The Shifting sands of School Libraries

Abstract

This paper reports on selected findings from the Phase 2 New Jersey School Library research study “One Common Goal: Student Learning” completed in 2011 that provides insights into the future of school libraries, and their evolution and transformation in the digital age. The study examines a selected sample of effective school libraries in New Jersey to establish the key inputs (both library and school-wide inputs) that enable these effective school libraries to thrive, contribute richly to the learning agendas of the schools, and to continually be developed and improved in their schools. The findings are selected through the lens school effectiveness and school improvement literature, and identify dimensions of school library practice that have contributed to their sustainability and continuous improvement. Key dimensions include a substantive instructional role of the school librarians, an inquiry-centered pedagogy, a collaborative school culture of distributed leadership, a knowledge-outcomes orientation of the school library, and school librarians as professional development leaders.