Literaturnachweis - Detailanzeige
| Autor/inn/en | Lance, Keith Curry; Kachel, Debra E.; Breevoort, Leah; Gerrity, Caitlin; Ellis, Deeth |
|---|---|
| Titel | Voices of Decision-Makers: How District & School Leaders Decide about School Librarian Employment |
| Quelle | (2023), (120 Seiten)
PDF als Volltext |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Dokumenttyp | gedruckt; online; Monographie |
| Schlagwörter | Decision Making; School Libraries; Librarians; Personnel Selection; Administrator Attitudes; Access to Information; Recruitment; Budgets; Budgeting; Accountability; Certification |
| Abstract | In the final phase of the federal grant project called The School Librarian Investigation--Decline of Evolution? (SLIDE), a qualitative study of interviews of K-12 school leaders was conducted. The purpose was to learn the factors, experiences, and priorities that caused school administrators to either increase or to decrease librarian positions. In the report "Voices of Decision-Makers: How District & School Leaders Decide about School Librarian Employment," 49 school leaders were anonymously interviewed from 29 states and D.C. Most were superintendents, assistant superintendents, or district-level administrators. Among school administrators who increased school librarian positions, researchers identified four major themes: (1) Equity of Access to Librarians; (2) New Leadership, New Priorities; (3) More Teaching by Librarians; and (4) Opportunity to Meet Mandates. Among administrators who reduced, eliminated, combined, or reclassified school librarian positions, three prevailing themes emerged: (1) New Priorities, More Specialists & Teachers; (2) Can't Find a Librarian; and (3) New Leadership, New Priorities. A prevailing theme among both groups of interviewees--whether librarian positions were increased or decreased--related to changes in administration and/or changes in priorities. This suggests that support for school librarians is sometimes based on preconceived beliefs of new leaders about the value of school libraries and librarians. Also, both groups were influenced by previous experiences working with or supervising school librarians, whether positive or negative. Factors were grouped into three types. Structural factors were identified as those administrators felt little control over, including, hiring staff to address state mandates, opening/closing of buildings, and "pipeline" issues. Pragmatic factors addressed logistical issues such as having enough teachers to cover classes and reassigning librarians as needed to meet immediate needs. Strategic factors represented district priorities and goals, including hiring staff perceived to improve specific student performance goals or to improve equity of access to librarians. Administrators in schools that added librarians were more likely to report strategic factors while those that reduced librarian positions cited more structural and pragmatic factors. Insightful quotes are included in the report and illustrate unenviable and difficult decisions that school leaders had to make to staff library and information services to meet local needs while staying within their budgets. To add perspective to these 49 cases, national school librarian employment data were. The last two years of available data--2020-21 and 2021-22--revealed extreme volatility in hiring patterns likely due to the impact of the COVID pandemic. In 2021-2022, 7.1 million U.S. students were in districts that had no school librarians--that is 35 percent of all local school districts. Of those districts with no librarians, 57 percent were majority-minority districts. In short, access to school librarians continues to be a major source of educational inequity driven by the circumstances and often unique realities of today's K-12 environment and the priorities and values of key administrative school leaders. These findings have significant implications to policy makers who decide educational funding, school library associations that set standards and staffing guidelines, and universities that offer school library programs and recruit for the future of the school library profession. [The project SLIDE: The School Librarian Investigation--Decline or Evolution? was conducted by Antioch University Seattle.] (As Provided). |
| Erfasst von | ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC |
| Update | 2024/1/01 |
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