(BCTF E-news, Vol. 6, no. 3, Nov 20, 2006)
The BC Liberal government has been claiming it wants to improve student achievement, and by that it means test scores. Last year’s Grade 7 Foundation Skills Assessment reading scores are the lowest in five years, the same length of time the government has been in power.
When the education minister was questioned about the test results she said, “We have to ask ourselves, which [initiatives] are working and which ones are not.”
Closing school libraries and increasing class sizes haven’t helped students develop literacy skills. On the contrary, there is 50 years of research showing that a properly staffed and well-maintained school library is the best way to support academic achievement.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Monday, October 23, 2006
National School Library Day
(BCTF: 2006 Oct 23)
October 23 is National School Library Day. "School libraries help lay the foundation for lifelong learning and students read more when they have access to a variety of materials to enhance learning," says BCTF President Jinny Sims. "Student achievement is linked to access to school libraries and it’s important that schools are well-resourced with curriculum-based collections and strong library programs." The annual survey of school library learning conditions conducted by the BC Teacher-Librarians’ Association points to a drastic need to support school libraries. In light of the government's stated commitment to literacy, the erosion of school library staffing and resources simply does not make sense.
October 23 is National School Library Day. "School libraries help lay the foundation for lifelong learning and students read more when they have access to a variety of materials to enhance learning," says BCTF President Jinny Sims. "Student achievement is linked to access to school libraries and it’s important that schools are well-resourced with curriculum-based collections and strong library programs." The annual survey of school library learning conditions conducted by the BC Teacher-Librarians’ Association points to a drastic need to support school libraries. In light of the government's stated commitment to literacy, the erosion of school library staffing and resources simply does not make sense.
Sunday, October 1, 2006
BCTF salutes teacher-librarians
(BCTF News Release: 2006 October 19)
Teachers around the province are celebrating the work of their peers through their support and acknowledgment of National School Library Day, October 23.
The BC Teachers' Federation (BCTF) says this day highlights the connection between reading and learning. President Jinny Sims says, "We are concerned about the lack of specialist teachers such as teacher-librarians, who foster our children's love of books. School libraries help lay the foundation for lifelong learning and students read more when they have access to a variety of materials to enhance learning. Our school libraries are staffed with professional teacher-librarians who know what information will stimulate and engage students."
Sims says student achievement is linked to access to school libraries and it's important that schools are well-resourced with curriculum-based collections and strong library programs. "The government must fully fund school libraries," says Sims, "not only by ensuring the shelves are well-stocked with current and cutting-edge resources, but by staffing the libraries with full-time teacher-librarians. It's alarming that in BC, only 18% of school libraries have a full-time teacher-librarian."
The BCTF is heartened that the provincial government wants BC to be world's literacy leader, but Sims says, "in order for that to happen, we need sufficient funding. School libraries should be places for our children to expand their knowledge and to feed their love of learning. Instead, they have become the hallmark of budget constraints and many school boards have been slow in repairing the damage that years of budget cuts have done."
Sims says the BCTF applauds the hard work of teacher-librarians and recognizes the unique struggles they face.
Teachers around the province are celebrating the work of their peers through their support and acknowledgment of National School Library Day, October 23.
The BC Teachers' Federation (BCTF) says this day highlights the connection between reading and learning. President Jinny Sims says, "We are concerned about the lack of specialist teachers such as teacher-librarians, who foster our children's love of books. School libraries help lay the foundation for lifelong learning and students read more when they have access to a variety of materials to enhance learning. Our school libraries are staffed with professional teacher-librarians who know what information will stimulate and engage students."
Sims says student achievement is linked to access to school libraries and it's important that schools are well-resourced with curriculum-based collections and strong library programs. "The government must fully fund school libraries," says Sims, "not only by ensuring the shelves are well-stocked with current and cutting-edge resources, but by staffing the libraries with full-time teacher-librarians. It's alarming that in BC, only 18% of school libraries have a full-time teacher-librarian."
The BCTF is heartened that the provincial government wants BC to be world's literacy leader, but Sims says, "in order for that to happen, we need sufficient funding. School libraries should be places for our children to expand their knowledge and to feed their love of learning. Instead, they have become the hallmark of budget constraints and many school boards have been slow in repairing the damage that years of budget cuts have done."
Sims says the BCTF applauds the hard work of teacher-librarians and recognizes the unique struggles they face.
Friday, September 1, 2006
World Peace Forum: For the sake of the children
(BC Teacher: 2006 September) by Murray Corren
Following her riveting presentation at the World Peace Forum in June, I had the honour of interviewing children’s literature author, Deborah Ellis. "Deborah is that all too rare artist whose deeply rooted sense of social justice is manifest in writing that is lively, lucid, and highly entertaining. In settings as diverse as Afghanistan, Malawi, Bolivia, medieval Paris, and Regent Park in Toronto, her novels chronicle the lives of youngsters faced with enormous challenges," was the verdict of the Vickey Metcalf Award for Children’s Literature jury.
This extraordinary writer is a long-time women’s rights and anti-war activist who has authored socially engaging novels about children living in environments of violence, conflict, and earth-shattering calamities. However, anyone reading her work will also be deeply touched by the extraordinary and uplifting acts of courage by her child-heroes.
Of herself, Deborah says, "My books reflect the heroism of people around the world who are struggling for decent lives. It has been a real privilege for me to sit with people in many parts of the world and learn how their lives have been drastically altered by war or disease, and how they try to remain kind in spite of it all. This has taught me how fundamentally alike we all are."
All the royalties from many of her books, translated into numerous languages, are donated to the education of women and girls in Afghanistan, to Street Kids International, and to UNICEF.
When I mention these generous acts of kindness, Deborah responds with, "Oh, it’s nothing." To date, The Breadwinner and Parvana’s Journey alone have raised over $500,000 to support the women and girls of Afghanistan.
Winner of numerous children’s literature awards, Deborah Ellis works as a mental health counselor in a group home for women in Simcoe, Ontario.
How did you become involved in anti-bomb politics and in feminism?
I came of age in l978, when the world was about to blow itself up in an atomic war. I write about what interests me, which is how people move about in a world of cruelty, and find some measure of kindness in that cruelty.
When I was in high school in Paris, Ontario, some local volunteers involved in the antibomb movement came and gave a talk and I became interested in it and became involved.
Unfortunately, the guys who were there were very chauvinistic. Various organizations were connected to the antibomb political movement, one of them being a feminist organization. It was then that I became interested in feminism.
Tell me more about those measures of kindness you have witnessed.
I have seen so many acts of kindness, I hardly know where to begin. I have seen people in the Afghan refugee camps, who have lost their own children through war or illness, take in other children who have lost their parents and made them their own.
You spent time in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan prior to writing the "Breadwinner" trilogy. What were the circumstances that brought you to do that?
I and some others were doing solidarity work with Afghan women after the Taliban takeover of Kabul in September l996. I went over to the camps to collect their stories to share with others, and heard about girls masquerading as boys in order to support their families.
Who were some of the people you met?
I met former teachers, principals, and doctors working in secret trying to get medical help to people inside Afghanistan. I met a woman who had been married at nine years old and was widowed at 10 when her husband was killed in the war. I met women who smuggled guns for the Mujahadine into the country to fight the Russians.
I’d like to turn now to the "Breadwinner" trilogy. The books portray events that some might say are too disturbing for children to read about and could take away their innocence. What do you say to those concerns?
The children I’ve met who have read my books, or lived in the situations I write about, are capable of knowing the truth of the world as it is presented to them, and, at the same time, believing in make-believe, in dreams, and in decency.
What message would you like children to get from those three books?
We often carry with us the books we read as children. If the kids who read my books remember them when they get to be decision makers, and their government says its time to go to war, hopefully they’ll remember that there are real people under those bombs, people like Parvana, and will think seriously before letting their government get away with killing them in their name.
The Canadian government recently announced an increased expenditure of $17 billion on the military. How else do you think that money might have been spent?
A teacher in Afghanistan earns roughly $750 a year. Seventeen billion dollars would hire a lot of teachers, build a lot of schools, put a lot of people back to work, give a lot of people a sense of future.
There are Canadians who think we should not be in Afghanistan in combat mode, that our soldiers are being injured or killed. The theme of the World Peace Forum is the futility of war and how conflict does not solve problems. What would you say to those people?
We should not be in Afghanistan in combat. What invariably happens is that innocent people will be in the way of the fighting and will be hurt or killed. War not only destroys buildings, it also destroys the social fabric of a people and leaves them with no way of putting their lives back together. What we should be doing as Canadians is bringing a whole other set of skills—building schools, hospitals, roads, etc.—setting up an infrastructure whereby people affected by the war can begin to re-establish a functioning social structure that gives them peaceful alternatives to war. For instance, I think it’s in the Congo where a very exciting program is happening, where people are being given bicycles in exchange for their guns and are being shown lots of different ways they can use those bicycles to make a living.
Apart from the "Breadwinner" trilogy, what other books have you written?
Other books of mine are: The Heaven Shop, a novel about children dealing with AIDS in Malawi, Our Stories, Our Songs, interviews I did with kids affected by AIDS in Malawi and Zambia, Three Wishes, Children of Israel and Palestine Speak, Interviews I did with kids in Israel and Palestine, A Company of Fools, a novel about the plague in the Middle Ages is my favourite because it was the most fun to write, Looking for X, a novel and some books in the "Our Canadian Girl Series."
Deborah, thank you.
For any teachers considering using Deborah Ellis’s books in their classrooms but who may wonder if their students are ready for such powerful stories, I would say that I have used Deborah Ellis’s books in Grade 4 and 5 classrooms and, without doubt, children have received and responded to them with maturity, insight, and compassion that would put many adults to shame. So, if you are an intermediate, middle, or secondary teacher, and you are looking for a writer who will engage, inspire, and inform your students, I can think of no better choice.
Murray Corren is district staff at Winslow Centre, Coquitlam.
Following her riveting presentation at the World Peace Forum in June, I had the honour of interviewing children’s literature author, Deborah Ellis. "Deborah is that all too rare artist whose deeply rooted sense of social justice is manifest in writing that is lively, lucid, and highly entertaining. In settings as diverse as Afghanistan, Malawi, Bolivia, medieval Paris, and Regent Park in Toronto, her novels chronicle the lives of youngsters faced with enormous challenges," was the verdict of the Vickey Metcalf Award for Children’s Literature jury.
This extraordinary writer is a long-time women’s rights and anti-war activist who has authored socially engaging novels about children living in environments of violence, conflict, and earth-shattering calamities. However, anyone reading her work will also be deeply touched by the extraordinary and uplifting acts of courage by her child-heroes.
Of herself, Deborah says, "My books reflect the heroism of people around the world who are struggling for decent lives. It has been a real privilege for me to sit with people in many parts of the world and learn how their lives have been drastically altered by war or disease, and how they try to remain kind in spite of it all. This has taught me how fundamentally alike we all are."
All the royalties from many of her books, translated into numerous languages, are donated to the education of women and girls in Afghanistan, to Street Kids International, and to UNICEF.
When I mention these generous acts of kindness, Deborah responds with, "Oh, it’s nothing." To date, The Breadwinner and Parvana’s Journey alone have raised over $500,000 to support the women and girls of Afghanistan.
Winner of numerous children’s literature awards, Deborah Ellis works as a mental health counselor in a group home for women in Simcoe, Ontario.
How did you become involved in anti-bomb politics and in feminism?
I came of age in l978, when the world was about to blow itself up in an atomic war. I write about what interests me, which is how people move about in a world of cruelty, and find some measure of kindness in that cruelty.
When I was in high school in Paris, Ontario, some local volunteers involved in the antibomb movement came and gave a talk and I became interested in it and became involved.
Unfortunately, the guys who were there were very chauvinistic. Various organizations were connected to the antibomb political movement, one of them being a feminist organization. It was then that I became interested in feminism.
Tell me more about those measures of kindness you have witnessed.
I have seen so many acts of kindness, I hardly know where to begin. I have seen people in the Afghan refugee camps, who have lost their own children through war or illness, take in other children who have lost their parents and made them their own.
You spent time in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan prior to writing the "Breadwinner" trilogy. What were the circumstances that brought you to do that?
I and some others were doing solidarity work with Afghan women after the Taliban takeover of Kabul in September l996. I went over to the camps to collect their stories to share with others, and heard about girls masquerading as boys in order to support their families.
Who were some of the people you met?
I met former teachers, principals, and doctors working in secret trying to get medical help to people inside Afghanistan. I met a woman who had been married at nine years old and was widowed at 10 when her husband was killed in the war. I met women who smuggled guns for the Mujahadine into the country to fight the Russians.
I’d like to turn now to the "Breadwinner" trilogy. The books portray events that some might say are too disturbing for children to read about and could take away their innocence. What do you say to those concerns?
The children I’ve met who have read my books, or lived in the situations I write about, are capable of knowing the truth of the world as it is presented to them, and, at the same time, believing in make-believe, in dreams, and in decency.
What message would you like children to get from those three books?
We often carry with us the books we read as children. If the kids who read my books remember them when they get to be decision makers, and their government says its time to go to war, hopefully they’ll remember that there are real people under those bombs, people like Parvana, and will think seriously before letting their government get away with killing them in their name.
The Canadian government recently announced an increased expenditure of $17 billion on the military. How else do you think that money might have been spent?
A teacher in Afghanistan earns roughly $750 a year. Seventeen billion dollars would hire a lot of teachers, build a lot of schools, put a lot of people back to work, give a lot of people a sense of future.
There are Canadians who think we should not be in Afghanistan in combat mode, that our soldiers are being injured or killed. The theme of the World Peace Forum is the futility of war and how conflict does not solve problems. What would you say to those people?
We should not be in Afghanistan in combat. What invariably happens is that innocent people will be in the way of the fighting and will be hurt or killed. War not only destroys buildings, it also destroys the social fabric of a people and leaves them with no way of putting their lives back together. What we should be doing as Canadians is bringing a whole other set of skills—building schools, hospitals, roads, etc.—setting up an infrastructure whereby people affected by the war can begin to re-establish a functioning social structure that gives them peaceful alternatives to war. For instance, I think it’s in the Congo where a very exciting program is happening, where people are being given bicycles in exchange for their guns and are being shown lots of different ways they can use those bicycles to make a living.
Apart from the "Breadwinner" trilogy, what other books have you written?
Other books of mine are: The Heaven Shop, a novel about children dealing with AIDS in Malawi, Our Stories, Our Songs, interviews I did with kids affected by AIDS in Malawi and Zambia, Three Wishes, Children of Israel and Palestine Speak, Interviews I did with kids in Israel and Palestine, A Company of Fools, a novel about the plague in the Middle Ages is my favourite because it was the most fun to write, Looking for X, a novel and some books in the "Our Canadian Girl Series."
Deborah, thank you.
For any teachers considering using Deborah Ellis’s books in their classrooms but who may wonder if their students are ready for such powerful stories, I would say that I have used Deborah Ellis’s books in Grade 4 and 5 classrooms and, without doubt, children have received and responded to them with maturity, insight, and compassion that would put many adults to shame. So, if you are an intermediate, middle, or secondary teacher, and you are looking for a writer who will engage, inspire, and inform your students, I can think of no better choice.
Murray Corren is district staff at Winslow Centre, Coquitlam.
Celebrate school libraries!
(BC Teacher: 2006 September) by Rick Mulholland
Almost every school has some form of a school library. To paraphrase a quote by American novelist Shelby Foote, a school is just a group of classrooms gathered around a library. In the past few issues of Teacher newsmagazine, we have read a number of articles relating to school libraries, their programs, their personnel, and how important they are to the education of our students. Now we need to turn the attention to something that is rarely done for school libraries. It is something that many teacher-librarians find difficult to do—we need to promote ourselves—we need to celebrate! This is supported by a leading researcher in school librarianship, Dr. Ross J. Todd, who says it is "part of critically reviewing objectives in relation to learning, and ensuring that student learning outcomes are not only able to be identified, but are acknowledged and celebrated by the school community."
We can celebrate our programs by showcasing students’ projects in a number of ways, including displays in the library or office display cabinet and publishing written work in the school newsletter or on a web site. Why not approach the local newspaper to have students’ work published in the weekend paper? What about the local media showcasing the actual unit in action?
But the best way to celebrate school libraries is on the fourth Monday in October. International School Library Day was proclaimed in 1999 by then International Association of School Librarianship president Dr. Blanche Woolls and reaffirmed last year by the current International Association of School Librarianship president, Peter Genco. International School Library Day is an opportunity for school libraries to showcase their role in the promotion of reading and literacy skills as well as information literacy skills, which help to provide the foundations for lifelong learning. School libraries matter and make a difference!
In Canada, National School Library Day, which is celebrated on the same day as International School Library Day, was proclaimed by Roch Carrier, then National Librarian of Canada, at the National School Library Summit held in Ottawa in June of 2003. The first National School Library Day was held on Monday, October 27, 2003.
International School Library Day and National School Library Day provide the school community an opportunity to celebrate the importance of the school library. It is a day where teachers, students, parents, administrators, and of course teacher-librarians stand up and show the Canadian public that school libraries matter.
On Monday October 23, 2006, school communities around the world will be celebrating the 8th International School Library Day with the theme Reading. Knowing. Doing. This highlights the connection between reading and the application of knowledge. I urge every member of the BC school community to join their teacher-librarian in celebrating the important role that school library programs have in our education system today and in the future.
For more information, visit the following web sites: International School Library Day (www.iasl-slo.org/isld.html), National School Library Day (www.nsld.ca).
Rick Mulholland is a teacher-librarian at East Clayton Elementary School, Surrey.
Almost every school has some form of a school library. To paraphrase a quote by American novelist Shelby Foote, a school is just a group of classrooms gathered around a library. In the past few issues of Teacher newsmagazine, we have read a number of articles relating to school libraries, their programs, their personnel, and how important they are to the education of our students. Now we need to turn the attention to something that is rarely done for school libraries. It is something that many teacher-librarians find difficult to do—we need to promote ourselves—we need to celebrate! This is supported by a leading researcher in school librarianship, Dr. Ross J. Todd, who says it is "part of critically reviewing objectives in relation to learning, and ensuring that student learning outcomes are not only able to be identified, but are acknowledged and celebrated by the school community."
We can celebrate our programs by showcasing students’ projects in a number of ways, including displays in the library or office display cabinet and publishing written work in the school newsletter or on a web site. Why not approach the local newspaper to have students’ work published in the weekend paper? What about the local media showcasing the actual unit in action?
But the best way to celebrate school libraries is on the fourth Monday in October. International School Library Day was proclaimed in 1999 by then International Association of School Librarianship president Dr. Blanche Woolls and reaffirmed last year by the current International Association of School Librarianship president, Peter Genco. International School Library Day is an opportunity for school libraries to showcase their role in the promotion of reading and literacy skills as well as information literacy skills, which help to provide the foundations for lifelong learning. School libraries matter and make a difference!
In Canada, National School Library Day, which is celebrated on the same day as International School Library Day, was proclaimed by Roch Carrier, then National Librarian of Canada, at the National School Library Summit held in Ottawa in June of 2003. The first National School Library Day was held on Monday, October 27, 2003.
International School Library Day and National School Library Day provide the school community an opportunity to celebrate the importance of the school library. It is a day where teachers, students, parents, administrators, and of course teacher-librarians stand up and show the Canadian public that school libraries matter.
On Monday October 23, 2006, school communities around the world will be celebrating the 8th International School Library Day with the theme Reading. Knowing. Doing. This highlights the connection between reading and the application of knowledge. I urge every member of the BC school community to join their teacher-librarian in celebrating the important role that school library programs have in our education system today and in the future.
For more information, visit the following web sites: International School Library Day (www.iasl-slo.org/isld.html), National School Library Day (www.nsld.ca).
Rick Mulholland is a teacher-librarian at East Clayton Elementary School, Surrey.
Thursday, June 1, 2006
Teacher-librarians working and learning conditions survey
(BC Teacher: 2006 May/June)
Annually the BC Teacher-Librarians’ Association (BCTLA) surveys its members via its Working and Learning Conditions survey (W&L). The data gathered allows the group to track staffing and funding levels around the province and inform and advocate for teacher-librarians, school libraries, and school library programs. The 2005–06 survey marked the 25th annual survey of teacher-librarians of BC by the BCTLA. The online survey gathered a total of 852 responses from school libraries across the province. Responses were received from schools in all but two districts. In total, 50.7% of schools responded. The full report will be published with the Spring 2006 issue of The Bookmark and is also available on the BCTLA web site http://bctf.ca/bctla.
The research
According to Lance and Loertscher, Powering achievement: School library media programs make a difference: The evidence (2003), "In schools with well-stocked, well-equipped school libraries, managed by qualified and motivated professional teacher-librarians working with support staff, one can expect: capable and avid readers, learners who are information literate, and teachers who are partnering with the teacher-librarian to create high-quality learning experiences. Standardized scores tend to be 10 to 20% higher than in schools without this investment."
There are over 50 years of academic studies on the correlation between school libraries and student achievement. Most recent and notable include those completed in Alaska, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Scotland. Similar results and conclusions were reported in all the studies: school library programs and teacher-librarians have a positive impact on student academic achievement.
Dr. Ken Haycock, in his recent report, "The Crisis in Canada’s School Libraries—The Case for Reform and Re-Investment (2003)," details the conclusions of a multitude of academic studies on the relationship between school libraries, teacher-librarians, and student achievement.
Haycock reveals a body of research evidence with a compelling link between student achievement and the presence of well-stocked, properly funded, and professionally developed school library programs and services.
School libraries in BC have a long way to go because of years of cuts and poor decision making.
Professional staffing
The BCTLA W&L survey results indicate that although there has been a marginal increase in the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) teacher-librarians in the province (this year there is one teacher-librarian for every 820 students instead of one for every 828 students as was the case last year), only 18% of school libraries have a full-time teacher-librarian.
This study found 95% of libraries had a teacher-librarian in charge. Just over 3% of libraries had a technician or clerk in charge and over 1% had another person (parent, volunteer or principal) in charge. Three schools did not have anybody in charge of the library.
The survey shows that the number of teacher-librarians, expressed in FTE/1,000 students has increased slightly at the elementary level to 1.45 FTE/ 1,000. Middle and secondary school levels teacher-librarian FTEs fall at 1.19 and 0.99 respectively. Previous studies have shown an overall decline in teacher-librarian FTEs of 0.28 per 1,000 students for elementary schools and 0.22 per 1,000 students for secondary schools between 1999 and 2003.
Funding
The funding allocation for BC school libraries generally falls short of the national standards. National standards from Achieving Information Literacy: Standards for School Libraries published by the Canadian School Library Association and the Association for School Libraries in Canada (2003) identify acceptable funding per student as being between $36 to $45 for secondary, $31 to $42 for middle, and $26 to $35 for elementary based on the average costs of materials in the year 2002. The BCTLA W&L survey revealed average provincial funding levels per student to be $12.33 at elementary, $13.38 at middle school, and $12.74 at secondary. Average school district budget allocations per student range from a low of $5.92 to $36.84.
School libraries can hardly be expected to maintain an up-to-date collection in good repair when funding with such inadequate budgets.
BC’s school libraries relying on fundraising to supplement core library budgets is cause for concern. Many schools turn to fundraising to attempt to fill the funding gap. The survey revealed that the amounts raised by parents, book fairs, bake sales, and other fundraising activities varies considerably by school, depending on the resources available and the wealth of the neighbourhood. The range of funds raised is further cause for concern given that it points to inequities in fundraising capacity and thus inequities in the provision of library services between schools. Data from the 2005–06 study, excluding those who did not report money from fundraising (117 out of 852 schools), show that the range of funds raised was from $50 at one small secondary school in the interior of the province to $45,000 for a school in the greater Vancouver region. This year, the provincial average amount raised per school was $2,410; last year it was slightly lower at $2,110.
Conclusions
The BCTLA welcomed the January 31, 2005 Ministry of Education news release that announced $150 million for school libraries, music, arts programs, and support for special needs students. It is not apparent, however, that this infusion has translated into substantive positive changes for school library programs and teacher-librarian staffing. The Ministry of Education web site identified that only 12 of 60 school districts indicated that they planned to use this funding for improving library and learning resources.
Although it is a goal of the government to make BC the most literate jurisdiction in North America by 2010, more attention must be given to funding and teacher-librarian staffing levels in BC public schools if this goal is to become a reality. BCTLA calls on the ministry to provide guidance for best practice by reviewing and revising "policies on school libraries and teacher-librarians based on best practice models" (The Crisis in Canada’s School Libraries, 39) to gain greatest return on the school library investment.
Annually the BC Teacher-Librarians’ Association (BCTLA) surveys its members via its Working and Learning Conditions survey (W&L). The data gathered allows the group to track staffing and funding levels around the province and inform and advocate for teacher-librarians, school libraries, and school library programs. The 2005–06 survey marked the 25th annual survey of teacher-librarians of BC by the BCTLA. The online survey gathered a total of 852 responses from school libraries across the province. Responses were received from schools in all but two districts. In total, 50.7% of schools responded. The full report will be published with the Spring 2006 issue of The Bookmark and is also available on the BCTLA web site http://bctf.ca/bctla.
The research
According to Lance and Loertscher, Powering achievement: School library media programs make a difference: The evidence (2003), "In schools with well-stocked, well-equipped school libraries, managed by qualified and motivated professional teacher-librarians working with support staff, one can expect: capable and avid readers, learners who are information literate, and teachers who are partnering with the teacher-librarian to create high-quality learning experiences. Standardized scores tend to be 10 to 20% higher than in schools without this investment."
There are over 50 years of academic studies on the correlation between school libraries and student achievement. Most recent and notable include those completed in Alaska, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Scotland. Similar results and conclusions were reported in all the studies: school library programs and teacher-librarians have a positive impact on student academic achievement.
Dr. Ken Haycock, in his recent report, "The Crisis in Canada’s School Libraries—The Case for Reform and Re-Investment (2003)," details the conclusions of a multitude of academic studies on the relationship between school libraries, teacher-librarians, and student achievement.
Haycock reveals a body of research evidence with a compelling link between student achievement and the presence of well-stocked, properly funded, and professionally developed school library programs and services.
School libraries in BC have a long way to go because of years of cuts and poor decision making.
Professional staffing
The BCTLA W&L survey results indicate that although there has been a marginal increase in the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) teacher-librarians in the province (this year there is one teacher-librarian for every 820 students instead of one for every 828 students as was the case last year), only 18% of school libraries have a full-time teacher-librarian.
This study found 95% of libraries had a teacher-librarian in charge. Just over 3% of libraries had a technician or clerk in charge and over 1% had another person (parent, volunteer or principal) in charge. Three schools did not have anybody in charge of the library.
The survey shows that the number of teacher-librarians, expressed in FTE/1,000 students has increased slightly at the elementary level to 1.45 FTE/ 1,000. Middle and secondary school levels teacher-librarian FTEs fall at 1.19 and 0.99 respectively. Previous studies have shown an overall decline in teacher-librarian FTEs of 0.28 per 1,000 students for elementary schools and 0.22 per 1,000 students for secondary schools between 1999 and 2003.
Funding
The funding allocation for BC school libraries generally falls short of the national standards. National standards from Achieving Information Literacy: Standards for School Libraries published by the Canadian School Library Association and the Association for School Libraries in Canada (2003) identify acceptable funding per student as being between $36 to $45 for secondary, $31 to $42 for middle, and $26 to $35 for elementary based on the average costs of materials in the year 2002. The BCTLA W&L survey revealed average provincial funding levels per student to be $12.33 at elementary, $13.38 at middle school, and $12.74 at secondary. Average school district budget allocations per student range from a low of $5.92 to $36.84.
School libraries can hardly be expected to maintain an up-to-date collection in good repair when funding with such inadequate budgets.
BC’s school libraries relying on fundraising to supplement core library budgets is cause for concern. Many schools turn to fundraising to attempt to fill the funding gap. The survey revealed that the amounts raised by parents, book fairs, bake sales, and other fundraising activities varies considerably by school, depending on the resources available and the wealth of the neighbourhood. The range of funds raised is further cause for concern given that it points to inequities in fundraising capacity and thus inequities in the provision of library services between schools. Data from the 2005–06 study, excluding those who did not report money from fundraising (117 out of 852 schools), show that the range of funds raised was from $50 at one small secondary school in the interior of the province to $45,000 for a school in the greater Vancouver region. This year, the provincial average amount raised per school was $2,410; last year it was slightly lower at $2,110.
Conclusions
The BCTLA welcomed the January 31, 2005 Ministry of Education news release that announced $150 million for school libraries, music, arts programs, and support for special needs students. It is not apparent, however, that this infusion has translated into substantive positive changes for school library programs and teacher-librarian staffing. The Ministry of Education web site identified that only 12 of 60 school districts indicated that they planned to use this funding for improving library and learning resources.
Although it is a goal of the government to make BC the most literate jurisdiction in North America by 2010, more attention must be given to funding and teacher-librarian staffing levels in BC public schools if this goal is to become a reality. BCTLA calls on the ministry to provide guidance for best practice by reviewing and revising "policies on school libraries and teacher-librarians based on best practice models" (The Crisis in Canada’s School Libraries, 39) to gain greatest return on the school library investment.
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