It's hard to read Adam Janowski's comments about high school libraries and not
suspect that he is being ironic. Sadly, I think he means what he says.
Let me offer a few counter arguments.
1. I can't afford to support higher-level research.
A sagacious selection of quality texts on perennial favorite topics for major
subject areas should not cost a fortune. Does your history department focus on WWII
and the cold war? Chances are that students will select research questions related
to something that they already know about. On the other hand, a good librarian
should know his or her collection so well that they can suggest "doable" research
projects to teachers and students. We have students writing essays every year on
Stalin, Palestine, Trotsky, the Armenian genocide. If you have a good collection in
specific areas, students will benefit from in-depth discussions that they would
never find online.
2. No one uses books unless we force them.
Right, and our kids eat junk food unless we have rules about snacking, and it's
really hard to drag your butt off the sofa and go to the gym every evening... Guess
what? Most students will avoid hard mental work unless they are forced to do it.
3. No students use the general collection.
No students want to learn how do watercolor portraits, cook vegetarian dishes,
learn about homosexual rights, read about alchemy, laugh at Michael Moore's latest,
discover imagist poetry, learn about the Brontė myth, read about Mussolini, watch
Supersize Me?
These are just a few of the questions that books and DVDs from our general
collection have answered for students who were searching for knowledge for its own
sake - in the last week! Why the surfeit of incurious minds in Florida?
4. One professional to serve 1700 students.
This is insane. I work with 5 professionals and 8 paraprofessionals in a school of
3400 and we are run off our feet everyday.
5. Reading for pleasure does not improve test scores.
Buy a copy of Stephen Krashen's The Power of Reading (2nd edition). Put it in your
library. Then borrow it!
It is surprising and disconcerting to read flippant and irresponsible statements
about our profession from someone on the inside.
Colleen MacDonell
Head Librarian
International College
Beirut, Lebanon
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