The aims of this study were to establish a framework for the comparison of school libraries, and then to use the framework to assess the current state of school libraries internationally. The relationships between selected socio-economic variables and school library variables were also examined, as well as factors that had encouraged and hindered the growth of school libraries. / The framework for comparison, which consisted of a series of indicators and variables, was established by surveying a panel of thirty experts on school librarianship in twenty-nine countries. The five highest ranked indicators were the existence and extent of school libraries, personnel, facilities, materials and equipment, and the role of the school library and the teacher-librarian. / The indicators were then used as a basis to survey the current state of school libraries internationally. Sixty-four countries responded to the survey. Among the major findings were that although centralized school libraries existed in most of the responding countries, the library was seen as either a supplementary or a non-essential service. In more than 75% of the responding countries, the typical school library had a person in charge, but he or she was often without a defined role or had a basic role of making the resources available. The typical library contained printed, audio and visual materials; computers and communication equipment were present in less than 25% of them. / Two strong relationships were observed. The presence of libraries in primary schools had a strong positive correlation with the gross national product per capita of the country, but had a strong negative correlation with the percentage of the population in a country under the age of 15. / The most frequently mentioned factors encouraging growth of school libraries were the availability of funds, the role of a central organization, and the education/training of teacher-librarians, whereas the most frequently mentioned factors hindering growth were the inadequacy or total absence of funds, the lack of trained personnel, and problems related to physical facilities. / The appendices include the two survey instruments and a list of official sources of information on school libraries in the responding countries. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-07, Section: A, page: 2369. / Major Professor: F. William Summers. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76959 |
| Contributors | Singh, Diljit., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 279 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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