The 2005 Colorado School Library Survey is now open. Fill out the survey for your school at http://www.lrs.org/schoolsurvey. If you need your schools login information, do not hesitate to contact us.
Additionally, the 2004 School Library Profiles are available for those schools that filled out last year’s survey. They have been relaunched this year in a new pdf format. Enjoy.
Zeth
lietzau_z@cde.state.co.us
Edited by LRSers, Zeth Lietzau and Nicolle Steffen, the summer issue of Colorado Libraries journal featured articles about ?The Future of Librarianship in Colorado.? See all nine feature articles from this issue on LRS?s The Changing Library Workforce page at: http://www.lrs.org/workforce.asp.
~Nicolle
steffen_n@cde.state.co.us
Have you ever wondered how other libraries manage the people traffic aimed at their Internet computers? Is it a first-come-first-served proposition? Is software used for this purpose, or is it a paper-and-pencil matter? How long are people allowed to use Internet computers before being required to make way for the next person? This survey by Elbert County Library District director, L. Shaw, also asked whether or not libraries page patrons in response to incoming telephone calls. For the results of this and other field-initiated studies, visit http://www.lrs.org/field.asp.
Keith
Lance_k@cde.state.co.us
The Library Research Service is undertaking a third “Colorado study” of school libraries, with the working title, How School Librarians Teach Critical Thinking. This study, employing an exciting new methodology, will provide the most precise evidence to date on the value of school librarians by focusing on how they teach information literacy skills. Here is a little background on this study.
In 1993, The Impact of School Library Media Centers on Academic Achievement (a.k.a. the first Colorado study) demonstrated on a statewide basis, for the first time, that achievement test scores tend to rise with the size of a school library?s staff and collection, school library expenditures, and the time spent by the school librarian in an instructional role, regardless of the school?s general staffing and funding levels and the community?s socio-economic status.
Between 2000 and 2005, How School Librarians Help Kids Achieve Standards: the Second Colorado Study, and more than a dozen other successor studies, generated remarkably consistent evidence that such relationships continue, especially when academic achievement is measured by state-mandated, standards-based tests. These recent studies further explored the collaborative teaching role that school librarians can play with classroom teachers as well as the additional impact attributable to technology programs that are integrated with, and that expand access to, library resources.
The persuasiveness of all of these earlier studies?the first two Colorado studies and their successors?is limited by the fact that the measure of academic achievement was the percentage of students meeting overall standards for reading, writing, and/or language arts.
Specific information literacy objectives have been integrated into the Colorado Student Assessment Program?s Content Standards. For the first time, LRS researchers now have access to building-level summary data about the performance of students on each of those objectives for making students more critical thinkers about, and users of, information.
In the 2005 Colorado School Library Survey, responding school librarians are being asked new questions about their own activities?questions designed to reveal how school librarians are teaching students to be critical thinkers about, and users of, information.
The Colorado State Library is cooperating with the Library Research Service?a CSL unit operated in partnership with the University of Denver Library and Information Science Program?to provide funding for this research.
Keith
Lance_k@cde.state.co.us
Denise M. Davis, Director, Office for Research and Statistics, American Library Association, reports the release of Librarian Salaries: Have They Kept Pace with Inflation?–an historical overview of data drawn from the ALA Survey of Librarian Salaries from 1982 to 2004. This report is available at: http://www.ala.org/ala/ors/reports/LibrarianSalaries1982-2003.pdf.
Included in that report is a summary table that presents mean (i.e., average) salaries for all librarian positions for that period. That table’s direct link is http://www.ala.org/ala/ors/reports/meansalaries.htm.
The 2005 librarian salary report will be published in the Fall as usual, and a summary article will appear in American Libraries about that time.
Contact information for ordering the 2005 report may be found at the bottom of this page: http://www.ala.org/ala/ors/reports/purchaseinfo04.htm. (Note: The price and ISBN number are for the 2004 edition. Do not reorder it by mistake.)
Keith
Lance_k@cde.state.co.us
In “Research and Statistics on Libraries and Librarianship in 2004,” Denise M. Davis (Director, ALA Office for Research and Statistics) cited the Retirement, Retention, and Recruitment study under “Research Relevant to All Libraries” as “one of the more significant studies to be completed in 2004.” (The article begins on p. 433, and the 3Rs reference is on p. 435.)
Keith
Lance_K@cde.state.co.us
“Retirement, Retention, and Recruitment: The Future of Librarianship in Colorado” is the title of an article in the 2005 edition of the BOWKER ANNUAL (pp. 446-51). This article provides a brief overview of the findings of the 2004 LRS study of the same name. The study was cited by Denise M. Davis, Director of the ALA Office for Research and Statistics, as “one of the more significant studies to be completed in 2004” (p. 435).
Keith
Lance_K@cde.state.co.us
Coming soon to a mailbox near you?Colorado Libraries’ summer issue, The Future of Librarianship in Colorado
Using the LRS study, ?Retirement, Retention, and Recruitment: The Future of Librarianship in Colorado? as a starting point, the summer issue of Colorado Libraries includes articles from a wide range of related topics and viewpoints. Look for the following articles:
? Today’s MLIS Students: What’s on Their Minds by Don Dickenson & M. Claire Williamson
? Why am I a Librarian? Conversations with a Cross Section of the Profession by Martin Garnar
? The Resilient Career by Kim Dority
? Back into the Fold: Strategies for Attracting and Retaining Information Professionals within Libraries by Marcy Phelps
? Recruitment and Retention in Colorado’s Libraries: A State Library Perspective by Eugene Hainer
? Who Will Replace the Super Heroes? School Librarians and the Retirement Crisis by Jody Howard
? Meeting Recruitment and Retention Challenges Head On by Rochelle Logan & Art Glover
? The Decision to Retire: A Personal Story by Nancy Bolt
Zeth and I really enjoyed being the guest editors on this edition of Colorado Libraries. We would like to thank the authors for their terrific articles and cooperative spirit, as well the Colorado Libraries’ editors for this learning opportunity.
Let us know what you think of the issue. Oh, and don?t forget to take a close look at the very special cover.
Happy reading.
Nicolle
steffen_n@cde.state.co.us
For more on The Changing Library Workforce go to: http://www.LRS.org/workforce.asp
This new Field Initiated Study addresses how libraries use time limits, if any, to restrict access to their public Internet terminals and whether such time limits have presented any problems. The study also identifies which libraries allow patrons to access chat rooms or perform instant messaging while using Public Library patron computers.
The study can be found at: http://www.lrs.org/field.asp
M. Claire Williamson
Williamson_c@cde.state.co.us
The 2004 Colorado Public Library Statistics are now availabe. View the Master File (in Excel) or use the Interactive Statistical tool to view statistics.
Statistics and Profiles in the traditional LRS formats will be available shortly.
Zeth
lietzau_z@cde.state.co.us