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Page 20 Vol. 75, No. 1, Spring 2012 Mississippi Libraries
journals that cater to educational administrators,
teachers, and university faculty, citing
a sample taken “of the spring issues of
fourteen major journals for educational
administrators and teachers” that did not
have “a single article concerning school
libraries” (2003, p. 100). The authors
continue by saying, “if the past experience
of school leaders is based on such a narrow
view of the school library and current
professional journals ignore the relevance
of school library issues, then it becomes
incumbent upon higher education faculty
to instill within these future school leaders
the importance of a quality school library
program and the impact it has upon student
learning” (Roberson et al. 2003, p.
100).
The results of the study by Roberson,
Schweinle, and Applin clearly indicate a
need for administrators – the chief decision
makers at schools and regulators of school
climate and culture – to better understand
the positive impact library media centers
have on student academic achievement
levels when properly supported. Generally,
when the principal is convinced of an idea,
staff behavior will concomitantly conform
to the idea.
Using the results of the first step of the
Roberson et al. study, faculty from the University
of Southern Mississippi initiated a
collaborative arrangement between the
university’s Department of Education
Leadership and Research, School of
Library and Information Science, and University
Libraries and local public high
schools to institute curricular changes in
the Principal Preparation Program. The
arrangement was intended “to ensure that
pre-service administrators possess the necessary
skills to supervise and support quality
library media programs (Roberson et al.
2003, p. 101). The study found that “the
need for training in educational administration
programs is imperative. Pre-service
principal preparation programs must prepare
future principals to make wise decisions
concerning the support and management
of their school’s library program and
to understand that the library is a vital and
essential element in their school’s overall
educational program” (Roberson et al.
2003, p. 111-112).
Pre-service principals in educational
leadership degree programs should understand
“the tenets of information literacy
and how it contributes to life-long learning
for themselves and for the students they
will be serving,” be conversant in “the
research correlating quality library programs
with higher student academic
achievement…[and] the specific aspects of
quality programs that have been demonstrated
to positively effect change,” and
know “how to provide appropriate organizational
oversight for library programs
including budgeting; hiring, evaluating
and supervising library staff; facility and
technology planning; and how to ensure
collaborative planning among all educational
partners” (Roberson et al. 2003, p.
112).
Taking into consideration the above referenced
studies, the following changes
would be most effective in increasing the
support given to library media specialists
by school administrators:
Pre-service university degree programs
in educational leadership should cover
the objectives referenced in Roberson et
al. (2003).
For administrators already on the job,
mandatory staff development exercises
and workshops centered on the value of
library media centers should be given.
All current and future administrators
should be conversant in the literature
correlating quality library media centers
to higher student academic performance.
Librarians should be trained in how to
effectively promote the services offered
by their library media center to administrators
and teachers.
Library and information science
researchers should be more active in
the process of producing works publishable
on a multitude of mediums
delineating the benefits of library media
centers; and accordingly, professional
journals in education should be more
willing to publish articles on library and
information science.
Funding Library Media Centers
Though some school libraries receive a
percentage of total funding from program
grants, most are funded solely through the
budgetary allocations of schools and
school districts. Because many administrators
and teachers hold the view that library
programs are disposable, libraries are often
the first to be scaled down or cut during
years of budgetary constriction (Roberson,
Schweinle, and Applin, 2003, p. 99).
The first step in the process of increasing
funding involves librarians being both
proactive advocates for funding increases
and diligent promoters of the value that
quality library media centers bring to
schools. Roberson, Schweinle, and Applin
state:
The building-level principal has
tremendous influence over the operations
of the school and the overall
school climate. His or her attitude and
support of the school library program
is one of the greatest determining factors
of whether or not a school’s
library will have the attributes necessary
to positively influence academic
achievement (Charter 1982; Haycock
1999; Hellene 1973;
AASL/AECT 1988; Oberg, Hay,
and Henri 1999; Wilson and Lyders
2001)…In light of the important role
the school library plays in student
learning and the influence principals
have in creating and sustaining quality
library programs, it is imperative
that principals have an awareness of
the value of library programs and the
role they play in student learning
(Roberson et al. 2003, p. 99).
With much of school funding contingent
upon adequate progress on standardized
tests, the positive correlation between
quality library media centers and student
academic achievement (Roberson et al.
2003, p. 98) is a value proposition sure to
resonate with administrators and teachers.
Under the current system, libraries help
improve student test scores (Roberson et
al. 2003, p. 98) and accordingly assist
schools and school districts in remaining
financially solvent. Librarians and university
researchers are the most effective voices
in communicating to the administrators
responsible for making fiscal decisions that
investments in library media centers consistently
yield positive returns in the form