What every principal should know about the school library media center… and how it promotes positive student achievement.

you might be surprised to learn that countless research studies have been conducted in order to see the impact school library media centers have on student achievement. While you may recognize that the media center is the hub of our school…

 According to many studies, most notably ones conducted by Keith C. Lance, a direct association has been shown between improved student achievement and the presence of well-supported media centers that are staffed by credentialed media specialist.  In fact, he indicated that standardized test scores can be 10 to 20% higher in schools with strong media programs. Let’s look at the research…

Studies conducted in Massachusetts by Dr. James Baughman support these findings, showing the relationship between high achieving students and schools with excellent media centers and a strong media program. More studies…

The results of these studies cannot be explained by  pupil/teacher ratio  education, experience, or salaries of teachers  student characteristics such as poverty or race, or local economic conditions Eliminating bias from outside factors

 that media center programs should be adequately funded to allow for professional media specialists and support staff, as well as funding for sufficient information resources and technology.  that flexible scheduling should be instituted to allow for the fullest student access  and that technology should be networked in order to make the media center resources available both in school and from home. These studies recommend…

this research indicates the need for principals to visibly support library media specialists, encouraging them to assume positions of leadership in their schools. Further…

 Media specialists play an important role in determining the value of technology resources.  According to Lance, “The value of computer network technology is directly related to the extent to which it provides access to all library media center resources. Everything worth knowing isn't on the Internet." Role in technology

 In order to promote information literacy, there is a vital need for  a professionally staffed,  amply budgeted, and  fully accessible school media center. Students have information needs that can be met by library media specialists, and classroom teachers can benefit from collaboration with media specialist. Information Literacy

It’s not just about story time for the little ones or helping students find a good book to read. There is so much more to our jobs that may not be seen on the surface! The Many Roles We Play

We partner with teachers to accomplish school-wide instructional goals, integrating information literacy into the curriculum and helping students sift through information to find credible material. Instructional Role

We continually work to develop and maintain a complete, relevant, and up-to- date collection, making it accessible and easy to use and ensuring that our students are capable users of information in a variety of formats. Role in providing access to and delivering information

We serve as media center managers, advocates for the school, and information literacy trainers, ensuring that our students are information literate. Role as administrators of the library programs

The American Association of School Librarians have determined a set of learning standards for the 21 st Century Learner. These standards can be seen at AASL’s website ( and are summarized in the publication, Empowering Learners as follows: Preparing our students to be 21 st century learners

 “Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge.  Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge.  Share information and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society.  Pursue personal and aesthetic growth.” (AASL, Empowering Learners, p. 14) It is our mission to help our students:

in providing the best services possible for our students and in accomplishing our common goal to produce information literate 21 st Century Leaners. We look forward to partnering with you…

 American Association of School Librarians (2009). Empowering Learners: Guidelines for school library media programs. Chicago: American Library Association.  American Association of School Librarians., & Association for Educational Communications and Technology. (1998). Information power: Building partnerships for learning. Chicago: American Library Association.  Baughman, Ph. D., J. C. (2000). School libraries and mcas scores. Informally published manuscript, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Simmons College, Boston. Retrieved from school-libraries/Baughman Paper.pdfhttp://web.simmons.edu/~baughman/mcas- school-libraries/Baughman Paper.pdf  Francis, B., Lance, K., & Lietzau, Z. (2010). School librarians continue to help students achieve standards: the third Colorado study (2010). Retrieved from  Hopkins, D. (n.d.). School library media centers and intellectual freedom. Retrieved from  Lance, K. (2001). Proof of the power: quality library media programs affect academic achievement. Retrieved from Resources

Resources, continued  Lance, K., & Hofschire, L. (2012). Change in school librarian staffing linked with change in CSAP reading performance, 2005 to Retrieved from eport.pdf eport.pdf  Lance, K. & Loertscher, D. (2003). Powering achievement 2nd edition: school library media programs make a difference. Retrieved from  Lance, K., Rodney, M., & Hamilton-Pennell, C. (2000). How school librarians help kids achieve standards. Retrieved from  Rix, K. (n.d.). Are librarians still important? Retrieved from  Starr, L. (2000). Strong libraries improve student achievement. Retrieved from