Libraries are good for you!!

This release from the U.S. Newswire talks about new studies that reveal that school libraries have beneficial effects on students\’ performances in school. If this is so, then why don\’t they get the funding from the government that they deserve?


\”Want to raise students\’
test scores? Three new studies — from Pennsylvania, Alaska,
and Colorado — confirm that the secret to boosting students\’
academic performance is right down the hall in the school library.

But will school libraries get their just rewards as the Senate
begins debating the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
today?

School libraries last received dedicated federal dollars in the
1960s. Today, the average U.S. school library gets $6 per pupil
per year from federal block grants.

\”That pays for less than half a book,\” notes Emily Sheketoff,
executive director of the American Library Association\’s Washington
office. \”If a dot com could show the results school libraries
do, its stock price would soar.\”

This release from the U.S. Newswire talks about new studies that reveal that school libraries have beneficial effects on students\’ performances in school. If this is so, then why don\’t they get the funding from the government that they deserve?


\”Want to raise students\’
test scores? Three new studies — from Pennsylvania, Alaska,
and Colorado — confirm that the secret to boosting students\’
academic performance is right down the hall in the school library.

But will school libraries get their just rewards as the Senate
begins debating the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
today?

School libraries last received dedicated federal dollars in the
1960s. Today, the average U.S. school library gets $6 per pupil
per year from federal block grants.

\”That pays for less than half a book,\” notes Emily Sheketoff,
executive director of the American Library Association\’s Washington
office. \”If a dot com could show the results school libraries
do, its stock price would soar.\”

\”With so much information out there now, it\’s easy to get lost.
Librarians are schools\’ in-house guides to the information
superhighway. They empower students and classroom teachers to
navigate responsibly,\” says American Library Association President
Sarah Ann Long.

The new studies confirm the findings of a 1993 report by the
Colorado State Library titled \”The Impact of School Library
Media Centers on Academic Achievement.\” The research took
into consideration school differences such as district expenditure
per pupil and teacher/pupil ratio and/or community differences
such as racial/ethnic and income demographics\”