The research is undeniable. EVERY school needs a well resourced school library AND a qualified teacher-librarian! Go to https://studentsneedschoollibraries.org.au/for more info.
This post was originally shared in April 2017, highlighting the research which demonstrates the essential role of school libraries and qualified library staff in enhancing student achievement.
Now, in October 2018, a huge new campaign has been launched to encourage the presence of school libraries and library staff in schools.
#StudentsNeedSchoolLibraries features resources including newsletter prompts and media kits, infographics and videos for parents, teachers and schools to use in the fight to ensure every student has access to this incredibly important service. There is also merchandise available to purchase to promote the cause – wear a badge, hang a poster or slap on a bumper sticker to share the word.
This campaign has gone viral across Australia – and various media outlets have been publishing articles and interviewing Teacher Librarians to get the inside word. In times of tight budgets, the school library must no longer be considered ‘optional’.
The role that a school library and a qualified teacher librarian may play in the literacy lives of children makes their full time presence in every school, primary and secondary, a no brainer.
Connect with this important cause on all the socials:
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
And spread the word! We desperately need this message heard across Australia…but also in many other countries! So please use your international networks to promote this far and wide, so that children everywhere have the support, the literacy development, the safe space, the fun and the wonder of a library in their school.
I have written previously about the reasons why we need school libraries and teacher librarians more than ever, despite the fact that we carry the internet in our pockets.
This is another way that I hope to promote this message. This visual literature review provides scholarly evidence that when we promote school libraries and teacher librarians, we are not just promoting cosy reading nooks and treasured story-times (although these are vitally important also!). We are promoting real improvement in students’ literacy levels.
We are promoting information literacy and critical literacy – key skills in the 21st century.
We are promoting emotional intelligence and resilience.
We are promoting a love of reading and of learning.
We are promoting a far richer approach to education than drilling for performance on a stand alone exam that means nothing in the real world.
So please feel free to share, email, print and publish this infographic – you can also retweet it or reshare on Facebook – it’s a truly critical cause!
Download the infographic as an image or as a printable PDF.
