We Need School Librarians

This is very unfortunate.  Up here in the Great White North, we haven’t had librarians for years.  I read in the paper that 10% of northern school have librarians and that would reflect my own experience teaching here.  The few schools that do, the biggest ones, only have part time teachers acting as librarians.  In other words, they’re not trained as librarians.  They are basically there to cover prep time for other teachers.  That’s not all bad, it’s just not the same as having a librarian to really instruct and inspire the kids.  

Without librarians the libraries die.  There is no one taking care of the books.  The library gets messy.  More importantly, there is no updating the library. Ever.   It’s sad.  Each classroom is supposed to have it’s own classroom library these days.  Plus there is a book room for mentor texts.  I have about 100 books for my classroom library.  Since I’ve been moved around a lot the books range from grade 2 level to grade 8.  I bought them all myself.  Every single one.  I bought most of them used though, so my library is somewhat dated also.  As I commented on Nancy’s post, my personal library at home holds more books than the local high school’s.  How sad is that.  Half of that library is filled with computers.

Professional librarians are so important to students.  Librarians know their job.  They know books.  They get to know the students and are able to match books to their interests.  I may know the students in my class, but I don’t know what books in the library will interest them since I can’t possibly know all the books in the library.  According to “Exemplary School Libraries in Ontario“, a joint report by Queen’s University and People for Education, there are strong correlations between student achievement and schools where there are teacher librarians.  Also, students report a higher interest in reading in schools where there are teacher librarians.

For years there has been a strong accountability push in Ontario with data driving everything.  EQAO stems from this data-driven culture of achievement.  Well, it seems the data shows us that students with school librarians tend to perform better on the grade 6 EQAO test.  I hate to use EQAO to prove a point, but that’s what the administrators understand.  

Libraries are dying in spite of the fact that the Ministry of Education created Secretariats for Literacy and Numeracy.  They now pay literacy and math coaches to help teachers improve their instruction.  OK, that can be good, or not, depending on the coach and how the board utilizes the coach.  I’m wonder where the money for libraries is then.  If there is such a push for literacy, shouldn’t we be paying librarians and buying books?   Maybe we could change EQAO to a sample test and use that money for libraries.  Think about the money spend on EQAO, it’s in the millions.  That’s a lot of books.  And technology.

I don’t want to leave technology out.  Today’s teachers and librarians need to be media savvy and help students use technology safely and effectively.  But many schools are not only lacking in books, they are way behind in terms understanding the needs of 21st century learners (to use an overused term).  They don’t have the technology and the teachers are not trained to use it or integrate it into the classroom.

If you have concerns about the reduction in librarians and closing down of school libraries maybe it’s time to do something about it like write your MPP, Principal, Superintendent, Director and/or the Minister of Education.  Contact People for Education to get involved beyond just your school and board.  

I’m off to read Sophie a book.  She just woke up and the first thing she asked for was a book.

Edited to add these photos of the “library” that Fiona & Sophie made.  They use the camera to “scan” the books for check out.  How cute is that?  They came up with this all on their own, I hadn’t been talking to them about libraries at all.