Re: GEN: Value of a librarian

[Peter Milbury <pmilbury@ERICIR.SYR.EDU>]

Run this past your auditors:

From the: ED372759 May 94 The Impact of School Library Media Centers on
Academic Achievement. ERIC Digest. Author: Lance, Keith Curry

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this study provide evidence needed to answer three major
questions about the impact of school library media centers and academic
achievement.

1. Is there a relationship between expenditures on LMCs and test
performance, particularly when social and economic differences between
communities and schools are controlled?

Yes. Students at schools with better funded LMCs tend to achieve higher
average reading scores, whether their schools and communities are rich or
poor and whether adults in the community are well or poorly educated.

2. Given a relationship between LMC expenditures and test performance,
what intervening characteristics of library media programs help to explain
this relationship?

The size of the LMC's total staff and the size and variety of its
collection are important characteristics of library media programs which
intervene between LMC expenditures and test performance.  Funding is
important; but, two of its specific purposes are to ensure adequate levels
of staffing in relation to the school's enrollment and a local collection
which offers students a large number of materials in a variety of formats.

3. Does the performance of an instructional role by library media
specialists help to predict test performance?

Yes. Students whose library media specialists played such a role tended to
achieve higher average test scores.


Peter Milbury, Co-owner of LM_NET          pmilbury@ericir.syr.edu
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