School Libraries

1
School Libraries

• Advocacy
• Fundraising

2
Advocacy

• Why care about school libraries?

3
We should care about school libraries because

• Research shows that better public and school
  libraries are related to better reading
  achievement. The reason for this is obvious
  Children become better readers by reading more
  (Krashen, 2004), and the library is a major
  source of books for children.

4
Making The Case

• Why library funding is important
• Spending for school library media programs is
  the single most important variable related to
  better student achievement. (SchoolMatch)
• Investing in the school library is an
  investment in every student. Every dollar spent
  in the library, can impact every student in the
  school. (AASL)
  
• More free voluntary reading results in better
  reading comprehension, writing style, vocabulary,
  spelling and grammatical development. When books
  are readily available and the print environment
  is rich, more reading is done. (Krashen, 93)

5
What the Research Says

• Study after study has confirmed that children who
  read more do better on tests of literacy They
  read better, write better, spell better, have
  larger vocabularies, and have better control of
  complex grammatical structures. It has also been
  established that children with more access to
  books read more
• (Krashen, 2004).

6
Better Libraries Better Reading Achievement

• Numerous studies have shown that library quality
  (number of books available or books per student)
  is related to reading achievement at the state
  level (Lance, 1994), national level (McQuillan,
  1998), and international level (Elley, 1992
  Krashen, Lee and McQuillan, 2008), even when
  researchers control for the effects of poverty.

7
Excerpts From Library Research Studies
8
Idaho School Library Impact Study 2009

• Where administrators value strong library
  programs and can see them doing their part for
  student success, students are more likely to
  thrive academically.
• Where librarians teach studentsas well as their
  teacher colleaguesstudents are more likely to
  succeed academically.
• Where teachers experience librarians as
  instructional colleagues and technology
  integrators, students are more likely to excel
  academically.

9
Illinois State Study (2005)How Powerful
Libraries Make Powerful Learners

• As important as it is for school libraries to
  have larger print collections, the currency of
  the materials in those collections is also
  important. Illinois schools with current
  collections averaged
• .. almost 13 percent higher eighth-grade writing
  scores,
• .. almost 11 percent higher fifth-grade writing
  scores,
• .. more than seven percent higher fifth-grade
  reading scores, and
• .. almost three percent higher ACT scores.

10
Massachusetts State Study (2000)

• Dollars expended on school library media
  programs have immediate impact and remain highly
  accountable over time.
• A well-run school library media program will
  provide a vehicle that will advance school
  district curriculum goals on a regular basis.
• That most desirable bump in MCAS scores
  documented by the Simmons' survey at all grade
  levels is not the only reason to invest in a
  school library media program. It is simply one
  more great reason to do so.

11
Colorado State Study (2000)How School Librarians
Help Kids Achieve Standards

• In Colorado, where a representative sample of 200
  of 1,178 elementary and middle schools responded,
  the study found that state test scores for
  students in elementary schools with updated
  libraries were up to 14 percent higher than for
  students at schools with older collections.

12
Additional Advocacy Resources

• Additional research studies (web links)
• Scholastic Study school libraries work (pdf)
• 2009 Idaho Study Executive Summary and full
  report (word doc)
• An administrators guide to school libraries (pdf)
• Stephen Krashen (stephenkrashen.com)

13
Fundraisers

• Penny Drive
• Coins for the Library
• X-athon (read, bike, jump rope)
• Yard Sale
• Adopt a book (parents businesses)
• Silent Auction (solicit local businesses)

14
Penny Drive

• Each class has a large jar for coins. Pennies
  count for your class, silver counts against your
  class. Dollars count for your class. The idea is
  to load up your jar with pennies and dollars and
  add silver to your competitors jars. The class
  with the most money (PenniesDollars-Silver) is
  the winner.

15
Coins for the Library

• Oct 10th (10/10) dimes
• Last day of quarter quarters
• 100th day of school pennies
• Cinco de Mayo (5/5) nickels
• Each of these days send a zip lock baggie
  home with each student with a note attached, e.g.

Library Fundraiser 05/05/11 On May 5 we will be
collecting nickels for the library. Please
donate as many nickels (or other money) that you
can spare. THANK YOU! Nancy Olson, Librarian
16
Anything a-thon

• Participating students get pledges from
  friends, family and neighbors for x amount per
  page read, laps around the track, minutes jumping
  rope etc.

17
School yard Sale

• Solicit garage sale items from parents and the
  local community and stage a Saturday morning yard
  sale in the school parking lot or playground.
  Sell cold water, hot coffee, sodas to supplement
  the income from your merchandise.

18
Adopt a Book

• Create a list based on your needs
• Use die cut to create an open book blank for the
  number of titles on your list
• Print your list (2 column annotated) on Titlewave
  and cut each title and paste onto die cut blank.
• Post books on a poster board
• Display at school or local business

19
Silent Auction

• Solicit items from local retailers and hold a
  silent auction during parent teacher conferences
  or any time when your school has a high traffic
  event.

20
Fundraising

• Community Partners local businesses and/or
  service organizations
• Make the case short and sweet
• Explain the funding situation
• Explain why new books are important
• Tell them what you want - x dollars, a donation
  of merchandise or a service (silent auction)
• Whats in it for them
• Follow up / Thank you!

21
Community Partnersadopt a school library

• Service Organizations
• Kiwanis
• Rotary
• Soroptimist
• Local Businesses
• TitleEZ
• Adopt a book
• Merchandise (silent auction, yard sale)
• Target Red Card