Budget Cutting In Our School District's Is Having A Negative Impact Upon The Library=Dumbing Down of America IMO

Checking Out

Budget hawks see library programs as an easy cut, but what's the cost to student achievement?

By John Rosales
The librarian doll on Cathy Collins desk has her hair in a tight bun, wears sensible shoes, and when you flip a switch protruding through her dark conservative jacket, her miniature arm lifts to touch a tiny finger to her lips to shush you.
Collins says real-life school media specialists are not Marian the Librarian from The Music Man. Far from it. Today’s school librarian is a dynamic, Internet-savvy collaborator with everyone on campus. They collaborate with teachers on lesson plans, write grants in conjunction with administrators, and instruct students on research methods with new media.
Yet, because they work behind the scenes, librarian positions are often targeted by legislators looking for a fast way to balance the budget—to the detriment of student learning.
“Sadly, the school library is increasingly becoming simply a warehouse for outdated materials and outdated technology, as opposed to a vibrant center of collaborative, inquiry-based, cutting-edge learning,” says Collins, a National Board Certified teacher and library media specialist.
“Research indicates that students in schools with fully staffed and funded libraries learn more, get better grades, and score higher on standardized tests than their peers in schools with inadequately staffed and funded libraries,” she says.
The School Library Journal - Job Outlook, reports that Massachusetts has one school librarian to approximately 1,500 students, below the national average of one librarian to 916 students. According to School Libraries Work!, a Massachusetts School Library Association study conducted in 19 U.S. states and Ontario between 1999 and 2007, there is a significant link between a strong school library program and student achievement.  That is, achievement is highest in schools with full-time, certified media specialists. Other research shows that in the absence of poverty, the quality of a school library is the best predictor of reading scores.
But despite the research, many states continue to starve library programs. California, where Collins worked for two years before her time in Massachusetts, ranks 51st in the nation (behind Puerto Rico) with one librarian to 5,124 students. In “Statistics about California Schools,” produced in 2010 by the California Department of Education, only 24 percent of California schools had credentialed media specialists on campus. This figure is expected to drop even more in the current financially distressed economy.
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“A strong library allows for student-centered learning,” he says. “This is tied to goals for students to become life-long learners.”
Link for the entire article > > > http://www.nea.org/home/43952.htm