PA School Library Project

I am in Newark right now! Oh, the powers of IPad technology! :)

 So this is Day 4 of the NJ Social Innovation Institute - should be a good day.

On Wednesday I participated in a PA School Library Project focus group.

Here's the basic run down: - the Institute of Museum and Library Services National Leadership Grant is paying a great researcher named Keith Curry Lance to conduct a study of PA school libraries to measure just how much a library and a librarian increases student learning, test scores, etc.

Most of my own research for Library Build comes from Lance's research in at least 20 different states, including a study in PA back in 2000. Thanks Keith! - The focus group was meant to interest, and interact with local groups in Philadelphia, to increase awareness of the problem, and to generate enthusiasm for the project.

 I got to meet with some people in Philadelphia who are also doing great work in public education - schools, libraries, etc. But I won't bore you with the details. Instead, in honor of Friday, I'll just share some delightful tidbits of info and stats that will really get you excited about libraries.

1. By law, schools in Pennsylvania are not required to have a school library. But, by law, every correctional facility in the state must have a library and a librarian.
 2. Students in Pennsylvania score better on the PA state tests when they have a full time librarians - and disadvantaged students benefit proportionally better!
3. In New Jersey a study revealed (though, we can obviously extrapolate this to almost any state in the nation) that the lower the socioeconomic status of the school's population - the fewer the books in their library.
4. In Pennsylvania, recently measured in 2012, 66% of school library collections age between 12 to 21 years old! (Poor Rowen throws that off the scale with its average of 30 -40 year old collection...)
5. According to 2011 Guidelines for PA School Libraries, $41 PER STUDENT is recommended a year in library resources. Thus, with 475 students, Rowen should be spending almost $20,000 a year on its library! I doubt the principals of local elementary schools in Philly even get that much in their discretionary budget these days, much less all for the library.
 6. Despite #5's numbers, about 60% of PA schools spend only $1 to $15 dollars per student on library resources. Try zero dollars in Philadelphia...

So, now that we know all the facts, can we change it?

A very interesting question that was brought up in the focus group was: given our limited resources in PA, what do we value most in a school library? Librarians, technology, computers, books? The state obviously can't, and won't, create a multimillion dollar budget just for elementary school libraries - despite the fact that I'm sure Lance's research will without-a-doubt prove that our students need libraries and librarians. So how do we decide what it is most important for our students? And most of all, how do we get the funding? I'll keep this blog updated on results, ideas, etc.

Happy Friday!