Even on edu sites, the phrase "the demise of school libraries" garners quite a few responses and they range from discussions of medical school libraries to elementary school libraries and everything in between. There are many opinions on this topic so I'll add mine to the mix: rather than sadly discussing the demise of the school library, we can excitedly discuss "The Transformation of the School Library".
With the advent of e-books, google and wikipedia, the role of the library as the "go-to" place for information seems to be changing. However, the amount of information available to the average computer user is huge and it represents a small portion of the information available to the average library user due to technical assistance from librarians or library techs and subscriptions that the library invests in. It is kind of mind boggling how much knowledge we don't know that we don't know. The USC Marshall School of Business summarized 4 Reasons School Libraries Are Still Essential in a brief promotional piece for their School of Information Science program. They are:
1. Libraries Offer More Than the Internet Can - online resources that are available from elementary through professional school libraries are vastly more scholarly and reliable than the basic search many can access at home.
2. Libraries Help Raise Reading Scores - several studies point out the relationship between librarians and increased reading scores among students. School districts who discontinued librarian services saw a decrease in student's standardized reading test scores. The organization and promotion of reading materials impacts entire communities to read and learn.
3. Interactions with Libraries Boost Literacy Development - from promotion of and access to books in pre-school to local library sponsored summer reading programs, students who engage in these "demonstrate more pre-reading and emergent literacy behaviors"(U.S.C. 2107)
4. Librarians Collaborate with Teachers to Enhance Curricula - many teachers feel overwhelmed by the ever-growing demands of their jobs and so a library worker who is knowledgable about age-appropriate books and resources can collaborate with the teacher, continuing to make the Library a place of fun and excitement for the students. http://librarysciencedegree.usc.edu/4-reasons-school-libraries-are-still-essential/
It seems that funding aside, library workers can choose to make their libraries a vibrant center of learning or let it get mothballed as a book storage area.Cartier, Leslie C. "The Flexible Learning Lab." Knowledge Quest, vol. 42, no. 4, 01 Mar. 2014, pp. 58-63. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.palomar.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1041598&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
