[Libs-Or] Strong School Libraries, Part 2: Skills for Academic Success

[OLA Past President]

News To Use: Strong School Libraries, Part 2: Skills for Academic Success

November 21, 2022


News to Use
<https://www.olaweb.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=199#NewstoUse>
is a series of messages from the Oregon Library Association’s Library
Development and Legislation Committee (LDLC) about policy and advocacy
topics of interest to the Oregon library community.

Over the next few months, we will be providing information about the
condition of Oregon’s school libraries and suggesting advocacy activities
for members of the broader Oregon library community. This second
installment looks at the role of school libraries in preparing students for
future academic success.  You can revisit Part 1: Book Challenges here.
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pvkGsL783riCSIYClx7LTZjqNQfYuNmMb5fjCzN7XzI/edit>


What’s Happening?

Strong school libraries staffed with teacher librarians are a critical
factor in helping students develop the information literacy and research
skills necessary to succeed in college. Studies have shown a significant
relationship between the presence of a licensed high school librarian and
college first semester GPA and the relationship was the most significant
when the high school librarian was full time.

School library use at every level is driven by a full time librarian - when
a school doesn’t have a full time licensed librarian, teachers are less
likely to take advantage of any library services that are available and
students are less likely to use the library.  This is a problem because
high school library use is a main predictor of college library use. (Farmer
and Phamle, 2021 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2020.102262>)

As a reminder, in Oregon, 75% of school districts are without
professionally trained / licensed librarians
<https://libslide.org/data-tools/custom-search/?saved=25bp>.


What do Oregon Community College Librarians say?

Oregon Community College Librarians have seen a steady decline over the
last 10 years in student’s experience with and knowledge about how
information is produced and how to access it.

   -

   Students typically come to college with a very basic understanding of
   what an MLA citation looks like but they don’t have an understanding of how
   research and attribution is a part of an information building conversation.
   -

   School administrators claim that information literacy instruction is
   being included in language arts curriculum and teacher librarians aren’t
   needed, but even administrators who acknowledge the importance of teacher
   librarians are faced with a challenge when it comes to hiring qualified
   staff.
   -

   One community college librarian said, “The students in Oregon are being
   short-shrifted.  This curriculum of information literacy cannot be
   adequately supported without teaching librarians to create it and support
   other instructors in the schools.” (P. Kessinger)



What can I do?


   -

   Find out what’s happening in school libraries in your local school
   district.  One quick way to identify how many teacher librarians are in
   your district is to look up the newly released At-A-Glance Profile
   <https://www.ode.state.or.us/data/reportcard/reports.aspx>.
   -

   Reach out to local school library staff and find out what you can do to
   support them.  Could you partner to host a college bound event in your
   library or collaborate to fill gaps in information literacy instruction?
   Check out this article in the OLA Quarterly
   <https://journals3.oregondigital.org/olaq/article/view/vol23_iss3_9/1908>
   for an example of a successful collaboration between school library and
   community college library staff.
   -

   Share your stories about school libraries.
   <https://oneclickpolitics.global.ssl.fastly.net/messages/edit?promo_id=18211>
   We’re gathering stories about positive impacts of school libraries or any
   issues you’ve seen resulting from not having a fully staffed school
   library. We’ll use these stories to help inform legislators about the
   importance of school libraries.
   -

   Save the Date! Tell your story and meet with your local legislators
on *OLA’s
   Legislative Day, February 15, 2023.* More details are coming soon, keep
   up with the latest on the LDLC’s website
   <https://www.olaweb.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=199>.



Posted by:
Arlene Weible
Oregon Library Association
Immediate Past President, 2022-2023
olapastpresident at olaweb.org
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