Canadas School Libraries:

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Canadas School Libraries A Time of Transition?
Keith McPherson, Coordinator Language and
Literacy Education Research Centre, UBC
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Canadian School Library Snapshots
50 of Secondary Teacher Librarians hours have
been cut by the Richmond School Board and school
administrators.
School Library
All elementary and Secondary Teacher Librarians
in Nova Scotia have been eliminated Holly Gunn,
Nova Scotia Teacher Librarian (now Teacher)
Alberta has thoroughly gutted its school
libraries. - Nikiforuk, A. (2002). The Decline
and Fall of the School Library. Family Magazine.
Sep 2002, pp18-20. .
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Canadian School Library Snapshots
Average Lower Mainland School Budgets have been
slashed from 25 per child to 10 a child
(Whistler has dropped to 7 per child) -
McLellan, W. 25 June 2002. Bare Shelves Worry
School Librarians. The Vancouver Province,
p.A10.
There are vast inequities between School
libraries across Canada Judith Sikes,
president, Association for Teacher-Librarianship
in Canada
All Provincial protections for BC Teacher
Librarians dissolved when the Liberal Government
eliminated minimum requirements for non-enrolling
teachers in their collective agreement The
Bookmark, 2002
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How and Why?
Budget constraints and administrative decisions
have drastically reduced the number of resources
and Teacher Librarians in the majority of
Canadian schools Ray Dioron and Karin Paul Colf
Facts and Hot Buttons The Truth about School
Libraries in Canada, School Libraries in Canada
21, (2001).
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IMPACT
Research indicates that school operating without
a full-time Teacher Librarian and Without Funds
to Purchase adequate library resources have lower
reading and academic achievement scores at all
grade levels Keith Curry Lance (2002) James C.
Baughman (2000).
These reductions to Canadas School Library
budgets and TLs hours have a significant impact
on school Libraries - Martha J. Whitehead,
Catherine A. Quinlan (2002) Canada An
Information Literacy Case Study
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IMPACT
Canadas federal Government is committed to
increasing literacy rate in Canada and developing
an information-literate workforce able to succeed
in a global knowledge based economy.
Ironically this same government/s has/have taken
little action to stem the dissolution of school
library programs or to recognize the key role
these programs play in developing literacy and
information literacy skills.
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IMPACT
School libraries are many Canadian children's
first and sometimes only formal introduction to,
and sequential development of, information
literacy skills. - K. McPherson 2002 In press
Students attending schools with poorly developed
or nonexistent school library programs are much
more likely to experience gaps in the quality and
continuity of their academic education and in the
information literacy skills that are critical to
their academic success. - K. McPherson 2002 In
press
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IMPACT
Teachers unable to pick up TLs curriculum
Few teacher education programs have any
requirements for preparation in library and
information literacy skills
Canadas students fall short of those required to
function adequately in post secondary libraries
and Canadas workforce (Conference Board of
Canada, 2000).
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IMPACT

• Eleven of eighteen students knew what a search
  engine was
• Six familiar with the term 'Boolean search
• Three conducted an advanced search using a
  library database.

"I can only remember going to my high school
library a couple of times...It wasn't until I had
to do an assignment at UBC that I was forced to
use a Internet search engine"
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IMPACT
The most serious side effect of this national
trend of devaluing, underutilizing and/or
eliminating school libraries is that it may
unknowingly develop and reinforce similar
attitudes in Canadian children regarding all
librariespublic, special, and post secondary.
LIBRARIES
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What to do?
Get to know the importance of School Libraries on
students literacy, information literacy skills -
Lance (2000) and Baughman (2000)
Develop a national campaign focused on
restoring adequate funding and teacher-librarians
to Canadian schools.
Work with the Canadian Coalition for School
Libraries (CCSL), parent networks, and
educational organizations focused on reversing
Canadas school library cutbacks.
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What to do?
Work with the Council of Ministers of Education
Canada (CMEC) to implement school library
standards, policies and advocacy campaigns at a
provincial level.
Work with the National Librarian to inform the
federal government of the connection between
school libraries and a literate/information
literate Canadian society.
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The future of School Libraries and TLs?
Look to the U.S. for positive news
California, for example, gutted its school
libraries as thoroughly as Nova Scotia up until
1998.
Political pressure groups like ALA, Laura Bush
Foundation for American School Libraries lobbyed
US congress.
California passed the California Public School
Library Act effectively reinstating
teacher-librarians and school library budgets
(1998).
On December 12, 2001, Congress approved spending
250 million on U.S. School Libraries each year
for five years
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The future of School Libraries and TLs?
UBC preservice program has all teachers learn how
to integrate the teaching of information literacy
into their unit/lesson plans, and
UBC Preservice teachers work with experienced
Teacher Librarians in planning an information
literacy lesson
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The changes in School Libraries may force us to
rethink the role of Teacher Librarians and School
Libraries. One of the many alternatives might be
that every teacher librarian become trained to be
the teacher librarians of tomorrows school. One
thing is for sure, we can not let the teaching of
information literacy skills fall to the wayside
during such transitions.
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