Middle School library

An accessible high-quality collection correlates positively with reading comprehension and vocabulary

… [H]aving an accessible high-quality collection correlates positively with reading comprehension and vocabulary, but it is not sufficient for overall academic achievement as measured by API [Academic Performance Index] scores. For that latter to occur, teaching and administrative principles also need to be implemented.

Compliance-Related Activites Affect Student Academic Achievement

Compliance-related activities accounted for 14.6 percent of the variance in principles correlated with student academic achievement. The individual principles included: intellectual freedom (the single most important factor within that factor), followed by legal practices, curriculum-supportive collection, and program assessment.

In the middle schools, FCAT scores are higher where:

In the middle schools, FCAT scores are higher where: There are more certified, university-trained school library media specialists and the library media center is staffed more hours per week. More materials are circulated. There are more videos in the collection and more reference materials on CD-ROM. More computers in the library media center provide access to the Internet.

Middle schools with higher library staffing received higher scores

At the middle school level, in higher scoring schools, 53.9% of middle schools with more than 80 HPW [hours per week] of library staffing scored at grade level or better while only 46.1% passed in schools with poorer staffing.

Increased Importance of Libraries Amongst Users

The National Library of Finland coordinated a customer survey for users of research and special libraries as well as public libraries in 2010. The first national online questionnaire was conducted in 2006. The number of responses rose by 56% compared to the previous survey. In the public library sector, over 80% of the users agreed that the library services had supported their cultural and literary interests. Around 80% of the university and university applied sciences library users thought that libraries had helped to improve the quality of their work and studies, the same was true for 71% of the special library respondents. In all libraries, the staff's willingness to provide assistance was one of the most important factors affecting the quality of service. In terms of their service attitude, libraries were assessed as having succeeded as well or even slightly better than two years ago.

Students tend to perform better where...

Students tend to perform better on achievement tests where school libraries have: More full-time equivalents (FTEs) of staffing; Larger collections of periodicals and instructional videos; Better-networked online resources made accessible via computers in the library as well as in classrooms, lab, and offices; Higher total library expenditures; and Heavier use, as indicated by both library visits and circulation. (p. 11)