Research on School Library Media Programs
Scholastic Library Publishing, Research Foundation, “School
Libraries Work!” [pdf] Updated 2006 Edition, Danbury, CT
A summary of research on school library media programs conducted by 16 different
states, along with summaries of studies and citations from various other sources.
The publication is a good summary of the issues that impact school library
media centers and student achievement.
This and other studies are provided by the American Library Association.
Additional resources:
New research links school library media centers and library media specialists to student success. The study, commissioned by the Department of Public Instruction, consists of three components:
- Quantitative data on library media program structure, resources and operations collected from 855 library media specialists for 1,043 school library media programs.
- Qualitative data on the benefits received from library media programs collected from 107 teachers and 3,957 students in 51 randomly selected elementary, middle, and high schools.
- Case studies of 5 "best practice" school library media programs.
Learn more about the study on the DPI web site.
You may also find this recent article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel interesting. Libraries Are More Than Books shares the challenges of school media centers in the Milwaukee area and makes a plea for better support and for trained media specialists.