With a fresh school year underway, it’s the perfect time to lift up professionals who not only boost student learning and achievement but also help to make their schools welcoming, magical places of endless opportunity. I’m talking, of course, about school librarians and library support staff.
School librarians work hard to turn their classroom—the library—into the well-loved hub and heart of the school. It’s a tall order, but they are up to the task.
Certified school librarians are trained to provide equitable access, personalized learning opportunities, technology access, updated digital and print materials, and creative programming to motivate students and help them become lifelong readers and civically involved. Oh, yes—all while dealing with kids and everything wonderful and challenging that they offer.
When the librarian has a support person working alongside them, even better. Every student should have access to a certified school librarian, library support staff, and adequate funding for materials and resources.
Unfortunately, though, we have a school library crisis in our country. Too many schools have underfunded and understaffed libraries, even though research shows a positive correlation between high-quality school library programs, with a certified school librarian at the helm, and higher student achievement and stronger literacy outcomes. In 2019, the most recent year for which ALA has data, the US had roughly 90,400 K–12 public and private schools. Of those, 91% had school libraries, but only 61% had full-time librarians. That’s why this is an important part of ALA’s advocacy, and the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) is one of our biggest and most active divisions.
I often think about my first school library experience. My elementary school in suburban Detroit was a modern structure with round classrooms and a library in the center. It was, literally and figuratively, a connecting node that brought the school together. My classmates and I took daily trips to the library. Mrs. Marshall, our beloved librarian, made my favorite books come alive and helped instill in me a love of reading and libraries.
My own kids were also blessed with a terrific school librarian who lit up the place. I recently had the chance to reunite with that librarian, Elisa Gall, at our Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago. She not only remembered my kids, who are now grown, but also asked about them by name. That’s a school librarian for you!
Elisa was just one of the many school librarian members at Annual in June. This group represented a large portion of the 9,000 ALA members in attendance, and I thank them for their commitment to their profession and their involvement in the Association.
Last fall, I attended the AASL conference in St. Louis. It was so great to be in a room of teacher-librarians. I told my story of being that high school English teacher who insisted on taking my classes to the school library for orientations at the start of each year. The AASL members cheered. They understand that when students have a library of their own—and use it—it greatly enhances their learning and growth, and they develop important habits as members of a functional democracy. When high school seniors were working on their research papers, we made the library our classroom.
That’s really what it comes down to. It’s not just about staffing libraries, it’s about creating spaces and opportunities for young people to become informed, engaged citizens. And that, in the end, is what matters most.
