The latest data on libraries in Colorado public schools indicates that endorsed, professionally-trained school librarians are not available to students in all schools. More than 25 percent of the state’s public schools have no librarian at all. The shortage of school librarians is especially acute in elementary and combined schools. Almost 30 percent of elementary […]
A lot has happened in the world since 1986: DNA was first used to convict criminals (1987). Pan Am flight 103 was bombed over Lockerbie, Scotland (1988). The Berlin Wall fell (1989). Lech Walesa became President of Poland, Nelson Mandela was freed, and Iraq invaded Kuwait (1990). The Soviet Union collapsed (1991). Riots in Los […]
One of the most visible differences between bookstores and libraries is the manner in which books are presented to the public. At bookstores, it is more common to find books displayed, cover facing out, while in libraries, books are usually shelved so that only the spine is readily visible. More and more public libraries, however, […]
Colorado residents check out books and other items from public libraries at a higher rate than Americans in general. While the national trend has increased relatively modestly, from about 5.0 to 6.5 items per resident between 1988 and 2000, circulation per capita for public libraries in Colorado has nearly doubled, from about 5.0 to 9.5 […]
“Nobody goes into library science to make money.” Nobody knows the truth of this truism better than a library staff member on payday. Professional librarians are required to earn master’s degrees in library and information science. Yet, librarians earn much less than many others in professional and technical fields that do not require such high […]
According to the ALA Survey of Librarian Salaries 2001, the status of compensation for library personnel in Colorado is mixed. The salaries paid to senior management (i.e., director, deputy/associate/assistant director, department head) of the state’s largest libraries (i.e., serving 100,000 or more) are consistently lower than the norms for the West/Southwest region and the nation […]
In 2000, How School Librarians Help Kids Achieve Standards: The Second Colorado Study identified characteristics of library media programs associated with higher levels of academic achievement for elementary and middle school students. That report did not address the impact of libraries on high school students because test score data for those grades were not yet […]
How many jobs are there for paraprofessionals in public, school, and academic libraries in Colorado? What does the outlook for their employment look like for the rest of this decade? Data available from the Library Research Service (LRS) and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) help to answer these questions. According to the […]
Since 1998, selected Colorado school library media programs have been paired to encourage their mutual development. School library media specialists with “high performance” LM programs mentor “mini-grant” (or developing) schools. These LM staff, classroom teachers, and principals have made commitments to the improvement of their own LM programs. The high performance schools, in turn, take […]
From 1993 to 1998, growth in the number of school librarian positions failed to keep pace with growth in the number of classroom teacher positions. This was true at both the state and national levels, although the situation was more extreme for Colorado than the nation. This trend is an issue for concern because research […]
