Small schools - no libraries?

From Library a chapter in school's past by Alex Katz, a staff writer for Inside the Bay Area:

OAKLAND — If students at Castlemont High School want to check out "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" or find books on Polynesian culture, they'd better have a bus pass or some good walking shoes.

That's because Castlemont is the only major high school in the city without a school library — the closest public library is about 14 blocks away at the Eastmont Town Center.

It has been that way for going on two years, since the large high school on MacArthur Boulevard was split into three smaller, specialized schools in an attempt to raise attendance and improve student-teacher relationships.

The trend is to small, folks. Let's face it. And that's not all bad, but it does pose some serious concerns about how good library service can be provided when there is no economy of scale. A full-time librarian in a school of 100 students takes a much larger percentage of the budget that a full-time librarian in a school of 500 or 1,000 kids. The cost of a good print collection is the same whether shared by 75 or 750 kids.

One place where small tends to be rule is in the charter school movement. And ironically, I don't know any charter schools that have school libraries, even when "project-based learning" is the focus.

Part time librarians might be the answer to providing library services in smaller schools. A combination classroom teacher/librarian might be another solution. (This is how I started my library career as a half time English teacher and half time librarian in a junior high school of 150 students. A marvelous job.) Might a professional librarian serve multiple small schools, each with good clerical staff? Might a school contract for library services with the public library or an entrepreneurial library professional?

Should students in small schools have access to good library resources, including a professional librarian? As Stephen Krashen in a message to LM_Net puts it:

Castlemont High's students could certainly use more access to books and the services of a credentialled librarian: Fewer than 14% scored at the proficient level or higher on the CST language arts test last year, well below the [California] state average (about 40%) of a state known for low reading scores.

How have the small schools you know provided library service - or have they? If the trend is to small, how do we adapt?

Comments

[Don McLean]

I'm not in the Library service, but in Education here in Scotland. We are, at the moment, blessed with a Library and Librarian in our school of about 1,000 students. However we live in a rural area and library access for communities is limited. To that end we still use Mobile Library buses to take the books and materials out to some of the more isolated communities and villages.

Would there be any mileage in thinking of such a mobile system for your smaller schools? One Librarian could be shared between several schools and the stock could be retained at a central point. Absolutely not ideal, but at least the schools would get quality resources and shared expertise in the form of the Librarian. With good communication the mobile library could make sure it was stocked up with appropriate material for each school depending on the needs at the time.

Just a thought - it could be you have this system anyway!

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Don,

Thanks for the comment.

We have "BookMobiles" as standard fare for providing public library service to many small communities. I've not see this used as a tool in school library service. But I'd think, perhaps, small schools might be able to contract with such services.

All the best,

Doug

[P.W. Haggarty]

All is not lost at Castlemont. Several volunteers are currently inventorying the books to see which books are still there. After the inventory several computers will be installed and the library will be open for business again. It is a nice space with room for study and research. The library clerk assigned by the school district is friendly and will be there to check books in and out. There is no professional librarian assigned there right now, but plans are under way to have librarians come in and offer research help to the students.

[P.W. Haggarty]

All is not lost at Castlemont. Several volunteers are currently inventorying the books to see which books are still there. After the inventory several computers will be installed and the library will be open for business again. It is a nice space with room for study and research. The library clerk assigned by the school district is friendly and will be there to check books in and out. There is no professional librarian assigned there right now, but plans are under way to have librarians come in and offer research help to the students.