Opportunity for Action at ASLA conference

The Australian School Library Association Conference next week in Perth is an opportunity to rededicate ourselves as teachers, librarians, parents, writers, and citizens to reversing the decline of school libraries in this country.

The Australian School Libraries Research Project (ASLRP) by ALIA, ASLA and Edith Cowan University, provides us initial “snapshots” on the current state of school library services in Australia (Barbara Combes, 2008) .

What it shows is a great inequity between school library staffing and funding across Australian schools.

Budgets abysmal

The survey found that the majority of school library budgets are abysmal! Half of the government school budgets are under $5000, and one in six budgets are under $1000. In  NT schools, most of which are remote, over half have budgets under $500!

Staffing in declline

The survey showed that 35% of government school libraries have no teacher librarians.  Approximately two thirds of all schools have either no teacher librarian or less than one Full Time Equivalent (FTE) working in their school library. After the Northern Territory (5%), Tasmania (50%), Western Australia (almost 60%) and Victoria (65%) have the lowest number of TLs employed K-12 across all sectors. Instead there are high numbers of library technicians in Tasmania and Victoria and library officers in Western Australia.

Previous state surveys illustrate the downward slide. A discussion paper from the State Library of Tasmania noted a decline of nearly fifty per cent in the number of teacher librarians in Tasmanian schools in the period 1996-2000. (“Enhancing Student Outcomes with Improved Information Services and Provisioning”, 2000).

A position paper by the AEU Tasmanian Branch noted in 2000 that teacher aides were increasingly replacing teacher librarians, with one third of schools surveyed not having professional TLs. (“Leading the way: The changing role of the teacher librarian”). The ASLRP survey now places this at almost 50%.

While the ASLRP survey shows Victoria employs TLs in 65% of its schools, figures for Melbourne metropolitan primary schools may be even lower.   Reynolds and Carroll in 2001 found  that only 13% of primary schools had teacher librarians. (“Where have all the teacher librarians gone?” Access May 2001)

In South Australia in 2002, apart from those very small schools with no teacher librarian entitlement, a third of school libraries around the state were understaffed and/or staffed with unqualified personnel (Spence, “Survey highlights major problems with library staffing”, AEU Journal, 4 December 2002).

As Michelle Lonsdale stated in 2003, the “devolution of financial management to schools means that funding for school libraries relies on the resource allocation priorities established by the school community, which might or might not place a high priority on the need for a well-staffed library system.”  (Impact of school libraries on student achievement, ACER). There is pressure in all state departments of education for this devolution, flexibility and choice in school staffing. Teacher librarians, where they have existed, are often being “cashed in” for classroom or other specialist teachers, or pushed increasingly into the classroom themselves.

In 1988, the Australian Library Summit deplored the lack of statistics relating to school library services. There is still no systematically collected national data. ALIA and ASLA together with ECU have given us the beginning of those statistics to work with. The ASLRP has provided a complex set of results, with many variables yet to be analysed, but little in it paints a good picture of the state of school libraries in this country, especially government schools.

Anne Hazell stated in 1988, after the initial regression of the 1980s in school library staffing, that unless (TLs) … act as advocates for their chosen profession, it is unlikely that the profession will survive into the 21^st century.”   We are well and truly on that edge.

So, here is a preview of The Hub’s conference paper, Getting the Word Out.

Let’s say it again

Has mid-winter malaise set in with you too? Hard to take myself away from a good book in front of the fire, until I rouse myself to remember every Australian child needs a good book too!  And someone to recommend it.

So let’s say it again.

We need to let politicians and the public know how inequitable school library services are in Australia, whether we have nice new BER “infrastructure” buildings or not.

Northern Territory remote schools have no teacher librarians (TLs). Western Australian primary schools have no TLs appointed. Victoria and the ACT count TLs as part of teaching staff, may or may not have a teacher deployed in the library and do not require that teacher to be a teacher librarian.  Probably one in ten public primary schools in Victoria have TLs and more and more secondary teacher librarians are being replaced by less expensive librarian options.

An Australian Education Union survey of South Australian government school library staffing in 2001 found that “a third of all schools are understaffed and/or staffed with unqualified personnel” (Spence 2002). South Australian teacher librarian positions are under further threat in current enterprise agreement negotiations. Even in Tasmania and Queensland, principals are being forced by inadequate staffing budgets to downgrade staff in school libraries, often to clerical positions.

It’s not good enough.

Meanwhile, since the early 1970s, NSW primary schools have been staffed with trained teacher librarians.  While too often used for teacher relief planning time (and therefore unable to easily plan collaborative teaching themselves), they nevertheless are professionally trained in collection management, literacy support, leadership, collaborative teaching and other unique whole school skills.

If we are talking about equity, if we are talking about improving literacy and information literacy, if we are talking about authentic, resource-based learning and quality teaching, we must agree that ALL Australian students deserve professional school library services managed by professionally trained teacher librarians.

Write to your federal and state representatives now. Write to your national and state parent associations. Write to your national and state teacher unions. Write to your capital city and local newspapers. Pass this message on to your friends, colleagues and decision makers now.

And don’t be fobbed off by federal members who say it’s the state’s responsibility.  In the past, immense measures were made federally to improve Australian school libraries. In the present, here are some questions to ask your local federal member.

What can and will the federal government do:

• to assess the current quality of all school library staffing, funding, and scheduling?
• to tie funding so that states can and must adequately staff and fund school library programs and services?
• to ensure inclusion of the role of teacher librarians in all literacy, information literacy and quality teaching and learning policies and documents?
• to develop national school library standards?
• to increase teacher librarian training positions in university programs?
• to include an understanding of the collaborative role of teacher librarians in preservice teacher training?

Ask direct questions, until you get direct answers.

Now to copy and paste a few letters, and get back to my good book.  Lucky me.  I always had a good school librarian.

georgia

Do we want something from the budget?? You bet!

post from G Phillips

 

Federal budget time looms around the corner on the 12th of May.

Do we have anything to say about it?

You bet we do. Ask your federal member and senator now (then also ask your state member!):

 

The federal government will still be spending money on building new school libraries.  How about staffing them?

We need to let politicians and the public know how inequitable school library services are in Australia, whether we have nice new “infrastructure” buildings or not. NT remote schools have no TLs.  WA primary schools have no TLs appointed.  Vic and ACT  count TLs as part of teaching staff, may or may not have a teacher deployed in the library and do not require that teacher to be a teacher librarian. Probably one in 10 public primary schools in Vic have TLs. In South Australia in 2002  apart from those very small schools with no teacher librarian entitlement, a third of school libraries around the state were understaffed and/or staffed with unqualified personnel. 

Even in Tas and Qld principals are being forced by inadequate staffing budgets to downgrade staff in school libraries, often to clerical positions. It’s not good enough.

Meanwhile, since the early 70s  NSW primary schools have been staffed with trained teacher librarians.  While too often used for teacher relief planning time, they nevertheless are professionally trained in collection management, literacy support, leadership, collaborative teaching and other unique TL professional standards.  If we are talking about equity, I know we agree that ALL Aus students deserve professional school library services run by professionally trained TLs.

 

What can the federal government do?

National standards can be written for school library facilities and staffing, especially primary libraries.

Dollars can be allocated to increase teacher librarian training positions in university programs.

Federal state school funding can be tied to appropriate school library staffing levels.

 

The federal government will still be spending money on computers.  How can we make sure students can use them?

MCEETYA (Performance Measurement and Reporting Taskforce, 2005) defines ICT literacy as being able to“access, manage  and evaluate information, develop new understandings, and  communicate with others in order to participate effectively in society” (Statements of Learning for ICT, 2006).

The Council of Australian University Librarians defines information literacy almost identically: “an understanding and set of abilities enabling individuals to recognise when information is needed and have the capacity to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information” (CAUL, 2005).  Bringing these literacies (an example matrix) together should be a future aim for MCEETYA. A learning statement on information and ICT literacy should be supported by a national statement on the role of teacher librarians, teachers and principals in creating information literate school communities.

 

The federal government will still be spending money on a National Schools Assessment and Data Centre.  Will they be collecting appropriate data on school libraries?

Julia Gillard has stated (see letter attached) that it is likely that COAG will be considering the need for better data on teacher librarians. 

We must make sure that separate data is collected on teacher librarian qualifications, library staffing and scheduling and on library funding across all states and territories and all sectors. (See US example.) This must be part of the government’s “transparency and accountability” policy. 

 

The federal government will still be spending money on improving literacy. The role of teacher librarians and school libraries must be recognized in these efforts.

 

The federal government could fund programs similar to the US Improving Literacy Through School Libraries grants program. 

The government should fund research into the effect of well-staffed, well-funded school libraries on improving literacy. 1997 was one of the last in Australia! This study indicated that  “Extensive use of the school library can increase literacy achievement by as many as 27 points. J. Masters and M. Forster. Mapping Literacy Achievement: Results of the 1996 national School English Literacy Survey. ACER, Melbourne, 1997.

International research speaks strongly.  Teacher librarians give students the opportunity to read by providing materials of interest and books appropriate to each student’s reading level. In addition, school library  programs provide ready access to books. According to Stephen Krashen it is unnecessary to urge young people to read more and understand the importance of reading because, given the chance, they do in fact read quite a bit, and they certainly do understand the importance of reading…. More access to reading results in more reading. 

All literacy programs should explicitly recognize the central role school libraries have in “student achievement, literacy attainment, and preparation for post-secondary success” (Ontario  Coalition for School Libraries) .

So let our federal members and senators know we expect to see school libraries targeted in the budget! Attach copies of your letters in comment space below. School libraries make a difference!

 

 

21st Century School Libraries Need 21st Century TLs

I was possibly one of a few who caught the PM’s “fireside chat” announcing the latest economic stimulus package. Everyone else, including my husband, was rightly still at the beach.  And I surely was one of a small minority who let out a whoop when school libraries were mentioned!!  Now that the dog and I have settled down, memory nags.  Didn’t something like this happen back in the 70s?  Some 1200 new secondary libraries were built by 1977 with Commonwealth grants, following intense lobbying by ASLA, LAA (now ALIA), ALPC, state government and other groups and individuals. 

I can tell you it was an exciting time to be visiting new NSW school libraries armed with that powerful departmental furniture catalogue!!

Yet a survey of all state and territory supervisors of school libraries at that time found that by 1978 there were only some 3500 qualified (at least the equivalent of one term full-time training in school librarianship) teacher librarians in Australia, although 5000 more were needed to meet the standards outlined in the Schools Commission’s standards, Books and Beyond.  

Since then, no one is even keeping track.  The federal government can not tell you how many TLs there are in school libraries. How many “state and territory supervisors of school libraries” even exist anymore to ask? ALIA can not tell you how many TL graduates there are in Australia. ASLA can not tell you how many TLs are needed to be trained to staff Australia’s 6,853 (2007 figures) government schools to their professional standards. State departments of education don’t even distinguish between classroom teachers and teacher librarians in their staffing statistics. So they can’t tell you which schools have no teacher librarians, let alone what training their TLs might have.

Yet there IS anecdotal evidence and some preliminary data which shows that all too few Australian primary school libraries are staffed to professional standards. For example, possibly up to half the primary schools in Victoria do not have teacher librarians. The Northern Territory has very few professionally trained primary teacher librarians and none in remote schools, and government primary schools in Western Australia are not staffed with teacher librarians.

So we ask the question (updated) which was asked in the 1970s:

What use are 21st century primary school libraries if they are not staffed by 21st century teacher librarians?

Today might be a good day to ask a state senator (click for sample letter and suggested email addresses).

 

gp

Laptops vs Libraries

According to Emma Macdonald in the Canberra Times today, the Federal government is now spending more than $2 billion dollars to provide every Year 9-12 student in Australia with a computer.  

Laptops which get vandalized, lost, stolen, and will mostly be used for? Learning????  Yet we know that school libraries which are well stocked and staffed make a significant difference to student learning and literacy. (See our Research pages.)  We don’t know that computers have the same impact on literacy and learning!

How badly off are some of our government school libraries? Surveys of school libraries in the NT indicated last year that most schools had less than $1000 a year to spend. (No wonder the ABC has pitched in to help buy books for indigenous kids.)

Let’s see.  Average price of a book c. $30.  Government schools (you know, the ones which educate two thirds of the nation’s students, but only get one third of the federal funds.) 6,853.  How many books might that money provide for every government school, especially the ones who now have library budgets of $1000 to $5000 per year.  Check my maths.  $291,843 per government school or 9728 books each!!!  That can’t be right, can it?

Almost 10,000 new books to share, or one laptop not to share.  We know what Phillip Pullman would say!  He and other UK authors have let Chesterfield school know  ”that it will become a ‘byword for philistinism and ignorance’ if it goes ahead with the closure of its library” as it becomes a  ’virtual learning environment’. 

Let your federal member know what you think.  Libraries or laptops??

 

gp

Mom power turns it around for school libraries

Three moms, Lisa Layera Brunkan, Susan McBurney and Danette Hill, are going down in library and education history for their refusal to let school library budgets and staffing continue to decline in Washington state. 

“A credentialed school librarian in every school,”  is their motto.  And after a year of lobbying and activism, their state politicians have begun to listen. Bi-partisan support saw an immediate $4M allocated for school libraries in the final March budget!!  Now the moms are looking at long term funding and on inserting school libraries into the state’s definition of what constitutes a basic education.

 

Together with the Washington Library Media Association, the three attracted supporters such as the chairman of the Red Lion hotels corporation, and formed the Washington Coalition for School Libraries and Information Technology.  Their web site, Fund Our Future  has attracted over 5500 signatures for their state petition.  Their blog  keeps you up-to-date on developments.

 

The fight is now spreading to Oregon  and Arizona.

 

Many states and territories in Australia are in similar situations with teacher librarians being replaced by aides, where teachers are put in charge of the library, or even volunteer parents and where library budgets are declining.

 

Join the movement. If you are a parent and your child does not have full-time access to his or her school library and a professionally trained teacher librarian, then demand equity and competitiveness with those schools that do. Teacher librarians are educated to provide and support school programs in information literacy and literacy, as well as the broader curriculum. Hear Mike Eisenberg explain.

 

Use our Research Links pages (See right hand column) or use the Fund Our Future Research Links. 

 

Then ring your local member. (Click on Parents page above.) Email him or her.  Write to your local paper. Let others know what teacher librarians contribute to information literacy and literacy learning and that quality education does not exist without quality school libraries.  

 

 

 

Those clever Canadians!

The Hub gives two thumbs up to Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario.

Feb 14, 2008

MISSISSAUGA — Elementary students in Ontario are going to get extra help reading and learning in their school libraries.

Ontario will provide school boards across the province with an additional $40 million over the next four years to hire about 160 more library staff.

Research shows that students who develop solid reading skills in elementary school have a better chance at success in high school and beyond. 

“To keep Ontario moving forward, we need everyone to be at their best — and that includes our youngest students,” said Premier Dalton McGuinty.  “That means we must make sure they have all the help they need to reach their full potential.”

“We’re committed to making publicly funded education the very best education,” said Education Minister Kathleen Wynne.  “That’s why we’re funding more library staff and investing in new books and computers — so our students have the tools they need to succeed.”

A majority of students in Grades 3 and 6 are scoring 10 per cent higher in reading, writing and math tests.  Since 2004, more than a million new textbooks have been added to Ontario’s schools.

Article found here.

Victorian school library funding from the state?

There’s an interesting comment at the end of this report, taken from today’s Age.

On the issue of  payrise demands from Victorian school teachers,

Matt Nurse, spokesman for Education Minister Bronwyn Pike, said the Government wanted to lift standards in schools and find better career pathways for teachers.

But giving teachers a 10% wage rise and better working conditions would cost taxpayers $8 billion, he said.

“If we agreed to this claim we would have no money left for new classrooms, new technology or libraries for our students,” Mr Nurse said.

Now, correct me if I am wrong Ms Pike or Mr Nurse, but I’m not aware that the Victorian state government does put money into school libraries.  No, the one-off PRC grants do not count.  I believe schools are allocated a global fund and this money is distributed as each principal sees fit.  The problem is though, that not all principals value libraries, so don’t really invest in them all that much.  Sure, there may be a space allocated for a collection of resources, but unless they also appoint the staff to work there, the door remains locked for much of the school year.  

 I don’t mind the Education Department pointing out that the money needs to come from somewhere, but please don’t pretend that it threatens library funding.  You don’t provide any.

A new friend for school libraries

We at The Hub are pleased to announce that Dr Alan Bundy, president of Friends of Libraries Australia, has been in touch to express his support for our cause.  Many thanks to Alan for his kind words, which you can read here. 

Click here to read Dr Bundy’s article published in The Sydney Morning Herald last month, discussing the lack of funding for public libraries in Australia. Many of the underlying issues echo the problems faced by school libraries.

Build a library, build a clever country

“….. So why is there a public library funding problem in a wealthy country like Australia? Why doesn’t Australia invest in its public libraries at $100 a year per person as Denmark does, rather than $33 a year? Put it down to limited understanding of what modern public libraries are about, no national strategy for their development, cost shifting, the blame game, and disconnected levels of government.”

Premier’s Reading Challenge

I have long been critical of the PRC.  To me it seemed like more of a PR exercise, so that the state governments could say, “look at what we do for literacy in our state!” while library staff or teachers were required to spend hours organising and running the event, with no real support in terms of time or money. As one teacher libarian tells us,

We didn’t do the Premier’s Reading Challenge at all this year as a matter of principle.  We have 650 students in years 7-9.  Each has to be individually registered by the registered teacher.   Each student takes several minutes to register, and then logging all of their reading takes forever.  For each book you type in for each student, the data base searches to see if it finds a match, then you confirm it.  If a student reads 30 or 40 books it can take well over an hour.  Up until now we have been offered nothing, no admin support, no money for books.  So, without commitment from the Premier, I wasn’t prepared to commit myself.  

I was therefore pleased last week when I heard on the grapevine that Victoria has finally put some money where its mouth is.  I say the grapevine because the announcement went to principals, not to library staff.  I promptly sent an email off to the contact person and received a reply directing me to this FAQ page.

That in itself was interesting, but most of all, it included a link to a brochure entitled “The Challenge : active, engaged readers“.

I could write for three days and not cover all the questions and discussion points that this document raises. In summary, it is (almost) perfect.  Here I was thinking all this time that the Victorian Education Department needed to be convinced of the importance of reading, and how it can impact all learning, and how to build a reading culture, and they already knew it!  Brilliant!

 Of course I say, almost perfect.  Care to guess why?  Yes, there is no mention of teacher librarians.  Any library staff, for that matter.  Actually, the word “library” only has four vague references.  In SIX pages!  Oh, it talks about “print rich environments” and “wecoming, student centred reading spaces” and the need to build a “varied and comprehensive resource collection”, but no mention of the practicalities of providing any of this.

It’s the PRC all over again, great in theory, but zero support.

But what about those Victorian PRC grants? Well, they are just one off payments.  Don’t expect it in 2009. 

Now we have received a grand total of $1154.04 for our 650+ students so I figure it’s around about $2.00 per student.  As the average cost of a paperback novel is now probably $20.00, I figure I’ll get around 60 books.  Better than nothing, but no real help.

Let’s hope these token payments end up at their intended destination.

As for the money disappearing into consolidated revenue, this would be typical in schools.  The bursar/business manager receives notice of the money; they don’t receive directions on where it goes so they put it into consolidated revenue.  At my school, getting the money into the right account is easy though, as they are keen for the money to be used for the designated purpose.  However, they timing could have been disastrous.  School council had just approved the budgets for 2008, and if it had been known that the money was there earlier, others would have argued that my budget should be cut by the equivalent amount.  That will be the kind of thing that will go on in some schools.  Consolidated revenue gets it in the end.  All accounting will show that the money was paid into library account, it just won’t show that the budget was cut.  Anyway, one way or the other I am happy that the money has arrived.  It’s a bonus and we intend to use it for the purpose it was given.  We may even have another crack at the PRC in 2008.