ALA |

Print

School Library Funding

Press Kit

Good school libraries are essential to a good education!

Numerous studies show there is a clear link between the quality of school library programs in schools staffed by an experienced school librarian and student academic achievement.

According to the American Library Association's State of America’s Libraries Report, as the role of school libraries continued to grow in 2009, many school libraries extended their hours giving students an additional hour and a half to access library materials. Although access to school libraries increased, the average number of school librarians decreased.

About 44 million elementary, middle, and high school students use a school library each week. Although considered a valued resource in many communities, funding for school libraries is being cut to satisfy local deficits, resulting in the loss of school librarians, materials and technology training.

Map of the elimination of school library positions

View A Nation Without School Librarians in a larger map

This map marks the cities, towns, communities, and states that have made the decision to either eliminate school library positions (indicated in blue) or require one school librarian to work with two (2) or more school library programs throughout the week (indicated in red).

Although numerous studies show the impact that school librarians have on student achievement, (School Library Impact Studies) the above school districts seem to believe otherwise.

Recommendations:

If children are to be prepared for their future, they must have access to information and learn to use it in meaningful and productive ways. Recommendations of the American Library Association include:

All school library media programs should be adequately funded to ensure that they include up-to-date collections in both print and electronic formats.
All students should have the benefit of trained school librarian, who can guide them in learning to use and understand a wide variety of information sources.
The school library program should be integrated with classroom curriculum so that students learn to make connections between subject areas, retrieve information and think independently.

School Libraries in the News

Loading...

Libraries fading as school budget crisis deepens
By Donna Gordon Blankinship (AP) – Jun 24, 2010.

Maybe the Play's the Thing
By Beverly Goldberg, American Libraries' Inside Scoop
For millions of American schoolchildren, National Library Week isn’t quite the celebration that librarians want it to be. That’s because the viability of properly staffed school libraries, whose direct impact on increased academic success has been documented ad nauseum for decades, is under attack like never before...(more).