By Elizabeth A. Lee & Don A. Klinger
The Potential of the School Library in the 21st Century: Exemplary School Libraries Provide a Model for What Can Happen
Abstract
This paper reflects research study summary that explored the “impact of successful school libraries and students’ attitudes and literacy behaviors” through a case study approach involving eight Ontario elementary schools, identified by the Ontario School Library Association (OSLA) as having exemplary school library programs. Methods, charts and findings are shared. A key finding concluded that, regardless of context, two common features in the exemplary school libraries were “a focus on teaching” and “teacher-librarian as an agent of change”.
Elizabeth Lee is an associate professor in language and literacy in the Faculty of Education at Queen’s University. She was a classroom teacher for 17 years. Recent research examined the information literacy skills of university students and currently she is researching elementary school students’ responses to graphic novels.
Dr. Don Klinger is an associate professor in assessment and evaluation at the Faculty of Education at Queen’s University. Dr. Klinger has a strong quantitative research background and he uses these skills to focus on assessment and evaluation with respect to monitoring and measuring student achievement and program effectiveness. Dr Klinger is particularly interested in the methods we use to evaluate students and the subsequent decisions, practices, and policies that arise from these evaluations. Dr. Klinger is a founding member of the Assessment and Evaluation Group at Queen’s University. He is a member of the Ontario Education Research Panel (OERP) and the co-chair of the task force revising the Student Evaluation Standards.