The purpose of this observational study was to determine if significant difference existed in the quality of teacher preparation training as perceived by school district employees who have completed or were pursuing teacher certification in the area of school library media specialist from graduate programs accredited by National Council of Accreditation for Teacher Education (NCATE) and those accredited by institutions holding the American Library Association (ALA) endorsement. The focus of this investigation was on how or if knowledge, skills, and dispositions of school library media specialists and how does initial training impact student achievement. The study was conducted in an urban school district located in the metropolitan Atlanta area and is identified as district SDA. Descriptive, student performance, and perceived competence data were collected from 95/ P-12 media specialists, working in 90 school sites for the study population. Elementary (54 sites) and middle schools (19 sites) were part of the population. Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) results for students in grades 1-8 during the spring of 2007 were used to rank adequate yearly progress (AYP) performance. High school students do not take the CRCT. High school media specialists (N=21) were included in the study population. Findings form the study indicated that the interactions between the school administration, teachers as collaborative planning partners, collection development activities, and the school library media specialists (SLMS) have a positive impact on P-12 student achievement. Graduate preparation programs (NCATE and ALA) as independent variables were not perceived by SLMS to have a significant impact on the quality of the service and support they provided to learners.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Maryland at College Park, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 169-174).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1972. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 150-153).

Well-resourced and functional school libraries are important resource centres for teachers and learners, particularly in historically disadvantaged communities where other information services such as public or community libraries and multipurpose centres are few or virtually non-existent. However, only a minority of the schools in South Africa have well-stocked and well-staffed school libraries. In the Limpopo Province, the situation leaves much to be desired because only 2.3 % of the state schools have well-resourced and functional school libraries. Importantly, for the different school library facilities to be functional, an approved school library policy with endorsed school library standards and models is essential. Amazingly, there is no approved and legislated national school library policy in South Africa to support a progressive, constructivist and resource-thirsty curriculum. The purpose of the study was to investigate provision of school libraries in the Limpopo Province. The purpose of the study was to investigate provision of school libraries in the Limpopo Province. With well-stocked and functional school libraries, teachers and learners can access the library-based resources for curriculum support. The study was limited to public high schools only in both urban and rural communities of the province. The study is based on the constructive teaching and learning theory which emphasises the use of different resources to stimulate progressive and constructivist teaching and learning styles in schools. A multi-case study research design was adopted for data collection. Qualitative and quantitative research approaches were adopted in the study to investigate the focus of the study in-depth and intensively. Data were collected through questionnaires administered to 163 teacher-librarians or principals of the sampled 306 public high schools. The education officials, that is, the senior manager and two chief education specialists were interviewed face-to-face using an interview schedule. The findings of the study established that more than 33% of the public high schools in the study had a library facility. However, the findings indicated that the majority of the school library facilities were non-functional because the fundamentals of school library development such as a legislated school library policy are not in place. The absence of an overarching library policy leads to, lack of strategic direction, inadequate provision of resources, compromised functionality as well as the poor standing and value of school libraries. The study recommends that the newly launched National Guidelines for School Library and Information Services (2012) be legislated to become school library policy so that school library standards can be implemented in different school library models to enable teachers and learners to have access to library resources to support the constructivist and resource-based curriculum. / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)

Esta dissertação pretende, a partir de uma revisão de literatura e da análise dos dados coletados pelos alunos da disciplina de Metodologia do Ensino de Língua Portuguesa da Universidade de São Paulo, colocar em pauta algumas questões relativas ao trabalho de leitura na escola e ao papel da biblioteca escolar na formação do leitor literário nos dias de hoje. Procede-se a uma análise dos documentos oficiais que norteiam a ação das escolas para perceber como são debatidos os assuntos objeto de nossa pesquisa. Busca-se compreender como a biblioteca escolar está inserida na escola, e levantar pontos relativos à formação inicial e continuada do professor no que tange à formação do leitor na escola e à biblioteca escolar. Em seguida, busca-se resgatar exemplos de sucesso de planos educacionais de outros países, a saber, Portugal e França, e suas políticas públicas direcionadas para esse espaço pedagógico. Procura-se identificar qual o conceito atual de biblioteca escolar e como é a formação do professor responsável pela biblioteca no ensino básico. Ao compreender essa relação biblioteca escolar-leitura-professor-alunos, pretendemos levantar questões pertinentes aos temas norteadores dessa pesquisa tanto na formação inicial quanto na continuada dos professores que trabalham com leitura na escola. / This dissertation aims at raising some discussions related to the work done in schools today when it comes to reading and the role of the library in the formation of the students as readers nowadays. In order to do that, we aim at reviewing the actual literature and analyze the data collected by the under-graduate students of Metodologia do Ensino de Língua Portuguesa at the Universidade de São Paulo. The starting point is the analysis of the official documents that regulate schools in order to understand the way the topic presented here is discussed today. We seek to understand how the library is part of the school and raise topics related to the initial and continuous formation of the teacher in relation to the formation of the student-reader and the school library. Following this, we intend to present successful examples and educations plans, such as Portugal and France and their public policies on libraries as public spaces. It is intended to identify the concept of the library in schools and the background of the responsible teacher for the library. By understanding this relation library-reading-teacher-students, we aim at raising pertinent questions to the topics of this research not only for the teachers in the initial moments of their formation, but also for the teachers in continuous formation that work with reading in schools.

Aborda a biblioteca escolar, a partir de uma interface entre a Ciência da Informação, Análise do Discurso de linha francesa e Educação. Busca compreender como a historicidade e a memória discursiva sustentam sentidos sobre o que é esta unidade de informação escolar, observando o litígio entre posições-sujeito e vozes discursivas manifestas em um corpus, composto por recortes de dizeres presentes em blogs, listas de discussão e sites que discursivizam a biblioteca escolar. Objetiva, assim, analisar discursivamente os movimentos do sujeito e dos sentidos nas páginas eletrônicas sobre biblioteca escolar, observando se a rede eletrônica configura-se como o lugar da tão aclamada possibilidade de emergência do sujeito e de dizeres polissêmicos, que façam surgir sentidos além do dominante. Pretende, ainda, refletir sobre a ideologia como mecanismo de naturalização dos sentidos e produção de evidências sobre alguns discursos sobre a biblioteca escolar, e não outros, marcando o que pode ou não ser dito. Para desenvolver tais questões, inicialmente, discorre sobre alguns conceitos fundamentais da Análise do Discurso. Na etapa seguinte, percorre um (ciber)espaço instável, múltiplo e movente, investigando desde as suas condições de produção e as (im)possibilidades de navegação até a maneira como é estruturado e (re)construído, a partir do movimento de sujeitos e sentidos que se constituem ao mesmo tempo, em suas redes. Em seguida, aborda a biblioteca escolar, apresentando os sentidos circulantes em diferentes formações discursivas, a fim de investigar quais retornam, são silenciados ou, ainda, reconstruídos. Apresenta, também, algumas considerações sobre a leitura e pesquisa escolar que, por serem as atividades mais praticadas na biblioteca, tem grande importância na constituição de sentidos sobre ela. Por último, analisa alguns sites de escolas brasileiras, a fim de investigar como elas são discursivizadas, fazendo também algumas considerações sobre as bibliotecas escolares digitais, quais seriam as suas contribuições para novas práticas educativas, indagando se/como é possível sua disseminação no contexto educacional brasileiro. Finalmente, procura analisar discursivamente as representações imaginárias da biblioteca escolar no corpus selecionado. A partir das análises dispostas ao longo do trabalho, infere-se que o ciberespaço heterogêneo e interativo faz falar também o plural, permite os furos nas regiões de sentido estabilizadas pelo retorno da memória, suscitando outras maneiras de enunciar sobre essa instituição, outras margens de sentido. / It discusses the school library, from an interface between the Information Science, french Discourse Analysis and Education. It intends to understand how the historicity and discursive memory claim senses about this institution, observing the dispute between subject positions and discursive voices expressed in data, composed by clippings of discourses present in blogs, mailing lists and websites which put in discourse the school library. It aims to analyze, therefore, the movements of the subject and senses in the electronic pages on school libraries, checking if the web configures itself as the place of possibility of emergence of the subject and polysemic words, which raised meanings beyond the dominant. It aims to reflect about the ideology how a mechanism of naturalization of senses and production of evidences about some discourses on school library, and not others, marking which may or not be said. To develop such questions, first It discusses some fundamental concepts of discourse analysis. Then, It tours a (cyber) space unstable, multiple and moving, investigating from their conditions of production and the (im) possibilities of navigating to the way It is structured and (re) constructed from the movement of subjects and senses that constitute themselves in the same time on web. Then, It abroaches school library showing the senses that go around different discursive formations in order to investigate which of them returns, is silenced or rebuilt. It also presents some considerations about reading and scholar research which, being the most practiced activities in the library, they have great importance in the constitution of senses on it. Finally, It analyzes some sites of brazilian schools in order to investigate how they are put in discourse and It also makes some considerations about the digital school library, what are their contributions to educational practices, questioning if/how its possible its dissemination in the brazilian educational context. Lastly, It analyzes the imaginary representations of the school library in data. From the analysis made during this work, It\'s possible to say that the interactive and heterogeneous cyberspace allows the ruptures in the regions of sense stabilized by the return of memory, prompting other ways of stating on this institution, other margins of sense.

Excerpt: In this age of increased accountability through testing and implementation of the Common Core State Standards, the elementary and middle school librarian is often part of the school team working toward enhancing reading achievement among students.

The purpose of the study has been to investigate the collaboration between the leisure center and the school library and what obstacles and opportunities there are. In my dissertation, I have interviewed a school librarian and a leisure educator to find out how they work with literature in school and what obstacles and opportunities they believe there are to increase collaboration between school and school library. I have also used previous research that shows the effects of reading for children at an early age and current studies that show the negative effects that come from the use of school libraries to an increasing extent in Sweden. The results of the study have shown that reading from an early age has a great impact on children's schooling and their opportunities to acquire information and knowledge throughout their lives. The school can make a big difference for the students by offering a large selection of literature and adapting the reading so that all students have the opportunity to read on their own terms. By having a school library with trained staff, students get the best conditions for qualitative and rewarding reading.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master in Library and Information Science in the Department of Information Studies at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2014 / This study sought to identify the issues and challenges facing school libraries in secondary schools in Katlehong, Gauteng province, South Africa. It is the responsibility of the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) to make the provision of the resources in the schools for the effective functioning of the libraries. The study revealed little provision from the GDE and as a result school libraries are faced with challenges such as lack of library materials, insufficient staff and funds. These challenges led to under-utilisation of school libraries by both teachers and learners. Very few schools in South Africa have a functional school library, and those that do have one have to maintain it through their own funds and budget. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were used to conduct this study. Both non-probability (purposive sampling) and probability (simple random sampling) sampling methods were applied. The study clustered specific schools in Katlehong, i.e 14 secondary schools, and purposively selected the teacher-librarians, principals, teachers and learners in these schools, and a Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) official to participate in the study. Purposive sampling was used to sample the 102 teachers who participated in the focus discussion groups, and simple random sampling was used to identify the learners in each school who participated in the study. Four hundred questionnaires were distributed to learners, and three hundred and forty were returned. Interviews were held with the teacher-librarians, principals and the GDE official, while Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were held with the teachers. The results from the study revealed that school libraries in Katlehong’s secondary schools face challenges that include lack of staff, outdated and inadequate collections, mis-catalogued and poorly organized books, lack of funds, insufficient library orientation, and the absence of guidelines and leadership from the Department of Education. Very few schools had qualified teacher-librarians in their employ. The teachers who were employed as teacher-librarians confirmed that they were managing the school libraries without the professional skills required to guide both teachers and learners in the use of library resources. All the teacher-librarians had to teach in addition to managing the library, and in most cases the library was closed when they were in class. It was also mentioned that the school timetable did not always include a compulsory library period for all the classes. The need for a collection development policy and the lack of support from the school management team were also highlighted as challenges. Based on the findings both teachers and learners confirmed that their use of the library is restricted in terms of the time they had to use the libraries. There is no sufficient space, poor library orientation is conducted at schools, insufficient library furniture and the libraries keep old, out-dated and irrelevant books. Users have limited access to the Internet.

本研究旨在探討台北巿高中圖書館的組織編制、困境，並了解圖書館負責人對轉型為「教學資源中心」的看法，以期提出國內學校圖書館轉型為「教學資源中心」的建議方案及事項。 為達研究目的，首先蒐集國內外文獻，分析學校圖書館與「教學資源中心」的相關資料；其次藉由個案研究國內具有正式「教學資源中心」組織的明道高中，以了解其組織結構及經營模式；最後，全面性調查台北巿公私立45所高中圖書館的組織與困境、視聽資源及電腦主管單位的組織編制、以及台北巿高中圖書館負責人對轉型為「教學資源中心」的看法。 研究結果發現，台北巿高中圖書館有十大困境：1.私立學校圖書館組織比公立學校圖書館來得不健全。2.公私立高中圖書館多仍未能分組辦事。3.圖書館負責人乃由教師或幹事兼任，多須兼任課堂教學工作。4.圖書館專業人員不足。5.工作人員數量太少及職位太低。6.設置工讀生的學校未達半數，且工讀生人數少。7.圖書館委員會對圖書館的助益有限。8.圖書館所提供的視聽資源的種類不夠多，未能具備提供教學媒體製作的服務。9.圖書館雖多已自動化，但採購、期刊、參考諮詢三方面卻多數尚未自動化。10.圖書館半數以上沒有光碟資料庫，且只能在圖書館或館內使用光碟資料庫。 本研究提出高中圖書館轉型為「教學資源中心」的建議方案為：以圖書館為主導，整合校內包含所有軟體的視聽及電腦資源於同一個「圖書館教學資源中心」單位之中，設置圖書館教學資源中心主任，編列正式的圖書館專業人員、媒體專業人員、電腦資訊人員，其下的分組則至少包括基本的圖書館、視聽教育、電腦資訊三方面相關的組別。最後，提出的五大層面的建議事項：（一）制度層面：1.修改相關法令，提昇圖書館的地位及健全組織；2.轉型的名稱以「圖書館教學資源中心」為佳。（二）功能層面：1.落實傳統圖書館的功能；2.發揮「教學資源中心」的功能。（三）人員層面：1.增加圖書館人員編制及提昇專業素質；2.增列圖書館的媒體人員、資訊人員；3.結合與善用校內教師與學生的人力。（四）資源層面：1.充實圖書館館藏、媒體、資訊等設備；2.加強資訊軟硬環境。（五）教育層面：1.推廣圖書館利用教育，加強師生對圖書館的認識與使用；2.適應國家整體高中教育政策，配合多元入學方案。