of School Librarians.
    Discusses the importance of school library media specialists and the role they play in advancing student learning, critical thinking and independent research skills.

     
     
      
     
    If the video does not play, please use the following link: