TEACHER LIBRARIAN IMPACT ON STUDENT SUCCESS
The best way to help you understand the value of Teacher Librarians is to read the following quotes from a variety of professionals:
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“Where most schools would leap at the
chance to improve test scores even one
per cent, a qualified library team and
resources can bring scores up by 3 to 15
percent regardless of economic or social
factors.”
Keith Curry Lance
Globe and Mail, May 22, 2002
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Our findings identified an association between
school library staffing and student achievement on
large-scale measures of reading achievement. Of
even more interest was the finding of associations
between school library staffing and students’
attitudes towards reading. Children in schools with
a professionally staffed teacher librarian had more
positive attitudes towards reading.
Blackett/Klinger, OLA report 2006
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“. . . school libraries and teacherlibrarians
contribute to achievement,
literacy and culture.” Ken Haycock, Ed.D.
The Crisis in Canada’s Schools, June 2003
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“It’s always a daily challenge trying to fit in
my Prep coverage responsibilities with what I
know I should be doing as a Teacher-Librarian.
It’s very disheartening when I think of the
little value that is placed on my position by the
school board. Do they not read the research
which has shown how vital Teacher-Librarians
are to their school community?”
Beth DesRochers, Teacher Librarian
Penetanguishene, Ontario
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“. . . the neglect of Canadian school
libraries comes precisely at a time when
many countries around the world are
aggressively investing or reinvesting in
these very facilities.”
Ken Haycock, Ed.D.
The Crisis in Canada’s Schools, June 2003
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“Library programs . . . promote the
development of information literacy skills
among all students by supporting and
coordinating the collaborative planning and
implementation of reading programs, inquiry
and research tasks, and independent study.”
The Ontario Curriculum Grades 9 to 12 – Program
Planning and Assessment
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“Excellent teacher-librarians are essential
to ensure that all young people have
access to reading materials that will help
them become literate, and school libraries
must be the centre of any plan to improve
reading and literacy.”
J. H. Yoo, The Educational Impact of the School
Library. ERIC Document ED 417 736. 1998
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“I speak from a wide experience of
school libraries. The good ones all have
teacher-librarians. Students and teachers
benefit, the system benefits, the world
benefits.”
Richard Scrimger, Author, Ontario
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“Kids need school librarians to teach them
how to find the information they’re seeking,
how to read it critically once they have it and
how to fit it into the context of what they
already know. In other words, they need
libraries and librarians to help them learn to
think. But instead of spending money on
libraries, we’re slashing budgets and reducing
staff.”
Kim Pittaway, Author
“Broad Side”, Chatelaine, October 2002
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“The role played by teacher-librarians goes
beyond just keeping the library open. They
have an overview of the curriculum, and they
work with teachers to ensure that library
materials support curriculum and to choose
appropriate resources for use in the classroom.
They also teach children research skills, how to
write papers and how to use computers and the
Internet.”
People for Education
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“Reading, and the ability to use
information effectively, are the very
foundations of a well-educated
democracy, a healthy economy and a
robust national culture. The research clearly demonstrates that
school libraries and teacher libraries are a
key part of this equation. So why are
they being neglected in one of the richest
countries in the world?”Ken Haycock, Ed.D.
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“Turns out—big surprise—that there’s a
direct correlation between the quality of a
school’s library and the academic
performance of that school’s students.”
Kim Pittaway, Author
“Broad Side”, Chatelaine, October 2002
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“PISA 2000 concludes that where student
use of resources, such as the school
library, computers and Internet, is
relatively high, mean reading scores tend
to be higher, even when other factors are
discounted.”
(Programme for International Student Assessment
2000, OECD)
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“In Oregon, reading test scores rise with
the development of school library media
programs. The relationship is not
explained away by other school or
community conditions.”
Keith Curry Lance, M. J. Rodney &
C. Hamilton-Pennell, Good Schools Have Good
Librarians: Oregon School Librarians Collaborate
to Improve Academic Achievement. 2001
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“[Students who score higher on] tests
tend to come from schools which have
more library resource staff and more
books, periodicals and videos, and where
the instructional role of the teacherlibrarian
and involvement in cooperative
program planning and teaching is more
prominent.”
Keith Curry Lance, et al.
The Impact of School Library Media Centers on
Academic Achievement
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“In research done in nine states and over
3300 schools since 1999, the positive
impact of the school library program is
consistent. [They] make a difference in
academic achievement.
Keith Curry Lance & David V.Loertscher
