The Status of School Library Media Centers in Colorado, Neighboring States, and the United States 1993-94

The youngest of the national statistical surveys on libraries is the one for school library media centers. The first installment of this survey, which is scheduled for every 5 years, was conducted during the 1993-94 school year. Some preliminary results have just been published in SASS by State, 1993-94 Schools and Staffing Survey: Selected State Results. Though certainly dated, these results provide some important insights into the status of school library media centers in Colorado. To give those results context, they are also compared here with the results for neighboring states as well as the nation.

Highlights

  • Elementary schools more likely to lack library media specialists.
  • Poorer Colorado schools more likely to have understaffed LMCs, particularly to lack library media specialists.
  • Smallest Colorado schools more likely to have understaffed LMCs.
  • Colorado teachers indicate higher awareness of library media specialist’s role in instructional process.

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